Oh, that lip...

Oh, that lip...Ellie can stick it out in a hot minute.  What's interesting is that it took a little while for us to even see her get upset.  Laid back, quiet, good, easy-going were all words used to describe our Ellie Belle.  I am being serious when I say we could count on both hands the number of times we heard her cry her first year of life.

Sounds like every parent's dream doesn't it...

As glorious as it sounds, we longed for Ellie to cry, make sounds, get upset, show us a little attitude.  Her low tone caused her to be super quiet, and not cry like a typical baby.  She never, ever cried to tell us she was hungry, wet, hurting, or upset.  Ellie was fed every three hours, and we set an alarm.  I can remember the sheer panic that set in the night we slept through the alarm.  We could have been the family every parent envies, because our baby would have slept through the night literally from her first day of birth.  It hurts when I think about the times we've been told "you're so lucky she never cries," and "it must be so nice to have such a quiet, good baby."  It's hard to explain to others, and quite frankly, until you're in a situation like it, you just really won't understand.

So, as pitiful as this face is, we were happy to see it!  There was a battle...we wanted her to show various emotions, but when she did we almost panicked and overreacted, mainly because it was new and uncharted territory.  Children with PWS can struggle with "meltdowns," or have extreme up and down emotions, and not do well with moving on past issues.  David and I have come to the realization that our entire life, we will ask, "is that due to PWS or is that typical behavior?"  We've decided that even though we know these questions will arise, we will just take them one day at a time, and just go with, "It's just Ellie, and we love her all the way!"