Allergy angst - rant 1

How come every time I meet an allergist I feel flattened, as if all the air, energy and joy has been syphoned out of my body?

As you may recall, last December Sophie was diagnosed as having dairy, egg and soy allergies and we didn't even bother testing for nuts or shellfish or sesame or... This is in addition to Seb's allergies to peanuts and shellfish and strange issues with eggy foods.

We were hopeful that like Seb she would outgrow the egg and over the months, we were fairly sure that she had outgrown the dairy problem (especially as she had eaten half of a chocolate bar 6 weeks after the diagnosis). But we couldn't stomach testing that ourselves, so we waited and waited for an appointment with a Toronto-based allergist.

Well, yesterday with the sun shining and 2 excited young children in tow, we went to meet that new doctor. Fancy address, fancy building, less than child-friendly office. No toys or books, no play space while waiting the extra 20 mins; because of allergies, one isn't allowed to eat or drink anything in the office (tell that to a hungry 21 month old). This nationally-renowned doctor (as it turns out) had no - zero - rapport with the children; we weren't even offered water to soothe Sophie.

Seb was just chomping at the bit for his sister to be tested and okayed for milk stuffs. It melted my heart to see him so happy to anticipate someone else's good news. And this doc just rained on my 4 year old's parade.

First off, the specialist completely pooh-poohed skin tests - even rolling her eyes. She name-dropped constantly; she had copies of her book all over the place.

Then, she said that we must consider Sophie allergic to the things she tested positive for but wouldn't re-test her because she doesn't believe in it...

Then, she said Seb should not only carry a double epi-pen for possible anaphylatic reaction, but a medic alert bracelet. He is 4 years old. Does she have no idea of schoolyard bullying / being made to feel different? this pipsqueak of a boy who already carries a big waist pack everywhere he goes.

Finally, she took the history of Seb's wheezing and labelled him asthmatic. Treatment? Daily doses of cortisone - indefinitely. Oh, sure it limits children's growth but they make it back by the time they are adults (how do they test that?).

She didn't smile once. It got to the point where I felt she must be working for the drug companies, as she pushed double epi-pens on each child (one of whom can't even say her own name yet), daily doses of steroids and a puffer.

So where does this leave us?
1- With the option of reportedly waiting over a year for Sophie to be "challenged" in a hospital setting.
2- with the possibility of skin testing Seb for egg and walnut (as there are question marks there).
3- Going for a 3rd opinion (sorry medicare budget) since the 2 doctors that we have consulted have completely - 180 degrees - different approaches to how to diagnose and treat our kids. And our approach to living healthily tends to be nore in sync with our no-longer-available-to-us NB specialist.
4- continue to nurse Sophie into the fall (but hopefully not beyond)

Stay tuned. Until then, we continue on as before. Sorry, no ice cream parties at our house.

P.S. On a positive note, we accidentally discovered last week that Sophie can have chickpeas; we already knew that she can eat sesame. So we have established the hummous family fan club - if anyone would like to join.

summer 2008 round-up - Part 1

We are in the last week of what we North Americans consider summer, so I thought I should scroll through my digital photo collecton and see what gaps I should fill. These are from our French friends' wedding. I love the shot of the kids trying out their table manners en masse. The child aspect was well thought through (the bride and groom have two children the same age as ours): a separate and earlier meal with child-yummy food, a table of toys, lots of run-around room, a craft, some boules, a baby room for sleeping/nursing/changing.

Gorgeous

In the worst weather of the week in NB, we threw a BBQ for young friends we got to know in Saint John. Unfortunately, some of them couldn't come at the last minute and it looked like it was going to rain at any minute - with a stiff wind to boot. But G&L pulled out all the stops - with some yummy food and drinks and games. Lorraine was a crafty grandmother. She needed to have her crabapples picked up, so she made it part of a pictoral scavenger hunt. Plus - get this - a warm water paddling pool! Yup, George connected the hose to the warm water tap for the young ones. Bet he didn't do that when he was a dad!!!

