October was a full month! Here are the highlights:
Christian was able to be tested at the allergist. He was quite uncomfortable while the test was progressing. It was difficult to keep him still long enough to get a good photo.
The results indicated that he is allergic to milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, and wheat. He is either tolerant of wheat or it was a false positive, because he eats it all the time without any reactions. We already suspected the milk and peanuts from previous exposures. We may do a tolerance test for the tree nuts in the future to rule out a false positive or to see if he tolerates them well. My guess is that he will outgrow the milk and egg allergies by the time he is 5. He seems to tolerate them in small amounts if they are cooked into something like pancakes. Only time will tell for sure. In the mean time he uses vegan butter, sunflower butter for his peanut butter substitute, and coconut milk to drink. I am still refining my coconut milk yogurt. I don't think he will ever need his Epi-pen (for severe reactions), but will carry it just in case. I also keep Benedryl for those occasions when he has typical allergic reactions. My main challenge now will be giving him a variety until he is able to eat most adult foods.
Christian is a joy to have around. As the kids say, we are grateful for Christian because he makes us happy!
October 5th, I ran a half marathon with my good friend Emily Silvester. We started training back in August. I have really relished the time with her, talking, learning from her, and sharing my challenges with her. She is an AWESOME person and I greatly admire her! I felt pretty strong and prepared for the race. The weekend before we did 12.1 miles and I felt great. On race day it was pretty and nice to be running on a brisk morning but my joints surely did not like the course. We both felt a lot of joint pain and discomfort. We did finish, but I wish I could have felt stronger and less hindered by my joints. The energy and stamina were not a problem. If I run another half marathon I will focus more on improving my time, strengthening my lower body muscle groups, and try for a course that is more flat. I am grateful to say that I finished it and hope to continue finding motivating exercise goals!
Oh, and the kids tagged along for the 5K. Go Sterling, Eve, and Camille! The others played while I finished the race.
The rest of the weekend was relaxing and we enjoyed General Conference!
October 11, we had a day off of school and took the opportunity to hit the Children's museum. As you will notice, Christian loves push toys!
On Friday the 18th, we went to get some pumpkins and squash from a local farm. It was a beautiful evening! Then we decorated our porch with the haul.
Meanwhile, Matt went to Houston to see the BYU game with his folks.
On the 22nd Sterling had a school program based off of "Where the Wild Things Are" and he got to show us some of his art work.
We made mummy pizzas, decorated Halloween sugar cookies, and carved a pumpkin or two.
And finally, Halloween- the school parade, parties, and trick or treating.
Happy Halloween!
