Open Letter to Everyone Who Wants to Touch My Baby

 
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Last weekend I went to one of my oldest friends baby shower.  It was a lovely party for her and her baby, and I was so glad I got to share in the experience with her.  She looks gorgeous, and her son is already so blessed!

But, it was nerve-wracking for me, in a way.  Bringing a baby to a baby shower is like bringing cupcakes to a pre-teen girls slumber party.  EVERYONE wants to grab!  So I spent a good portion of the party fending people off and offering explanations.  They were all very nice about it, just to be clear!  My friend has a lovely group of friends; if I lived closer, I would like to get to know them all better.

Still, kindness and understanding aside, it was a high anxiety experience for me, and reminded me of some thoughts I’ve had before about the random stranger/acquaintance who doesn’t know about FPIES encounters we’ve had.  So, I thought I would share with you what I wish the World At Large already knew about Touching My Son.

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NoTouchingJPEG

To All the Random People in the World Who Would Like to Touch my Son,

My son, with all his adorable chubby, gummy grinned babyness, is a nearly irresistible draw.  I know this.  If I were you, I would be sorely tempted to pinch his little cheeks, grab his little hand, bop him on the nose, and grin at him while making cooing noises to muster a smile.

He’s just so darn cute!

But here’s the thing: DON’T DO IT.

My son has a very rare, very weird disease that means ingesting the smallest trace of one of his triggers could bring about any variety of his symptoms: eczema, mucousy stool, bloody stool, acidic diaper rash burns, crying, discomfort, heightened respiration, vomiting, diarrhea, hypovolemic shock, and, just to underscore the seriousness of his condition, if I were not aware of his symptoms and disease and didn’t address it quickly, this could lead to actual death.

(Fortunately I am aware of his symptoms and disease and always address things quickly with him, but, you get the idea.)

I’m not being mean, paranoid, overprotective, antisocial or any of the other things I’m sure you think of me when I tell you not to touch my son.  I’m simply protecting him.

Because you know that random soap you used to wash your hands in the public restroom?  I don’t know what is in it.   And if you didn’t rinse your hands well enough, and the soap has an unsafe ingredient for my son…well, you just put your poisonous hands all over my teething sons fingers, which means that he’s going to transfer that soap into his mouth, which means at least a week (or longer) of pain and discomfort for him.

Worse, you know that floral scented hand cream you used after you realized the unknown-ingredient-soap from the bathroom had dried out your skin?  I speak from experience here: my son can react to your hand cream.  

‘OK’,  you say, ‘I won’t touch his hands.’   (Which, really, no one should EVER touch a babies hands because – EW – do you know where your hands have been?  And do you really think a small baby needs those kinds of cooties in their mouth?)  ‘I’ll just hold him.‘

Sounds good in theory, but he’ll reach his little hand up and pat your face at some point, almost guaranteed.  And then he’ll put that little hand into his mouth.

Unless you’re a total hippie, you probably wear some kind of makeup.  Do you know what’s in your foundation?  Because they often put things like soy and coconut and corn in makeup, and at least two of those are poisonous to my son.

I won’t watch my son cry in pain, tend to a blistering acidic diaper rash, and endure a day of vomiting just to humor your urge to touch an adorable baby.

And I’d like to explain all of this to you, so you don’t think I’m weird or rude for denying you what you think of as a God-given right, but frankly it’s exhausting going over this every time I encounter someone new.  My life is exhausting enough without adding this extra stress.

Besides, the truth is, you really don’t care.  It’s just like when you say “How’s it going?” to someone; it’s a formality – you don’t really want to hear them say “Actually, it sucks.  My dog just died and I got fired.”  You want them to say “Great!” and move on.

You don’t want to hear that my son is sick, because that disrupts your vision of how this exchange would take place.  

I’m not saying you’re heartless – of course not!  I’m sure that you really will  be sad to hear what my son has to go through, how he suffers, and you will be sympathetic and moved by his story.

But hearing his tale of woe is not the way you thought this would play out, is it?

You thought you’d play with the baby, get a little “baby fix”, engage in the socially approved  behavior of complimenting a woman on her gorgeous child, and head on your merry way.

Which is how this SHOULD play out.  Except, it can’t.  

It just can’t.  

And it makes me feel rotten.  It reminds me, when my world needs no reminding, that my son is sick.  He’s different.  The normal world is scary for us, now, and on the rare occasion that I get to engage in that world, I hate being reminded that the best and safest place for us is at home, alone.

Plus, now I know that I’ve brought a big “Debbie Downer” moment into your day, and I don’t like doing that to people.  Deflating someone’s balloon is never fun.  (Unless it’s helium and you can talk in a funny voice, but that’s sort of a different train of thought.)

But I really can’t get into all of this with you, so I’ll simply say “Please don’t touch my son.”, and let you think I’m overprotective, antisocial, unpleasant, rude, mean, bizarre, or a b***h.

Whatever you want to think, honey.  I don’t care.  

My sons health isn’t worth risking your touch, and my emotional state can’t handle rehashing our life story for a stranger.

But do me a favor, please?  When I’ve told you to not touch my son, don’t. touch. my. son.

Whether you think I’m right, wrong, or insane, I am his Mother.  That earns me the right to say what I will and will not allow to happen to him.  

It also gives me the right to become really  angry when you disobey my request.

So, World at Large?

Don’t Touch My Son.

Hugs, Kisses, and Sunshiny Thanks,
Cradle Rocking Mama

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And to close this out on a positive note, thanks to the people in our lives who DO already know all of this and are so very good about not letting Mr. Happy chew on them!  You make our lives better by being so respectful and supportive.  In case there was ANY confusion, I wrote this about the people who are NOT a part of our lives and DON’T know what our situation is like.  