OK, so after the party, as I was dropping off a little friend, she puked all over the car seat (and I mean all over). Ok, so after the party, as I was dropping off Mike's grandmother, we had to leave her sitting outside her house because she didn't have her keys (and well, honestly she didn't want to sit in the stinkaroo car). Ok, so after the party, I drove the car into George and Lorraine's garage - and do mean into (and no, the crooked shutter in the pic was not of my doing).

But I had a great time all in all. Hopefully, George and Lorraine did too. They were rewarded with very happy children. One of whom kissed his Gramps goodnight and declared the day "gorgeous".

A special place with special people

I just can't figure out who is happier - Soph or her grandmother!

We are back from our 6 days of R&R at the lake. The New Brunswick crew did itself proud - 2 parties, many dips in Loch Lomond lake, mostly sunny and warm, white children's socks (I've been looking for 4 weeks...), meals on time, Olympics on demand, a visit to the Aquatic Centre, as much jello as a 4 year old can eat.

snip, snip, snip

Sophie's 1st hair cut and having learnt a lesson from 3 years ago, we took her to the hair dresser's.

crunch - eeeeeeeeee

was the sound of George & Lorraine's car hitting the edge of their garage Wednesday.

That was also the sound of the new (6 days...) siding on the garage being dented.

Silence was the sound I made sitting in the driver's seat.

Had I mentioned that I got my full-fledged permanent driver's licence on Tuesday?

Have I mentioned that I have really cool in-laws.

pelting down

We are having a significant hailstorm. In August... large pellets of ice tumbling down from above. It's quite impressive on the roof of the lean-to-like office that I ensconced myself in.

Now it's just pouring down rain with thunder rolling through. Looking out the window, it could be Ghana.

Feeling so fortunate

Today, someone posted an invitation to Dance at Dusk on my community bulletin board.
http://www.duskdances.ca/DDFrameset.html

I'd never heard of it but was intrigued at a public dance show that took place in parks across the nation. Despite possible rain, I asked Seb if he wanted to go and thus after a quick supper, I piled both kids in the car (M is working late shifts) and maneouvred my way across the city.

Withrow Park is the more genteel equivalent of Dufferin Grove - complete with tennis courts and Shakespeare in the Park. It and the surrounding houses are lovely and serene. Once I had wedged (...) our car into a parking spot - only a tiny portion of the back wheels was on the pavement - we scooted into the park and joined 150+ Torontonians enjoying this spectacle.

There were 5 performances (ballet, tap, modern dance, 6 mothers & daughters in wedding dresses...) of mostly excellent quality. Some had live music and even compositions for the piece. Each piece was performed in a different part of the park - somewhat tricky for a mother with 2 kids under 5 and a big bag of snacks, diapers, things to wear, something to sit on, etc....

The storm clouds built up over the downtown core and parts of the dusky sky were magenta and dark grey. We heard thunder several times, but the torrents of rain didn't materialise and we only had a few large drops.

The kids were perfectly, and I mean perfectly, behaved - right through to 9.30 when the last troupe ended the show. I packed them back into the car and headed home across the Bloor Street viaduct, 2 sleeping poppets in the back, lightning cracking over the CN tower and a big grin on my face.

saved by the screech

M had hung the laundry up and gone out with the kids this morning. I was staring at my computer screen when I heard the screech of my neighbour's washing line. I glanced up, saw the rain starting to drizzle down and lept out of my chair.

Given how hard (and frequently) it's been raining here this summer, I did pretty well; I mean I had to dash 1/2 way down the length of the house, down the stairs and across the whole ground floor, and down the back stairs - before I flung myself at the line grabbing 3/4 dry clothes left and right.

Caribana clothes

Just in case you are worried that we are sitting at home and moping through our first TO summer. Here is a clip of fancy pants Seb getting into the Caribana groove 10 days ago. His dad had mentioned that the festival's roots came from West Africa, so he wanted to dig out the clothes that still remained from our time in Ghana. The mask is his own creation. The whistle is annoying but, de rigeur and the dance style is ... well, all his!

