One Year

It's been one year since I went on mat leave. And, in 2 weeks our princess will turn one.
And, she has a nickname!
Somewhere between our nanny arriving and me going back to work, we started calling the baby CoCo.
Phat Daddy hates it.
I love it.
Even funnier is that it sometimes gets turned into "Coco Koala" (I don't know why) and "Coco Puff".
And, the best part is that people truly believe that is her name! I love it. In the past couple of weeks she's really changed. First she learned to dance. She's attempting to walk and is taking steps and stands on her own.
And she blows kisses. We made a movie last night and I will figure out how to post it. It's pretty cute.
And Doodle? He's moving right along.
I haven't talked much about his diagnosis. We needed some time to let the whole idea settle and to think about it and to talk to people about it.
Where we're at?
Of course we have spoken to our family doctor. She's referred us to a pediatrician who specialized in ADHD. I'm not sure I need a second opinion on the diagnosis, but I do want a more fulsome explanation of the medication.
And we also went to see our naturopath.
We decided to put Doodle on a stronger regimen of homeopathic remedies and see how does. So, we're trying it. We started on Saturday, and you generally need a couple of days for remedies to kick in.
It's hard to see if there has been a difference. It's good to start a regimen on a weekend because you can see if there are any adverse reactions. But, for me it's hard to see if there's a difference, really, in his activity level. Seriously, it was beautiful weather and my child who has been cooped up all winter was allowed to go crazy and play outside! How do you guage hyperactivity? I was going just as crazy as Doodle and even Coco was extra excited.
So, we'll wait and see.
This week is a funny week anyway. There are no evening activities because of March break, and since the weather is nice he'll get a lot more fresh air.
But, I'm remaining hopeful.

And, seriously ... i'm loving this weather!

On the Up Swing

Our nanny has been here all week now.
The fears I had and then uncertainty that I was feeling are finally going away. Our nanny is amazing, and the children love her.
Everyday has gotten progressively better. The princess is beginning to understand what is going on. She's warmed up to our nanny, and by yesterday she was willingly going to her when I left the house.
The one thing that we are learning, though, is that it is far too confusing for her (right now) to play with the nanny while she knows I'm right there. For instance, if I want to cook and ask our nanny to play with the kids, the baby will sob because she knows I'm right there. It makes it a little difficult for us to do some stuff, but I don't see it as a huge issue. I've been going out more, and leaving her. And, she seems quite happy both when I leave and when I return.
I have to admit that having our contractor still working on the basement is making things a little easier. He has been telling me how things are going and reassuring me that she is very kind with the kids.
And, as for Doodle? He loves her. I was quite worried about him, but it wasn't necessary. He thinks the nanny is his new best friend, and has told me more than once that I can go back to work now.
I'm not taking that personally. I'm thrilled that he's ready for that. It makes me feel that as a mom I've done my job preparing him for me going back to work. And, I'm thrilled that we have found someone who seems to truly love my children.

And ... on a completely different note. I'm still doing really well on the diet plan from my naturopath. I got a bunch of blood tests back and learned a lot about what is going on with my body. The good news is that there's nothing wrong with me. Image via WikipediaThe bad news is that my metabolism is really slow and my hormones are out of whack. But, it seems like a lot of the changes I've made are working. I've lost 9 lbs since New Years! And, I don't really feel like I'm on a diet. I'm enjoying food and not craving sugar. So, life is good!

In Which I Jinx Myself

I'm kind of afraid to write this for fear of the jinx.
But ...
This new diet I'm on (thanks to my naturopath) is AMAZING. I'm basically following the Blood Type Diet. And taking some supplements. And, it's working. I'm beginning to lose weight.I know because my wii fit told me.
But, not only that. I'm feeling wonderful.
Usually I'm asleep by 10. Lately I've been up till 11 and then go to bed because it's time, not because I'm exhausted.
And, I feel well. Like, healthy and happy and ready to go. Not sluggish.
Oh - and I've lost a couple pounds.
I've cut out a lot. Basically my food does not include: wheat, dairy, pork or corn. I know this sounds excessive, but I'm totally dealing with it. And, enjoying it.
Love love love.