Expressive Help

 
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I wanna TALK, Mama!!

I wanna TALK, Mama!!

Last Friday Mr. Charm was evaluated by the speech therapist.

He qualified.

She evaluated him on four things: expressive, receptive, articulation, and (physical) oral difficulties.  Of course, we were really only concerned about his expressive abilities, and sure enough, that is what he qualified for help with.

She has to write her report, send it to Early Intervention, then they must approve it and send it back, and then we will be called to schedule his sessions.  The therapist recommended two sessions per week.

I think Mr. Charm is going to love speech therapy.  He pitched the BIGGEST hissy fit when we had to leave – the entire evaluation was done via play, and I think he had more fun in that two hours than he had the entire week prior!  The therapist sat on the floor with him, asking him to do things, and he just loved showing off for her.  He constantly asked for  more toys and amazed her with his motor skill prowess.  It confirmed for me something we’ve known for a long time: Mr. Charm has AMAZING motor skills!

They even have an entire room filled with trains.  It’s like Mr. Charm’s fantasy come to life!

I warned her to never, EVER let him have therapy in that room, because he would be so engrossed in trains the therapist may as well try training a pig to dance the flamenco.  She laughed, but she made a note of my warning.

The one drawback is that the rooms are not visible to the parents; I’m not entirely sure I’m comfortable with leaving Mr. Charm alone with a stranger.  I know, I know, they’re therapist there to help him.  And I’m not overly paranoid in general – we don’t teach ‘stranger danger’ the way most people do.  Back when I was a waddling pregnant woman, I even encouraged strangers in stores to grab Mr. Charm when he was running away from me!

But a (mostly) non-verbal child can’t tell me if things are “not kosher” with his therapist, and there are…unsavory…people in all professions.

If I can swing it, I’m going to request the therapist who performed the evaluation.  She was very professional, very sweet, and I got incredibly good vibes off of her.  I would be okay with her.  I don’t know the other therapists, yet, so for now, I’m going to try and make it happen this way.

Besides, Mr. Charm really liked her, too.  I think he would respond well to her for therapy.

Still, on the plus side, since I can’t be IN the therapy sessions with him, I can possibly have two hours FREE every week!!  As long as I bring safe snacks for him, and train his therapist in the use of his dipenhydramine and Epi-pen (they use snacks – all of which are unsafe for Mr. Charm – in some of their therapy) in case he accidentally gets an unsafe snack, I can take Mr. Happy and run some quick errands, or wander the bookstore, or browse the craft store, or just window shop at the mall!  (I can’t afford to buy anything in any of those places, but just being able to focus on something out in public other than Mr. Charm’s antics will be such a breather for me!)

So I’m looking forward to this.

Although, as much as Mr. Charm likes to interact with us, and as much as he’s attempting conversation (now that he’s off the fructose), I have a feeling in 6 months when he’s talking non-stop we’ll wonder if we made the right decision!

Like Lauren Bacall said in “The Mirror Has Two Faces” when her daughter told her off: “I should never have encouraged you to speak.”  (I love  that line!)

Nah.  I make jokes, but honestly I can’t WAIT to hear what Mr. Charm wants to say.  He’s so bright and creative, I’m sure he’ll keep us in stitches for years to come.

Not to mention the heart-melting things he’ll say.  He just learned a new word: help.  So he asks for help directly, now, and also, comes up to us begging  to help US with things!  Just melts my little heart with his sweetness.

Yep.  I’m looking forward to this.

How do you feel about leaving your non-verbal child alone with a stranger, even a therapist?  Am I just having a hard time breaking the umbilical?

Beef Rationing

 
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Ah, the glory days of 322 pounds of beef in the freezer.

Well, it finally happened.

I mentioned in November that I didn’t think our beef supply was going to last until our next cow came back from butchering.  I was right.

I’ve been rationing my meat consumption for almost a month now.  Weeks of eating Hamburger Hash at pretty much every meal, and I think it’s safe to say the monotony is getting to me.

Plus, my energy levels are dragging.  I know I’ve been sick, and haven’t been getting enough sleep, but I know the lack of protein in my diet is affecting me, too.

So I had to buy grass-fed beef at the co-op.  

The 3 steaks and 3 pounds of ground beef I bought cost almost 1/10th as much as buying a WHOLE COW.

What a racket.  

Still, I’m grateful the racket exists, because now I can have hamburgers and steaks again until our cow comes back from the butcher.  It was taken in last Monday, so hopefully we’ll have it back this week sometime.  

I’m positively drooling at the thought of a nice Rib steak, and some more pot roast, and even though I have to save it for when I go back to work, the delicious beef jerky I’ll be able to make from all the round steak.  Oh, yum!

Strangely, even though the diet is now at the extreme end of monotonous, I still like eating the Hamburger Hash.  Weird, right?  I guess good food is good food, even when you eat it every. single. meal.

Well, I just can’t wait to see our freezer full of beef again.  Rationing stinks.

Anyone else been down to eating the same thing for every meal?  How long did that last for you, and what did you most look forward to when you could eat other things?

Make Your Own Corn-Free Vanilla Extract

 
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Back in November I wrote about whether vanilla extract was fructose-free or not.  In that post, I mentioned that I make my own vanilla.

There are tons of tutorials on this on the internet, but since I had to start a new bottle I figured I’d show you how I do it.

This is especially useful information if you are a corn-intolerant person, because in my previous post I learned that many vodka’s are made with corn, not potatos.  The argument could be made that the corn in a bottle of vodka shouldn’t cause any problems in a corn-intolerant person.

