third gear

Never, in my wildest dreams did I think Ada would be so advanced in her tantrum throwing so early. Last night we had guests over for dinner and when we went to put Ada in her high chair so she could join us for dinner she decided it was time to up the ante. She resisted and wiggled and squirmed until we had managed to wrestle her into her seat. That was when she pulled out her latest trick. She opened her mouth and I expected that loud wallowing scream she has mastered so well, but nothing came out - so we waited - one second, two seconds, three seconds... and nothing. Then we all noticed it at once - she was screaming so fiercely that she was not screaming at all. She was holding her breath and in the process turning blue in the face. There is nothing so scary as looking at your little angle start to turn blue due to lack of oxygen. It didn't seem to bother her at all and it got her what she wanted - a seat on mom's lap for dinner.

If I hadn't been so scared about her almost dying, I would be utterly impressed with her ability to hold her breath for that long. I'm sure this must mean something for her future. Perhaps we have an Olympic swimmer on our hands, or an underwater performer, or maybe just a teenager who says she tried to clean her room until she was blue in the face. But I'll know that she really means she tried for 10 seconds, because THAT is how long it takes.