Back to the Naturopath

Today we went for another naturopath visit. We haven't been for awhile, and we had to review some hair analysis results, review the different supplements that Doodle is on, and I also wanted to have her take a look at the baby.
It was a pretty cool visit. My mom came with us which made life a lot easier. With the Princess moving constantly and Doodle talking constantly it can be difficult to discuss stuff. So, my mom read Doodle stories and the baby played with the toys and life was good.
I realized about halfway through or visit, though, how much of a difference this visit was from when we first started visiting.
The first time we saw our beloved "Dr.Jane" I was almost in tears from my frsutrations. I had a child who ate far too much sugar, who was out of control and I was a little overwhelmed by all the different things she spoke about - supplements, smoothies, minerals, etc.
Fast forward a few months.
This visit was so positive. The hair analysis we did for Doodles showed that his system is pretty balanced out. Our conversations over what food to feed him are fascinating to me, and better yet, I can bounce ideas off of her. We were laughing over some of my healthy cooking attempts, and I was thrilled to tell her that Doodle never takes junk to school.
And, then after, my mom, the kids and I went for lunch.
It hit me in the middle of lunch that we had gone to the store (fancy lunch at the Super Store - Doodle's choice), chosen our lunch, found seats, and eaten pretty much the entire lunch and he was CALM. There was no frantic running around. I was not disciplining, bribing or stressing out.
I have to admit, all of the work over the past few months has been worth it.

We also had an appointment for the baby. She is a pretty healthy little girl, but she seems to sometimes have some digestive problems, and I really want her to eat healthy foods. Plus, I'm really struggling with the transition to formula. I'm not about to pump when I go back to work, and she really doesn't seem to do well with any formula other than the organic formula. But, I think she may have a bit of a milk intolerance.
So, we came up with some ideas for the transition, and I may even be making my own organic rice milk formula. Seriously! I'm strangely excited about that.

Meeting Goals

Last night was my 4th Weight Watchers Meeting which means I've been doing this for a month. And guess what? I lost 2 more pounds which means I've lost a little more than 5 lbs. But more than that? I'd set a specific weight goal that I wanted to hit for our trip to Disney World. And I hit it last night ... 3 weeks ahead of schedule!
I'm thrilled.
Of course I set myself a new goal. And of course I have another 20 + lbs to lose before I hit my goal weight. But, I'm seeing the changes and I'm seeing the difference and I'm pretty happy about that.
Here's the funny thing. For the last month we've also been following a version of the elimination diet: no dairy, no refined sugars and flours, limited wheat and eggs. It has been difficult, but we've been plugging away at it. One of the ways we've done this is by baking a lot. The cookies in our house are low sugar and different wheats. And we've been eating TONS of fresh fruit and veggies.
So, yesterday evening I bought myself a cookie from Starbucks. I love them. And I was surprised when I just didn't enjoy it quite so much. It just tasted a little fake - and not quite so satisfying. Maybe there's something to this clean living.
This week we're also seeing our naturopath to review the results of what we've been doing. I believe that we'll be introducing some foods back into Doodle's diet (eggs, please eggs!). Should be a fun week.
And as for today ... we're having a strawberry and cereal picnic before playing at the playground and then going grocery shopping. It will be either really funny or BRUTAL. Only time will tell.

Osteopath

Continuing on the path to being holistically healthy (is that even a logical phrase?) I took Doodle to a pediatric osteopath yesterday.
The definition of osteopthy is that it is an approach to healthcare that emphasizes the role of the musculoskeletal system in health and disease. In most countries osteopathy is a form of complementary medicine, emphasizing a holistic approach and the skilled use of a range of manual and physical treatment interventions in the prevention and treatment of disease.
The way I saw it was that it seemed a little like the combination of chiropractic and massage.
We went there because according to my naturopath this would help with Doodle's problem with hyperactivity. The initial consultation was pretty amazing to me. By just looking at Doodle (and not yet getting the full details) she was able to describe his sleep problems as a baby, his current sleep problems (will happily stay in his room but takes a long time to fall asleep, wakes up early and changes positions a lot in the night) all by looking at his body.
Fascinating.
When she worked on him she had him lie on the table. It looked like a massage table but smaller and lower. The manipulation takes about a half an hour. She did a lot of rubbing of his head and shoulders. The purpose was that she said that he is very tight on one side and loose on the other so he is out of whack. Thinking back, all sorts of issues he has had are all on one side. He has ear infections in one ear which is also very waxy most of the time. She said this is a drainage issue.
She explained to me the link between hyperactivity and temper tantrums and osteopathy. I'll admit she sort of lost me at one point because my understanding of biology is really lacking. But it made sense at the time.
Anyway ...
While she massaged away she rolled in a tv set and Doodle watched a movie while she did what she had to do. Brilliant. He stayed calm and relaxed the entire time.
The one thing she said to expect was he may sleep a little more. So far she is right. He napped in the car after and then he slept in until 9:15 today. He NEVER does that. I was shocked. And I like it.
When we combine that treatment with the lack of sugar and nitrates in his diet, I think we'll be seeing a big change in our child. I'll admit I already am. He's calmer and happier. He's still a 4 year old boy and we are still doing time outs and need to discipline him. But, it's different. For instance when he got a time out today, instead of kicking and screaming before he got there, he walked right over to the time out stair. He cried and screamed when he was there. But when I went to talk to him about the issue he calmed right down and listened and actually understood what I was trying to tell him.
This is all I hoped for. The roles Phat Daddy and I have as parents are to teach Doodle right from wrong, and to help him succeed in life (there's much more, I know). And, I feel like these changes we've made for Doodle's health are helping us to accomplish this. There's much less screaming on our part and much more teaching. We can do things with Doodle we would not have done even a month ago.
All of this is hard. But right now it is so so so worth it.

