From August 30th
Back in February, after I had stopped nursing Ephraim - I started to notice that he was having diarrhea. A lot. Most of the time it was everyday, sometimes more, occasionally less. I am by no means an alarmist, but I did think that there was something going on. It just didn't seem normal for my happy, otherwise healthy 2 year old to be having this issue. I wasn't worried about Ephraim being sick, but I did want to find out why this was going on and see if we could find a way to get it to stop. I deduced that it was most likely something he was eating and my thought was that if I can eliminate something from his diet that would make the diarrhea stop, we would do it. Ephraim didn't seem to be in any pain, but I also didn't think he would be able to verbalize any discomfort either. So I pushed the issue. After discussing with his pediatrician, we had him tested for celiac and in June we did 2 weeks of going gluten free to see if it made a difference. There were some slight improvements, but not enough to keep going with the diet. We consulted with the pediatrician again in July and he made a referral to an allergist and also ran several stool tests to make sure his body was absorbing everything correctly and that he didn't have any parasites.
At the end of August we had the appointment with the allergist. After listening to Ephraim's symptoms the allergist immediately said "it sounds like he is lactose intolerant." He decided to go ahead with the skin prick tests to make sure there wasn't anything else.
Ephraim was not at all happy about being pricked.
The one raised bump is histamine - the control to make sure his body is reacting.
Selah chilled in her carseat the whole time.
It has now been a month and a half since we took Ephraim off of dairy and the difference has been huge. He no longer has diarrhea. He will tell you that "cheese make a me sick" and doesn't get upset when I tell him he can't have something. It is very apparent if he does ingest something with milk. In Jackson he and Sadie switched milk glasses during dinner and he had a few sips before we caught it. The next day he had major diarrhea.
I am very relieved that it was a simple problem to fix. I am glad I was "right" about something going on with him. Throughout the whole process, I think a lot of people thought I was crazy - including my husband. Since Forrest doesn't change as many diapers as I do, he didn't see it as often as I did. At times I wondered if I was making things up, especially when Ephraim would have a bunch of diarrhea free days in a row. I am now glad that I was pushy with our pediatrician to get answers and followed through with my mommy gut feelings.
I have struggled with changing our menu(we ate a lot of cheese), but I know that it will get easier in time. I am learning how to cook with coconut oil instead of butter and Ephraim is learning how to like almond milk (we are avoiding soy due to its estrogen properties). I am hoping to get some questions answered the next time we see our pediatrician (will he grow out of this? what about yogurt? are there any cheeses he can eat?) but for now we will steer clear of all dairy for him.
Running around in the petting area. He was too timid to pet any animals, but he loved to look at them.
Riding down the big slide with Daddy. 
Tractor!
He made me drive one too. 
Food has been a hit. She loves her rice cereal and I am sure will enjoy other foods as well. 
How Selah spent her time at the game.
Two year old soccer is pure chaos. Parents are encouraged to be on the field to help the kids (stay in bounds, kick the ball, etc) Since I was wearing Selah, Forrest got to be the lucky parent helper. 
Kicking the ball. 
Awhile ago Forrest taught Ephraim about fumbles in football and how to protect the ball. Ephraim didn't understand that a loose soccer ball is not considered a fumble. 
The goals of the season are to have fun, learn how to not touch the ball with our hands, and to understand that we should kick the ball in the goal. We might need to work on the "no touching" rule. 
Ephraim was not at all happy about being pricked. 
The one raised bump is histamine - the control to make sure his body is reacting. 
Selah chilled in her carseat the whole time. 
