Food Allergies, Kindergarten and Kayla is almost 17 months old.

In mid June I decided I was going to register Isaac into Kindergarten. It was a spur of the moment decision that was actually poorly though out at the time, but Isaac was starting to really get under my skin. He is a rambunctious little boy who needs to explore, and our house is not big enough for that. With Kayla, it was difficult to have them play outside over the summer, 1) its not safe to let either play alone in this city, 2) The neighbours decided they were going to let their wasp nest be and let them take over the back yards. Our houses are really close together so we basically shared the wasp problem all summer long. We played outside when we could, mostly later in the day before the sun went down or in the rain. Anyhow, Isaac needed an outlet, and since all of our friends have dogs and Isaac is severely allergic to dogs, I though school was the next best thing. He started on September 3rd and he is doing very well. He loves his teacher, he loves learning new things and he loves making new friends. We have a fun adventure every morning walking to the bus stop where we meet up with 2 other little boys, and they all play tag and scream for 10 mins until the bus gets there. The bus stop was an experience. They gave us a map at the beginning of the school week, and I don't know our neighbourhood very well, we don't explore much behind us and explore more in front of us, that community is where my In Laws live and some close friends. The first day of school it took us 15 mins to walk to the bus stop. It was so far from the house, about 4 blocks of zigzags. Then I learned I had to pick him up at a different stop, closer to the house, but how annoying? What are we going to do when its -30°C with Kayla in a tiny umbrella stroller in 3 feet of snow. I don't drive, so we'd have to walk. After the 3rd day and a nasty sun burn, right after the bus left, Kayla and I took a walk to find the other bus stop. On the map it looked like the same distance in the opposite direction as the other one. We walked blocks down the main road and I found it, basically right behind my house. I have to walk through the alley way, then on to a bike path, but it is only 5 mins away instead of 15, this one he can be dropped off at and picked up at. Thank Goodness.

With Isaac starting school in September, I decided we needed to get him into the allergist asap to get an Epi-Pen for his peanut allergy, the family doctor said we had to wait until he was 5 to have him tested (bullshit) but I said no, he needs in now. We got a fit in appointment in Mid July. We discovered that not only is he severely allergic to peanuts, but also to tree nuts and has a little reaction to wheat. He is also severely allergic to Dogs and Cats, dander and pelt. While I am happy that my son is now diagnosed and carries the Allerject (Auvi-q but Canadian) I am sad for him to have to have so many restrictions. He goes back at 7 yrs old for retesting. He actually had an anaphylactic reaction a week before school started. He shared a sandwich from Subway with his dad and instantly started coughing, getting hives, barking when he coughed, so we spend the night in the ER under close observation. He was fine but sore an puffy by morning. Its scary stuff, food allergies, and a lot of people just snub it off for some reason. They don't seem to understand that it can be life threatening. I am constantly close to a phone, with fear in the back of my mind, fearing that phone call from school that will tell me Isaac is having an allergic reaction. I am scared they are going to say it took to long to administer the epi and his throat closed and he died. That scares the living poop out of me. Such is life, the world is not going to stop spinning long enough for me to rationalize everything to the tiniest detail, as much as I want it to. He is really awesome at working the trainer on his own, so I can only hope he'd know what to do incase he needs to use the real one.

Kayla will be 17 months old on the 26th of September. She is such a character. She has the best sense of humor. She can say about 15-20 words now, although she would rather just say "Hi, see and more" all day. She is right on par with her peers but has some issues, she has some emotional issues and sensory issues. She melts down easily. But she seems pretty normal for her age. She still drinks a bottle, but we are down to 2 a day of formula , 2 sippy cups of milk and 2 sippy cups of water a day. She is attached to her soother 24/7, I have tried to start the weaning process, but it isn't going very well. Shes a good kid, very independent and likes to play alone. Likes to fall asleep on someone then be put to bed, just started sleeping though the night this past week finally. Its getting easier.

On a personal note, my husband and I lost a very good friend in August. His name was Scott and he was the Best Man at our wedding. He passed away at the age of 37 from a heart attack. He left behind his amazing and beautiful wife Patsy. They had just gotten married this past October. I have known Scott since I was a kid, I was 13 when I met him and we used to be close, my husband knew him separately through other friends and was just as close to him. When he started dating his wife, we backed off and let them be together, as friends do, and I hadn't hung out with him since I was just pregnant with Isaac. Not for lack of trying, we just could never find a baby sitter. Now he is with the angels being the best darn uncle he can be to my little angelic baseball team up there. Rest in Peace buddy.

That's all for our little family update for now. Until next time.