2 posts in 1 day...what has gotten into me! Just thought I would post a cute video of Aiden and I doing some tumbling...posting to the blog is the easiest way for my Mom to see it quickly! Please excuse the tank and gym shorts...but I can't tumble in my normal Gucci Dress and Christian Louboutin shoes LOL!
Sunday, June 12, 2011
one down one to go
Last year, after several health scares and a terrifying trip to the oncologist, we found out that Aiden was allergic to eggs and milk! At the time, we were so relieved by his diagnosis that we didn't really put much thought into 2 things; 1) the number of foods that contain milk and/or eggs and 2) the difficulty in feeding a baby/toddler a milk and egg free diet. Once I came to the realization that I would never grocery shop, order food, or cook the same way again, the reality of our next year kind of scared me! What am I going to feed my child? No eggs or milk seemed simple enough. However, when I began to read the labels on Gerber baby food, soy formula, and simple breakfast syrup (butter free, of course) I realized that milk, and milk bi-products are everywhere...cheese, yogurt, bread, pasta, hot dogs, chicken tenders, fish sticks, cereal, sausage and even bottled sweet tea (not that he drinks sweet tea but this example helps when Nana wants to give Aiden some of her tea haha).
As Aiden began to transition from an 8 month old exclusively breast fed baby to a 1 year old who needed table food for his motor skill development, weight gain, and nourishment and onto a curious 18 month old who wanted what Momma was eating; my plain meat, fruit and vegetable diet became much less interesting and my creativity was shot! I believe I was actually shunned by a group of moms when I panicked after I noticed a cracker in Aiden's hand that contained milk. (either that or they think I am crazy) HA...if only they knew the luxury of making their child "cheese toast" for every meal or simply ripping open a Gerber Graduate and popping it in the over for a minute! Apparently they have no sympathy for my desire to avoid Children's Hospital pediatric emergency room for the 4th time, or my fear of injecting my 20lb child with an epi-pen where the dosage is actually for a child 30lbs and up but it's either that or nothing or the agony that Leif and I went through while we waited 2 weeks to see an oncologist and the longest hour of our lives while we waited for Aiden's blood work to come back! Anyway, I digress, after a long year of reading labels and careful cooking, Aiden returned to the allergist to have his annual test! The first test was a prick test...he was pricked with 8 different "pricks" whole egg, egg yolk, egg white, whole milk, casein (milk protein), a positive reading prick and a negative one!
We could see some swelling right away but resisted our urges to diagnose...after about 30 minutes the doctor came in to examine...Aiden FAILED all egg pricks again, meaning he is still allergic to eggs...however his milk prick was borderline which meant he would have blood drawn to see what his exact level was. A few days later, Aiden's wonderful allergist called me (yes the DR picked up the phone and called me herself...does that even happen anymore?) to let us know that his blood test was NEGATIVE for a milk allergy...AMEN!!! The next step was to do an oral tolerance test...this took FOREVER...
dip stick in milk, rub on arm (wait 15 minutes)
dip stick in milk, rub on tongue (wait 15 minutes)
give 1 ml orally (wait 15 minutes)
give 1/4 teaspoon orally (wait 15 minutes)
give 1/2 teaspoon orally (wait 15 minutes)
give 1 teaspoon orally (wait 15 minutes)
Have you ever spent over 1.5 hours in a tiny exam room with a 20 month old...thank God for Elmo and Angry Birds!
The results....SWEET MILK SUCCESS!!!! Aiden has officially outgrown his milk allergy! What do you do to celebrate such a milestone?...give that boy his first taste of ice cream...I went against my policy of not rewarding Aiden with food or sweets and let him have a milkshake! Did he like it? You tell me...
I am so incredibly thankful that he has outgrown his milk allergy and to be completely honest I am also grateful for the year of learning I had! With out this allergy I may not have been forced to feed my child in a way that was extremely healthy, fresh, and limited on processed food! I learned a tremendous amount about hidden "bi-products" in foods and although I am not going to go crazy vegan natural organic parent on him, I am very grateful for the full year he had to learn to love healthy foods and I was even more proud that after he drank about 1/4 of his celebratory milkshake, handed it to me, and reached for his bag of blueberries and finished every last one of them!
As Aiden began to transition from an 8 month old exclusively breast fed baby to a 1 year old who needed table food for his motor skill development, weight gain, and nourishment and onto a curious 18 month old who wanted what Momma was eating; my plain meat, fruit and vegetable diet became much less interesting and my creativity was shot! I believe I was actually shunned by a group of moms when I panicked after I noticed a cracker in Aiden's hand that contained milk. (either that or they think I am crazy) HA...if only they knew the luxury of making their child "cheese toast" for every meal or simply ripping open a Gerber Graduate and popping it in the over for a minute! Apparently they have no sympathy for my desire to avoid Children's Hospital pediatric emergency room for the 4th time, or my fear of injecting my 20lb child with an epi-pen where the dosage is actually for a child 30lbs and up but it's either that or nothing or the agony that Leif and I went through while we waited 2 weeks to see an oncologist and the longest hour of our lives while we waited for Aiden's blood work to come back! Anyway, I digress, after a long year of reading labels and careful cooking, Aiden returned to the allergist to have his annual test! The first test was a prick test...he was pricked with 8 different "pricks" whole egg, egg yolk, egg white, whole milk, casein (milk protein), a positive reading prick and a negative one!
