Saturday, October 30, 2010

Puyallup Fair

From September 12

I love the Puyallup Fair and we have gone every year with Ephraim. This year it was a lot of fun to see how much more he understood.

Here he is milking the play cow.
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.

First Foods

From September 9th

Since Selah has gotten so big and has stopped sleeping through the night, we decided to start her on solids before she was 6 months.

We tried rice cereal first (I am a bit of a rebel and refused to pump just so I could mix the cereal with breastmilk)

Food has been a hit. She loves her rice cereal and I am sure will enjoy other foods as well.


Friday, October 29, 2010

First Soccer Game

From September 11th

I signed Ephraim up for 2 year old soccer. A little crazy, I know, but my kid loves balls and running.

Here is his team, the Little Tigers.
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.

Monday, October 11, 2010

A Trip to the Allergist

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.

Friday, October 01, 2010

Today I Choose...

Today is the 3rd anniversary of my daddy's death. In full disclosure, I realize that what is right for me as I walk through this grief is not always right for others, including those in my own family. And that's okay... there is no right or wrong way to grieve. Knowing that, today I choose:
*to laugh often
*to drink a Coke with ice from a straw (and preferably a large cup) and let Ephraim sneak some like my dad used to let us
*to visit the memorial tree in honor of my dad at the hospital in Jackson
*to eat Banana Cream pie
*to remind my sister Michelle that Daddy would have rooted for the Pac-10 and NOT Boise State
*to snuggle Ephraim close and sweetly remember that my last conversation with my daddy was about Ephraim and how excited Daddy was to have another grandchild
*to kiss both of my kids and tell them their Boppa loves them
*to call my mom and tell her I love her
*to pray a prayer of thanksgiving as we drive by the place my Dad collapsed tonight for the EMT's that worked hard to try to save him
*to dance goofy just like Daddy did
*to kiss my husband deeply as a thank you for walking through this with me
*to cry freely if I want to
*to not feel guilty if I don't
*to hug Leeners and wish I could hug Ryan in Europe
*to remember my Daddy