Camp Oakville

Last week, we went to "Camp Oakville" - our friends Ros & Marc's suburban home with pool and bikes and yard on a sleepy cul de sac. 6 year old Freddy was the swim instructor and 8 year old Celeste was the CIT (counsellor in training for Brits).

I think Sophie took a couple of important calls, even though it was supposed to be a vacation.

The "upside down" shot was of the kids playing a map version of twister which some friends gave us recently. It's good fun and is helping Seb with his geography - and me with my flexibility.

a long wet and fun weekend was had by all

For some reason, I can't see the pics that I'm posting till they are up but here are some top picks from this (very rainy) long weekend at the cottage: marshmallows, treasure hunts, canoeing, roaring fires, cuddling up with books, croquet, and lots of food...

We managed to get our basement rented out before we headed off for Kelly and Sam's cottage. So tick that one, plus the high-season 2 week rental of the French house seems to be going fine (thus paying our annual taxes in one fell swoop).

But for the moment, nothing glamourous - back to the laundry pile, go I.

a tad uncomfortable with the idea

So here I am at my computer, with the kids playing in the playroom just behind me. I'd mentioned earlier in the day that Seb had got his doctor kit when he became a big brother. Well, I just overheard him asking Sophie if the kit had been with her in "mum's belly"...

keep on blabbin'

I shoulda mentioned that Soph has produced her 1st 3 word sentence. It was a good week ago and spoke of a daily occurence: "bummm-y-hea" or "bumped my head". really she should have said: "scway-ma-eeee" or "scraped my Knee" b/c that happens twice a day at the moment.

Major rain here this evening; our plants/grass needed it. But the mozzies were huge and brazzen at our friends' place in the burbs last night. I managed to escape relatively unscathed but M & Soph got bited as Seb would say.

All well on the outside

Just some shots of the outside of our abode. Note lovely new bench that visiting sis bought on craigslist as a house-warming. Great for when the house is warm and we want to sit outside!

Also note the lovely flowers - planted with love by G&L and the kids but also a housewarming gift from Mark & Sarah and their munchkins.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Bye, bye Auntie Woberda

Sis left last night after 5 weeks with us. As usual, we weren't quite prepared for her arrival (the mattress was terrible, there was no wifi, etc) and I'm not sure what she made of the controlled chaos. Though she is still considering moving to TO - and somewhere near us - so it couldn't have been too off-putting.

At the start of the visit, she and Seb made a huge list of things they would like to do together and being RW, they got through almost all of them. Highlights were the Science Centre and Don Valley Brickworks, not to mention Toronto Island and the McMichael Gallery, the ROM, the local park... We got many child-free evenings out too!

Photos above were snapped at her late/early birthday picnic in High Park.

Better hustle, going soon (we hope)

We finally got around to cleaning up and advertising our basement suite:

Available September 1st or sooner if needed. Perfect for a single or couple looking for a quiet, clean apartment.Separate entrance, one spacious bedroom, full bathroom and guest toilet, and separate storage/utility room – great for projects. New top of the line stove in open eat/live area, plus new electrics. Cool in the summer and cozy in the winter.

Unfurnished (though semi-furnished available). Heat, water and electricity included. One year lease to August 31st.

Best TTC service in town: Steps to Dufferin bus (most frequent in the city), College & Dundas streetcars; 8 minutes to the subway. Very friendly and safe neighbourhood with a community gym and No Frills within a few minutes walk. City’s best cake shop and new organic food store within a block, plus all night café and Lula Lounge.

No smoking or dogs. Good landfolk will be living on-site.Serious enquiries only. Please be prepared to provide solid references and a credit check. Owners available for showings Aug 3rd and 4th.


We've had 6 people book to see it; of the 2 so far, a seemingly very affable young man is willing to put a deposit for 6 months lease - but we want 12 - and the other ran in the other direction!


Kitchen row - check out nice stove and old but fully functioning fridge... Note window which does open.

This is also the living area...


Nice, practical bathroom.

Notice that we do not show photos of the bedroom (b/c it has no window... shh don't tell anyone). Wisely, the kids went out for the day with their dad. It's Caribana time!