We could see some swelling right away but resisted our urges to diagnose...after about 30 minutes the doctor came in to examine...Aiden FAILED all egg pricks again, meaning he is still allergic to eggs...however his milk prick was borderline which meant he would have blood drawn to see what his exact level was. A few days later, Aiden's wonderful allergist called me (yes the DR picked up the phone and called me herself...does that even happen anymore?) to let us know that his blood test was NEGATIVE for a milk allergy...AMEN!!! The next step was to do an oral tolerance test...this took FOREVER...
dip stick in milk, rub on arm (wait 15 minutes)
dip stick in milk, rub on tongue (wait 15 minutes)
give 1 ml orally (wait 15 minutes)
give 1/4 teaspoon orally (wait 15 minutes)
give 1/2 teaspoon orally (wait 15 minutes)
give 1 teaspoon orally (wait 15 minutes)
Have you ever spent over 1.5 hours in a tiny exam room with a 20 month old...thank God for Elmo and Angry Birds!
The results....SWEET MILK SUCCESS!!!! Aiden has officially outgrown his milk allergy! What do you do to celebrate such a milestone?...give that boy his first taste of ice cream...I went against my policy of not rewarding Aiden with food or sweets and let him have a milkshake! Did he like it? You tell me...
I am so incredibly thankful that he has outgrown his milk allergy and to be completely honest I am also grateful for the year of learning I had! With out this allergy I may not have been forced to feed my child in a way that was extremely healthy, fresh, and limited on processed food! I learned a tremendous amount about hidden "bi-products" in foods and although I am not going to go crazy vegan natural organic parent on him, I am very grateful for the full year he had to learn to love healthy foods and I was even more proud that after he drank about 1/4 of his celebratory milkshake, handed it to me, and reached for his bag of blueberries and finished every last one of them!
Sunday, May 29, 2011
It's only the beginning...
I completely realize that I am a lame blogger...however I have been trying to really live in the moment and enjoy every second of fun that we are having which means bloggy time is rare and very low on my list of priorities! We have been extremely busy doing lots of fun things as a family before family time becomes much more rare...even more rare than bloggy time...when Leif reports back to sea duty! I really can't believe that it isn't even June yet...we have already been to the beach several times, to the pool, and on the boat...this means that I am already on my second bottle of sunscreen and I just might have purchased 2 new bathing suits in anticipation of our annual trip to the Riviera Maya (6 days away)!
We somehow managed to jam pack more activity into this Memorial Day weekend than most people do in a summer and to be honest with you, I wouldn't have it any other way! My mom was here for 2.5 weeks and before she left on Friday, I treated her to a massage, we did some shopping, had a nice lunch and then it was off to the airport...1 hour later Leif's cousin and his girlfriend came to stay the night with us and by the time they left on Saturday morning we were walking out the door for a fun day on Nana and Pop's boat! Boating makes me smile...and the fact that Aiden loves boating makes my heart smile as well! This was our first official boating trip and my biggest concern was whether or not Aiden would wear his life vest....
As I mentioned in my previous post, Aiden's vocabulary is progressing everyday...this weekend some of his new favorite words were walk, touch, motor, boat and see. He wants to "touch" and "see" everything...OH and his favorite word/person is Pop's...poor Pop's, I think he held, followed, or played with Aiden all weekend!
And Momma and Daddy had a little fun on the sandbar while Pop's entertained Aiden...
I can't believe that it is only Sunday and we still have all day tomorrow (memorial day) to create some more fabulous memories! I am pretty sure we will do a lot of "walking", "seeing", and "touching" if Aiden has anything to do with it...Pop's went home...he needed a break!!!
We somehow managed to jam pack more activity into this Memorial Day weekend than most people do in a summer and to be honest with you, I wouldn't have it any other way! My mom was here for 2.5 weeks and before she left on Friday, I treated her to a massage, we did some shopping, had a nice lunch and then it was off to the airport...1 hour later Leif's cousin and his girlfriend came to stay the night with us and by the time they left on Saturday morning we were walking out the door for a fun day on Nana and Pop's boat! Boating makes me smile...and the fact that Aiden loves boating makes my heart smile as well! This was our first official boating trip and my biggest concern was whether or not Aiden would wear his life vest....
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| Sweet Success!! |
And Momma and Daddy had a little fun on the sandbar while Pop's entertained Aiden...
I can't believe that it is only Sunday and we still have all day tomorrow (memorial day) to create some more fabulous memories! I am pretty sure we will do a lot of "walking", "seeing", and "touching" if Aiden has anything to do with it...Pop's went home...he needed a break!!!
Friday, May 6, 2011
20 Months?
Really? Is my Son actually 20 months old? I was ok with the 18 months and the 19 months but 20 months just seems so close to the age of 2! There is absolutely nothing wrong with the age of 2 but I just can't wrap my head around the fact that I will have a 2 year old...it seems like just yesterday I was walking the neighborhood...and walking...and walking...and walking...just hoping to go into labor so my family, who had been at my house since my due date, would stop staring at me...literally trying to put me into labor with their looks! I enjoy every second that I have with Aiden and I look forward to every little thing (and big thing) that is to come!
