All is well. No one is complaining. I was just looking through a blog of a sweet boy with EE and he CAN eat the number of food Jude CAN'T eat. Poor little guy. I am so thankful Jude can eat so much. There are so many options out there. And everything he can't eat is not very healthy, so it really is a blessing in disguise (would feel a little more comfortable calling it a "blessing" if it never made Jude throw up or hurt..."). Anywho, we have narrowed it down/expanded it up to:
No wheat
No eggs
No dairy (before we were just no cows milk)
No nuts (before we were just no peanuts and pecans)
No mustard (most recent discovery but no big deal, who needs mustard anyways?!)
We visited our new allergist on Monday (His office is an hour and a half away. That means nap there is no possible time in a 24-hour period where we could go and not miss naptime/nighttime sleep. This led to a very rough trip. After the appointment, we geared up and headed for home when after 25 minutes of driving in what I thought was the right direction, I looked to my side and saw the doctor's office. Biggest circle ever. That takes talent. And was the worse. Jude crying the whole time in the back seat might have added to the stress of the situation. So, we got home six hours after we left. Longest doctor's visit ever.) |
| We are breaking all stigmas and being overly excited to be at our break-apart-sinus-face-man, tear-apart-hygienic-tissue-paper, try-to-reach-into-the-red-garbage-can, and hand the unassuming, straight-faced doctor a melting, gel-oozing ice pack hands-on-museum, I mean, the doctor's office. |
Our big victory was that Jude weighs 21 [twenty-one] pounds! He couldn't break 20 for months. So this. Is. Huge. He is basically huge. We are hugely proud. And excited. And feeling really good about life. His Neocate formula and ridiculous daily amounts of olive oil are paying off! I was literally cheering and hugging and kissing and shouting for joy at the office. The nurse undoubtedly thought I was overreacting a little bit.
They did another round of patch testing for allergies. (Thank goodness for breastfeeding. That is the only thing that can keep a busy, tired toddler still and happy for 15 minutes.)
The results were very surprising.
Without getting into too much boring detail, he tested NOT ALLERGIC to milk and wheat. But if we're going to go by those results than he would also be considered allergic to several other things that he wasn't before. So we are just ignoring those. Since his current diet is going well we are just keeping him on it and not jumping to any conclusions.
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| "What are you looking at, Mama?" |
But hello....
HOPE anyone?!
Hope that he may grow out (or may already be in the process) of his wheat and milk allergies?! So exciting.
Like I have said, I have learned so much by being the cook (or "chef," I prefer...) around here. I'm thankful that this has all occurred with my first and we found out while he was so young before he was ate any junky foods. Now I will have the horse sense and know-how to feed my other children a healthful diet with REAL FOOD (as opposed to enriched, genetically modified laboratory-made specimens that most of us eat on a regular basis... icky). I will not pass on the debilitating addictions of a SAD (Standard American Diet) to my sweet, innocent, unassuming children whose health is completely in my hands.
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| A little outdoor explorations before our journey home. |
I am so very thankful for everything I am learning and that my perfect angel child hasn't been corrupted by genetically modified or just ridiculously unhealthy salty and sugary foodstuffs. I need to take my own advice and start eating more like Jude does!
Fiesta Lime Chicken tonight... only had to substitute the mustard. I used apple cider vinegar and it definitely gave it a kick. Overall, mmm... delicious and I would certainly recommend.
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Enough of all that, now let me indulge myself and gush about how perfect and wonderful Jude is and how in love with him I am.
We have a lot of fun together. He sits on my tummy and bounces. He crawls on top of my face when I'm laying down and sticks his bum in my face (we can't really figure out why he enjoys this but it's funny).
We kiss each other a lot. He will occasionally stop whatever he is doing, come over to me and give me a hug, and then continue with his activity. Heart... melted.