The argument could be made that children should have NO reactions to elemental formula, either.  But my son DID.  To TWO OF THEM.

So I’m taking no chances with something as simple to fix as what kind of vodka I use in my homemade vanilla extract.

I’ve read that people use different types of liquor for their vanilla extract: rum, bourbon, etc.  I stick with vodka.  It’s basically flavorless, and I want the vanilla to stand out.

SO.  Head to your nearest liquor store and ask them for a bottle of potato based vodka.  I had looked online for the best potato vodka before I went, and so I was all prepared to come home with a bottle of Monopolowa, which is an Austrian vodka made of potatos.  It ranked as one of the best potato vodka’s out there.  (But still cheap!)

My local liquor store, however, doesn’t carry Monopolowa.  The man asked me why I requested that particular bottle, and when I told him I needed a potato based vodka he recommended another brand that they DID carry.  I double checked online and saw that it was, in fact, potato based, so that’s what I got.  Vikingfjord vodka from Norway.

Vikingsfjord Vodka

Vikingsfjord Vodka

You’ll also need to get some vanilla beans.  My local health food co-op helpfully carries vanilla beans that I can buy individually, but lots of people buy theirs online.  Because I haven’t had to buy my vanilla beans online, I can’t recommend any particular website for purchasing them.  Try to find plain vanilla beans, and if you’re dealing with Fructose Malabsorption, try to find them NOT packed in sugar.

When you’ve got your two ingredients home, it’s a simple process.

Take your vanilla beans and, using a sharp knife, slice through ONE side of the bean lengthwise.  This opens up the bean so the vanilla inside is exposed, but the bean is still intact.  (This is easier than it sounds.)

 

Vanilla Beans sliced open on one side

Vanilla Beans sliced open on one side

Then pour out (or drink, if you can) about a shot’s worth of vodka from the bottle.  Start sticking your sliced vanilla beans into the bottle.

 

I stuck about 17 or 18 vanilla beans in mine, but 10 would probably have been enough

I stuck about 17 or 18 vanilla beans in mine, but 10 would probably have been enough

I ended up with about 17 vanilla beans in my bottle, because I had them and why not?  I didn’t have anything else to use them for!  You’d only truly need about 10 beans for a regular sized bottle of vodka, though.

After you’ve put your beans in your vodka, store it in a cool, dark place.  Shake it every day for a week or two, then every week from then on out.  After about 3 months, it’s done!

Day 2

Day 2

Week 3 (18 days)

Day 18

I may come back and update with a picture after it is done, but I might forget.

You can clearly see, though, how quickly it starts turning into a beautiful vanilla extract shade.

When it has infused long enough (I usually smell it – if it smells more vanilla than vodka, it’s done), simply pour the vanilla through a filter (to catch any sediment) into a glass bottle for storage.

Once you’ve started using your vanilla extract, you can buy another bottle of vodka and just keep pouring more vodka into the bottle with the vanilla beans as you use it up.  Eventually you’ll notice it taking longer and longer to turn into vanilla; that’s when you know it is time for new beans.

I used my beans for almost a year, the last time I made vanilla.  Sadly, I was using corn-based vodka and so I couldn’t keep it going for longer to see how much use I could actually get out of those beans.

It really does taste delicious, and it is actually cheaper (by far!) than buying the ‘good’ vanilla extract in the store.  

The bottle of vodka is 750 mL.  A good quality vanilla is sold in 4 oz bottles.  Doing the math, that means the vodka will equal to 25.3 oz. (minus whatever you removed in order to fit the beans in the bottle).  For the sake of argument, say you only removed one ounce.  So 24.3 oz. of vanilla from this bottle.

The total cost for this bottle of vanilla ‘should’ be $26.50.  I spent $15.00 on the vodka, and using the correct amount of beans (ten) would have cost me $11.50.  (I used more, but again, it wasn’t necessary.)

So per ounce, the homemade is $1.09 per ounce.

The store bought is $2.06 per ounce.  

If you bake a lot, that is some SERIOUS  savings!

Even using the large quantity of vanilla beans that I did brings it up to a whopping $1.47 per ounce – which is still a huge savings.

So it’s worth it for taste, and worth it for money to make your own vanilla – not to mention worth it for avoiding CORN!

It also makes an excellent gift; any true baker would really appreciate this in their kitchen!

I hope you try this; if you do, let me know how it turns out for you!  Have you ever made your own vanilla extract before?

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One Week on the New Bedtime Routine

 
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photo courtesy of Victor Habbick at http://freedigitalphotos.netEvery fiber of my being yearns to sleep in this bed on this beach. Alone.

photo courtesy of Victor Habbick at http://freedigitalphotos.net
Alas, still just a fantasy for me.

We started a new bedtime routine for the adults in the Cradle Rocking Casa last week, and it turned out…interesting.  I thought I’d share how it worked out.

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The first night was Thursday, the 10th.  As promised, I went to bed with the kids.  And I laid in bed, wide awake, until 11:00 p.m.

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Friday the 11th, we were a little slow getting the bedtime routine started for the kids so we weren’t all in bed until closer to 8:30 p.m. (rather than our usual 8:00 p.m.).  I was sound asleep by 9:30 p.m., but I slept horribly!  Bad dreams and frequent wake-ups plagued me all night long.

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Saturday the 12th, we were so busy un-decorating the house from Christmas that I didn’t get any kitchen cleaning or diaper folding done during daylight hours.  Even though the kids were in bed at their normal bedtime, I got busy cleaning up and wound up staying awake until <hangs head> 2:30 a.m.  Hey – I mentioned I was a night owl by nature!  Once I finished the kitchen, the diapers, tidying up the living room, I was inspired by something and wanted to write about it so I got busy blogging, and next thing I knew?  It was the middle of the night!  Ugh!

