Google pedometer

Okay, now I've got a new favourite toy: Google Pedometer.

Click away on your favourite walking route, and it'll tell you how many miles or kilometers you walk on that route.

Our usual route, from our house, down to the bog trail, over to 70th Street, and back, takes 2.6 miles/4.2 km.

So if I want to do the Walk 100 miles by April challenge, we'll have to do that walk 50 times. The walking part would be easy enough to do. It's getting the boys to cooperate that's the tough part. Andrew wants to walk, then he wants to be in the stroller, then he wants to go home, then he wants to collect "treasures", then he wants a snack ...

And Geoff now wants to walk part of the way, too, then he wants in the stroller, then he wants to be carried, then he wants to walk ... sigh.

Web magazines for thinking moms

I found a couple of very cool web magazines for thinking moms yesterday.



Literary Mama is subtitled "A Literary Magazine for the Maternally Inclined." It's got plenty to keep you thinking. If you're a mom, read the Sex in the Suburbs columns. Funny stuff.


Mamazine.com is another excellent site. I read a few articles yesterday, and had their words and images echoing around my head for the rest of the day.

So many websites, so little time!

Cool toys

A couple of neat toys ....



First up: A metal pen that will last forever because it has no ink. From the Grand Illusions website.


And this one's for Tony: a mileage calculator which uses Google Maps to figure out business travel mileage.

Allergic Living magazine and forums

If you're living with allergies, visit Allergic Living magazine's webforum. I've just added it to my sidebar so that it'll be a permanent link from this blog. (I've got a subscription to the magazine, but I'm a bit disappointed with it — the articles seem very superficial, and not detailed enough in the amount of information provided.)

The US-based POFAK forum is amazing for its members' depth of knowledge and experience, but it's nice to have this Canadian resource, with Canadian brands in the discussions of what's recommended (like President's Choice microwave popcorn, which I hadn't realized was dairy-free — I just assumed that they all had some dairy derivatives). And via this Allergic Living board, I've just found a get-together for lower mainland parents of allergic kids. They even meet in Surrey, which is close to us, and not somewhere in downtown Vancouver, as I'd have expected.

So little time, so much websurfing to do. Good thing I've got this new laptop!


PS. Also wanted to add a link to a great article about toddler (and preschooler) tantrums. Quote: "The human brain takes approx 7 years to lay down all the right tissue. This isn't 7 years to 'mature' - that's approx 25 years. That's 7 years for all the right bits to grow in and start talking to itself coherently." So for a lot of the big tantrums, the kid simply can't control what's happening in his brain.

Andrew's sister

I've got to blog this because it'll be a hoot to read in a few years. Andrew's got a sister. Her name is something like "Indeger Patty". Yes, she's an imaginary person, but she's sure active in this house these days.

She lives in a big house and gives peabutter away to anyone who needs it (we ran out of peabutter today; almost a disaster!). She has several brothers (but Andrew isn't one of her brothers). And she used to be allergic to dairy but now she isn't any more. In fact, she does a lot of things that Andrew's not allowed to do.

It's been fascinating watching him tell stories about his imaginary sister. She showed up in early December, and she's gotten more and more vivid as the weeks have gone by.

Apparently it's a good sign that he's got Patty around, as far as mental development is concerned. So we're just playing along with him.

I do get worried, however, when he talks about Patty and her allergies. I think that Patty is a way for him to deal with some of the things that are bothering him, so I can't help but read hidden messages into some of the things he says about her.

Happy New Year!

What a lot happened over the holidays. Some of the highlights and low points:

* I got a new macbook! Hopefully that will lead to more blogging — it's been tough to share a computer with Andrew now that he can play computer games. He's addicted to his Tonka Construction game. (Like parents, like kid -- I miss the days when I could play games for hours at a stretch.)

