Cookie Dough Syndrome

Elena quit eating, a few weeks ago. She would ask for something to eat then leave the entire thing sitting on the table for the next hour. I tried to serve things I knew she liked. I even tried to make anything she specifically asked for in the hopes that if she got what she was craving that day she might actually ingest it, but alas, no such luck. She's holding steady at 27lbs, but her hemoglobin levels have been consistently low enough when we go to the WIC office that she had to go get a blood draw today to figure out what's going on. This was not a fun experience for either of us.

Joseph stayed strapped into his car seat on the floor because I knew I wouldn't be able to hold on to him. Elena sat in my lap, in The Chair of Torture. I HATE those things. They give me the creeps, and my right elbow reflexively aches any time I look at, or even think about, one. We got the littlest needle they had but it still looked huge compared to Elena's arm, and two nurses came in to do the draw--one for the needle, one to help me hold Elena. Elena knew there was something wrong when I clamped down in a tight hug, and started crying as soon as they brought out the equipment. (That's, unfortunately, my girl--I do the same thing.) It took a little while to get the full 10ml, and I was trying so hard to keep my voice calm and soothing because all I really wanted to do was have a good freak out and maybe be sick in the trash can, but that wouldn't have done anyone any good. She did get two lollipops, though, and an Ariel sticker, and I let her be my helper far anything she wanted to do for the rest of the day.

This is where I had my Grand Epiphany. While making pizza (which she says she loves, but never eats a bite of) she munched several slices of cheese, a handful of mushrooms, a couple slices of pepperoni, a slice or two of ham, and even a few onions, which she used to hate. I thought about it, and realized that she does this for nearly every meal. She'll eat the components, but not the food. Hot dogs are great, but not if they're on the bun--they have to be eaten separately. The same goes for sandwiches. She'll eat pasta, but only without sauce. Half the time, she eats cold cereal as a plate of cheerios or fruit loops and a cup of milk. There are very few foods she'll eat once they hit the "done" stage--pancakes/waffles, cookies, and macaroni & cheese, and that's about it.

I call this Cookie Dough Syndrome: eat the dough, ignore the cookies. It's driving me crazy because I can't figure out what to give her that will actually get eaten.