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Sunday the 13th, the kids were down by 8:15 p.m.  Or so we thought.  Mr. Happy was sound asleep…until I tried to get out of bed.  The instant my feet touched the floor, he popped awake with a cry.  I jumped back into bed, and tried to nurse him back to sleep.

That’s when the Geek decided to get some ice out of the freezer, and the ice decided to come out in a big clump that broke into two large pieces that banged like a drum as they fell back into the ice bin.  Mr. Happy popped up, wide awake, and started bouncing.  The Geek was SO apologetic, I capitalized on his guilt and handed the wide-awake baby over to Daddy!  I only had a couple of little things I needed to do on the computer and I had every intention of heading off to bed quickly.

Before I could get to the office, Mr. Charm came out of his bedroom.  “Baby?” he asked.  I told him that Daddy had the baby, but he wasn’t happy with that answer.  I went back into his room and tried to put him to sleep, but he was still not happy with the fact that his brother was crying so loudly.  I turned on the white noise machine to try and drown out the cries and soothe him to sleep.

He came back out to the kitchen a few minutes later, pointing to his ears and saying “Boo-boo!”  then he dragged me into his bedroom and pointed at the white noise machine.  Apparently, it offends his ears.  Who knew?

Then he still wouldn’t go to sleep because of his brothers crying.  He kept asking for his brother, with this adorable, sad look on his face, pointing to his ears and saying “Boo-boo”.  Finally I traded kiddos with the Geek, and by about 10:00 p.m., both kids were actually asleep.  After finishing the things I needed to do, we didn’t get to bed until closer to midnight.

Then, Mr. Happy had such horrible teething pain that he woke me up at 3:00 a.m. and the two of us couldn’t get back to sleep until a little after 4:30 a.m.  Plus, he nursed every 2 hours all night long.  What a rotten night.

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Monday the 14th, we made the tough call to give Mr. Happy some acetaminophen for his teething pain at night.  I was almost done letting my fellow FPIES Mama’s on Facebook know what we had decided (their input had helped guide us in our decision, as our GI never bothered to call us back today) when Mr. Happy woke back up and needed to nurse again.  So I didn’t get to bed until almost 11:00 p.m., and he woke up again  wanting to nurse.  So sleep didn’t come until closer to 11:30 p.m.

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Tuesday the 15th, I thought I’d be clever and “stuff” Mr. Happy with an extra feeding at 7:00 p.m. – just early enough that he’d still eat at bedtime, but close enough that his little belly would be extra full and he’d maybe not wake up until after midnight.

It backfired.  He fell asleep!  I interrupted his feeding to quick change him into his pajamas and give him his acetaminophen, then raced to the bedroom to finish nursing him back to sleep.

Apparently, it was a power nap.  Charged him right up until he finally went down at 9:30 p.m.  Ugh.  So, I didn’t fall asleep until a little after 11:00 p.m.

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Wednesday the 16th, the Geek had his tooth yanked out of his head.  Consequently, he was on pain killers and not exactly feeling 100%.  Therefore, I took on the brunt of the bedtime routine duties for both kiddos, which made bedtime, um, late.  Then, in an ever-so-wistful manner, the Geek mentioned that he really  wished we had some bananas to make some more banana ice cream because that would sure make his mouth feel better.

Since Mr. Happy was in pain and not wanting to go to sleep yet, I figured I’d kill two birds with one stone: put Mr. Happy in his carseat and drive him into beddy-bye while heading out to the grocery store to buy some bananas for the Geek.  (They recently opened a grocery store about 12 minutes from our house, as opposed to our previous 30 minute drive.)

It worked.  Mr. Happy was out within minutes of leaving the house (A-MEN!) and I arrived home with enough bananas for 6 batches of ice cream.

By the time the bananas were sliced up and in the freezer, and everything else was taken care of, it was after midnight before we got to bed.

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So, that was one week of my big attempt to go to bed when the children do.

I’d say I failed miserably.  

I did manage to get to bed earlier than my midnight-1:00 a.m. usual for 4 nights out of 7, so I guess that’s something, but still.  Didn’t exactly meet my goal this week.

As with anything in life, it boils down to two things:

1. Things IN my control.
2. Things OUT of my control.

For my part, if I want to have a chance at all to go to bed by 8:00-9:00 p.m., I have to prepare for it as early as three or four in the afternoon.

The kitchen needs to be clean enough that after-dinner cleanup is quick and easy.
Whatever laundry I’m doing needs to be done before the Geek gets home from work.
Any computer work I need to do needs to be done at naptime.

Because if I get OUT of bed for any reason after nursing Mr. Happy to sleep?  I’m not going to bed before 11:00 p.m.

On the flip side, there are things outside of my control.  I have kids – unpredictable is the name of the game!  They will fight bedtime, have teething pain, wake up in the middle of the night, drag out bath time as long as possible, and generally make things hard on their parents regarding sleep.

Furthermore, I have kids with medical issues.  They have reactions that make you worry and want to check on them as they sleep.  They have reactions that make it impossible for them to sleep.  They have reactions that make you get on the computer to seek out any help or advice you can get, even if you choose to give up sleep to do so.

Not to mention, it IS life, after all.  Who could have predicted the Geek would break a tooth in half this week?  The unknown can always jump up and wreak your plans. 

So, in the end, I learned what I need to do to get to bed early.

I’ll keep trying to make it happen.

But at least now I know that in reality?  It probably won’t.  

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Anyone else happy to just get in bed before midnight?  

