Confessions of a dairy-free cow

It's kind of funny if you think about it... I won't drink milk yet I make milk...therefore the cow label. Yeah, I guess it's only funny to me, the sleep-deprived mooing mama. My confession would be that I have been craving cheese. On my ham sandwich. Slices of sharp cheddar on my (freshly picked) apples. Melted provolone on a chicken panini. Blah! And, that it is hard! It's ridiculous that dairy is added into so many things, unnecessarily even! Like, crackers. They put whey in there just to get a smidgen of protein in a cracker! No one expects crackers to have protein! And the dairy-free rice cheese? Casein- the milk protein. Um, hello? False advertising! The rice milk in cereal is just fine. I can use the smart blend brand of "butter" and it's all good. I use olive oil for all my cooking anyway, so that's easy enough. I do miss an occasional ice cream cone. But, fruit sorbets and those new fruit chillers give me my fix.

caught the middle of a goofy smile

We are getting into a sort of routine. The chart I made for Kian has helped both of us. It's the days we just sit in pajamas forever and have the tv on that tend to be the worst days for us-behavior and frustration-wise. So, getting up and going, even if we're not actually going somewhere helps a lot. We do some sort of art "project" as Kian calls it daily. Even if it's just coloring or stamping. We continue to try to get to the library weekly and the museum hopefully as much now. Kian says he doesn't want to go back to 'school' but then asks to play with kids, so we'll figure it out. There's a gym program for toddlers starting in November that I plan on signing him up for-I think he needs that interaction and to get out of the house sometimes. He went from hardly being home, to hardly going out, so we'll balance it out. That has helped with behaviors. He had a decent week last week, a rough Sunday, but so far this week is starting out great. He's been gentle with Karter for the most part, and so polite it's scary. He thanked me for dinner, saying "Mommy, thank you for cooking this dinner for me. It's delicious". Get a spoon, 'cause I'm a puddle. He thanked me again at lunch and dinner tonight. I asked him who told him to say that, he said "me". And has been asking for things so nicely that even Jon and Kevin made fun of him. Don't do that!

the beginning of a smile

Karter has started to get his own schedule figured out. He likes to take a long nap in the morning and wake up for awhile when Kian goes down for his nap-of course! Then take a couple short ones in the afternoon/early evening, being very wide awake in between. He goes down around the same time Kian goes to bed, so I've been feeling like I'm getting a little "me time" or house cleaning time, either way. I feel that things are getting done and falling into place now. He is cooing and smiling a lot now. After I said that we had to work for it, he started smiling a ton. He sits and makes noises and kicks his feet at dinner to get Kevin's attention, never mine, just Kevin's. (I suppose because I am with him all day.)

Picking apples in Penn Yan (we picked 100 lbs!)

Spring Wagon Orchards

It took me 5 weeks to figure this one out, am I an idiot or what? Kian would scream and screech if Karter was crying and become crazy and that's when the roughness would start with him. Finally, the light clicked on and I realized the crying was hurting his ears and bothering him (you'd think I'd never worked with sensory integration issues before?!). So, I told him to either cover his ears or leave the room if he didn't like Karter's crying. It's worked. Jeez, ya dummy, should have thought of that sooner!


I've determined that Karter's losing some of that dark newborn hair. The hair that's smack-dab in the center of his head, in the front. This means he'll have that bald top and that old man ring of hair around the sides and his ears. Fantastic! If he's lucky, he'll follow Kian's path and continue to get cuter as he gets older. He's definitely getting fatter that's for sure! When I try to weigh him he's looking like around 12 lbs. Possible to gain 1.5 lbs in 2 weeks? Probably, again if he follows Kian's path he'll be quite the fatty around 4 months, then barely gain for the next six. He still has some reflux, which manifests itself as gagging, grunting, loud, rapid swallowing and fussiness if laid down right after eating (or if I eat a lot of spicy foods). I made the mistake of having "just one tiny bite" of Kevin's ice cream the other night. I paid for it in the middle of the night and the next day by being puked on non-stop. I do enough laundry as it is, so dairy-free is how we shall stay.


But, I'm getting scared because the holidays are coming up. And I bet one does not realize exactly how much butter, milk and cheese is in everything. And I mean everything! *Sob* Not sure what I am going to do about that. Make my own meal? Blah! Try to set aside portions before it's all added in? Maybe. I can't knowingly and willfully eat all that food with gobs of butter and cheese in it, when I know what it will do to Karter's stomach--and my shirt! If I do, we'll be up all that night and next day getting it out of his system... oh well, that's for another day.