* we had to take Andrew to the emergency room just before Christmas. We'd had dinner at Boston Pizza, where he's eaten tons of times before. But this time, he lost his voice after dinner. The last time he lost his voice (last Christmas), he then proceeded to throw up and have an allergic reaction, so this time we weren't going to wait "just in case." He started getting his voice back about five minutes after we got to the hospital, and never complained of any scratchy throat, but they wanted to give him a full examination anyways. Our current theory is that he had a reaction to the pecans which were on Tony's salad. No, he didn't eat the pecans, just hopped on Tony's lap during part of dinner. That explains why he "only" lost his voice, and there was no gastro-intestinal reaction — that is, he didn't throw up.

* still haven't given Geoff any dairy directly. He's got a helluva diaper rash at the moment, so it's not the right time to try it out, since I won't be able to tell if he gets a mild reaction. I'm blaming either the marzipan that I ate (it was on top of some fruitcake, and I love fruitcake), the fact that he had a little more orange juice over the holidays, or his teething — he's got 7 teeth coming in, all at the same time!

What we learned today at school

Conversation during Andrew's bedtime routine:

Andrew: "If you are in a store, and have to go to the bathroom, you can ask someone who works there: 'Where is the bathroom?' and they will tell you. If you ask someone who doesn't work there, they won't know where the bathroom is."

Daddy: "That's right Andrew, where did you learn that?"

Andrew: "At school, from my friends." came the reply.

Daddy: "What are your friends' names?"

Andrew: "Alex, Della, Chloe, Dora and Boots".

Daddy thinks he may be watching a little bit of TV when he's not at school.

Christmas projects

What do you give to your kids' preschool teachers for Christmas? Well, when I dropped Andrew off at preschool last week, and saw all the teachers shivering with mittens on, I had an answer!

These are Fetching fingerless gloves, made in Patons SWS yarn (70% wool, 30% soy), and they feel so soft on your skin. It takes less than a ball to make one pair. I like them so much I might not be able to give them away!

Modification: I went down a needle size because I knit loosely.

Boo!

Yup, it really does take me a week to get Halloween photos up. I blame getting another cold. I've been warned that we'll be sick for the first couple of years of having kids, but now that I'm in the middle of it, I'm just being miserable.

(Thanks to Auntie Vicky for taking the photos!)

Here's Andrew, who was a gorilla.


And here's Geoffrey, who was a lion.


We only gave out non-dairy, non-peanut candies, which I think disappointed some of the kids who came to our door. But we always have tons of candy left over, and I didn't want Andrew getting into something that he's allergic to.

He did come home with a couple of pieces of milk chocolate, but Tony was happy to eat them up right away for him. We did trade him for some candy that he is allowed to eat.

A photo of the trick-or-treaters.


Andrew and Geoff only went to about 4-5 of our neighbours' doors, the ones we know really well. And Andrew had a blast doing it, and then when he got home, he had even more fun running up and down to answer our door and give away candy.

One of our neighbours also has allergic kids. Last year, she had different buckets of candy for different kinds of allergies (the no-nuts bucket, the no-dairy bucket, etc.). This year, she just handed out plain chips, which I thought was a smart move. Maybe that's what we'll do next year -- and then I can eat them too.

Another of our neighbours was super-thoughtful and made little bags for Andrew and Geoff, with safe candies for Andrew, and some candies and a wee book for Geoff. We are so lucky to have such great neighbours!

Andrew's new allergy bracelets

Remember a few weeks ago, I got some silicone bracelets from Australia, but they'd had a mixup on the order? Well, the replacement ones arrived last week, and here's what they look like.



They're a great fit on his little 3-year-old wrist, and it's now very easy to read the writing on the bracelets. The inside of the bracelet still has contact cell #s on it, but they're just indented, not in dark text.

I'm happy with these, especially at the price and customizability. They're from Buzzmeband, in Australia. Shipping seemed to take 2-3 weeks, but it's 2 weeks from the US, so only an extra few days from the other side of the world.

Now, if only I could get Andrew to keep them on his wrists -- he'll put them on, but then takes them off again after 20 minutes or so.

