Happy Halloween!

I made the rounds yesterday with the boys. We stopped by the places of employment of most of our family members within driving distance. Its takes the whole day, but sure is fun to show off the costumes. Ryan's dad took the group picture (Caden was NOT cooperating for any of the pictures, so this one was actually pretty good considering), and Kara took the one of Eric. I thought it was too cute not to include. I left our camera in Murray, so these might be the only pictures of the kids in costume this year unless I get up the desire to drive all the way back to Murray again today.

Pumpkinland!

This morning I put Caden in his Halloween costume and took my little pumpkin to Pumpkinland. Eric tagged along and we met up with some friends. Caden liked the corn maze and kept running ahead yelling "hurry, mama!" We also checked out the animals, played in the play area, and walked through the light house (a non-scary spook house). It was nice to get out of the the house, and even though Eric slept the whole time I think we all enjoyed the adventure.

Another day at the Allergist

Both boys had appointments today with the allergist. I think we left with more questions than answers.

For Caden's mucous stools the doc said try pulling soy (which we just reintroduced 2 months ago). If that doesn't fix the problem pull rice. We're supposed to go back in two months. If pulling rice doesn't fix it then we'll go to scopes.

Ryan went with me and asked how Caden compares to his other patients. The allergist said in his 10 years of practicing Caden is in the top 5 for most foods pulled. I could have gone forever without hearing that.

And he said Caden is not currently a candidate for the emerging desensitization treatments. Too bad. They are seeing good results with those.

Eric's skin prick test was 100% negative. Not even little tiny reactions. The test is 90% accurate for negative results. So Eric likely doesn't have IgE allergies (the kind Caden has). But based on the reactions we've seen and our family history, the allergist thinks Eric still has non-IgE allergies. The problem is there is no test to confirm those. Its all trial and error based on reactions. So he gave me instructions on how to retrial everything I've pulled so far (basically overload one thing at a time) and to bring him back in two months with the results.

The hard thing with trial and error is getting a strong enough reaction to diagnose the allergy. Was that just spit up or was it puke? Typical runny newborn stools or diarrhea? Fussy tired baby or one who is having stomach pains? So I've got to eat enough of the food to produce an intense reaction in order to consider it an allergy.

He said Eric likely doesn't have as many allergies as Caden, "because it would just be unfair if lightning struck the same family twice." Hopefully we have some success with these trials, because right now we've pulled pretty much everything Caden was ever allergic to. Honestly, I'm a little excited by the prospect that we may get a few things back. Unfortunately, I was pretty slow to pull stuff so I'm not holding my breath.

My Jack-o-Lantern

I think I get the award for having the neighborhood's biggest Jack-o-Lantern! Its 3.5 x 4.5 feet. Jack-o-Lanterns are my favorite thing about Halloween! (click on the photo to enlarge it and get the full effect)

New Treats

We discovered that Nesquik chocolate powder is Caden friendly. The boy's reaction to a breakfast of chocolate milk and 'cakes'? Yum! Its hard to see in the picture, but his milk mustache goes almost all the way up to his eyes. He sips his chocolate milk so gingerly, its hilarious.

I'm also resolved to only hand out Halloween treats that Caden can have. To that end, I initially decided to hand out toys. I bought bracelets, bubbles, fangs, and pencils. Ryan thought that was boring and we needed candy. So I bought Smarties and Pixie Stix. Yes, Pixie Stix. On a whim I checked the bag and they are just colored sugar! We'll have to try to get a video of Caden eating them; its priceless and words just can't do the image justice. Suffice it to say he enjoys having straight sugar dumped into his mouth. What kid wouldn't?

Paprika Pork

We are rediscovering pork at our house. I'm not really a fan of anything that comes from a pig. But pork is cheap, I have quite a few recipes, and it helps add variety to our limited allergy diet meals. I've learned that if there is a lot of seasoning I don't mind the pork too much. The other night we had Paprika Pork with rice.

Ingredients:
2 red bell peppers, seeded
2 yellow bell pepper, seeded
1 green bell pepper, seeded
1 1/2 lbs lean pork tenderloins
3 1/2 tbsp paprika
15 oz jar or tub of tomato sauce with herbs and garlic

Directions:
Preheat the broiler. Cut the bell peppers into thick strips and sprinkle in a single layer on a foil-lined broiler rack. Broil for 20-25 minutes, until the edges of the strips are lightly charred. Meanwhile, cut the pork into chunks. Season with salt and pepper and cook in a nonstick skillet for about 5 minutes, until beginning to brown. Transfer the meat to a heavy pan and add the paprika, tomato sauce, and 1 1/4 cups water. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, cover, and simmer gently for 30 minutes. Add the broiled peppers and cook for 10-15 minutes more, until the meat is tender. Serve with rice or buttered broiled potatoes.

Review:
We used half a large jar of spaghetti sauce for our tomato sauce, then had spaghetti a few nights later. This was a great way for us to be able to eat the whole jar and not get sick of spaghetti. I forgot about our roasting peppers, so we omitted the charred remains from the recipe. I still think it sounds yummy to have roasted peppers in the sauce. We served this over rice and Ryan thought it was good enough he didn't get out the soy and hot sauce (a standard for him anytime we have rice).

Best of Friends

We're trying to convince Caden he wants to play with kids his own age. In the meantime, he sure is having fun being a big brother. He loves to play with Eric on the play mat, and Eric seems to enjoy the company.

Caden is also learning to share and take turns. He's not sure he likes the concept, but he is pretty good at yielding up his toys when we tell him to share or take turns. Sharing food is another matter. On Sunday there was no way he was going to share his sugared Chex treat with mommy.

