Digestive Diction

Ella has been drinking Soy milk since she was about 16-18 months old because regular milk seemed to upset her stomach. More and more we've noticed the regular milk (drank at restaurants, friends houses) didn't seem to bother her very much. So, seeing as regular milk is much cheaper, albeit not quite as healthy, we decided to make the switch. She didn't really seem to like it much at first. I think that's because Soy milk is naturally pretty sweet and Ella loves sweets. But she accepted it after a few days...but her stomach did not. She started having some constipation. We started telling her she really needed to drink lots of fluids and eat her fruits and veggies because she was having constipation.

A day or so later I ran by the grocery/pharmacy on the way home from work after Matt called saying Ella was complaining that her bottom hurt and she could not go to the bathroom. I think he was re-living in is mind the story his mother tells of having to "help" our niece when she had similar problems as a toddler. Long story short, she drank the apple juice and ate some frosted mini wheats as suggested by our pharmacist; problem solved.

Then just the other day we were dealing with another one of Ella's ongoing problems; paying attention and following direction. As I sat on the floor roping the calf that is my four year and trying to stuff her into her pants as she pulled away I told her she needed to focus. "Ella, please concentrate and help Mommy!" I pleaded. After a few minutes I was sweating but she was dressed. She looked at me innocently and said, "I'm sorry Mommy, I'm having trouble constipating."