He sits on my lap while I sew sometimes and opens the little secret compartment and I try prevent his hands from getting caught in moving parts. I let him get really dirty. Splashing in mud puddles, rolling around in grass, smooshing his hands around in ashes and soot (literally) or dirt, whatever. Meal time is without fail a huge loss of all cleanliness. It usually turns into a cooking show with Jude as the star as he shows his audience (me) how to pour everything out and make the biggest mess ever (as I am secretly feeding him while he doesn't notice). He goes through several outfits a day. And so do.
I always hold him on my right hip and he always wraps his left arm so tight behind me. Whenever I give him a drink or anything to eat when I am holding him he almost always wipes his mouth off on my shirt. Lots of laundry goin' on over here.
Quite a bit of time every day is spent with him outside running around and exploring and doing whatever he wants and I just follow him trying to prevent injuries.
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| He blows on all his food, hot or cold! |
He is learning his hygiene. The other day I just randomly handed him a square of toilet paper and he wiped... no big deal. When he is in the tub he gets soap on his hand and rubs it all over his chest to clean off. The other day he grabbed a little hotel body of shampoo, "poured" it out into his hand, and started lathering up that hair like no-one's business. At first I thought he had an itchy head and then I realized... smartest baby ever.
About once a week or two he will kindly request to be placed in his little baby swing and he will sit in there for about thirty seconds and pull on the mobile and thoroughly enjoy it.
There is never a time he doesn't want to go outside. Don't you dare say the words "outside," "play," or "go," unless you are 60 seconds or less from opening the door or there will be a meltdown. The other day he was trying to patiently wait for me to get ready to go, as he was already ready and waiting by the door, so he found my shoe and handed it to me.
He is really helpful around the house. I will hand the wet clothes to him and he'll fill the dryer. He will hand me the utensils from the dishwasher and I'll put them away. He will put things away when we ask him ("put Daddy's shoes in the closet") and he throws anything away that we ask him to.
He loves to give things to people. Whether it's a toy, food, whatever... he just finds joy in giving things to others. The other day I was in the living room and he walked in from the kitchen and handed me a dried up black bean. "Thank you, honey!!!!!!!" (in a ridiculously over-excited voice)
When Daddy gets home he gets the biggest grin on his face and shouts "Dad! Dad! Dad! Daddy!!!" and runs to him and gives him a hug. It's Dan's favorite thing in the world.
There is a little pet bunny in the backyard who always hops around the same place and Jude knows where the bunny is and is always the first one to spot him. He says "BUBBBBAAA!!!!!!" and gets sooo excited!
The other day we were playing in the front and our little lizard pet, Carlisle, showed himself after a long winter hibernation. Jude was thoroughly mesmerized by this little creature and points and shouts at the pavement the lizard was on, waiting anxiously for his return.
Mama is his new favorite word. He says it a lot. Usually in hysteria. It is cried out when he's tired, cranky, sad, hungry, not getting his way (temper tantrums have found us and are short, sweet, ignored, and actually pretty cute) or wants something. It's his cry for help. I'm okay with that. :)
"NO!" He's throwin' that out there now. He knows exactly what it means and when to say it. Yesterday was a very long day (accidentally took his nap an hour and a half early so the rest of the day dragged a little bit) and it was late in the afternoon and we were both wondering if bedtime would ever come. I had some folded laundry on the couch and Jude started throwing it off. I said "No Jude." He looked at me, picked up another peice, and defiantly said "NO" and he threw it off the couch. And then did it five more times. Let's also not forget about when we (Meghan, Joslin, and us) were playing in the kiddy pool outside (which an hour of scrubbing, hosing, and cleaning before we were in it was a cest pool of slugs, mud, and worms) and Jude kept trying to drink the water. This elicited a very firm "NO" from me. But he kept doing it. Over and over. Sticking his little hand in the water then sucking it into his mouth. He was being a little stinker. Then in the tub after the bath he did it again. When he is doing something he knows he shouldn't he shakes his head back and forth as he's doing it (no, no, no butttt iiiii caannnn''tttt stoooppp!).
I'm stopping now, not for lack of content but because my computer is about to die.
So to sum it up, I love this little 16-month-old angel more than life itself. We have a lot of fun together.
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