The Monster has Disappeared!

I'm happy to report that the monster that was lurking around here has dissapeared as quickly as she appeared. But I have to admit, I think a big part of her wild behavior was my fault. I realized a few days ago that just about the time that Zoya's behavior drastically changed, I changed the type of Ginkgo that we were giving her. She has taken the same type for a while now (helps her greatly with impulsivity, anxiety, and attention)...but the nutrition office ran out of her kind and so I got a *similar* one until they could order her typical one in. Literally the DAY I started her back on the old ginkgo, her mood swings, irritability, and outright tantrums decreased by about 95%! Now if I had made this change during a less dramatic time in Zoya's life (without the addition of a new baby sister along with all the other changes going on), I don't know if we would have seen as dramatic of a result. But I think the combination of the two was the perfect recipe for an ugly storm. So, although Zoya still needs reminders to be gentle with her sister, and although she still gets jealous at times, she is not acting like that monster we saw last week....Praise God! She really loves her sister and if Shawn or I take Zoya anywhere, she constantly asks "baby? home?" When she wakes up in the morning she asks, "baby?" She gets sad when her sister cries and tries to help by saying "Shh Shh Shh Baby"....and often it works to get Mila to stop crying! She has been such a big girl offering to help put away groceries, throwing out dirty diapers, getting wipes, and doing all of it so proudly! I hope the monster is gone for good and not lurking in a closet somewhere, but either way we'll just keep on lovin' like it's going out of style!