Saturday, February 21, 2009

Been a while

Sorry it's been so long. I've been kinda bummed and unmotivated for the last few weeks -- even Florida isn't enough to prevent shades of S.A.D., I guess. But I'm pulling out of it as the weather gets nicer.

Things have been bit bumpy with A. lately. She appeared to have a reaction to something -- rash, vomiting, loose stools, etc. We suspect a developing soy sensitivity -- she'd had a lot of soy-based foods just before that, and it's not uncommon for kids with a cow's milk sensitivity to develop one to soy or eggs or another food. So we took her off soy in preparation for a challenge that next week.

But before we got to that, it appears she had an exposure to dairy. We haven't been able to track down the source, but since we ate out a lot that week and there's no way to know what really happens back in the kitchen, that's not a surprise. This is the first time she's had a strong reaction since she's been so verbal, and it was so sad. After the first day or two of diarrhea, she started having what appeared to be stomach cramps. She'd grab her stomach, cry and wince, and say, "tummy sad!".

We're finally through that reaction, and we're looking to do a soy challenge next week. That'll tell us our next step.

We had what is hopefully the last of the freezes last night. Three of them this winter, which is just unheard of. They keep happening just as I'm planning to start the garden. But I think I'm going to have to just go for it now, or the plants aren't going to get into the ground soon enough. I've got some pumpkins and carrots sprouted and in pots, some potatoes sprouted and cut up, and packets of seeds for watermelons, onions, and peppers. The rosemary and thyme in my herb garden survived the freezes, but the basil took a hit. I'll probably have to pull them out and re-plant. The cilantro that I never actually got into the ground has rooted down through the pots into the soil, so that'll be an interesting adventure.

Here's the pumpkins:


And here's the carrots: