Great

A2D3 (elimination diet attempt 2, day 3)

The day is off to a good start.  I'm still tired when I first wake up and am still in bed; however, the difference once I'm actually out of bed is dramatic.  I'm actually awake.  I had a lot of energy yesterday.  It only waned when Avery threw a fit when I wouldn't carry her from the car to the house.  Even then, energy rebounded once the situation was over. 

This is way different than last time.  Last time I didn't notice much of a difference at all.  This time, big difference.  I think it might have something to do with the sea vegetable (hijiki).  Andrea also has me eating a lot of different grains.  Quinoa was one she recommended in particular.  I like quinoa, but the batch I made this last time was bland.  I discovered that if I mix half (bland) quinoa and half brown rice, it's very tasty. 

I know I need to focus on eating more vegetables.  Fruit is taken care of, but I need more vegetables.  I really liked the hijiki salad, which had hijiki, leeks, and celery (plus a sauce).  I doubted I would like it since I don't typically like celery in things, but damn, I wish I had more!

The other difference from last time is that I honestly don't want any of the restricted foods.  I'm not sure why that would be so, but there you go.

Finally, another benefit of the diet thus far is that I'm way better at eating leftovers.  I guess because I have a limited number of things I can eat, so I have to eat them?  I'm not sure.  But it definitely feels good not to waste so much food. 

Go-to-sleep magic

Last night, Avery just wouldn't go to sleep.  Neither D nor I were in the mood to put up with it.  I decided drastic measures were needed.  I marched up there, sat down, and laid down the law: from now on, she has to earn her morning ½ hour TV show.  The way she earns it is by going to bed either in her room or on the floor in the hallway.  She must do so without a fuss.  She must do so without playing with toys and books.  I said this started as soon as I reached the bottom of the stairs.  Result: total and complete silence when I got to the bottom of the stairs; asleep within 5 minutes.  Who said TV is a bad thing? 

I've decided that I'm going to experiment with TV cards that Avery can earn by doing additional things around the house.  We have a bare minimum of things she's expected to do (tidy up her room when asked, be polite, do things she's capable of doing and doing them by herself, etc).

The battle of "You do it!"

Currently, Avery is going through what I hope is a very short lived phase of, "No, you do it!"  We ask her, "Avery, please get dressed."  She says, "No, I don't want to.  You do it!"  She's more than able to get dressed all by herself.  Very few items of clothing require help from us.  Yet, as I type this, she crying, "I don't want to do my t-shirt!"  She wants D to put it on for her. 

She has also implemented the approach of screaming for the other parent when in a battle with one of us.  Nice.