Allergy Follow Up

Blurry but 100% Reid the Rascal

Oh my did we get answers today at the allergy doctor. I am still trying to process all the instructions that I heard today but retelling it seems to be helping it all get cemented in my mind so I suppose typing it out here will help it all the more.

First the results of the stool/saliva testing. Reid did not show any signs of parasites or irregular digestive enzymes. This was good news! However he did show blood in his stool and the presence of yeast in his digestive track. His inflammation marker was quite high as well. Normal is below 6 and his was 37. So that apparently shows that his intestines are quite inflamed and angry. His food allergy test came back positive for quite a few foods that he eats regularly as well. The test only pings foods that he eats often, so dairy and soy did not come back positive on the test since I never let him eat them. The foods that came back positive though were almonds, bananas, peanuts, oats, wheat and mustard. All foods he eats often if not daily.

The plan of attack is where it gets quite involved and somewhat overwhelming for me. To begin with we are starting pro-biotics and vitamin D supplement daily. These will continue for the foreseeable future. Reid is also starting prescription anti-fungals, the first one for one time a day for 14 days and the second one, to begin immediately following the first one being completed, four times a day for 10 days. When those anti-fungals have finished then Reid will begin on a course of natural anti-fungals, rotating through five different options, two week courses on each. We will also be retesting his stool in 4 weeks to see if there is still blood present. In addition to all the supplements that we are juggling I will be starting an elimination diet after Reid has been on this medication regimen for 10 days. This will include 4 days of eating all of his sensitivity items each day at least once and then 4 days where he eats none of them. Then I will reintroduce them one at a time, with a day gap in between, checking to see if he has any noticeable reactions to them in his diet. If so they stay out, if not they can go back in no problem. I am excited to see what this process is going to tell us!

Vocabulary Day

In celebration of Dr. Seuss' birthday the kid's school does a Vocabulary day where they pick a word and design a costume to represent it. Kinda like Halloween but less commercial. This year Lucy and Andrew participated. Zane opted out. He said he feels too silly to dress up in a costume. Whatever. Anyway Lucy wanted to participate and Andrew had too, it was an assignment for his class. Lucy went as 'fancy' and Andrew was 'tornado.' Andrew had to pick a word with three syllables to make a costume out of. It is a cute and fun way to encourage reading. And it gives the kids a chance to dress up other than Halloween.

Leadership Day

The kids school is having a variety of community leaders tour the school this Thursday and Andrew was one of the student's selected to take them around and show the school off. He is quite excited about being selected and we couldn't be prouder! He is a great helper and so thrilled to be useful. He is wondering who he will get to show around. Even the mayor is going to be there.

Hello Mountain Goat

 Ollie is on the move in a big way. This kid seems to be on a mission to leave no staircase undiscovered and no step unconquered. He climbed on top of my bible study bag this morning to get to the remote control. He was unbelievably smug looking as he managed to grab it.

 He also has become lightening quick climbing the stairs. He has not concept how to get down them other than tumbling. He rarely does that though. Mostly he just tries to get to the top as quick as humanly possible. I see another very busy little boy in my future.

Time for an Upgrade!

We were mighty squished in our 8 passenger van and since we anticipate more babies at some point we have been saving our pennies for a new, bigger van.

Eric and I headed to Redmond today to check out some surplussed vans from King County Metro van pool. The whole process was wonderful. So low pressure and we got to look and drive any and all of them that we wanted to. We got a great deal and even brought it home today. I can't even begin to describe how happy we were with the experience. Now to just get used to driving this 15 passenger van! It is a bit longer than I am used to!

Math? Conquered

Zane came home today with his weekly math fact test and attached to it was a certificate that stated he had passed every single math test they have. He has passed all the math for second grade and third grade. This includes addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. He is very pleased with himself and quite often tells us that he needs to do some math to ease his brain stress. So glad he loves to learn!

A Good Day

Miss Gwendalyn and I had a great day today. She has been on this ballet kick where she wants to wear a leotard and tights all the time. No big deal right? It is all good until we need to go somewhere outside. It is barely above freezing and we are not talking about a leotard with sleeves. She wants to wear this performance one with a tank top and attached tulle skirt. No pants, no coat. She isn't cold you know. So today she asked me to wear tights and I said yes. I helped her get them on and then see scurried off to finish getting dressed. 3 minutes later she comes downstairs wearing the same tank top leotard that she wore yesterday. SIGH. I told her that her outfit was not going to work. The leotard was dirty, she had worn it for two days, and it was entirely too cold. There were tears but then I told her I would help her find a different one to wear and if she added a skirt on top I would approve of the outfit. All of a sudden it was smiles all around with the Gwen girl. I found a nice long sleeve black leotard and a skirt for her to wear on top. She was happy for almost the rest of the day. I have to remind myself I just have to keep working with her. Each and every day for the rest of our lives.