UPDATE: January 3, 2009
Buzzmeband seems to have gone out of business. See this post for another fun beaded allergy bracelet from Australia.

Remember Erica Ehm?

You're a Canadian child of the 80s if you remember Erica Ehm. She was one of Much Music's first VJs. I think she was 18 at the time, and her dad was one of the channel's owners or something.

Anyways, her latest incarnation is as the host of the Yummy Mummy TV show, since she, like so many of our generation, now has a kid.

The reason I'm blogging her -- her daughter is allergic to peanuts and fish, as she describes in this article.

My apologies for a long absence. Socks have been knitted, and life has gone on.

But we've been a house o' plague for a couple of weeks. Andrew brought home a nasty throat virus from preschool, and was miserable for a week. Then I caught it just as he got over it. And now Geoff and Tony have it. It seems to run its course over a week, so hopefully we'll all be better by the end of this week. I sure hope so -- being sick SUCKS!

UFOs

My current UFO (unfinished object) is a pair of socks for Sarah. I love working with these bright colours. It's a Knitpicks yarn: Simple Stripes Sunset.

The pair before this was all shades of grey, so it's a nice change to be working on something with such cheerful colours. They're going pretty quickly, too. Heel turns are done on both socks, so I only have the feet to finish.

And it turns out that it was my fault that Andrew's preschool recommended the treats that they did. I forgot to get them a list of safe foods, and the other mom did get her list in. So they just picked two foods off her list and didn't check them for dairy content.

I got them a new list today, and they were grateful. I think they'll use it, too, especially for group treats or holiday celebrations -- of which there will be plenty over the next few months.

Andrew's loving his preschool, too. He even has "best friends" there, and he remembers their names. But of course, when I ask him who his best friend is, he always answers, "Megan."

Here's a photo of Andrew and Megan at the Canada Day parade in July. They are awfully cute together.

Socks for Christmas!

In case anyone missed me, it's because I'm now addicted to knitting socks. And since Andrew hasn't had any allergic reactions for a month, I'm getting a lot of knitting done!

I've discovered that it's easy -- and therapeutic -- to knit on the SkyTrain. So in the month since I've been back to work, I've done 3.5 pairs of socks. (The second sock of the fourth pair is in progress at the moment.) Here's a photo of what I've done so far.



On the allergy front, I'm working with the preschool folks to come up with foods that parents can bring for birthday treats. Another mom who has a peanut-allergic child has recommended only two: plain packaged Rice Krispies squares, and Wagon Wheels. But both contain milk ingredients, so Andrew would be left out of birthday party celebrations.

I got this list from the peanutallergy boards:
-Safeway Graham Crackers
-Honey Maid Graham Crackers
-Keebler Graham Crackers
-Teddy Grahams (just NOT the chocolate chip ones)
-Fresh Fruit
-Delmonte Fruit Cups
-Fresh Veggies, carrots & celery
-Jello with fruit cups
-Sun Maid Raisins
-Triscuits
-Pop Tarts
-Plain old Oreos
-Nabisco Fig Newtons
-Robert's American Gourmet -- veggie Booty

I haven't checked all of them for dairy (particularly the graham crackers), but I know that Andrew has had almost everything on this list without a problem.

I'd really like to get either the delmonte fruit cups and the jello with fruit cups onto the preschool's approved list, as those actually feel more like a party treat.

Happy Anniversary to us

Seven years and one day ago, we had a giant storm in Vancouver. It took out power lines and blew trees down, all over the city. I couldn't sleep for all the noise of the storm -- we were in a 12th floor apartment at the time, and it sounded like we were going to be blown to Oz at any minute.

The next day, we got married.

My maid of honour got dressed in the dark that morning. Actually, she lit the candles on her candelabra so that she could see -- and totally freaked out her boyfriend at the time, as she went wandering through her apartment with the candelabra. She also braved the Vancouver streets in the dark -- no stoplights were working in most of the city.

Our wedding and dinner location wasn't sure that they were going to have power until about four hours before the ceremony. Thank goodness they only told the best man, and not us. I didn't need to panic about that.

