Break in the Clouds?

Break in the Clouds?
We are now lice-free for 1.5 weeks!  Yay!

Also, the Little Guy's digestive system has improved (although still needs more improvement).  We've cut out all soy from the kiddo's diet, which is actually more difficult than originally thought, because apparently a lot of baked goods, snacks, and processed foods have added soy in them, like soy protein, soybean oil, etc..  So I'm pretty much dedicating a good amount of time to baking and improvising breakfast and snack foods for him.  We are also currently on the lookout for soy-free, dairy-free, egg-free butter-substitute (for baking), as well as shortening for baking (all shortenings, that I have found, contain soy).  Also, all the coconut oil containers in my local supermarket say "processed in a plant that also processes peanuts" (or some variation of that phrase).

We tried to re-introduce baked eggs and milk, after the digestive issues cleared up, but things got a tad mushy again, so we will be cutting out the baked milk and egg again, and working on a tolerance test... how much baked egg, and what quantities of baked milk are ok?  Everything is pretty much a guessing game now, regarding his tolerance levels.  The one good thing about Little Guy's new restricted diet is that both he and his sister get to eat some freshly baked goods, rather than store-bought baked goods.

Lull in the Storm?
Recently Little Guy has been breaking out in hives at his sister's elementary school, during pick-up time.  We are usually there for about 10 minutes, maybe 15 minutes, and he will develop hives on his face.  This has happened only a handful of times, but enough times that it is concerning.  I have a theory as to what it is, but I'm not going to test it.

In a few weeks, the Little Guy will see the Allergist.  We have a long list of things to discuss with the Allergist...

Also, in a few weeks, we will receive Little Lady's first-term report card for Kindergarten.  I wonder what it will say?

Toddler Health

For the past few months little N's digestive system hasn't been up to par, so for several weeks we've started an elimination diet.  Firstly we've eliminated all dairy and egg sources, therefore no muffins, cookies, or other baked goods that contain egg or dairy.  There's been no improvement.  

We are now cutting out soy products.  No soy-anything, which I am finding sad and difficult to do in his diet.  This limits his Asian food, and even more (store-bought) baked items, since right now he is also avoiding egg and dairy everything.  I am so glad that he likes rice, though, because that will be his go-to starch from now on (if it wasn't already).

To accommodate his new diet, I am now baking him "special" foods.  Special muffins, special cake, special cookies, etc..  I am hoping that he is young enough that he doesn't feel that he is left out of too much eating choices.  So what is special about these homemade baked items?  I substitute everything... substitute the egg, dairy, and milk.  My kitchen now has an assortment of vegan items, like vegan butter blocks for baking, vegan butter-type spread, even some vegan muffins since they contain no dairy or egg.

We began this diet on Monday, and it should be done for a full two weeks, for us to notice a difference.  If there is no difference, then we move onto the next elimination.  I am hoping that the issue is soy, because the next elimination will be even more tough.  Keep your fingers crossed that we figure this out soon!

A Long-Awaited Post (sort of)

It's been months since my last post.  Since then, my oldest Sis has returned from New Zealand with tales, and souvenirs from Middle Earth.  Sis #2 has also returned for a 1 week visit, sporting a fashionable belly bump!  And Twin Sis's family and my family are suffering and/or recovering from a miserable virus that is mostly affecting the kiddos.  Oh Joy!!  Oh, and last but not least, BIL and family have returned from Japan, with many pics and videos of a family wedding/reunion.

On the home-front, we've had our confirmation from our Allergist, that Baby N is indeed allergic to cow's milk protein.  Recently we've also learned of his allergy to eggs when we fed him scrambled eggs, one evening, for dinner.  The results were miserable.  The solution - avoid feeding the kiddo any cow's milk or egg - and carry an epipen and Claritin/Benadryl at all times as these are "life-threatening" allergies.  Sadness for all of us.

The bright spot to this, is that cooking the proteins at high temperatures, for a lengthy period of time, alters the protein enough that Baby N will tolerate it.  This means, he can have baked goods, with no reaction.  However, stove-top cooking is NOT enough to change the protein.  It must be at a high temperature for a lengthy period of time.  At least Baby N is not allergic to wheat/gluten!  We have not tested him for any additional allergies, though, including strawberries, shellfish, or nuts.  We'll just play it safe for now, since his older sis B was allergic to strawberries and shellfish when she was a babe.

At least we now have answers, and we know what can be safely fed to the little guy.  We also have hope that these allergies will be outgrown, eventually.  When, exactly, is a mystery, but hopefully he will outgrow them before he reaches 2-digit numbers in age!