One Year Old! (Plus a few months)

   

      It has been FOREVER!  Adrian is now 15 months old.  He had a wonderful first birthday and has grown so much.  He is walking, talking and into everything!  I started a few grains when he turned one.  He had a rice flour birthday cake and we tried some rice flour crackers but he was not too keen on them.  I recently started oatmeal with flax and he loves it.  We're still attempting to stay gluten free though he has gotten into a few things (unattended goldfish crackers and a pizza crust) which did not sit well on his tummy.

     It's also looking like Adrian is lactose intolerant.  After we started milk when he turned one, he started having almost constant diarrhea.  I eliminated the milk but kept giving him other dairy and for a while he did ok, but then it started up again.  Horrible diarrhea and nasty diaper rash that would show up almost immediately.  I've been attempting to eliminate dairy but he will get the occasional ice cream or sour cream on his taco which have the same results.  We had this 15 month check up yesterday and were advised to remove all dairy for 2 months, reintroduce it and see if the symptoms come back.  For now he is drinking goat's milk and almond milk and we'll see how he does.  Tonight he will be celebrating Daddy's birthday with some coconut milk ice cream!  He is also still nursing 1-2 times a day so he's getting that as well.  I do think he'll probably wean soon though as we sometimes skip a feeding and he doesn't seem to notice.  He does still like to comfort nurse when he is tired or sick or if he has a booboo.

     We had a great Thanksgiving and I made my paleo stuffs and they came out really well.  Adrian had more than 2 helpings and especially loved the almond flour cornbread!  He wasn't too big on the cranberry sauce (nor was the rest of the family). I think I needed more sweetener.  He did love the pumpkin pie and so did I but Daddy wasn't thrilled.

Almond Flour "Cornbread"

Homemade Cranberry Sauce sweetened with Stevia

Deviled Eggs

Paleo Pumpkin Pie with Walnut Crust

Turkey with Herbes de Provence and Citrus

Paleo Thanksgiving!

     Earlier this month, the kids had a nice surprise.  Grandma Ginny came to visit!  We kept her visit a secret from Diana and Aidan and surprised them at school.  We had a really good visit and the kids really enjoyed spending time with Grandma Ginny.  She has also been eating Paleo for about 8 months now and has lost over 50lb.  In addition to that, her asthma symptoms have completely disappeared since she eliminated grains!

 



       Yesterday, Adrian weighed in at 27lb12oz fully clothed in a questionable diaper, so probably a few oz less and 31 inches, though I'm doubting that measurement as well as he was screaming and wiggling the whole time.  He is otherwise healthy and had 5 shots :(  .

Trying out the potty.

     Cloth diapering is still going well and our original 99 cent China diapers have bit the dust after 8 months, which I think was well worth the money.  I started using Alva Baby diapers a few months ago and I love them!  They have adorable prints, are bigger and have side snaps that prevent wing droopage.  Also they are about $6 a diaper on Ebay, much cheaper than the big name brands.  Adrian has started taking off his diaper and bringing us a new one when he needs a change so I went ahead and introduced the potty.  I'm not pushing it, but wanted to get him used to it.  I've always heard cloth diapered babies potty train faster because they don't like the feeling of being wet.

Love Alva Baby Diapers!

     I've just finished up the semester for school (I'm taking pre-requisites for nursing).  I ended up with 3 A's and  B which is pretty cool.  I now only need 4 more classes before I can take the rankings tests to start nursing.  I was expecting to be able to take all 4 in one semester and then jump in but it looks like it won't be that easy.  I need Anatomy and Physiology I & II which can't be taken together, Microbiology and Pharmacology which can't be taken until until I have completed A&P I & II so it's going to take a good bit longer than I had planned.  These classes have to be taken in person so Adrian will have to go to daycare a couple times a week.  I am worried about this as I don't know if cloth diapers will be allowed and I am very concerned about what they will feed him.  The plan is to feed him before I drop him off (class is 11:30-1:40) and pack him snacks but I'm scared they'll feed him cookies and junk.

     The stomach flu has been going around the Herschede household and as in the past, I cannot highly enough sing the praises of Vitamin D3.  When Matt started getting sick I started Stoss's Protocol of 500 IUxlb of body weight for 3 days.  http://drbganimalpharm.blogspot.com/2009/03/vitamin-d-natures-antibiotic-20-50k-iu.html  I also started giving the kids gummies and put liquid D3 in Adrian's drink.  Aidan and I both had a low grade fever for a night and I had chills but by the next day we were all fine.  I have found a brand I really like.  NOW brand liquid Vitamin D3.  It is flavorless, contains just Vitamin D3 and MCT oil (an added bonus) and I got it for around $5 on Amazon.  Sundown naturals is also great if you don't mind the orange flavor.

        I will do my best to update more often.  Here are some more pics!

