My Baby's Allergies

Last week, I took Jed to see the allergist... It should have been something that should have been done a long long time ago. I didn't think his eczema was caused by allergies. I always thought it was a dermatological issue. Shane had the same skin problem, which magically disappeared after 6-7 months.

I started looking into going to an allergist only after I noticed his face turning red (with hives) after eating / smearing yoghurt all over his face. A friend recommended one doctor to me, but too bad he doesn't take new patients. So I googled and landed up with this one. Dr Centeno. Well, she isn't the most friendliest person around, but well, Jed needs a doctor, not a friend.

Anyhow, Jed did a skin test... and OMG OMG... I was in shock for about 2-3 days before I finally got over that initial shock.

So this poor boy is allergic to... (let's try saying this in a few breaths)
Dust, Mold...
Peanuts, Milk, Eggs, Chicken, Soy, Green Peas...
And... Strawberry, Apple, Banana, Orange, Cantaloupe (melon)

So So So... I'm just so so glad he's got no gluten allergies. There's still quite a few other things that we haven't tested yet, so.... I don't think this is the end. I'm just hoping that most of these (especially the fruits) are just temporary and he will grow out of it.

Then I was told by the doctor to avoid those foods since I'm nursing him. I tried so hard for one day. It's almost impossible. I guess if I skip chicken, then what do i eat? Pork? Lamb? (We don't eat beef at home). Tough.
Next... Milk allergy? What do I have with my coffee? No dairy.. and he's allergic to Soy too... I've tried rice milk *disgusting*... and my latest favourite... Flax Milk.

$3.49 for half gallon

 Fortunately we're living in the USA where these things are not expensive. I bet you can't even find flax milk in Singapore. (and yes I also found mayo that is dairy free and egg free!!)

I don't even want to go through the list.

We have a follow up next month. So let's all just say a little prayer for baby Jed... God will heal in His time.

Jed is 6 months old today

half a year old! woo hoo!!! This little boy started sitting up without support this week. A big achievement for this big boy.

We are also starting real BLW. Our first food that he's managed to pick up and stuff into his mouth is a sweet potato. We tried this a couple of weeks ago, and this wasn't really successful. Now I know why they say... wait till 6 months!

Blueberry Picking @ Terhune

Weather was so so good this weekend that we had so much fun picking blueberries. It was supposed to rain all weekend, but the rain clouds held back, blocking most of the sunlight. Weather was probably in the 70s.

We went out to Terhune to pick blueberries and feed the farm animals. Shane had fun, chasing turkeys and feeding the goats.

Jed's first time on Solids

Yesterday, Jed turned 5 months and 14 days. So it's time for some proper food! We started Shane on exactly the same day and fed him Avocado, but me being forgetful, did not buy avocado ahead of time. So hi Avocado meal would have to wait for a few days until it ripens.

So we started him on Oatmeal cereal.


I'm not sure if he liked it, but he did seem very agitated, and calmed down only when he got to eat. Mixed signals. We shall try again today.

Our 4th of July Weekend, 2016

Shane's latest phase is to feed animals and see them at the zoo. So that's what we did over the 4th July weekend. We went to Turtle Back Zoo and Alstede farm during the weekend, and just lazed around at home on the 4th. Weather was sooooo good. But pity Jed isn't yet 6 months old and so we couldn't slap sunscreen on him. Otherwise we would have gone off to the beach.

First experience with Coxsackie

Jed hasn't really been sleep well over the last 3-4 nights. Yesterday, he had quite a bit of eye poop, and we suspected it was the Pink Eye. So this morning we took him to see Dr Brown Bear... and was told... your child has Coxsackie. We were told that it's very contagious, very painful and very harmless. Never heard of coxsackie in my life... So I did what all parents would do... GOOGLE.

SO!! Coxsackie is the infamous HFMD. I've never heard about anyone talking about HFMD here, so I thought the virus was not common here. In Singapore, I hear almost all kids have HFMD at one point of their life. 

My poor baby... He's been so fussy. We had 5+ months of fuss free days... this is literally the first time in his life that he was this fussy. Can't sleep, can't drink milk, and crying all day. I'm just so exhausted.

Shane's Day Out with Thomas

Day out with Thomas came to Strasburg Railway Station in PA. We took the 2+ hour drive there with our neighbour and Shane's friend, Arsh. We have been spoilt with our experience at Thomasland, so Day out with Thomas is not as exciting as Thomasland, but definitely good enough for a good day going gaga over trains. 

The most exciting about the whole experience was Shane going gaga over the trains. He wasn't so much interested in riding the train (in fact, he got bored being in the carriage). He spent a lot of time just looking at the other steam engines at the railway station.

The event was fairly expensive at $28 per person?! We got the Percy Package (ie. ride both Thomas & Percy). We could only have gotten the Thomas ride if I had known... Still, that would have set us back $21 each for a 30 mins ride. There isn't really much other activities to do, and there's a huge store which just makes you spend more money on Thomas products.

Would I go again? Perhaps not, especially if I had to drive over 2 hours to get to it. For just $5 more, it buys you a trip to Thomasland at Edaville.