It’s Always Something

 
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Monday night, the Geek woke up in the middle of the night and went to eat some cereal.  Somehow, a bite of cereal managed to crack one of his teeth!  He said it hurt like crazy, and was not feeling very well Tuesday.

The dentist said the tooth is not salvageable, so today he’s going in to have it yanked.  Then we get to discuss what options ($$$) are available for replacing his tooth.  Yay.

Monday night, we made the tough decision to give Mr. Happy some acetaminophen for his teething pain.  Sunday night he did the “wake up lots and comfort nurse and moan loudly in pain” thing all night long and it wore. me. out.  The ice teether thing helps during the daytime, but I can’t replace ice cubes every ten minutes during the night so they’re no help then!

Ibuprofen works on his pain, but also is a mild, slow trigger for him.  We didn’t want to do it again, not after caving in earlier in the month.

BUT…he’s on the tail end of a reaction (probably to that ibuprofen!) and I was seriously concerned that he might react to the acetaminophen just because his system wasn’t at baseline yet.  I didn’t want to ‘ruin’ acetaminophen for him just because of some teething pain.

The Mama’s on the FPIES boards said some of them have had good luck with pain relieving suppositories, but the one most recommended has corn in it and Mr. Happy, we think, reacts to corn.  The idea of putting something his body doesn’t like directly into his rectum was horrifying.  And there wasn’t time before bed to get suppositories compounded specially for him.

The ladies also recommended amber necklaces, which most wrap around the babies ankles at night with a sock over it.  Apparently it releases a type of pain reliever into the skin on contact, and some of the ladies swear by them.  But, not enough time to order one online.

SO…we gave him the acetaminophen.  

It helped, but not as much as ibuprofen did.  We gave him another dose at about 9:00 a.m. He seemed fine!  I was so relieved!  Then came The Signs…

  • Two diarrhea diapers.  And they STANK.
  • The Red Ring of Doom (aka Allergy Ring – a red ring around the anus that signifies a reaction)
  • Bright red cheeks
  • Spit up

It’s not a major reaction, but it’s enough for me to yank acetaminophen and call it a “not safe” medicine.  It’s a sign his body doesn’t like it, and that’s enough for me.

I miss baseline.

Around the time we were giving Mr. Happy his second dose of poison, Mr. Charm was happily munching away on a piece of rye bread (a new loaf I found at the health food store after our cross-contamination problem) slathered with peanut butter and a clementine.

Suddenly, mid-meal, he ran to the bathroom and dug around until he found the Neosporin. We wrestled it away from him, but he started crying “Boo-boo!” until finally the Geek asked him “Do you have a boo-boo?”

He stopped crying long enough to say “uh-huh!”

The Geek asked where his boo-boo was, and Mr. Charm stuck out his tongue.  He really wanted us to slather Neosporin on his tongue!  The Geek told him we couldn’t put it on his tongue, and said “Is that your only boo-boo?”

Mr. Charm shook his head ‘no’ and pointed to his cheeks and his throat.  I had noticed that his face looked a little red, but when he did that I looked closer.  His face was red – but only around his mouth and on his cheeks.

Sorry about the red eye Poor kiddo.

(Sorry about the red eye) Poor kiddo.

His face had done that a few times over the last week, but I had attributed it to the cold, dry weather.  Thinking on it, it only happened on days when he ate the new rye bread with peanut butter.

Oh, hell.

So we gave him a dose of dipenhydramine (Benadryl) and his face started to clear up right away.  Oh, double hell.

About 3 or 4 hours later, his red face was back.  He was eating lunch and he suddenly started crying and pointing to his chest, throat and mouth saying “Boo-boo!”  Another dose of dipenhydramine for the reaction that wouldn’t end.

We gave him another dose at bedtime as a precaution – we won’t be in there monitoring him every moment and this might help stave off anything worse until morning.

So now we have an email in to the manufacturer of the new rye bread, asking about their manufacturing practices, cleaning practices between lines, and possible cross-contamination issues.

And we’ve gotten rid of all the peanut butter in the house.  Just in case.  

The Mama’s on the boards all agreed: it could be any one of those foods – but you Don’t Mess With A Peanut Allergy.  And while Mr. Charm only barely tested reactive to peanut when he was 1 year old (the allergist assured me that his prick test basically amounted to him having a skin sensitivity to peanut, but that it was fine to eat), the Mama’s confirmed what I thought I had heard before: a peanut allergy can manifest from nothing to deadly from one exposure to peanuts to the next.  

So I know at least ONE test we’ll make sure to do in Atlanta in a couple of weeks!

This was just an icky, yucky day for the boys in my life.  I’m so tired of the constant something  that we have to deal with.  We so rarely get long stretches of “things are good”.  Every time we turn around it seems like something happens that rocks our world and messes with our health.

It feels kinda bi-polar at times.

I hate the idea that on top of everything else, we may have a peanut IgE to deal with.  THAT  is scary.  Really scary.  

And even counting my sore throat that still hasn’t gone away?  I’m the member of the family doing the BEST right now.

That’s just sad.

Anyone else ever had an IgE pop up out of nowhere on a previously safe food?  Anyone else ever crack a tooth on something as harmless as cereal?  Anyone else have no pain reliever you can give your baby any more?  Anyone else – to steal a phrase from the FPIES FB board – want out of the crazy?

Banana Ice Cream

 
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I have something SO awesome to share with you, I can hardly stand it!

I can take NO credit whatsoever for this delicious concoction.

Most of my recipes are my own creations, or such a major overhaul of someone else’s idea that I can still claim it as my own.

