The Hunger Strike

Sometimes I think that if Emma were old enough, she would call the authorities on me......
Yesterday I was giving Bela her medicine (which is a difficult task and requires complete attention, leaving Emma with escape time), when I heard the most dangerous sound you can here around this house- silence. Yikes! So Bela and I jumped up to see just what her big sister had gotten into (the diapers, the wipes, how bad could it be?) when I heard "YUMMY!" coming from the rocker in Bela's room. Knowing there was no food anywhere in there and that she was on a hunger strike (that comes later I promise), we started running. Turns out Emma had schemed and climbed a few things to get at her tube of toothpaste. Darn those things for being flavored like candy. A call to the grandma and the 800 number on the back of the tube reassured me that Emma was not going to spontaneously go into seisures, so we went about our day....as usual- er well, rather unusual. You see, Emma chose yesterday to go on a hunger strike. Like every morning she started off with a cup of milk and a little Sagwa (the Chinese Siamese cat- a show written by Amy Tan). Then I asked if she wanted cereal or eggs and neither made the cut. So I offered a few other things and she declined everything. Finally I allowed her to have grapes alone (this is a treat to her). She later asked for juice and, after drinking her one cup (yes we ration here), she wanted more along with "sishy crackers" (goldfish). Since figuring out last week that Emma has been outsmarting me these last few weeks, I refused to give in. I figured she could drink water and wait to eat until lunch. Lunchtime came and I gave her a plate with some tuna casserole and veggies. As soon as her little butt hit that chair, she was "alllll done!" with a smile. Hmmmm...I saved her plate and, sure enough, ten minutes later she was ready for snacks. Okay, this time I was ready- this toddler was not outsmarting me!!! NO WAY!!! So I offered her lunch again, and she threw another tantrum (she had already thrown about 10). Off to bed with no food. I thought she would surely want her lunch when her rumbly tumbly roused her after only a 45 minute snooze. Nope. She decided she wanted "pa-cakes" and an apple. I told her she had to eat lunch. Another tantrum. This time, the tantrum lasted from about 2 until 5:30....with a few minutes in between to catch her breath. Although a little hard on the eardrums (especially when both the girls would launch this beautiful song at once), it was nice on the housework because I spent a lot of time ignoring her and doing laundry. Finally, at 5:30 she broke down and said "hu-gry!" So she ate her dinner a little early. The poor thing was shaking as she shovelled in the food with both hands. She ate two helpings, coming back for a third when her daddy and I sat down ourselves to eat. After that, she was happy as a lark! I must say, I had to hide my grin when Emma ate every meal today without any issue. I feel like Mrs. PiggleWiggle sometimes (remember those books as kids? with all those silly "cures"?)
Here are a few pictures- it's been awhile since I've posted really recent ones. Smiling Bela (doesn't happen much these days), crying Bela (that's more like it!), and Emma proudly displaying her artwork on OUR WALL!