Well, crap!

There have been a few events in the last month that have made us take Ethan's allergy to nuts a little more seriously. One, there is a new food allergy program here at Carle, with a food allergy nurse/patient educator who is wonderful. We went to a community program they had in May, and it was really informative. We learned that:

1. The reason that peanuts are getting so much attention as the allergy poster child is that of all of the eight most common food allergens, anaphylactic reactions to peanuts can lead to death. (We knew that, but still...)
2. No one knows what is causing the rise in food allergies. I asked if my peanut consumption during pregnancy/nursing ruined Ethan for all Reeses Peanut Butter Cups. No, thank goodness. Apparently research was done where pregnant mothers were asked to avoid some of the top food allergens, and all that happened was that babies were born at a lower birth weight. There was no decrease in the rate of food allergies. Cross that guilt-producer off the list. :)
3. Only about 15-20% of kids with peanut allergies grow out of them. The higher their blood test levels, the less likely they are to grow out of their allergy.

So because we are good parents (who want to eat peanut butter) and love our child (and want to eat peanut butter), we decided to check in with an actual allergist so that we could discuss our Ethan's future with the goober. Maybe he would be the 1 kid in 5 who was growing out of the allergy! We were a little disappointed.
Ethan has not in fact grown out of his peanut allergy, he has actually "scored" even a bit higher than on his first blood test. So, no PB, no almond butter, no cashew butter, no walnuts, pecans...and coconuts??? I really never saw the connection, but the guy has an MD in allergy and immunology, so who am I to question it?

One nice thing he was able to confirm for us was that Ethan's egg "allergy" is in fact not an allergy. Just because his first blood test recorded IGE levels to egg, he has never had a reaction to any foods containing eggs. So he's not allergic. The peanut allergy, however, is real - I guess we have to accept two blood tests and a full-body set of hives. Sigh.

Ironically, the day I pulled Ethan out of school early to go see this doctor, a boy in his class had a birthday and the mom brought in the cutest little train cakes for the class. The wheels - Nutter Butter Bites. Now, come on, this is a nut-free daycare. And you bring in peanut butter wheels? There were a few cakes that had mini Oreo wheels, and that was what she offered up when she finally remembered that some kids couldn't have nuts. But they were right up against the others, and who knows what the heck those snack cakes were made out of or where they were processed. I am guessing that she never thought about that, so we did not give Ethan any cake. He was NOT happy about this, and of course neither was I! I spent all night trying to figure out who to talk to, in person or in writing, and finally settled on a really carefully worded email to the daycare. Not accusing anyone of anything, but mostly offering to provide some information, talk to the Board (which I'm on - it's not as fancy or important as it sounds), make a flyer for parents, get the food allergy educator to come to a staff meeting, etc. So far we haven't gone beyond a strongly worded reminder in the newsletter, but it's progress.

My worry, and as Ethan gets older this worry gets worse, is that people think that food allergies (especially allergies to peanuts) are trendy as opposed to serious. Everyone who is anyone has an Epipen, right? Isn't it fashionable to say your kid is allergic to x, y, or z? Um, no. We don't know if he'll react with hives the next time he comes across a nut OR if it will be more serious, so we're careful!

Happy Days!

It's still May! I have a few more hours to get in a second post of the month!

We've been having a busy but fun time. The weather has finally improved, and we've been outside as much as possible. After my whining on Facebook about the Champaign Park District scheduling an awesome Touch a Truck opportunity during the day when I'm at work, I found an event in Savoy that allowed kids the opportunity to do the exact same thing. Here is a very happy Ethan climbing around a fire truck:

We also had Memorial Day off, so we made plans to meet at the park with some of Ethan's friends. Here is Nara leading Ethan to our car (sort of). Ethan was asking for her to hold his hand again when she finally let go and had to head home in her own car. :) My hope is to show him this picture again in 20 years when they're dating and planning to get married.
Ethan is also a big enough boy now that he has moved to the next classroom at daycare. You'd think he was graduating from Harvard with the way we prepped him for it. We talked about it for weeks, he went for visits to the class, and talked about all of the fun toys when I picked him up. (Apparently they have some super fun car set up where the cars go down ramps again and again. He's in heaven.) Absolutely no problems today - he pushed me out the door, took a great nap, he even tried to use the potty! Wow. A growing up boy.

He is also talking in full sentences right now. Last year at this time he wouldn't say a word. Still no pointing or waving or signing even though I was desperately trying to communicate! Some of my favorites lately are:
1. "You not funny, Mama. Just Ethan." Which of course made me laugh even more...
2. "I do not want to go to school!" Oh, sweetie, it's a little early in your life for that one.
3. And this morning's breakfast conversation:
Ethan: "I want jam."
Alexis: "On a roll or on toast?"
Ethan: "No roll. No toast. Jam."
Alexis: "Honey, we can't just eat jam by itself."
Ethan: "Jam with a spoon."
Alexis, getting a little exasperated: "No, Ethan, no jam on a spoon."
Ethan: "Yes! Yes, jam! Not no, just yes!"

