The Spirited Child

Ella will be 3 months old in less than two weeks!  She is growing right before our eyes.  We love our Ella Bean so much, but she still has major colic.  For those of you who are reading this that have had a colicky baby, I know you can relate to how we feel.  No matter what we do, she still cries and is upset probably 70% percent of the time when she's awake.  When I talk to the doctor she says she'll outgrow it and that her weight gain is so good that nothing is medically wrong with her.  She also says some babies are just REALLY FUSSY.  Okay...that doesn't make us feel any better.  We have given her baby gas-x, rocked her, paced the floor with her, driven her around in the car, I have pretty much eliminated dairy from my diet in case she has a milk allergy...and still no relief.  She's miserable, and we are too when the colic sets in.

Exhibit A: Ella during a colic episode

But, something happened today!  We went to the grocery store as a family.  We just have to get out of the house sometimes.  Well, she made it halfway through the shopping trip and the wailing began.  This is unusual.  She's usually so content in public...something about the din of random noise soothes her; but not today.  I took her outside and Brent finished shopping.  When we got home our sweet neighbors asked us how it was going.  We laugh when we get this question.  We absolutely love Ella more than anything, but we'd be lying if we said, "It's going great; we've never had so much fun."  Don't get me wrong, we are so blessed--but this colic can WEAR YOU OUT.  So, I was truthful.  "We love her, but the colic has been really rough."  I have to mention our neighbor has the most ADORABLE and SWEET five year old daughter.  If Ella was anything like her, I'd be thrilled.  Diana (the neighbor) told me that her daughter had been severely colic and screamed ALL THE TIME.  She finally eliminated all dairy and soy from her diet and it went away.  As she was telling me this, I was a.) overjoyed...looking at her sweet little girl gave me all the hope that this would pass and Ella would be a happy, carefree kiddo one day soon and b.) what would I be able to eat if I eliminated dairy and soy? She said that it's basically a gluten free diet (which I've done before) minus dairy!!  It's not easy, but it's worth a try.  So, that will be my latest undertaking in attempt to defeat the colic monster...wish me luck!

Well, this hopeful encounter got me researching the Internet.  I found this site: The Fussy Baby Site.  It's a site all about fussy (or colicky) babies.  Anyway, take a look at it if you like (just click the link)...especially if you are wondering what the heck colic is!!  Within this website I found a term that I absolutely love.  Ella is a "High Needs Baby".  As I read the description of a high needs baby, I was laughing out loud. It was Ella to a T. Any way, the good news is, these babies out grow their fussiness and grow into "Wonderful children and adults"...perfect.  That's all we needed to know!!  I also found a section dedicated to "The Spirited Child".  It said that High Needs Babies turn into Spirited Children.  As I read that, I was like "oh my gosh, this is so Ella."  I read it to Brent and he was like, "Wow, this is really describing Ella."  It was nice to see in writing that this should all pass!

So what's my point here??  We're thankful for our spirited, high needs baby!! Ella is full of personality from the get go.  I think we are in for the ride of our lives...in a good way.   I realize that things may be tough right now, but once Ella grows out of this we have something very exciting to look forward to:  A Spirited Child!  I know I'll have to keep this blog up because we'll have lots of stories and that's a good thing!  I've always been fond of people that have have that little extra " razzle dazzle" in life...I think she'll be one of them.  She'll be a happy little girl once this colic passes...she just can't help it right now.   My neighbor's little girl is living proof of this. We've just got to remember this and practice the two P's--Patience and Prayer!

Our Dear Ella, may you be a spirited, unique, happy little dreamer that has enough of that something special to go out and achieve your goals.  We love you, our Spirited Child, just the way you are...a little sass and all!! :)