Late Night Fun

Yesterday after picking up the children, we went to Wal-Mart to pick up a few things. The kids are always pretty hungry when I pick them up, and having to go through the grocery section is torture. Everything they recognize, they reach for and begin to whine or even cry. Calen will scream and hit. I opened a bag of the Puff Corn for them to eat. I was so busy trying to hurry up and finish shopping so I can get home and cook them something that I wasn't paying close attention. Calen (with a small amount of help from Kylia) ate the ENTIRE bag!!! When we got home, I quickly mixed his medicines in his juice and he drank...and he drank...and he drank. Of course, he wouldn't touch his chicken, corn and mandarin oranges. Around 11pm, he woke up and began to whine a little. I was awake anyway. I was scared he was about to have an episode. I quickly realized he wasn't because he let me hold him and rub his head. He wouldn't lay down without me, so I let him lay his head on my arm. I could hear his tummy making noises, and I became a little worried. He began whining a little again then it happened....he vomited all over my arm, the pillow and the fitted sheet. I screamed! LOL I could actually smell that Puff Corn! It was gross, but I was glad he got that off his tummy. I cleaned up by wiping away excess, washing with warm soapy water and rubbing baking soda on the stain to absorb smell. Then, I covered it with a towel. He went right to sleep. I, on the other hand, was up until 2am. Kylia never even budged.

Calen recognizes McDonald's logo. We can pass by and if he sees it, he will start to kick and whine. When we pulled into the parking place at Wal-Mart, someone had left a McDonald's bag in the buggy next to our car. Calen actually saw the bag, recognized it, and began to whine and become upset because he was hungry. He LOVES their french fries. He can't eat much else from there, and I will not allow my kids to eat any fast-food burgers. If it comes to the restaurant raw, my children aren't allowed to eat it. When I was 18 years old, I heard about a 2 year old that died from food poisoning after eating a fast-food burger. I have never forgotten that. My point in all that is my son has made a new advancement...he has the ability to identify colors and shapes, I think. Regardless, I'm happy and proud. He's been getting oral b-12 and I'm still waiting on something to happen. What..I don't know. I've heard that injections have a better effect but I can't do it. I've heard that b-12 had made a huge difference in some children. I know that Calen has had a normal bowel movement for the first time in a very long time. It used to be extremely loose and very messy. Now it's more solid like it should be. I'm pleased at that. I just don't want him to become constipated. The bottle of magnesium glycerate he takes actually has a statement on the bottle saying that the medicine could cause a change in bowel habits and if that occurs, I should report that to the doc. Calen's on several different meds. He's been taking them for about a month now. He's on omega fish oil 3-6-9, peptizyde, b-12, multivitamins, magnesium glycerate and lactobaccillus acidophiles or something like that (a live strain requiring refrigeration). That last med is such a long word and I'm unable to spell it. All this aids in his digestion. Our next visit will result in a couple more meds for his digestion. I know one is Diflucan. I can't remember the other one. I've read that some children do so well while on these meds that they can actually go back to eating regular food and abandon the gf/cf diet! That would be such a major accomplishment in my house! That would also be about 100lbs of weight off my shoulders.
The daycare has been doing great with his diet as far a sticking to it. I've met them halfway by bringing meat for his meals since everything they have on hand is processed, and that's a no-no for Calen. For his breakfast, I buy Wal-Marts precooked bacon strips. The hickory smoked flavor is the best. 30 seconds in the microwave and they come out perfectly crisp. I checked the ingredients to make sure the bacon was safe to eat, and in big bold letters the most beautiful words I could have ever hoped for...GLUTEN-FREE. I also buy Jimmy Deans precooked saugsage patties. Again, a few seconds in the microwave and they come out delicious. They also make turkey sausage that tastes great!
I've tried finding some precooked meat for him to enjoy for lunch, but so far I haven't been able to find anything. The meats are all coated with ingredients that he can't have. So I prepare his food ahead of time, when possible. I take care of the meat, and the daycare takes care of veggies and fruit. I bake him some chicken tenders (Aldi's - $5.99/bag). These tenders are raw and the perfect size for my kids. I have a cabinet full of McCormick's spices. They use only 100% ground spices. Some other kinds use fillers derived of wheat to prevent clumping. McCormick's doesn't, so I have a cabinet that is well-stocked with various seasonings. I bake the chicken and I flavor it up real good so he'll eat it. I also buy Talapia from Aldi's ($5.99/bag) to bake. The kids LOVE it! I also buy Wal-Mart's Philly steak to include beef in his diet. I thought the meat was precooked for some reason. I was disappointed to see that it was raw when I opened the pkg. But I seasoned it up and cooked it, and the kids love it! It took maybe 10 minutes.

My sister was watching "How it's Made". It's a program that shows how various things are made. She saw an episode where they showed how canned veggies were made. She informed me that the veggies are cooked INSIDE the can! I don't like the sound of that because metals can get into the food and into our bodies. That is especially not good for Calen. I used to cook on aluminum foil to keep from having to scrub pans, and Mrs. Binger told me to stop that RIGHT NOW. As the food cooks, the aluminum actually cooks into the food and gets into our bodies. I only use glass cookware now. I also went out and bought an iron skillet. That brought back memories as a child helping my mom cook! Anyway, I plan to ask the DAN! doc in TN about Calen eating canned veggies. I will switch to fresh if need be. I will also make sure I find somewhere that will sell organic veggies. That will be added to my extremely long list of things to do around the house for the weekend...cook veggies and feeze them for later. Whatever my baby needs I will see to it that it gets done.

I also discovered the ease of cooking with fresh herbs. My sis, Amy, is a good cook. She's the one who told me about it. She went with me and we bought fresh parsley and cilantro. I baked some chicken with it and WOW! The kids loved it too. It made a difference. Now the trick is to try to get some veggies in my son. Kylia eats hers with no problem, but Calen is another story. He loves Glory collard greens, but they have vinegar and he can't have that! I'm working on it. It can get pretty frustrating sometimes in the evening. Both of them hungry, and I've got 15 different things to do plus cook. I've tried giving them a snack to tie them over but it resulted in no dinner being eaten. I can't remember what I gave. Sometimes, I wish I had someone to do the cooking for me. I've been trying to cook ahead of time, so that things will be easier and it makes a huge difference. It takes effort, but it pays off. I love being a mom. It's a challenge, but man...it's worth it!