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all mothers! I, personally, had a great one. I pulled the Mother's Day card to sleep in until 7:00 today, which is a serious luxury in our household these days. If you aren't one of my Facebook friends, you don't know that I considered the possibility of selling (or at least renting) my adorable son if he were to escape from his new big boy bed too early in the morning. While he hasn't entered our rooms in the middle of the night, it's still way earlier than usual, and this weekend he decided that the new bed wasn't acceptable for napping. (And that is not acceptable to his parents.) Ethan still desperately needs that nap (and so do his parents) - he was miserable Friday afternoon and evening, Saturday afternoon and evening, and most of Sunday morning. Luckily, we convinced him to take a short nap today, which may have saved him from getting his cute little picture posted on Ebay or Craigslist.

Part of the enjoyment of Mother's Day came from my sister's visit - she completely surprised my mother and flew in from New Mexico for the weekend. Yea! So she and Mr. Ethan got to spend lots of time together. We went to the Little Gym (which Anda could really appreciate, having been a gymnast), we had fun at the park together, everyone came over for brunch this morning, and then we got to hang out for dinner tonight, too. Ethan had a blast with Auntie Anda. :)
Poor Ethan, though, had a rough weekend the rest of the time. Besides dealing with toddler sleep deprivation, he is heading back to daycare with several more bumps and bruises than he left with Thursday afternoon. Saturday, he collided really hard with another little boy at the gym, after which I said, "Oh, he was just surprised," after he burst into tears - Ethan rarely cries when he gets hurt. No, he really got clocked by this other boy. He still has bruises on his cheek, poor kid. Then this morning, he cracked his head on the corner of our table. "He's tired, " I said, when he started bawling again. No, again, he was really hurt. A bruise on his ear and a bump right behind it. Last but not least, he fell on the way to the park. "Just a scratch," I said, before I picked him up and got blood all over my shirt from his knee and elbow. Lots of ow-ies.

Eda Go Running!

#3! That would be the third annual Illinois Marathon. No, I did not run the marathon. While I still love running, I doubt very much that I will be spending that many hours on the road anymore. The half today was the perfect distance, and I took 12 minutes off of last year's time - yeah! Not my best time ever, but considering that I did a 5K as part of the "iChallenge" last night, I'm happy with it. And it felt really good!

Brian and Ethan spent the morning looking for me. :) I was able to catch up with them twice during the run, and could stop and get hugs and kisses before plodding along again. It is really funny to remember last year, and how Ethan was very content to be in the stroller when I met up with them, while this year, he was raring to go with me. "Eda go running! Eda go running!" He was very impatient to join me. (Maybe next year.)

Flashback:
Year 1:
Year 2:
Year 3!

(I have no idea what is happening to my hair in this picture. I'm going to chalk it up to no shower, I had just run 8 miles, and a very windy day!)

Easter Egg Hunt

Consider this our belated Easter post. I'm doing a lot of things belatedly these days!

Since last year's U of I playgroup, Ethan and I have been hanging out every month or so with some friends from that group - two little girls a few months older than Ethan. Zoey and Nara are lovely little girls, and it's really nice to hang out with their parents, since we are all sort of going through the same things with our kids - potty training, temper tantrums, and other things that are way more fun and cute. :)

Anyway, Zoey's mom got the idea of having our own, exclusive Easter egg hunt with some additional friends of hers with similarly-aged kids, since we didn't want our babies getting trampled by the older kids at the park egg hunt. I'm really glad we did this - the hostess of this party had this gorgeous backyard where she just scattered a billion eggs (stuffed with stickers, rings, and other toddler-friendly items) and let the kids go at it.
It was so funny - the group of kiddos was split pretty evenly between those who got it and in 5 minutes had a huge basket of eggs, and those (like Ethan) who really didn't understand what the point of the whole thing was. He humored us, and picked up an egg when we told him to, but he could have just explored the back yard on his own and been perfectly happy.
Please take note of the picture below. (Not the fact that Ethan has reverted to putting odd things in his mouth, like the bunny finger puppet he found in an Easter egg.:) No, I mean look at that outfit he's wearing. I think he's pretty sharply dressed, don't you?
Brian and I went to this event in jeans with holes, but Ethan needed a new outfit, of course. Anyway, he turned 2 1/2 exactly on the day we did this Easter egg hunt. What size shirt is he wearing? Not 3, not 4...yes, he is wearing a size 5 on top these days. !!! He is growing up so fast! And so BIG! No one believes how old he is. And while I'm really proud of having such a big, tall, healthy boy, that assumption that he is older than he is can work against him. He hasn't thrown many tantrums in public, thank goodness, but we have gotten some looks in grocery stores when he's beginning to melt down, and I want to explain to people that he's only 2 - he's supposed to do this! He has been the tallest kid in his class for awhile, which is why I'm doubly glad he's not too aggressive. There are some very cute new kids in that class, and they look like babies, while he looks like a little boy! (Sniff!)

Spring! Sort of.

I was thinking that it might be time to work in another post to this blog, given that it's been almost a MONTH since my last one! Yikes...