Sunday Night Dinner

I sware this isn't a cooking blog.
But, so much of my life these days is trying to make our lives healthier that a lot of my mental energy is spent on planning out healthy meals. But, I want to not only make meals that are healthy, I want them to taste good so that we all enjoy them.
On Saturday we went to a wedding which was wonderful. And I was inspired by the yummy appetizer salad they served. It had strawberries and almonds and mandarin oranges. So, I ran with that. And, then I thought we should try bbqing shrimp because shrimp is really low calorie and I love bbq shrimp.
And, since there's nothing I love more that sharing my creative efforts with people we invited my parents over to try out our dinner.
The result was pretty successful. It was delicious.
Doodle has been helping me in all of my culinary efforts. Today we made banana muffins (delish!) and he was right in the putting all the ingredients in.
At dinner he was washing all of the veggies and setting the table. He even helped me make the salad dressing. And the more that he helps the more excited he is to try out the various foods that we make.
We didn't give him any of the shrimp. I'm not sure if he would have liked it, but we just introduced him to veggie dogs, and he was really excited to have veggie dogs with his healthy salad.
Tomorrow I'm taking him to an osteopath. Our naturopath recommended it to us to help with the hyper-acitivity (though the lack of nitrates and refined sugar has made a huge difference.). I'm really excited to see how this all works out and if it actually makes a difference for him.

Phat Daddy and I have been talking about how I'm embracing all of this. I realize that I've gone completely overboard on this healthy bandwagon. As far as bandwagons go, it's a pretty good one to be on. But in all honesty I think a huge part of it is that I really struggle with staying at home. I see some of the super moms out there and don't feel terribly successful. But, I think this has given me something to run with and succeed at. And so far so good.

This week, though, I need to make sure to journal his food and mood. I've been really neglecting that.

A Tale of Two Cakes

We're still eliminating away in our house, but tonight we had company. I wanted to make a dessert, but I decided that I would make the same cake (a really yummy strawberry cake) 2 ways - one using all the usual ingredients, another dairy, egg and wheat free.
I had a wonderful helper, Doodle, who was incredibly excited about the baking challenge.
I realize the cakes look a little different. The truth is that I only had one pie plate, and to add to the imperfection Doodle wanted to place strawberries on the top. So, I went with it and didn't particularly care that one wasn't as pretty as the other.
In the end I was pleasantly surprised by how the healthy version turned out. I'm putting the recipe below with the stuff I changed.
Yummy!
But while I was in my soon-to-be-renovated kitchen taking pictures I had to take a picture of our cereal collection.
I was laughing today when I filled our pantry because all of our stuff is organic or healthy or both.
The Count Chocula and Cocoa Puffs, etc have been replaced by homemade granola and various bran cereals.
You'll note all the bags of coffee. I am most certainly not cutting coffee out of my life!



Strawberry Cake - with replacements

6 tbsp unsalted butter, softened (replaced butter with shortening)
1 ½ c flour (replaced with 3/4 cup rice flour and 3/4 cup spelt flour)
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 cup plus 2 tbsp sugar (replaced with organic raw can sugar and cut down to 3/4 cup)
1 large egg (egg replacer)
½ c milk (replaced with soy/rice milk)
1 tsp vanilla
1 pound strawberries, hulled & halved

Preheat oven to 350*. Butter a 10-inch pie plate.
Sift flour, baking powder and salt together in a medium bowl.

Put butter and 1 cup sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Mix on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy (about 3 minutes). Reduce speed to medium-low. Mix in egg, milk and vanilla.

Reduce speed to low; gradually mix in flour mixture.
Transfer batter to buttered pie plate.
Arrange strawberries on top of batter, cut sides down and as close together as possible.
Sprinkle remaining 2 tbsp sugar over berries.

Bake cake 10 minutes @ 350*.
Reduce oven temperature to 325*. Bake cake until it is golden brown and firm to touch (about 1 hour)

Let cake cool in pie plate on a wire rack.
Cut into wedges
Can be stored at room temperature, loosely covered up t 2 days.

