Wednesday, January 21, 2009

But wait! There's...

... more.

But we're not going to get into that. A few updates instead.

1. I took Iyyar to the allergist today and the test for milk allergy was negative. She (allergist) told me that it is possible that it is another kind of sensitivity that is not a true allergy, and recommended keeping him off dairy anyway since he's been doing so much better without it. I was going to do that anyway, of course, even though Iyyar is Not Pleased about the sudden lack of cheese in his diet. Vegan not-cheese is not doing it for him, and I can't say I blame him. I can't blame him for getting mad about seeing Barak and Avtalyon get the real stuff, either. But I simply can't take dairy out of Barak's diet. He's such a picky eater that if I stop giving him dairy there'll be nothing left to give him but wheat, cucumbers, and fruit. I think it'll be easier after next week, when school is back in session; that way I can give Barak and the baby dairy without Iyyar looking on and feeling deprived.

2. I got a new laptop at work. It's pretty shpitzy. I haven't really played with it yet but will do so as soon as I get my desk excavated.

3. I lost weight this month. I have no idea how I managed this, but I'm not complaining. I am back to X + 11, for those keeping score at home.

4. All I want to do is spin and knit. I know, not really an update. But worth mentioning.

5. Mr. Fixit came yesterday to put light fixtures in the two closets that didn't have them, in the name of moth deterrence. I've done what I can with laundering and freezing; I also ordered moth traps, which don't actually kill the moths but lets you know where you've got them. In the meantime, I've been fixing a lot of holes.

6. There is no number six.

7. I just got a pretty impressive care package today from a friend in Boston. This may sabotage #3, but that's okay.

8. I am enjoying the kids' winter break much more than they are. I love sleeping that extra half an hour, and I really really love not having to haul out the double stroller in all this ice.

9. I've gone to bed before midnight every night so far this week. This may not sound like much, but it's pretty unusual around here, and I'm hoping to keep it up.

10. There's no number ten, either. Off to clean.

8 comments:

shanna said...

I actually am trying to sabotage #3. I'm at my-X + 15. Ish.

Jasmijn said...

1. Hmmm. Poor Iyyar. But it's just not worth the agony. When he's old enough to make food-reaction connections for himself, he'll do the same thing (after, perhaps, a couple of test tries).

3. Congrats! I'm a little lighter than I was before Iceland, which was nearly the heaviest I've ever been that wasn't childbearing-related. I have great plans for the gym. We'll see.

4. How's the mister's sweater coming along?

5. Do the lights stay on? Does that keep moths away? How bad was the damage, after all?

9. I'm working on that myself. In fact, the gym plan requires before 11 pm, preferably earlier.

Ellen said...

Well, that's good to hear, although that doesn't help your frustration at not knowing what the heck the problem really IS. Good for you for taking him in to get it checked out. Once things calm down for him GI-wise, you might consider trying goat's milk cheese (a lactose-free hard kind, like cheddar), as that works better for some people. Also, do you have a yogurt maker? We make yogurt cooked for 24 hours (cooks off all the lactose) for Chana's diet. It is AMAZING for helping tired tummies.

As always, I love reading your writing!

persephone said...

I don't know if you want to go this route, because maybe he'll be able to go back on dairy someday? But we found it was surprisingly easy to explain to Aleph. He remembers breaking out in a rash & hives vividly, and he doesn't want to feel that way ever again. So now he walks around saying "I can't have peanuts and mustard. Peanuts and mustard make me itchy."

Granted, he was never in love with either of those things - it would be way WAY harder for him to resist cheese. But I wonder if you sit Iyyar down and ask him if he remembers how badly his tummy hurt, and then tell him it's milk and cheese that does that to him...

I don't know how relevant this is, since it's NOT looking like a allergy now, but about 50% of kids who are allergic to dairy are also allergic to soy. So you might want to watch for a reaction to cheese substitutes as well. But given the way it's gone so far, it would probably be immediately obvious.

Good luck. We're struggling with how much to deprive the rest of the family, too. At least for resentment between the kids, it helped that at the same time we were cutting tomato sauce out of Bet's diet (for reflux.) But there's still the adults to consider. Currently I'm sneaking a peanut butter granola bar after they're asleep, and the last time my in-laws ordered us Chinese I lived in fear that Aleph would stick his hand in someone else's plate. I don't think we'll be doing that again.

persephone said...

I'm hard to shut up about this allergy thing, aren't I? Sorry for taking over your comments section lately. :D

LC said...

7. Just tell me it was dairy. Because otherwise, I'm going to have to be *very* jealous. Especially now that said friend has outed herself.

3. X is . . . I forget. Pre-baby, healthy weight? If so, I'd like to know how I can be no more than X + 5, but have a belly like I'm 4-5 months pregnant. (Duh, if I *were*, I wouldn't be asking.) :)

uberimma said...

Yes, it was dairy. But I'm not fleishig, so it's ok. :)

X is what I weighed at my first prenatal with Barak. It is the exact upper limit of "healthy weight for my height." Horrifying at the time, but looks pretty good now. And as for the belly, well...

LC said...

Ah, but if it was dairy, it probably wouldn't have done me any good, since we only eat cholov yisrael.

So I don't need to be jealous that I didn't get any. Chocolate you can't eat isn't any fun.