This, however, is strictly the brilliance of Use Real Butter.  And even then, credit is given to  Apartment Therapy’s The Kitchn.  And THAT author gives credit to her sister!

So, to Apartment Therapy’s Sister, I humbly bow and give great thanks and Squee’s!  (And terrific thanks to the other site’s for sharing this amazingness-in-a-bowl!)

WHAT is so worthy of such lavish praise, you wonder?

BANANA ICE CREAM.

Not banana flavored  ice cream, but actual ice cream made out of bananas!  I know, right?!

What are you to do for ice cream when your child can have NO milk, NO eggs, and NO coconut?? (Because coconut milk ice cream was my answer to the ice cream question until we learned about his Fructose Malabsorption.)  Oh, and how are you to sweeten it when your child can’t have Fructose?

I basically had decided my poor sweetie would just have to do without ice cream from here on out.  Sad, but necessary.

No more!  I will feed him this ice cream for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks, too, if he wants it.  It could NOT be healthier or better for him.  And it’s dairy-free, egg-free, and SUGAR-FREE!!!

So here’s what you do:

Grab 4 bananas, peel them and slice them up. Lay the slices on a cookie sheet and put it in your freezer for at least an hour.

 

Bananas sliced and already frozen

Bananas sliced and already frozen

Take the frozen banana slices and toss them in your food processor.

Frozen banana slices in my food processor

Frozen banana slices in my food processor

Put the lid on and let ‘er rip!  At first, the bananas turn sort of sand or grain-like…they look sort of like pellets, actually.

Not the best picture, but you can get the idea of the pellet look of the frozen bananas

Not the best picture, but you can get the idea of the pellet look of the frozen bananas

At this point, you have to start the process of taking off the lid, scraping down the sides, processing a little more, repeat un-til…it looks like this:

Would you look at that: Banana Ice Cream!

Would you look at that: Banana Ice Cream!

By this point, both the Geek and Mr. Charm were severely invading my personal space to see what I was making, so I took pity and gave them each a lick off the spoon.  They both got wide eyes, went “Yum!” and begged for more.

But I held firm: I knew we weren’t done yet!

Into the food processor went two additional ingredients: peanut butter and cocoa powder!  (Though, you could just eat it without adding a single thing to it – it’s that good!  And without the peanut butter, it would be top 8 allergy-free.)

1 TBS each of peanut butter and cocoa powder, ready to blend

1 TBS each of peanut butter and cocoa powder, ready to blend

I let it blend some more, scraped the sides once for good measure, and dumped it all into a glass dish.  The blogs I read for this recipe said it could actually be scooped  if you put it back into the freezer, and I was SO looking forward to making a pretty, scooped bowl of ice cream for my boys that I wasn’t willing to let them eat it soft-serve – though, of course, that is a viable option!

(Those of you who have experimented with alternative ice cream recipes can verify: it’s hard to make pretty scoops out of most ice creams made in non-traditional ways.  So this was exciting for me!)

In the glass pan, ready to re-freeze

In the glass pan, ready to re-freeze

Alas, we sat down to dinner not long after this picture was taken, and at the promise of banana ice cream for dinner both the Geek and Mr. Charm freaking inhaled  their dinner!  We’re talking “clean-your-plate” wolfing, here (which isn’t so strange for the Geek, but is mind-blowing for Mr. Charm!).

So, ready for dessert, I went to scoop their bowls and…yep.  It hadn’t frozen up yet.  Soft serve ice cream it was!

Impatient men. Had to eat it soft-serve.

Impatient men. Had to eat it soft-serve.

Both boys loved their ice cream.  They ate their entire bowls and probably would have eaten more, if I wasn’t being mean and hiding it in the freezer to see if it really DOES scoop once frozen.  (He he he.)

The Geek’s valued opinion of this dessert:  He liked the plain banana better than the peanut butter and cocoa version, though he thinks he will love it with just cocoa added.  He said the texture was just as good as traditional, store-bought (full of poison) ice cream – and even liked it better than the coconut milk ice creams I had made for Mr. Charm that *I* thought were better than any store bought ice cream I had ever tried!

So, banana has been moved up the list on Mr. Happy’s food trial list.  Mama would sure  like to have a dessert, these days!

Later on, I went back to the ice cream to see if it scooped.

It DID!

The Best Looking Homemade Ice Cream I've Ever Made

The Best Looking Homemade Ice Cream I’ve Ever Made

So, knowing that it does really well in the freezer, I plan to make up multiple batches of this at once and store it in the freezer so we can finally be like normal people and just have ice cream on hand whenever one of us gets a yen for it.  <happy dance!>

By the way, you could add anything you want to this: chocolate chips, nuts, fruit puree’s, you name it.  Get creative and make something delicious!

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BANANA ICE CREAM (one, two or three ingredients)

– 4 bananas, very ripe
– 1 TBS peanut butter (optional)
– 1 TBS cocoa powder (optional)
– any other add-ins: chocolate chips, nuts, fruit, etc.

  1. Peel and slice the bananas, and freeze the slices on a cookie sheet for one hour minimum.
  2. Toss the frozen slices into a food processor, and process until creamy.  (That’s it, if you want plain banana ice cream!  If you want other flavors, continue:)
  3. Add your optional ingredients to the food processor, and process until well mixed.
  4. Serve it up soft serve, or place back into the freezer to make pretty scoops.
  5. Enjoy the healthiest dessert you’ll ever eat!

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Would you ever imagine bananas would cream up like this?  What would you add-in to your banana ice cream?

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This post was shared with Allergy Free Wednesdays, Whole Foods Wednesdays, and Real Food Wednesdays.