My Mom Hates Me

Today Gwen wanted to dress like a ballerina. She even wore her ballet shoes to church. She took them in her purse to change into when she got there. We came home and she wanted to change into a leotard. I told her that was fine. I even went upstairs to get one that would fit her out of the closet. She already had her pants on and leg warmers on top of them. She insisted she needed tights. I told her no to those. She was already dressed in the pants and the leg warmers and the leotard. She was ready to go and play. And then the drama came out. She sobbed that I didn't love her. Then I heard her say from downstairs "My mom HATES me!" I looked at Eric and asked him if she had said what I thought she said. She repeated it. Louder. I just looked down the stairs and informed her that I love her very much and do not hate her at all. But she was not changing into tights. She sobbed more. This is going to be SO much fun.

Snuggles with Daddy

The Olympics were on and the boys were having some snuggle time. They are such buddies! And Eric wasn't sleeping. Just watching some Curling.

Family Game Night!

It was a weekend of family game nights! Last night we played Boom Blox on the wii and tonight it was Apples to Apples with the bigger four. This crew is so much fun! We love it when daddy is home to play too!

Looking Toward Middle School

Andrew has been doing some things in his class at the high school the last few weeks. He went and saw a band concert and is going to watch a Hi-Q competition next week. They are going to be selecting middle school electives very soon as well. How are we already here? It seems like yesterday that I was blogging about Andrew going to kindergarten and now we are talking about 6th grade. I also have come to the realization that I am going to be blogging less about Andrew in the years to come. Not because he is doing less but rather that this whole blogging business is quite embarrassing to his privacy loving self. So if you see less of Andrew (at least individualized posts) about him in the days to come you will know why. I don't want to mortify him but I also want to keep an account of all his activities. Such the tension to be managed!

Oliver Benjamin- 9 Month Well Child Check

Mr. Ollie had his 9 month check up and it was without any issues as I anticipated. He is such a healthy happy little man. He has been very busy lately and is determined to catch up with everyone running around in the house.

He has picked up a couple of cute new habits. The first one is shaking his head no. It is absolutely adorable and I swear that he knows what he is doing when he uses it. He also likes to shake his head no until he is completely dizzy and almost falls over.

Ollie has also discovered that he loves to put his fingers in people's mouths. He has been doing it to me for quite some time while we are nursing but now he does it to just about everyone. It is quite cute and slightly annoying all at the same time. Maybe he has a future as a dentist. Who knows?!?

Height: 28.75" (66%)
Weight: 21 lbs. 11 oz. (81%)

Valentine's Day Hair

 Practiced some heart shaped hair for the girls on Valentine's Day tonight. They have such different hair types so different looks worked for both of them.

A bit of refinement needs to be done but over all these looks were quite fun to do and relatively simple. Especially when there are videos online to walk you through it!

Snow and a No Church Sunday

We got an unexpected snowfall last night and church was cancelled this morning. It was such fun for the kids to get to play in the snow and sled. Eric was home this time and he went out with them. The kids were over the moon excited!

 They stayed out and played for almost an hour and then everyone was back in the house for hot chocolate or cider to warm up.

Ollie stayed inside with me and Miss Grump face Gwen was a bit surly until she finally got over herself and went out to play. Fun day!

Oliver Benjamin- 9 Months Old

Colonial Craft Fair

 Andrew is learning about the Revolutionary War right now at school and his class is conducting a Colonial Craft Fair where the kids will be trading crafts they have made. Andrew selected rag rugs as his craft. He has done a great job of braiding the scraps of fabric and sewing them together. I think he has been a bit surprised at how much work this whole thing has been.

So Big

 Ollie is trying to move to walking much faster than I need him to. He is so excited to stand and even jump on the little trampoline that Reid has. It seems to be a perfect height for him to use to pull up with too. The last week he has started letting his hands go and standing without holding on at all. Sheesh. This kid is determined to keep up with the big kids!