Loved his cake

First Dentist Visit

11 months old

In one week my baby will be a year old! Adrian is all over the place. Not quite walking yet, but he has learned to climb stairs (and scare the crap outta mommy)! We tried baby gates, but couldn't get them to fit right and were afraid the older kids wouldn't be able to get around them. So Matt found this mesh gate that blocks off all but the living room (we have one gate up in front of the stairs in the living room). Baby is into everything. I think he will be like his big sister. He is extremely curious and not scared of anything!

We're still doing well with eating. We introduced milk a couple weeks ago and at first he didn't like it, but later realized that he didn't like it cold! I guess that makes sense s

ince breast milk is body temperature. It's nice to not have to break him of the bottle. He's been using a sippy cup

since around 5 months so he's a pro at it now. He does not however like the cups with the straws. Still no grains, but I am planning a gluten free birthday cake made with rice flour. We'll see how that goes.

I cut my strict paleo a week or so short since we were traveling to

Mississippi for Matt's family reunion. The first day of no dairy was absolutely miserable. I felt like I was back

in the days of low cal, low fat. I was hungry and obsessed with eating. This feeling passed though and I lost around 7lb that I had put back on. I've since lost another lb since going back to normal (low carb paleo but including dairy, eggs, nuts and nightshades).

We had a great time in MS. My kids got to see both sets of grandparents and after my parents went back home we traveled a few minutes down

the road to Louisville, MS to Lake Tiak O'khata where the Herschede

family reunion was held. It

was great catching up with family and the kids had a blast. I had a little trouble with the meals as the food was very southern (think fried chicken and mashed potatoes) and I later discovered that the green beans had sugar in them! Also, whatever was in their Salisbury Steak spiked my blood sugar to 270! I spoke with one of the servers the next day and was told almost all of their veggies were made with sugar! How crazy is that? They did however offer some steamed veggies and grilled chicken the next night so all was good. All in all, it was a great reunion

and everyone enjoyed themselves.

We got to stop at one of my favorite restaurants on the way

home. Mcallister's Deli! They have a beanless chili that has like 1 net gram of carbs and I also had their awesome chopped Italian salad. Heaven!

10 months old

Almost 11 months! Can't believe my baby will soon be a year old. Adrian has grown so much. At his 10 month appointment he weighed 20lb10oz and was 29 3/4 in long. The doc was impressed with his weight gain since three weeks earlier he had been concerned about lack of gain. We put him on 3 solid meals a day. He's eating all table food of course and boy does that child love to eat!

He's nursing much less now, probably 2-3 times a day which is ok. I don't want to stop completely yet, but he seems to be self weaning so that works for me.

Adrian is now standing alone and walking with his walking toy. I don't think it will be long before he is actually walking. Matt has to go on a business trip soon and is afraid Adrian will walk while he is gone. Hoping he decides to wait. The Herschede family reunion is in a few weeks so that would be a good time to start!

We had a great 4th of July. The family went to

Fort Bliss and it was really nice and breezy. The kids played on the playground and there

were little game booths. Looked like rain for a while but it held off long enough for the fireworks. I thought Adrian might be afraid of them but nope, he kept smiling really big and saying "ooh".

I've been debating

Adrian's diet for a while and think I've figured out how we're gonna do it. As of now he basically eats paleo/primal but not low carb. He eats meat, eggs, veggies (starchy

or non) cheese and fruit. His favorite is bananas! He would eat them all day if I let him. So I've decided to start grains when he turns 1 but to keep him gluten free. I would like that to be the ultimate goal for the family but don't know that it will ever happen. So I figure I'll start with rice since that seems to be the most benign. I'm planning a gluten free birthday cake made with rice flour. Wheat is the worst of the grains so we're gonna steer clear there.

Last week Grandma Ginny came to visit! Everyone had a great time visiting. The kids got to do lots of stuff with her. They went shopping, went out for ice cream, went on a walk, built a birdhouse, played with chalk, wentswimming (that was impressive that theyconvinced her) and even got her to play their video game (even more impressive!). On Friday Diana, Grandma Ginny and I had three generation pictures taken. I think we got some really cute ones. We even had a girl's night complete with mud masks!

My weight has been slowly climbing up, so I decided to go 30 days of strict Paleo. In addition to no grains, sugar, starchy veggies, and avoiding processed food I have completely cut out dairy, nightshades (like tomatoes and peppers) nuts and I'm still undecided about eggs. I haven't specifically eaten any eggs but I have unwittingly eaten foods with egg ingredients. I've become more aware of the

dangers of soy and have discovered it is in everything! Even my smoked almonds! So I was on a quest to find a soy free mayonnaise. I was unable to do so but found something similar called aioli. It has garlic and Dijon mustard but is otherwise mayonnaise but without the soy. So I ate some of that with tuna not thinking about the egg content. So we'll see. The first day was really tough but it's getting easier.