MONDO WEIRDO

Yep, it was a big day. Luke’s first trip to the dentist. I honestly didn’t know what to expect from him. We do call him “drama queen” for a reason after all. But he really surprised me with his calm demeanor and, although he was apprehensive, he got through the appointment without any fussing or crying! In fact, the dentist and her assistant said he was “exceptional!” Go Luke! Not only that but his teeth look great, no cavities! He walked away with a bag full of goodies and saying “It’s fun to go to the dentist!” What more could I have hoped for?

Jack sure has put in a lot of hours practicing his new walking skills. Every chance he gets he’s talking a short stroll. He’s quickly gone from being able to take two steps, to 6 steps, to now walking across the room. He’s so motivated by watching Luke and all his friends running around the park. He’s trying so hard to catch up! He’ll be running in no time. Here’s some video I finally managed to capture today.

Luke offered to help with the grocery list this morning. Here’s what he came up with:

Waffles

Beer

Sugar

Baby food

Cat food

Blue dump truck

Blue mixer truck

Rice

Tomatoes

All the food

There you go folks! Everything you could possibly need according to my (almost) 3 year old! And how sweet of him to think of the baby and the cats. I just hope that beer is for me!

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a walker! This evening Jack took his first steps. We sort of saw it coming. This past week he’s been very steady on his feet and could stand independently for long periods of time. Still, I thought he’d start walking sometime around his birthday not three days after he turned 11-months old! You beat your brother by a whole month Jack! Not that it’s a competition:) I can’t believe my baby is growing up so fast. Wish me luck! I’m not sure how I’m going to chase two of these boys around.

I’ve been trying to bury my head in the sand over this issue long enough. It’s time to accept reality. Luke has a peanut allergy. I suspected as much when I noticed the red blotchy rash on his face after I gave him peanut butter for the first time at one year old. I avoided giving him any other peanut products until recently in the hopes that I’d simply imagined the rash or that he’d outgrown whatever mild allergy he had. At 2.5 I had him try peanut butter again. Again the rash appeared. This time he also threw up which I attributed to his hatred of trying new foods. But then he also said he was itchy. And cold. Luke is well known for being a drama queen but I knew it was time to have him tested. I hoped and hoped it would come back negative. It didn’t. The blood test confirmed Luke has a mild peanut allergy.

I wish I could be comforted that it’s just a “mild” allergy. Unfortunately it seems that no matter how mild the allergy you can never predict how severe a reaction will be. He could just throw up. Or get hives. Or his throat could close up and he would stop breathing. Now we have to carry epipens everywhere we go just in case he is accidentally exposed and goes into anaphylactic shock. Otherwise, he could die.

I am heartbroken. My little guy loves baked goods like donuts, cookies, cake. He occasionally eats all of these things but now that I’m ready to face reality I have to admit that we are tempting fate by allowing him to have them because so many are tainted by peanuts. Especially when they come from places like Duncan Donuts which have signs everywhere warning that any of their products could contain peanuts. I can’t even trust the local bakery up the street which claims to be peanut free because Luke came down with a mysterious case of the hives after consuming a cinnamon roll and croissant for breakfast. How to explain to a 2- almost 3-year old that he can no longer have one of his favorite treats?

And how am I supposed to keep him safe? It’s mind boggling that in this day and age, when peanut/nut allergies are so prevalent, so many parents don’t even think before sending their toddlers to the park with a snack cup full of nuts. Luke almost grabbed them when they spilt all over the ground. We went to a kids party not long ago and I was shocked to see a huge bowl of peanut butter crackers on the table for the kids to consume. Seriously? Do we need to have more public service announcements about the millions of kids with peanut allergies? Didn’t a little girl just die at school because she accidentally ate a peanut? I don’t think people should get hysterical over the issue but how about leaving the peanut butter at home or refraining from serving it at parties? Obviously I supervise Luke at all times but kids like to share food and they aren’t so good at washing their hands. I can’t keep an eye on Luke every second of the day so we really need to start teaching him to ask permission before sharing food. Thankfully most preschools these days are nut free and teachers are well trained in dealing with allergies. Still, it’s scary.

So until Luke is old enough to be trusted to wash his hands before eating and read food labels and not share snacks we need to be extra cautious. No more pad thai in this house. No more nut filled candies or marzipan at holiday time. We have to be vigilant at Halloween and parties and public gatherings. We have to read labels. And we have to teach everyone who watches out for Luke – friends, babysitters, grandparents – that peanut allergies are serious. No you can’t just pick off the nuts and feed him the rest. He cannot eat anything that has come into contact with peanuts. While he’s not allergic to tree nuts they could be contaminated by peanuts so it’s probably best to avoid them too. Read food labels! And he has to have his Benadryl and epipens handy at all times.

I really really really hope Luke outgrows his allergy. I’m not getting my hopes up. I think only 20% of kids outgrow it by the time they’re 6. Time will tell. In the meantime, we’ll do what we can to avoid those damn peanuts!

Bedtime? No way, says Jack! Here’s our little turkey getting some late night kicks by tossing all his books on the floor. Hey, at least he manages to put one back on the shelf!

Heehee, I couldn’t resist posting this video of Luke rocking out on his guitar. And as you can see, he clearly has a solid grasp on “opposites.” Also, notice the super hero cape he wore all day. He got lots of compliments on it while he was cruising around town on his scooter. What a ham!