Excited to see Thomas!!

 We saw Thomas from afar pulling his carriages

 We got to ride Percy's carriages too!

 Roaming Strasburg station... while waiting for our ride on Thomas

 Shane & Jed waiting for the train to depart

 With S's friend Arsh... Both boys were so excited to be riding in Percy's carriages

 Guess who we saw too? Sir Topham Hatt!

 Got his first Tattoo - a Thomas Tattoo

Jeds first day at school

Now that I am back to working (from home), I feel bad that Jed is left there to play by himself. So we made the hard decision to put him in a school environment instead of hiring a nanny. On days where I'm not working, I'll pick him up early... I miss him already!

Storybook Land, New Jersey

We had such a great day at Storybook Land, that i had to do a short write up about it. It's a perfect place for little toddlers because the rides are mostly mini versions of the real stuff. (Yes, they have a roller coaster for small kids too!! - see photo and caption below). Queues were fairly short maybe because we went in Spring. And unlike places like Disneyland, you actually get to walk around freely with no shoulder to shoulder bumping, worrying your kid might go missing.

Recently, bedtime stories for Shane have been the traditional stories that I borrowed from the public library. His favourite ones so far are: the 3 little Pigs (he just loves the wolf), Goldilocks and the 3 bears and the Little Red Riding Hood. So when I chanced upon an advertisement on for Storybook Land during winter, I had to go look it up. They were selling early bird tickets at that time and so we bought 3 tickets! We (rather it was more of I) have been very excited to go there during the Spring before the summer crowd kicked in.

Storybook Land

Egg Harbour, New Jersey

Storybook land comprises of many of these classic (dark dark) stories made into rides or life displays (ok, maybe my description isn't really all that good. I will let the pictures tell you more. See caption!

Mother Goose - the 'mother' author of all the fairy tales and nursery rhymes - stands to the left of the entrance of Storybook land. 

 Signage was awesome. But the place was small enough to figure out where you've been and not. (Though I was really hunting down 3 little pigs. I saw them from afar but simply could not find them. Maybe they were hiding in their brick house, or maybe not)

 This here is Mary's Little Lamb (more like a sheep). But her fleece was not really white as snow.

 Hickory Dickory Dock. The mouse ran up the clock. The clock struck one, the mouse ran down.... (Can you spot the mouse???)

 The Tick Tock Clock - no idea what the nursery rhyme for this is.

Battle of the peacocks!

Yes this place was like a zoo too. It had peacocks. I couldn't resist not posting the photos of these 2 peacocks. Wonder who won over the peahen.

 A car ride! Even our barely 4 month old baby Jed got his first ride at a theme park.

Alice in Wonderland... Shane was so excited to go down the rabbit hole! 

This was down the rabbit's hole

Off with his head!!! Running out of the maze away from the queen! 

 In a giant spinning teacup

 

And there they saw sleeping beauty and prince charming (who looked more like Pinocchio). For each display, there is usually a story being read out... complete with sound effects too!

This is where sleeping beauty lived 

 No theme park is complete without a train ride. This is the little blue engine that could

 Hey Diddle Diddle, the Cat and the Fiddle. The Cow Jump over the Moon. I think this is the first time where someone invented the cow jumping over the moon. Because it also appeared in Shane's Goodnight Moon book.

This photo is specially for Kai. Get your mommy to bring visit kor kor Shane, and Aunty will bring you here (and diggerland too) 

Watching the trains go by...

Luckily it was a chilly day... otherwise Mr Snowman would have melted 

Tommy Tittlemouse didn't know how to read signs....

 A castle with some goose running around... Maybe it was where Rapunzel lived?

 Hey diddle diddle... the cat lost his fiddle. So he got a ukulele instead.

 Had to take a photo of this roller because it was the same one from his book.

 Shane's first roller coaster ride on Bubbles Coaster!

 Bubbles Coaster

There's billy goat up there....

 Feeding the random deers...

 On the Candy Cane Express

 Jack & the beanstalk (that bounces??)

 That's my little Dopey

 Snow White & the 7 Dwarfs. 

hi-hoe-hi-hoe it's home from work we go hi hoe hi hoe...

 Cinderella's Pumpkin... She must have rode in it during Halloween. 

 Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall... Humpty Dumpty had a great fall...

 Jack & Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water, then they went down the slide...

 Moby Dick the infamous Whale

 Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater had a wife but couldn't keep her. He put her into a shell and there he kept her very well (oh so dark)

 There was a crooked man, and he walked a crooked mile. He found a crooked six pence upon a crooked stile. He bought a crooked cat which caught a crooked mouse, and they all lived together in a crooked crooked house.

 There's the crooked house

 Inside the crooked house...

 There was an old woman who lived in a shoe. She had so many children, she didn't know what to do. So she gave them some broth, without any bread, and she whipped them all soundly and sent them to bed

 There's all the kids whom she whipped and sent them to bed.

 No idea what the Merry Miller is... I only know a Ren Miller and a Kai Miller.

 Finally found the 3 little pigs just before we left Storybook land.... They came out of their break house to say bye bye.