I think I'm going to have to make a slight modification to my diet, here. I just can't stomach sausage every day. Eggs, fine. Chicken, fine. Beef, fine. Pork, fine. Bacon, fine. But not sausage. I wound up just having a salad for dinner last night because the smell of the sausage-and-kraut leftovers we were supposed to be having made my stomach churn.

I had a good day yesterday, though. Work mostly slowed down enough that I was able to do some writing - and once I got into the groove, I banged out a nice 2000 words. I haven't done that for a while. It felt good.

Today is going to have a few more distractions, but with any luck I'll at least be able to do some cleanup and polishing.

The evening was a little rough, though. Penny's usual routine is to be fairly happy in the evenings until about 7 or 7:30, when she starts getting tired and cranky. That lasts for anywhere from half an hour to an hour, and she usually conks out between 8 and 8:30.

Last night the cranky kicked in around 7, like always, but she absolutely refused to think about sleep. She even went over the edge from cranky to crying a few times before she finally succumbed to the Sleep Monster around 9.

I was a little grouchy about it. I've come to depend on that hour or so of quiet time in the evenings. I wouldn't even mind her staying up until 9, if she would 1) wait until 8 to get cranky, and/or 2) sleep through the night.

At least she's eating enthusiastically again. Not in volume - she'll only take about an ounce or so of baby food at a meal - but she opens her mouth eagerly for the food until she decides she's full. I'm not pressing her to take more, at the moment. I want mealtimes to be a positive thing, not a struggle.

And she's up to three foods that she likes: cereal, applesauce, and sweet potatoes. (She's had carrots, too, but we haven't tried them more than a couple of times since she got sick. There's no rush.) After sweet potatoes, we'll try squash, because that's what I've got in the pantry. And after squash - oh, joy! - we'll start in on green vegetables. Peas and green beans. And maybe next week, I'll start sending a little jar to daycare with her so they can supplement her lunch.

Ack. Work is already nudging me to get moving. Time to go.

--Liz