Goodbye, Summer!

Sebastian is now off to preschool 2 days a week. His first day was barely photographed because (gasp!) I was running late. His big request Labor Day weekend was to go to the local sprinkler park one more time and "play in the sprinklers, swing, then play in the sprinklers again." That's exactly what we did.

Lucia's 1st birthday

Helpful sites

Okay, folks. I hear that this blog shows up when you search on blogs for various allergies and eosinophilic esophagitis. This is my one community service. Go find people who really know what they are talking about. Ranting mothers are not a good source of knowledge.

American Partnership for Eosinophlic Disorders www.apfed.org Food Allergy Network: www.foodallergy.org Parents of Kids with Food Allergies: http://www.childfoodallergy.com

May you remain encouraged through this process and find information you need.

"We'll see you in two months"

Sebastian had patch tests for allergies on his back done last week. Yes, in general, the process was wretched. But, I've said this 100 times, and will keep saying it. . . I am SO PROUD of how well my little guy did. 18 stickers on his back for 2 days. Between the gastrologist and allergist we had 4 appointments last week. We were quite busy, but as long as he had a peppermint after each appointment, all was tolerable. I am quite excited that we won't have any more, pending unforseen whatevers, for two months! After re-evaluating his allergies, the final verdict is this: Avoid all peanuts, milk, sweet peas, eggs, soy, wheat, oatmeal, rye (that's an easy one), and beef. Pros: it's a shorter list and there is no more guessing. Cons: strict following is essential for clearing out the inflammation in his system. Overall, the gastrologist (and the rest of us) are quite pleased. He has gained almost 7 pounds in 6 months. Definitely "thriving". Now we adjust to truly laying down the law with the new diet. We had a total meltdown at Whole Foods today because he was desperate for yogurt (soy or goat). It is impossible for a 3 year old to understand why he can't have foods the rest of us are eating. He's crying for yogurt, I'm teary-eyed because it sucks to tell him "no", and Lucia is happily gnawing the plastic wrap off of a cornbread she managed to snag (she's like a racoon in the trash during grocery outings, but I digress. . .)

The week my Mom had cancer

A few weeks ago, through a turn of events too draw out to provide details, my Mom learned that she had a tumor (size of a large orange) on her backside that was likely sarcoma. That's when you feel like the wheels of the medical wagon turn so slowly. It was a week before the biopsy, during which time we were offered little/no hope. Due to MRI and a blood dye test, it was assumed cancerous. Obviously the results were in God's hand, and he saw fit to either heal my mother or make doctors wrong. Either answer pleases me. There are so many deep thoughts that come from this experience, but what I'm stuck on lately is how fast our time on earth is for us. Maybe it is an early midlife crisis, maybe it's recent communication with friends long ago and realizing an event we are discussing happened 20 years ago (what the heck?!?), or maybe it's just that I want my kids to stay babies forever and yet they keep sprouting. Who knows? But I am deeply happy that I can continue to know that we will not be dealing with life-threatening cancer or chemo in the days to come.

Roatan, plus comments

Hi, all- Roatan was simply beautiful. I cannot think of an original description for it. I've never been to Cancun, Jamaica, or any of the other popular beach-y hotspots, but I doubt they could have been AS beautiful (with Honduras pumping through our veins, I'm sure I'm quite objective in that statement. . .) I get it now. I never quite understood WHAT the appeal was of being at a beach for multiple days. I'm a believer now. The family (minus us- our kiddos were too small) swam with dolphins, we were able to snorkel by the coral reef right in front of our villas, plenty of beach time, pool time, sand castles, and travel around the island. Ate great food. Some even took a submarine ride. We had an early birthday party for Lucia (she turns 1 on August 2nd) so that we can say both of our kids had their first birthday party in Honduras. We tried desperately hard to get Sebastian to tolerate having sand on his feet and to prevent Lucia from trying to drink the ocean. Neither went well. Ahh well. . .

ROATAN, HONDURAS

Coincidence?? I think not.

Here's a picture of Sebastian David on Uncle David's motorcyle. Do they share the name because Uncle David is a great person, fun uncle, or the rockin' city manager of Perryton, Texas?? Oh no. . . it's just because Uncle David has a Harley.

Update on Sebastian

In an astonishing move, Sebastian actually permitted TWO new foods of substance to enter his mouth. He ate turkey burger and grilled chicken. Still fights it because, well, it's not cereal. And he's gained four (let's count 'em 1,2,3,4!!) pounds. That's the equivalent of me gaining 23 pounds. Oh, wait . . I mean, weight. . . I've done that, too. Anyways, that was the progress. But he has taken two steps back. His stomach is giving him a lot of pain again. And he's vomiting again, perhaps with blood? If it happens again with frequency or once with blood, he will be admitted at Cook's Childrens hospital. Hopefully, it won't come to that. We are switching allergist and perhaps this one will have a fresh perspective that will help us.