29.2 Pounds!

 
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This Fructose Malabsorption road is SO frustrating, I had a post all ready to go talking about how we’ve been “two steps forward, two steps back” non-stop since we learned Mr. Charm’s diagnosis.

But then…Sunday’s weigh-in came.

He weighed 29.2 pounds!!!

To give you an idea of how monumental this is, here is his weight from October on (we missed November because we were out of town) in pounds:

10/19/2012

26.2

10/21/2012

25.8

10/31/2012

26

12/9/2012

26.2

12/17/2012

25.4

12/24/2012

27.4

12/30/2012

25.6

1/6/2013

26.8

1/13/2013

29.2

Even worse, I have his weight from August and September, and it constantly hovered around 25 pounds back then!

So this weight gain has me walking on a cloud!

Granted, yesterday we weighed him at night, and I normally weigh him first thing in the morning before breakfast, but that can’t have skewed it by too  much.

In other words, I really think he gained at least 2 pounds this last week and I am thrilled!

Also, his diapers are looking a LOT better and he’s eating well again.  Maybe it took time to get him ‘off’ the sugar and straighten his body out, and now that he feels better he wants to eat again?

I don’t know.  But I know I’m feeling SO GOOD about this trajectory for Mr. Charm and I really hope it keeps going.

Oh, and for further evidence that Fructose really messes with my son, I mentioned trying to get him evaluated for Early Intervention Speech Therapy last week.  He hadn’t been talking as much as we thought he should, and he never showed interest in any of the sign language we had tried to teach him over the last 18 months or so.

Over the weekend?  He used more words and TRIED to communicate more than he ever has before, and taught himself  (from the Baby Einstein video) SIX sign-language words.  Yesterday morning he used sign language to ask for more cereal and (almond) milk when he finished his bowl.  THAT is HUGE.  

He even had more patience for learning other things, like how to use the camera on his LeapPad tablet.  We’ve tried to show him since Christmas, but he just never seemed to ‘get it’.  Yesterday, he was very specifically taking pictures of the cats, his brother, the Geek, his toys, me, anything that caught his eye.

He also got out a “Look and Find” book that he had never shown any interest in, brought it to me and insisted we read it.  He pointed out almost everything we asked him to show us.  We asked him to point out the items they had in the “find these items” column, of course, but we also asked him to point out things that there was no pictoral reference for – and he got almost all of them!  I had no idea he knew all of those things – he had never shown me before!!

Mr. Charm making TEA

Mr. Charm making TEA

He’s not really smiling in the picture above, but that’s because we basically were forcing him to look at the camera to show “Grandma and PopPop what you did”.  He wanted to show off his awesomeness – he decided to make a pitcher of iced tea!  All by himself, he got out a pan, drug a chair over to the sink, climbed up, filled the pan with water, and was trying to go to the stove when the Geek stepped in to help.  Then he pulled his chair over to the stove and got out two tea bags and was anxiously waiting for the water to get hot enough to put them in to steep.  (Yes, I was there the whole time, supervising.)  He’s wanted to help in the kitchen before, true, but this was the first time he actually did something without making a huge mess and while actually accomplishing the intended goal!  

I’m high as a kite, y’all.  If I can keep him off the Fructose, I think Mr. Charm is going to take off like a rocket.  

29.2 pounds!!  New words!!  Sign language!!  Kitchen helper!!  Go, baby!!

Anyone else had a good news weekend?  

Ben Franklin Was Unoriginal, But I’ll Listen to Him Anyway

 
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photo courtesy of Victor Habbick at http://freedigitalphotos.net
Every fiber of my being yearns to sleep in this bed on this beach. Alone.

“Early to bed, and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.”

I always thought that was Ben Franklin’s original thought, but when Googling to make sure I was remembering correctly I stumbled upon Mama Lisa, who corrected her own Ben Franklin assumption with the evidence showing this statement had been around for centuries (in some form or another) before ol’ Ben ever was a twinkle in his Daddy’s eye.  

Hmm.

Well, regardless, that proverb is wisdom from the ages, and I’m about ready to start following it.  

It’s a little shocking to me, actually; family lore states that I was a night-owl from conception.  My parents used to have to do middle of the night diaper changes in the pitch black, because if they turned on even a nightlight I was UP FOR THE NIGHT!  Playtime, baby!

My whole life, my energy levels surge at 9:00 p.m. and I have my best thoughts in the wee hours of the morning.  It’s the best time for me to clean my house, organize my papers, write term papers, do art projects…you name it, I do it better between 9:00 p.m. and 3:00 a.m.  I always used to say “Sunrises are the best thing to see…right before you go to sleep.”

So the thought that I might willingly start going to bed at 8:00 p.m. is sort of mind-blowing to me.

But here’s the deal: I have this sore throat from tonsillitis that I just. cannot. shake.  I’ve been sick almost non-stop since Thanksgiving.  I can take NOTHING over the counter to help alleviate the symptoms of my discomfort, and taking prescription medications opens a big ol’ can of worms, medically speaking, for my son.

Even the traditional “old wives” remedies, like chicken soup or apple cider vinegar, are out.

Basically all that is left for me to try is Rest and Hydration.

Monday night I fell asleep while nursing Mr. Happy to sleep.  (Yes, I know the arguments against doing that, but right now it works, and I have too much to deal with to worry about any future bad habits I may be creating.  Keep it simple, sweetie!)

So, I was out like a light at 8:00 p.m.  I woke up about 12:30 a.m. and was awake for a couple of hours, but I was back in bed, asleep, by 3:00 a.m.  And then I slept until the kids got me up at 7:30 a.m.