So, just to recap the last three weeks:
1. Ethan is getting cuter by the day
I could have taken a million pictures of Ethan and my Dad that day. There is a little park in between our two houses. It's a great little park, and Ethan usually loves it and hates to go home, but when we got there, Ethan didn't want to stay and play at the park with Papa. He wanted to walk back to Papa's house with him and play with the iPad. (Sigh.)

In related cute Ethan news, we had his first Parent Teacher Conference last night. As a teacher, I was soooo excited when they let us know they'd be doing this. A 2 1/2 year old gets a conference? How cool! And it was a real conference, too - she had assessments she had done in November and compared them to what she saw in him now, and we could see all the ways in which he is growing and changing. It was all fantastic news, with a few minor things that irked me (and I am sure the same will be true of future conferences, so I should just take a deep breath and get over it!). Like when his teacher referred to him as a "follower". Now, first of all, I think that term gets a bad rep. Not everyone can be a leader! It only makes sense that there must be a much larger proportion of followers in the world compared to leaders, or very little would get done and there would be even more fighting in the world than there is now. (Just my opinion.) But his teacher (who I really do like a lot, don't get me wrong) was mentioning that in the same breath as his love and interest in other children, that he always wants to be with other kids, and I think that's absolutely great. So there. (You'll have to imagine me sticking my tongue out now. I'm highly mature.) The comments of hers that I am going to spend much more time focusing on were her descriptions of him as a sweet, caring, empathetic boy. Whenever someone gets hurt or is sad, Ethan is right there to give them a hug. I'm kind of tearing up just thinking about that now, actually. What a sweetheart.

2. Spring teased us with gorgeous sunshine and warm temps, and then went away
I actually wore shorts to go running on the day this particular picture was taken, and came back to Ethan and Brian "cleaning" out the car. (Meaning Brian was cleaning it out and Ethan was turning on every button he could find while climbing back and forth between the front and back seats.) No shorts since. It got cooooold again. And stormy. And still cold. And more storms to come. Grump grump grump. Ethan and I are home tomorrow for Good Friday, and I'm going to do my best to keep him entertained indoors with the risk of strong thunderstorms coming our way. Luckily for me, he is not afraid (yet) of noisy storms. Earlier this week, I got him up out of bed because a big one was hitting town, and we hung out away from windows together. "Ethan, do you hear that thunder?" BA BOOM! "Yeah! Mo funder?" BA BOOM! (House shakes a little) Ethan smiles. "Funder!!!"

3. Easter is here!
Sorry, I know that last picture is a little blurry - it's definitely a motion shot in which Ethan is yanking off the ears. We are actually going to do something for Easter this year. I really thought Ethan was too little in past years, but now I think we're going to dye some eggs, stick some stickers on them, and call it a holiday. We are also invited to a friend of a friend's house for an exclusive toddler-friendly Easter egg hunt. I am really looking forward to seeing the little boy with other kids, scrambling for eggs. :)

Eda's Friends

Just today, I realized a sad thing. Ethan's Mama and Daddy are just not quite enough for him. I'm afraid that somehow, two fairly shy people have created an outgoing, multiple friend-making, stranger-disarming little boy who wants to be around many, many, many other people besides his parents. Examples to follow:

1. Ethan's Grammy Barbara (aka "Mimi") came and stayed with us for the weekend. Besides being a wonderful guest to have, she put the Ethan-boy in a pretty delightful mood - so much so that he is still asking for her and checking Brian's study to see if she's there. We totally wore her out - our favorite outing was probably the "round and round" at the mall, but the car trip to and from was apparently just as fun for these two:
While she was here, Ethan could be overheard saying the following things, which I'm not sure we'll hear again until she comes back: "Sweetie pie", "Thank you", and "Eda is funny!" You sure are, kid. :)

2. Ethan loves daycare. I am still not working full time, so I do get to pick him up earlier than I might otherwise be able to, but it's so nice to know that he is incredibly happy there! So happy, in fact, that when I got him today, he was happy to see me...BUT cried all the way home when he realized I wasn't going to stay and play. "My friends...my friends!" The whole way home. (OK, not the whole way home. About a half a mile away from our house I started singing to try to calm him down. "No singing, Mama." Oh, well.) For those of you who are having babies in Urbana, or who know people having babies, OR maybe you just want to check out the snazzy new website they have:

http://www.theccdc.org/

There used to be the cutest picture of Ethan in one of the galleries, but I can't find it now.

3. Last but not least, Elmo is still a fave. This weekend, while convincing Ethan that he needed a new diaper, I was convinced by Ethan that Elmo also needed one. Since I wasn't about to waste a perfectly good disposable on a stuffed monster, Elmo is wearing cloth these days. (He's a very eco-conscious monster.) Elmo stayed with Ethan all day Saturday - diaper changes, naps, and we even took Elmo for a walk around the neighborhood. (That ended very quickly when Elmo kept getting thrown into the street, where Ethan wanted to lay down on top of him giggling. Yes, I said in the street.) Snack time was a little more relaxing:


(By the way, those are NOT Cheetos that Ethan is snacking on. Those are Gerber tomato crackers. Totally different. :)