Madeline #1 and Madeline #2

We have been SO GRATEFUL that Madeline has been a great eater since day one; However, the past week or so she has been a TERRIBLE eater! The girl that would eat a whole bowl of oatmeal or waffle along with a whole banana for breakfast went to a girl who would only eat a handful of Cheerios and a few forced bites of oatmeal for breakfast. The girl that could eat AN ENTIRE GRILLED CHEESE SANDWICH for lunch went to a girl who would only eat a few bites of chicken and a couple of bites of carrots. Our refrigerator had become FULL of leftover foods that we'd tried to get her to eat. Had she had any other symptoms (like fever or something) we would have thought she was teething or had another ear infection, but there was nothing else out of the ordinary. She just didn't want to eat!

Alan and I became so frustrated at times! We'd offer her the first bite of a meal and she'd immediately push our arm away - over, and over, and OVER again. She definitely tried our patience! We had decided that she might have reached an age where her appetite had slowed down and that this might be the new "norm" - which was sort of scary! Mealtime had become less than enjoyable! We had resigned ourselves that when she was hungry, she'd eat. This pattern lasted about a week, until, FINALLY this past Sunday she began to eat like her old self again. During mealtimes, we had started referring to her as Madeline #1 (the girl we knew with a voracious appetite) and Madeline #2 (the girl with the appetite of a little birdy). Alan would ask me how she had eaten at a particular meal and I'd tell him, "Well, for Madeline #2 it was pretty good, but for Madeline #1 she didn't eat much at all". We have slowly watched Madeline #2 disappear and we are THRILLED that Madeline #1 has returned!