But we managed to get all gussied up, and had our hair done nicely. And we had gorgeous wedding photos taken in a local park. There were trees down all over the park, except for where we'd decided to shoot. So it all worked out in the end.

I can't believe it's been seven years. Happy anniversary, Tony!

Medic bracelets

Andrew now has two kinds of bracelets which list his allergies.

The first one is the usual medicalert steel bracelet. The real Medicalert bracelets are $70 and I didn't want to spend that kind of money until I figured out if he would actually wear the thing on his wrist.



So I found a cheaper alternative online, at the Diabetic Drugstore: kids' medicalert bracelets for $11.98 US. They were super-fast, with delivery in less than a week from Virginia to British Columbia. Unfortunately, the bracelet they sent was the adult size (pictured on the top right, above). They were super-friendly on the phone when I spoke to them (gotta love that Southern accent!) and sent me a kids' bracelet for free (bottom).

It turns out that Andrew will wear it for a few hours, then wants it taken off his wrist. So we'll keep working on that.

The other bracelet also has a customer service issue. It's the Buzzmeband, from Australia. You can specify the colours and type -- I went with yellow and orange because I figured it was bright and noticeable. It's a perfect fit on Andrew's skinny 3-year-old wrist. Unfortunately, they didn't fill-in the text as I'd ordered (I wanted black lettering). But they actually emailed me before they mailed it to me. The manufacturer had made that mistake, so they were going to mail me the incorrect bracelets, just to tide me over, and refund my payment, and re-do and re-send the order with the text filled in. So I gotta give major kudos for customer service and satisfaction to these folks.

These Buzzmeband bracelets aren't a traditional medicalert bracelet, which is a concern in an actual emergency. But I think that they're pretty cool-looking, and Andrew might actually be more willing to wear this softer bracelet. So I'd rather have him wear something which lists his allergies, than nothing at all. If nothing else, it's a reminder to his preschool teachers and any parents who might be around that he has allergies.

I actually like the Buzzmebands as a fun bracelet. If I could think of text I'd want to write on my own wrist, I'd be tempted to get some for myself! They're not expensive -- $15-$25 for 6 bracelets (depending on what colours you want) plus a couple of bucks for postage. I think I'd want some kind of purple/red/blue marbleized combo.

Geoff's test results

Off to the allergist this morning with Geoff. She gave me a lecture about how allergies are hard to diagnose, and that ingestion and obvious reaction (hives, vomiting, etc.) is really the only way to diagnose an allergy.

Then she scratch-tested Geoff, but not the full panel, just a few things: milk, egg whites, egg yolks, and soy. And they were all negative!!!

I'm cautiously hopeful. Since he's never had any of those foods directly -- just through breastmilk -- he might not have been sensitized to them yet. It usually takes a couple of direct exposures to get sensitized to an allergen, and then the allergic reactions start escalating in scale.

So we'll probably try him on egg yolks this weekend -- I need to go and buy some organic eggs for him. Then next week, we'll try a tiny piece of cheese.

"Are the dangers" article, part deux

Are the dangers of childhood food allergy exaggerated?

NO The acquisition, preparation, and consumption of food are fundamental and unavoidable parts of life. Retrospective and prospective case series show time and again that food allergy can be fatal for some people, at a time and place they cannot predict or avoid. Food allergy is the most common cause of anaphylaxis outside a hospital setting. Population based studies show that up to 6% of preschool children have had allergic reactions to foods ...

It might be just me, but I think that this article isn't as convincing as the "Yes" side that was in my earlier post. Although I do agree strongly with this statement: "Even a mild allergic reaction may reduce a patient or parent's self confidence in dealing with allergy, whereas successful management will-increase the patient and their family's perception of control and reduce anxiety."

I suspect that if I'd read these articles after a major allergic reaction, I'd be agreeing more with the "no" side than the "yes" side.

