Off to Preschool!

Andrew's first day of preschool was this morning. He had a great time, liked all the teachers, and is looking forward to going back again on Friday.

He told me at breakfast: "You drop me off at preschool, leave me there and you go away." I guess he was more than ready for this next stage of his life.

Today was a parent-participation day, so we were there the entire time to make sure the kids were comfortable with the setting. While talking to the staff, I found out that while they are a nut-free zone, they haven't had any peanut allergies yet. But this year, they've got four kids with peanut allergies, and another kid who's off to the allergist to get the official diagnosis. So they're pretty paranoid and want to be as careful as possible.

I spent most of my time there helping the staff figure out how to deal with his allergies. I've offered to get them an epipen trainer, and they said that they'd reimburse me for it.

And then I got more homework from preschool! I've got to get them a bunch of recommended treats for birthdays and special occasions that are safe for him, and some recipes and other things that they could send out in a newsletter to parents.

My first thought was Wacky Cake, of course. (Thanks Liz, for that recipe!) And then when I was googling wacky cake, I found a Wacky Lemon Cake recipe -- think I'll be trying this for Andrew's next celebration! (He can eat lemons straight; loves sour things.) Or maybe we'll do it for Geoff's birthday this weekend. He's not on wheat yet, but everyone else who's coming will be able to eat it for him. I'll just make some jello for Geoff -- he loves jello!

And then there are lots of commercial products that are dairy-free and nut-free, and therefore safe for Andrew as treats -- oreos, a few non-dairy sherbets, the Dare line of cookies ... we do have a pretty good list now, but I just have to write it all down for them.