Barn Yard Boo

Aunt Kellie decided to take the boys out for a little Halloween celebration. She came down last Thursday with my mom and we went to the Barn Yard Boo at Thanksgiving Point. Sadly I didn't check the camera battery before we went, so I was only able to take a few pictures before it died. Caden rode a pony, tossed rings onto a witch's foot, bowled for ghosts (his favorite thing), went on a hayride, got a balloon dog, made a picture frame from foam stickers, fed the ducks, and just generally ran around having a good time. Eric slept through the whole thing in his snugli carrier. We had a lot of fun. Thanks Aunt Kellie!

A Name and a Blessing

On September 27 we blessed Eric David Scherbel. Ryan's mom made the cute blessing outfit - pants, collared shirt, and sweater - using a Cabbage Patch doll clothing pattern. We all agreed he was the cutest doll we've ever seen. After Kara and Kalina dressed Eric, Ryan spent some time with him pondering and feeling his spirit before church. Kalina captured some of those sweet daddy-son moments and I couldn't resist posting them. I thought the blessing was powerful, and I'm so grateful to have a husband who so worthily presides in our home.

Since everyone was together, we attempted to take family photos. I had the brilliant idea to take a few before church, while we were all fresh and the kids were happy. You can see how well that photo session turned out. So after church, lunch, and Caden opening birthday presents we tried again. Problem #1 was finding a good location for pictures in our yard. Problem #2 was getting the kids to cooperate. I'm not sure we satisfactorily solved either problem, but at least we tried.

Proof

Proof that we haven't sold our baby. (Ryan mentioned I don't have many pictures of Eric on here). This was taken on Sunday at the blessing of Mackenzie, Eric's 2nd cousin. I like that it captures his smile.

Money!

Caden has recently developed a fascination with money. He knows right where to find a plentiful supply in Ryan's dresser drawer change jar. The money rides on his tractor, gets spun in the dump truck, and carried in his pumpkin pail. So I decided for family night this week we would learn about tithing. We counted out 10 pennies on the couch and I explained how we give one of every ten back to Heavenly Father. I encouraged Caden to pretend that his daddy was the bishop and to give him one of his ten pennies. Our generous boy gave his daddy nine pennies and kept only one for himself. When Ryan tried to correct him, Caden gave him the last penny as well.

Applesauce

What you see here are 45 jars of applesauce in all their glory, or one night of canning. Ryan and I have canned 149 quarts over the course of 4 days. For us that is almost exactly a 1 year supply. We're hoping to do a few more in the next week so we have a little bit of buffer. We had 120 quarts last year and ran out 3 months ago. A special thanks to my parents who have the hook up for free apples, picked them for us, lent us some extra canning supplies so we could process faster, and helped with the canning on Saturday.

Well Check Stats

Today both boys had their regularly scheduled well baby check ups. Both passed with flying colors. Eric weighed more than I expected, and Caden's height had dropped significantly off his growth curve (he used to be on the 75% curve).

Eric, 2 months
Length: 21 3/4 inches, 25%
Weight: 10 lbs 10 oz, 50%
Head: 37.5 cm, 15%
He has started cooing, smiling, and has even rewarded us with a few 8 hour stretches at night.

Caden, 2 years and 2 weeks
Length: 34 inches, 35%
Weight: 25.8 lbs, 25%
Head: 48 cm, 25%
He's a little chatterbox who loves to repeat anything you say, idolizes his daddy, and can't get enough time outside.

Bump-pa's Wheels

A few weeks ago when taking a truck load to the dump Ryan returned with a motorized 4-wheeler for Caden. The guy was throwing it away because reverse no longer worked. Ryan has learned the connection is likely just corroded and all he'll have to do is sand it down to have the thing up and running in the spring. Caden was so fascinated with his broken 'wheels' that when my dad saw two more 4 wheelers at a garage sale he jumped on the chance to buy them. Caden has actually gotten pretty good at driving it and can stay on the sidewalk (this video is from his first time on). His legs are also too short for him to be able to push all the way on the foot pedal so he goes pretty slow, which suits me just fine. Caden now frequently requests to go ride 'Bump-pa's Wheels!"

Shower Stories

I'm thinking I need a new shower strategy. Apparently Caden will no longer just play quietly for 10 minutes without me.

You may recall that about 6 months ago I posted about Caden's love for throwing things down the stairs. If you ask him, it still hasn't gotten old. Every day a few things go down the landing, and sometimes they progress from the landing to the basement. Its usually only a few things, though, and usually small things. The other day I got out of the shower to this sight. My metal fruit/veggie rack, all the contents of said rack, the water cooler that was drying on the counter, his booster, multiple pairs of shoes, and half the kiddo's toys. Caden explained it like this: "Mama. Nanas fall stairs. Apples fall stairs. Big boom!" (I'm guessing that boom was the rack or the cooler).



In related shower news, last week while I was showering Caden knocked on the door and we had the following exchange:
Caden:"Mama. More Chex."
Me: You'll have to wait until I'm done showering.
A minute later he knocked again
Caden: "Mama. Shower done."
Me: I'm not done showering until the water turns off.
A minute later he knocked again
Caden: "Mama. Baby cry."
I jumped out of the shower to check on Eric, who happened to be still sleeping peacefully in his cradle.
Caden: (grinning) "Mama. Water off. More Chex."
Caden got his Chex.

Something's Missing

As you may or may not be able to see since Caden is in long sleeves today, his cast is gone! He got it off yesterday. Caden didn't cry for the x-ray or the cut off saw, which was nice because I was prepared for the tantrum he threw last time. He kept looking at his arm after the cast came off as if it were an alien appendage. He still doesn't use it much, but I think he'll figure out he has full range of motion again soon enough.