And you know what?  I felt better on Tuesday than I had in a long while.  (Once you eliminate the grungy feeling you get when you sleep in your clothes.  Ew.)

The last week, Mr. Happy has been getting steadily better, it seems.  He had a poopy diaper that I didn’t even know about yesterday; I’ve gotten so used to them having that sick, buttery-popcorn smell to advise me of a poop that I’ve gotten lazy about actually checking his diaper regularly!  No smelly poop=GOOD THING.

He also seems to have dropped his desperate, comfort nursing routine and is back to only waking up twice in the night.  So, Mr. Happy is well on his way back to baseline, THANK GOD!

What that means for me, is that there are now two long stretches of available sleep time per night between baby wake-ups.  I just need to take advantage of them.  

Because I can’t go on like this.  I’m so worn down I’m just a magnet for cooties, and taking care of my boys is incredibly hard when I’m sick.  I’m not a very great Mommy to them when I feel like death warmed over.

So the Geek and I discussed our total exhaustion and decided that we’d try it out; for a week, or however many days it takes to feel human again, we’re going to go to sleep at the same time as our kids.  8:00 p.m.  

I want to sleep this good, again.

I don’t know how this will play out.  I may start waking up at 4 in the morning, ready to face the day.  I may wake up in the middle of the night for a few hours, then go back to bed.  I may just realize it’s, like, totally, not me, and go back to my bad habits of staying up too late.

After all, back in the day, I didn’t even go out for dinner until 8:00 p.m.  This idea feels…revolutionary to me!  

But I’ll confess: there’s a part of me (the grown up, mature part, I’m sure) that wants to start going to bed at 8:00 p.m. and waking refreshed at 4:00 a.m. to start my day.

And I think that’s the part that freaks me out the most about this whole thing.  

Why is it that I’m so drill-sergeant-like about my children’s sleep routines, but so absolutely self-destructive about my own?  Anybody else falling into the “do as I say, not as I do” trap on personal care?

Back in the Kitchen – Salmon Patties!

 
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Click here for my revised recipe. It’s also egg-free and gluten-free, and has printable formatting and much better photos! Thank you!

Ever since Thanksgiving, I’ve been pretty much out of the kitchen.  With being so sick for so long, I completely lost my drive to ‘create’ and found myself fairly content with ‘surviving’, food-wise.

It’s time to get back into the kitchen, and I started yesterday with Salmon Patties.

Now, when I was young and had the unrefined tastes of a kid, my Mom always made Salmon Patties with canned salmon.  As an adult, I’ve spent considerable time in Alaska and learned that the salmon in the cans is basically the same salmon the Native Alaskans feed their dogs.  Well, I do prefer fresh salmon for fillets these days, but the canned stuff works just fine for this, thankyouverymuch!  (Even if it is – sort of – dog food.)  

The only reason I hadn’t made Salmon Patties in the last 2.5 years was because the only recipe I knew for making them had EGGS and FLOUR in it.  Eggs have been a no-no in our house because of Mr. Charm’s IgE allergy to eggs for over two years, and recently the Fructose Malabsorption diet we are on says no to wheat.  So, how do you make Salmon Patties, when salmon, egg and flour are basically the only three ingredients?

The solution was easy, and I have to confess something: I think I’m absolutely, madly in love with my Quinoa Batter!  I have found more uses for this stuff in the last few months than almost any other kitchen concoction I’ve found.

So, I took 1/4 cup of quinoa flour, 1/4 cup of water, salt and pepper, and made a batter.

Yup. I’m re-using a picture from my Quinoa Battered Veggies post. Because I totally forgot to take a picture of this step today!

And…that’s why I didn’t take a picture of the batter. Mr. Charm really wanted to help stir!

Then I tossed the salmon in the bowl.  I know some people don’t worry with removing the few bones that are in the salmon; they do pretty much dissolve in cooking, after all.  But I just can’t.  I de-bone my canned salmon first.

At this point, you could always spice up your mix with some add-ins.  Onion, garlic, chopped celery, some spices…whatever floats your boat!  We have to keep pretty simple here, though, thanks to our food issues, but frankly the plain-Jane recipe still tastes pretty good.

Batter and salmon in the bowl

Then I stirred it all up and wouldn’t you know it?  It had the exact same look and feel as my Mom’s traditional Salmon Patty recipe! 

All mixed up – looks just like Mom used to make!

I heated some oil in the pan, made a couple small patties and plopped them in to cook.  After they were nice and brown on one side, I flipped them and let the other side brown nicely.

Frying up…

Meanwhile, I made up some French Fries, and that was lunch yesterday afternoon for Mr. Charm.

Lunch is served!

He actually didn’t eat a single fry that I saw – but he scarfed down the Salmon Patties and even asked for more!

It feels good to be back in the kitchen again, actually.  Especially when I get that kind of a reaction from my son!

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SALMON PATTIES

– can of salmon (14.5 ounces)
– 1/4 cup quinoa flour
– 1/4 cup water
– salt
– pepper
– safe oil for frying (we’re still using olive oil)

  1. Mix the quinoa flour, salt, pepper and water into a batter.
  2. De-bone your canned salmon, if you want, then mix the salmon into the batter.
  3. Heat your oil in a pan.  Shape out a patty however large or small you like, and put in the pan.
  4. Let it brown on one side, then flip and brown on the other side.
  5. Plate up and enjoy!  (Goes great with French Fries!)

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My dad thinks Salmon Patties are a waste of good salmon, but I love them!  What about you?  Are Salmon Patties a “go” or a “no”?  What would you add to the recipe to jazz it up?

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This post was shared with Allergy Free Wednesdays, Whole Foods Wednesdays, and Real Food Wednesdays.