This is what 20 months looks like for Aiden:
Your nickname is Monkey...you love to climb, swing and hang from everything...
You have started to come out of your shell...while visiting family in Rock Hill, SC...Aiden would just grab someone by the hand and take them on a walk...for a little boy who just 2 months ago, only wanted Momma, I was very proud!
You are not a fan high chairs in restaurants...you would rather stand up in a booth...what a big boy!!!
You love keys and cars...you have always loved keys but now that you can say the word...it is too cute..."keeeeey"..."Keeeeeeey" and you love to explore the car...although this Momma learned her lesson when you broke her automatic sunshade and her sun visor all in a 2 minute span...the $2k it is going to cost to fix it made me want to throw up but a valuable, or shall I say costly, lesson was learned!
You learn a new word (or two) everyday...but Elmo is STILL your favorite word!
You love the water (or laler as you call it)...bath tub, faucet, water table, pool or drinks...you just love anything that has to do with water!
This time last year you were sitting in a cooler at the beach...this year you are all over the place in "Aiden's Ocean"...you aren't a huge fan of the soft sand though!
You STILL love gadgets...cell phone, remote control, cameras...you name it...Daddy has yet to let you explore the Ipad (smart Daddy)
We are "working" on our manners...I am trying to teach you "no ma'am"...right now you say "No Man"
Your first sentence..."Uh Oh...It's Broken"
Balls, bubbles and Balloons...still your favorite!
OH....And you are the cutest little boy with the most shining personality!!! (I might be biased but other people have confirmed this)
Every day is Mother's Day when I look at this sweet face!!!
This is what 20 months looks like for Aiden:
Your nickname is Monkey...you love to climb, swing and hang from everything...
You have started to come out of your shell...while visiting family in Rock Hill, SC...Aiden would just grab someone by the hand and take them on a walk...for a little boy who just 2 months ago, only wanted Momma, I was very proud!
You are not a fan high chairs in restaurants...you would rather stand up in a booth...what a big boy!!!
You love keys and cars...you have always loved keys but now that you can say the word...it is too cute..."keeeeey"..."Keeeeeeey" and you love to explore the car...although this Momma learned her lesson when you broke her automatic sunshade and her sun visor all in a 2 minute span...the $2k it is going to cost to fix it made me want to throw up but a valuable, or shall I say costly, lesson was learned!
You learn a new word (or two) everyday...but Elmo is STILL your favorite word!
You love the water (or laler as you call it)...bath tub, faucet, water table, pool or drinks...you just love anything that has to do with water!
This time last year you were sitting in a cooler at the beach...this year you are all over the place in "Aiden's Ocean"...you aren't a huge fan of the soft sand though!
You STILL love gadgets...cell phone, remote control, cameras...you name it...Daddy has yet to let you explore the Ipad (smart Daddy)
We are "working" on our manners...I am trying to teach you "no ma'am"...right now you say "No Man"
Your first sentence..."Uh Oh...It's Broken"
Balls, bubbles and Balloons...still your favorite!
Every day is Mother's Day when I look at this sweet face!!!
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Disney...
So do I even really need to say it? OK, I will! Disney World was a BLAST! It was everything I hoped it would be and then some. There are so many things that I can say about Disney so I will try to post a few different blogs about it!
There were multiple moments at Disney that I felt were "The Moment". My niece Kassidy saying "I can't believe we are really here", driving in to Magic Kingdom the first day and my eyes filled up with tears (thank you sunglasses), my youngest niece, Kasey, saying her favorite part was coming to see me, or just the sheer enjoyment and excitement in the eyes of my family! Aiden was such a TROOPER! My boy loved every minute of Disney!!! He rode on the rides, napped in our arms (or the stroller), waved to the characters (and waved and waved and waved), danced to the music, pointed at everything, repeated everything, waited "patiently" in line, and gave LOTS of hugs! My nieces loved hugs! If I heard "Aiden can I have a hug?" once...I think I heard it a million times...a million times each and every day! Below I will post a few pictures and as time allows I will try to blog about the specifics!!!
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| The Whole Group! |
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| Beautiful |
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| TeaCups...Aiden loved to SPIN |
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| We treated him to an icee! (Kasey in the background) |
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| Animal Kingdom Safari |
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| Animal Kingdom |
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| Hollywood Studios |
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| HUGS (Kasey and Aiden) |
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| High Five! |
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| The Princess Dinner! (Is that face not priceless?) |
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Girlie Crush...
Although I have a long post with lots of pictures from our trip to DISNEY...I am watching the ACM's and just wanted to mention that I love this lady...
AND her performance with Steven Tyler was AMAZING!!!
Kind of silly, I know! But...she is beautiful, talented, humble, classy and I love her style!!!
I wouldn't mind having her figure either....just saying!!!
Kind of silly, I know! But...she is beautiful, talented, humble, classy and I love her style!!!
Sunday, March 20, 2011
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