Sunday, April 7, 2013

Samuel at *Almost* 21 Months

This Boy. This Samuel Harrison. I cannot begin to even describe this little guy. He is one of the most laid back, mellow, affectionate little boys I have ever seen. Most of the time. The rest of the time, this kid is  climbing. Everything. EVERYTHING. He is HILARIOUS too - the way he rambles his gibberish, his expressions, the things that he does with toys...too much.

He is starting to talk a lot more and show likes and dislikes in all areas. He LOVES Yo Gabba Gabba (just like his bubba and sissy!) and can't get enough of Brobee. He loves to eat and would all day long if we let him. He loves animals and babies and his favorite toys are cars, Nat's My Little Ponies, Cabbage Patch Dolls, books, and anything small that he can just carry around all day with him.

Some of his words are: Bow-beh (Brobee), Goggy (Doggy), Bye, Hi, Mama/Mommy, Dada/Daddy, Nini (what he calls his doll), Baby, Jump, Gabba (For Yo Gabba), Abbey (our cat), No, Deez (Please), Muk (Milk), Boat, Shoes, Eat, Nana (Banana), Coat, Socks...lots of words! He also "sings" along with music in the car or on TV.

He is obsessed with light switches, shoes and socks, and Brobee. He is starting to play with the other two, but still more of a parallel playing style. He loves any toys that make music and light up and with lots of buttons to press.

He is about 25lbs and 32" tall. Squatty boy. His eyes are really hard to tell what color they are. They are dark blue on the outside with a ring of hazel in the middle. I bet he'll go dark the way Natalie did. It took her two years for her eye color to change to green. His eyes are so round and expressive and he knows how to roll them already.

Some big news in his life is that we are in the process of figuring out some food allergies. He spent the entire winter with a terrible case of Eczema on his face, legs, and bottom. Nothing would take care of it. He also had a chronic runny nose, nasty poos, and would be irritable at bedtime. I took him into the doctor last week and she was 99% convinced that he has a dairy allergy. We have completely cut any and all milk/dairy from his diet. He is actually on almost a Vegan diet because he doesn't like to eat a lot of meat so I have been looking up a lot of Vegan recipes. I'm also learning that there is milk or milk proteins in so many foods I'd have never suspected - which makes me wonder what else is being snuck into food that we don't know about. While all of this is a pain in the butt, it has really inspired me to really think about the foods we are putting in our bodies. I've started making a lot more things at home so that I know what is going into them. I made some almond butter that Timmy says is better than the store bought peanut butter we have. All that is in it is almonds and a pinch of salt! I also bought cashews and peanuts so that I can make some other things that are high in protein that I know my boys love. Natalie, on the other hand, can't stand any type of nut or nut product.

We've had to switch his diapers (he is now using 7th gen dipes, but I am considering switching back to cloth because those dipes are insanely expensive.). We can no longer use the soap and detergents that we have been with him. I made a fresh batch of laundry soap for the entire family so that we don't have to constantly sort out Sam's clothes. I plan on making a dryer ball out of wool yarn so that I can get rid of dryer sheets.

I also have to limit/cut out as many citrus and acidic foods as I can, like certain fruits and veggies. I am learning so much from my friends who have had to deal with food allergies - and I'm glad that my sister dealt with this as a parent because my nephew had a LOT of food allergies when he was small like Sam. I think he has since outgrown most of them but may still have a few allergies.

If anyone reading this has any advice, tips, recipes, etc for children with dairy allergies, I am all ears! Thanks!

And now I leave you with a few cute pics of Sammy.

Eating lunch with Brobee

Reading, one of his favorite things to do

Gotta have a Brobee shirt!

Wearing Timmy's shoes

Swinging at Riverside Park



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