Dairy Free...

Let me start off by saying the following post is not meant to sound as though I think that Ava Jane has a serious health problem.  Or that I am taking for granted that other than the fact that she cannot eat dairy and has an ongoing sensitive stomach, she is perfectly healthy.  It's just some thoughts on a new lifestyle that we are becoming accustomed-- which is being dairy free in our house.

It all started with reflux from the time Ava J was born.  The reflux progressed into sleepless nights and up to 8 very messy diapers a day when she was introduced to whole milk.  Then diaper burn--not rash-- set in and we were told she had an intolerance probably to the lactose in the milk and to avoid milk.  So she started drinking almond milk.  It got a little better-- but then she'd get sick again & the diaper burn would come back & before we knew it she was having 5+ blowouts a day again and we realized something just wan't right.  We had already eliminated cows milk, yogurt, and icecream.  But that wasn't enough and at her 15 month appointment, her doctor informed us that ALL dairy needed to be eliminated from her diet.

I know there are schools of thought that say dairy isn't good for you anyway or that it's a healthier lifestyle living dairy free if you are getting your calcium elsewhere.  And it's not that I dispute those claims, but here's the deal, it's super hard to enforce "dairy free" with a 15 month old who can't talk and loves yogurt, and milk, and icecream, and cheese--especially out in the real world.  At home we can control the environment.  She eats her special non-dairy cheese, and drinks her almond milk, and eats her almond or soy yogurt and is pretty darn content.  But, when we are out to eat or at a cookout with other families-- she's running around literally grabbing other kids' cheese burgers and scarfing them down.  And then we have to make everyone else feel uncomfortable by running around on cheese patrol and telling the other kids not to give her anything with cheese.  Which is easier said than done, because most of the kids we are around are 2 and under and they don't quite understand the dynamics of a food allergy just yet (obviously)!  Not to mention birthday parties with cake and ICE-CREAM when all the other kids get ice-cream.  True, I could bring coconut ice-cream, but it takes planning to ask ahead if ice-cream will be served and to make sure we bring her special ice-cream along with the present, and diapers, and everything else.  We'll do it for Ava J, of course,  but it just makes things a little more difficult.  But the worst is moments when we are somewhere impromptu like the food trucks and all the little kiddos we are with (including her big sister) get icecream and she has to have a popsicle instead and we literally have to remove her from the group and walk her around because she is sobbing for the icecream.  That just kind of stinks.  For her especially--and us too because we hate to see her sad.  Like I said, it's not anything major, but it does effect her daily life.

This whole dairy free thing has made me more aware and sensitive to other people who have food allergies and making foods available when we have people over with food allergies that make it easy for them to eat.  We are all pretty much eating dairy free now at our house.  Ella does still drink cows milk and is actually very aware of Ava Jane's allergy.  I hear her say all the time, "No, no Abe (she says her v's like b's) this milk gonna make you sick.  Don't try to drink dis, Abe, you don't wanna get sick."  I love how even though they have their moments, Ella seriously always has her back.  We are so lucky to have such a great little helper and another set of eyes helping us keep "Abe" away from milk.  So all in all, it's fairly manageable to pull off dairy free at our house.  We do give Ella dairy options with like yogurt or cheese-- but she typically declines them which makes things easier on us and we've started buying less and less dairy products-- trust me, Ella's getting plenty of calcium from her organic 2% milk.  It's just sometimes when we are out of our bubble, things get a little hairy.  Like tonight, we are up because Ava got a hold of some cheese at the Mexican restaurant and now her tummy hurts :(  Just got her back to bed, but I'm guessing she'll be up a couple of more times tonight.

Like I said, I am not complaining.  I know there are far worse things she could have.  But as a parent, you don't want anything to be hard for kids-- even if it is not being able to eat one food group thus creating moments when they feel left out.  Because, naturally, we all want life to be as happy and easy as possible for those we love the most!

Fall Mornings...

It's fall again!  Time for falling leaves, football, family, friends, and fabulous weather!  My personal favorite time of year!!  So far this week I've gotten out the apple cinnamon scent for the plug-ins and made a sunflower arrangement of flowers for our kitchen table-- and tomorrow I plan on getting a pumpkin spice latte to keep with the fall theme!  I guess I'm kind of a fall fanatic?

Whenever the weather is beautiful we try to stay outdoors as much as possible.  This morning was gorgeous!  After a long breakfast and the girls "helping" me make our crock-pot spaghetti for dinner later this evening, we headed out for a stroll around the neighborhood with the double-stroller.  Ella is SO over the stroller these days, but walking around the neighborhood is still a little too much for her little legs to handle.  So I decided to challenge her to a animal find while we walked... she found a chipmunk (that ran out right in front of us and then came towards us... I was kind of freaking out that it might be rabid), tons of squirrels, lots of birds, a few dogs, and a kitty cat.  Not bad for a 20 minute walk and it kept her busy.  We sang songs and talked about fall and Ella pointed out all the trees that were starting to turn orange while Ava Jane called out "bu-rd" (bird) and "kit" (kitty).  I am so fortunate to be able to spend this time with them.  They are both changing so much right now and are so fun!  And since I am all about compromise-- something the American government clearly missed learning about in elementary school-- I let Bells run the last leg of the walk on the sidewalk beside the stroller.  We've actually found that it's an excellent way to work on listening skills and safety.  She runs along side the stroller and we say freeze and she totally freezes and then we say go and she starts running--she loves it.  We also practice holding hands and looking both ways when we get to where we need to cross the street.

When we got home, the girls ran around in the yard and rolled around in the grass and basically just kind of tackled each other like maybe they had watched too much GA football or something (not at our house, right?).  And we, of course, had fun with sidewalk chalk.  Ava Jane is actually finally not eating it-- that was a major success.

BEST PART of the morning, actually day, was when Ella proclaimed:
"I just really LOVE my sister.  We are lucky to be sisters because we always be havin' a friend to play with.  I love Ava Jane."  SO sweet.  Love fall and love these girls!! XO!