(don't) Say Cheese!

When Jay was young (like, 1 month old) he had weird splotches of eczema-like rash all over his trunk and arms. I took him to the doctor, they gave me some steroid cream. I wasn't too crazy about putting it on such a tiny baby, but hey, doctors know best, right?

Riiiight.

Jay also often had tummy trouble. He'd moan and groan through the night, and only slept well if he was laying on someone or on his tummy. (GASP! Tummy sleeping!??!) Jay was also full of it. Mucous, that is.

I did some reading of my own and realized Jay may have a milk allergy. I halfheartedly removed milk and milk products from my diet. Then one day I indulged (ice cream and a latte, tisk tisk!). The next had Jay was soooo cranky and had terrible bowel movements with blood spots. I then realized how serious this may be. So I've cut out all dairy from my diet. All.

People, that hasn't been easy!

Think: No milk, no cheese (GASP!), no butter, no cream, no butter milk, no cream cheese, no chocolate (GASP!), no modified milk ingredients (and they are in everything!), no cream of ____ (fill in the blank)... The list just goes on!

But Jay's skin cleared up within a week of my diet change, his mucous went away, his BMs have been the proper colour and consistency (most the time) and there hasn't been any blood spots. Tough? Yes. But definitely worth it.

Without thinking, one night we opted for Tom to use one of the (about 40ish) bags of pumped milk I had in the freezer to feed the baby. The next day, Jay was super ill to his stomach. A few terribly dirty diapers later we realized what the problem was: The pumped milk was from pre-diet change.

Can you imagine my disappointment!?!

1. We messed with his little guts again and
2. MY PUMPED MILK COULDN'T BE USED FOR JONATHAN!!
   

Thankfully I was able to donate it to a family that was in great need of it. I was super bummed we no longer had a 'just in case' freezer stash, but happy it didn't go to waste. (Liters and liters of pumped milk down the drain would have brought me to tears!)

If all goes well, he may out grow this by 1 or 2 years old. (It is my prayer that he WILL outgrow this!!!) Until then, we'll need to be diligent in label reading and ensuring no one innocently gives him milk and cookies because he has the best chance of avoiding long term allergies if it's completely removed from his diet for the next year or so.

Yeah, like that will be a piece of (dairy-free) cake!

a really big day

Jay had his first 'solid' food today.

Then this evening he refused to lay in his baby tub for bath time, he wanted to sit.

Oh my they grow fast!

Leeeaaaaviiiiiiiiiing in a Santa Fe...

Not sure when we'll be back again.

Oh, babe, just thought I'd let you know...

I'm no Chantal Kreviazuk and no jet plane will be involved (at least not in plan A, for now) but this little family of three is throwing caution to the wind, packing a whack load of stuff into the truck, and hitting the road this fall without a return date.

With a few not so hidden agendas, we have planned stops in Kingston, Cambridge, Kitchener, Detroit, Chicago, Minneapolis, Winkler, (Portage?!) and Saskatoon. With a few looong stop overs in Winnipeg and Dauphin! We'll definitely be there for harvest (which we're thrilled about!) and maybe even halloween... ? We have no set dates, just a plan to maximize our parental leaves and dream about our family's future. We've been granted this amazing opportunity to take this time so we're keeping our ear to the ground and our hearts aching to hear God's direction for our lives.

Wish us all the best.

And hey, we'll see ya soon.

Home and happy

We had a fantastic time in Detroit.

Considering I was picturing gang violence and burning buildings (why did I have this image of Detroit, I don't know...) the beauty if the city and friendliness of the people were a pleasant surprise!



I never once felt unsafe, even when Baby J and I were off trekking around on our own while daddy was at work. Things went rather smoothly for him, too, resulting in us having a surprisingly large amount of time together as a family during the day. We were sure to notify his work that we'd be up for this again!

Man, Jonathan is cuter than ever. Or maybe I'm just getting to know him more and as a result I'm digging him more and more. Not that I didn't before... Oh, you know what I mean! A girlfriend once told me that she found every stage to be better than the one before with her son. At the time I thought she was trying to sugar-coat the fact that her baby wasn't a baby anymore, but now that I'm a momma I know exactly what she was talking about. There are a number of things that I finally 'get' now that I'm a momma that I thought I got before... Am I the only person who totally knew all about this parenting gig until I actually had a child?




Jay Jay is almost able to sit on his own now. Especially when he's not paying attention. He also grabs at everything. Gone are the days he would sit still on my lap while I ate lunch! Now I have to make sure he doesn't start solids on his own! I'm very excited for him to be able to sit. Yes it will be exciting for him... But selfishly I'm looking forward to doing some photo shoots with a baby that's able to sit (and not crawl yet, lol)!

Jay Jay loves his Jolly Jumper. LOVES it. The day he finally 'got' how to do it was probably the best day of his life. Shrills of joy!! But no matter how much he loves it, I may love it more. People, I was able to make a meal with two hands today. TWO!

Practice, practice, practice...

Just like Plattsburgh was training ground for our road trip to Boston.

Detroit will be practice for something even bigger this fall.



Stay tuned.

Free travel? I'm in!!

Alternatively titled: My husband rocks.

As Tom becomes more of a senior man at work, they've been bugging him to start travelling to clients' sites. He hasn't obliged. He's not keen on being away from us. This past week when asked to take a coming trip (because the usual travel guys are on holidays), he plainly answered "Not without my wife and son."

Well, guess who all's got plane tickets!!??!

five months

I never knew

that a five month old

could have

so

much

character.