Update on the diet, kids and KISS

I haven’t posted to many entries this month, but I’ve been pacing myself. Things have been super busy, and sometimes I just don’t get a chance to check the diary let alone write something. But I got a lot of stuff to report on, and I’ll start with my little guys.

Ethan has completely his first week of Grade 1. Leah and I have been super nervous considering his history with school but to our suprrise (and the school’s) there were zero incidents and Ethan is actively participating and really getting into everything. We’ve lowering the risk of any on site incidents by having Leah pick him up everyday and taking him home for lunch. That way he can eat whatever he wants (no allergy issues) and is supervised instead of no one watching for a full hour. Stuff like this has led to a successful return to school for Ethan and I couldn’t be prouder of my little guy.

Another shocker this week is the new sitter. I was very, very worried about the new sitter picking Ethan up and watching Jon and Ethan all afternoon till Leah came home but a week has passed and all is well. The kids like the new sitter, they go out and hit the park everyday as well… things couldn’t have gone better! And with subsidy coming through next week, Jon is going to start Daycare on Tuesday next week. That will be a relief in itself… Jon needs to hang around more kids his own act to advance his social skills and his speaking. So getting him to daycare is a big plus.

Speaking of Jonathan, he has also been doing very well this week. He has been responding very well to the Gluten Free diet. He’s more active, but not hyper-active, just regular interactive active. He’s making more of an effort to talk and interact, but the biggest change I’ve seen since removing wheat from his diet is his stomach. There were times Jon’s stomach was so bloated, he belly button would go from an inny to an outy. Just six days after we removed gluten from the menu, Jon’s belly has reduced in size greatly. His belly is now flat as a board. A friend of mine came to visit on Thursday and it was the first thing he noticed (where did that belly go?). Sure some might call it a growth spirt, but in six days? Nope, that’s because his stomach and intestines are not having problems with digestion anymore. Jon is feeling a lot better, so we are moving a head with the diet indefinitely… no matter how much it costs.

But I want to thank those who left notes of support for Jon’s diet and I will take advantage of the offers for recipes that will more than help. I am going to cook a lot of the foods myself to cut costs, and Leah and I are looking at bread makers as well. I’m going to use batter like corn flakes and make homemade chicken fingers, and even bake my own breads, muffins and other cool stuff with flour made of rice or corn. I don’t mind working on stuff in the kitchen, and the reason is more than enough to modivate me to it. A friend of my at work showed support by buying Jon a box of cookies from a store that was near her, and they and they had gluten free products too. Was a pack of gluten free pecan cookies and Jon loves them. Will definitely make a trip back to get more from that store in the future. It’s only a matter of time before it becomes a part of our routine, and once one is set, it’s all going to be a lot easier. But the fact that Jon is not fighting it helps a great deal.

Ethan has been helpful as well. When we had to substitute the noodles for spaghetti for example, he ate it too. We will try to make as many subs for both of them as we can, but will split the foods if one is too expensive to feed it to them both. Right now bread is too expensive to feed to both kids, so Jon has his super loafs with rice and corn, and Ethan is still eating wheat for that. Ethan however doesn’t have the same reactions so we’re not too worried about him When we get a bread maker, I might consider cutting some wheat out of my diet as well. That will save us a lot of money and be healthier for us, so I might give it a try when we can afford to.

Leah is getting very excited about the KISS concert we’re going to see in Toronto. I’ve applied and gotten the whole day off, but was hoping Leah would get the day off early as well, and we’ll go early and do some shopping before the big show or just see a few sites. This is Leah’s first KISS concert (my second) so I’m going out of my way to make this a good experience for her. I’m going the full nine yeads for this show. A bud has loaned me a huge black wig, and I’m going to paint up and dress all black. Leah has given in and agreed to do the same. I’m going as the Demon (Simmons) and Leah is going to be Starchild (Stanley). For us it will be one of the highlights of the year, and we are going to take a ton of pictures… which I will not hesitate to post here after the show.

So things are going well here. I hope everyone has a great weekend and I’ll be around to leave some notes and love. Until then, take care!

Peter