The Elimination Begins

After a visit last week with our amazing naturopath (more on that later) and a week of slowly getting rid of the junk in our diets, we're starting a full out elimination diet in our house this week.
I know it sounds brutal, but we're attempting to cut out wheat, dairy, eggs, tomatoes & additives out of our diets, specifically Doodle's diet.
It actually sounds harder than it is. Because I'm on mat leave and home with the kids all day I have a lot of control over what Doodle eats. I also have the time to prepare the foods that are kind of replacement foods. And, since it's summer there is a lot more yummy fruit and veggies in the store (and my child could survive on fruit, I think).
We did a bit of a test run last week. Both Phat Daddy and I were a little surprised by the results. Doodle has been happier and calmer. We've had meltdowns and temper tantrums, but generally Doodle is able to snap out of them pretty quickly.
We have been supplementing his diet with a special shake that is full of vitamins and minerals (and he loves it) so we know that he is getting the nutrition he needs.
The goal of this week (and the next 2 weeks) is to see what kind of a change eliminating all of that stuff will make in Doodle's life. I keep a food/mood diary which will be examined by our naturopath and once we have some ideas on what foods he may have an allergy to then we are doing testing.
Tonight is also my first weight watchers weigh in. Lucky me!

Holistic

I've been hesitant to blog about what's been going on with us health wise, but now that we've been going through this for a bit, I figure it's a little more okay.
Ever since the baby was little she has been struggling with gas. Long story short, but after visits to the doctor and eventually the hospital I was frustrated by no answers and went to a naturopath who suggested eliminating dairy from her diet. The visit for the baby was short.
The long part of that visit was a conversation about Doodle.
This doctor was very concerned about his behaviour. She thought it was very erratic and basically blamed it on sugar and his diet in general. Her bedside manner was horrible and I left pissed off that she had blamed me for his hyperactivity, but part of the problem is that she was right. For quite awhile now I have been concerned about his behaviour.
ADHD has been whispered to us. Hyperactivity has also been mentioned.
But, what I had noticed is that he's not constantly hyper. And as a parent it's incredibly frustrating that one day he can listen and behave and follow directions with no problem, and then you catch him at the wrong moment and he can't. I know part of this is being a little kid, but it's not that. For instance today I was at my sister's place. Her almost 3 year old was having a rough afternoon. She was having temper tantrums, and just not listening. But, my sister could pinpoint it to a lack of sleep and needing a nap.
With Doodle it's not like this. Sure he has his moments where we know he needs sleep. But, the hyperactivity is not that. It's like he physically can't stop himself.
Recently he started karate. He loves it. I love it. His teacher is an amazing woman who is a former kindergarten teacher. She works magic in her karate classes - and gets a room full of 3-5 year olds doing various things in tandem, quietly. I have a lot of respect for her.
After the last class she asked to speak with me.
She was concerned about his hyperactvity also. But, she explained it to me.
Basically she said that once he enters the school system he will be recommended to be on Ritalin because of his hyperactivity. She has noticed that sometimes he seems to have uncontrollable energy, and said that from her experience with children she doesn't seem this as a behaviour/parenting issue, but rather as a chemical one that may be triggered by something. At one point in the class she was helping him with something and he said his brain hurts. She asked him why and he said "it's the food my mom gives me." (oh the mommy guilt from that comment, but that's a whole other issue!)
She suggested that we do allergy testing and see a naturopath.
Interestingly enough I'd been doing a lot of research since the initial naturopath visit. My mom and I had just attended a lecture given by a naturopath who is about 20 minutes away from my house. And I liked her. And spoke to her after.
So, we're going to go and see her and see what she suggests for Doodle. Actually, I have been e-mailing back and forth with her along with reading as much as I can about the link between diet and behaviour. It's scary what's in our food - and it's scary what I've been okay with.
It looks like we're in for an "elimination diet". Seriously. Want to know what it's about? Here's what she said in an e-mail
"If you are up for an elimination diet, you may want to try avoiding the following foods: any food additives or preservatives (colours, preservatives, nitrates in hot dogs or cold meats), dairy, cane sugar, and wheat. Definitely prepare for this one, find substitutes that Doodle enjoys and get a good cook book ( I like The Whole Foods Allergy Cookbook by Cybele Pascal) before embarking on the elimination period, which should be 3 weeks. You should notice a shift in his behaviour if he is sensitive to any of these foods or additives."
I know it sounds crazy, but I think we're doing it. It may kill me. But, if it doesn't I'm sure I'll be a stronger person for it. And, I'm doing it right along with Doodle. And if I'm doing it, the Baby's doing it. And by some stretch so is Phat Daddy.
I think June is going to be a Long month!
If anyone has done this before I'd love to hear your input.