I'm steeling myself for taking Geoff to the allergist tomorrow morning. I'm afraid of what the results will be. Dairy, almost for sure, and who knows what else.

A friend just found out that her second daughter is allergic to a ton of stuff: dairy, eggs, corn, potatoes, oatmeal, peanuts, nuts, and a few other things that I don't remember. I gave her a tour of our cupboards, but so much of what I can give Andrew includes oatmeal or corn or potatoes. (Our egg substitute is potato-based, for example.)

So I'm worried about what the allergist will find for Geoff's allergies. Update tomorrow.

Are the dangers of childhood food allergy exaggerated?

Thanks to Sarah for this link to a British Medical Journal article:

Are the dangers of childhood food allergy exaggerated?
"The natural course and epidemiology of food allergy are not the same in children and adults, and the associated dangers may also differ. Many statements on food allergy in children have been derived from adult populations or studies in which children and adults were not analysed separately. However, studies of children suggest that the dangers are overstated; this leads to unnecessary alarm for many families and schools and also to medical advice and management that may be disproportionate to the risk."

I'll admit that, after reading this, I did feel a lot better about how we're dealing with Andrew's allergies. Plus, as the article points out, his odds of dying because of his allergies are pretty slim.

No of deaths	Cause	Years
1	Food allergy2	1990-2000
25	Asthmaw8	1999
206*	Unexpected, sudden, non-violent deaths that were unexplained or caused by medical conditions not recognised before deathw9	1984-94
275	Accidentsw10	2004
310	Sudden infant death syndromew11	2004

There is another side to this article, but Sarah emailed it to me when I was at work, and I keep forgetting to link to it when I'm at my desk. (As you can tell from my posting frequency, it's gotten kinda tough to juggle family, work and the rest of my life.) So I figured I'd link to this one first, and that would prompt me to link to the other one when I get to my desk.

I've been doing the early shift at work -- get up at 5 am, out the door at 6 am, and at my desk at 7 am. So I'm pretty groggy by the time dinnertime is over. Geoff goes to bed between 7:30-8 pm, and I'll confess that most nights, I'm half asleep with him.

The early shift is tough in some ways, but nice in others. I can get parking at the SkyTrain station, and the trains aren't sardine-cans full of people yet. Plus I can get so much work done before the rest of the office arrives. And it's nice to leave work at 3 pm, and pick up the kids from my mom at 4.

Friends & family and allergies

We're so lucky to have a fantastic group of friends who really get it about Andrew's allergies. They're careful to bring over "Andrew-safe" food for potluck dinners at our place, and they're sometimes even more careful than I am about checking out all of the ingredients.

When we went on our Summerland vacation, Sarah even wrote out all of the ingredients for all of the home-baked cookies that she brought, and had us look them over to make sure that they were safe. Because of course, while Andrew doesn't really care about curries and other grown-up food, he does love cookies and anything else that looks like it has sugar in it.

I think the turning point for our friends might have been the time I let Andrew (at around 2 years old) have a taste of some gelato ice cream, and he threw up all over me after two licks. (I gave it to him because I wanted to see if he'd outgrown his dairy allergy.) You can tell people that your kid has an allergy, and they might think that it's not a big deal. But after they see him get violently sick, they take it a lot more seriously. I love our friends for taking care of us so well.

The same thing goes for the grandparents. My mom's been there for two of his peanut reactions, and afterwards, has been so mad at herself both times. She's gotten so much more careful now with what she buys for him -- and when in doubt, she now has the backbone to tell him "no." Which is hard for her, because she always says "yes" to anything he asks for. Once she figured out that he could ride a bike, she even took him to Toys'R'Us and let him choose any bicycle he wanted. Yeesh. Talk about a spoilt grandson!

My baby's becoming a toddler

Geoffrey took two steps this afternoon at my mom's house! He'd taken one step from the coffee table to me on Saturday, but did nothing on his birthday. I guess he was saving the next step for the day after his birthday.

My mom called Tony at work, and then he called me to let me know.

Mixed feelings -- I wish he'd done it for me!