My Wild Irish Rose

I took my eyes off of Andrew for just long enough for him to strike up a conversation with a balding gentlemen waiting on his food. I quickly intervened just as the man told Andrew he should "go over to that table, there are a bunch of bald guys". Andrew took him literally and snuck off as I apologized to the man. He went straight to the men ... who were sitting and eating. They asked if he would like a song, and of course, he LOVES songs. Then, a table full of bald men (if you know Andrew, you know he LOVES bald men) began to sing their rendition of My Wild Irish Rose. He was absolutely beaming with delight, and it ended with a cheer and clap from all of Taco Bell. I am so grateful for this child whom the Lord has given me! And I am thankful for the kindness of strangers.

You are a sinner.

I took Andrew into United a bit ago to pick out his cereal. I thought it would be a quick trip in and out and no harm would be done. :)
He struck up a conversation with a young man doing some shopping, to which Heaven was incredibly embaressed. Nothing could have prepared her for the conversation at the checkouts, though............
Andrew had turned around while I paid and noticed a slightly balding man standing behind him (who worked there). The conversation went something like this.
Andrew: "Hey there! You have a great scalp. Can I see it?"
Man: "Sure do you see my bald spot? I have my hair brushed over it."
Andrew: "Oh, Wow! Yeah I see it, Can I touch it?"
Mommy: "NO, no, Andrew, you cannot."
Andrew: "Okay mom."
At this point, Heaven has her head down, is a bright shade of red. I am laughing so hard I cannot even write my check, and a small crowd has gathered. Everyone is giggling.
Andrew then looks back to the friendly gentlemen and says. "You are a sinner."
Man: "Yeah, your right."
Andrew (pointing around at the others): "And you and you are all sinners, too."
Man: "But I bet your not a sinner, are you?"
Andrew: "Oh yes, I am a sinner, too."
As we walk out, Andrew waves and tells this man. "Thanks for letting me have your scalp!"
So, now we need to conquer the next part of the gospel message with Andrew...and always remember to have our tracts when we have Andrew in tow!

You have a nice scalp!

Ah! The scalp obsession continues. We think it may have to something to do with the lines/parts in someone’s hair. He likes to part my hair and then feel it down to the scalp. He is embarrassing me so much with this! He is so cute, but having him stare down the store clerks scalps is getting a little weird.
I came out of my class Sunday at church just in time to see a man putting his hat back on. Apparently Andrew had asked him to show his scalp! Then, he leads me to another man. This one has a bald shiny head. Andrew told him "You have a nice scalp", and wanted to touch it. Then, during church, I looked down at my hymnal long enough to miss him touching the same mans scalp who sat in front of us!
A few days ago, he was looking into the closet and separating the clothes over and over again. I asked him what he was doing and he said he was looking for her (closets) scalp. Say what?
I wish I could join him in his world for a bit to see things through his eyes. Despite all the uncomfortable conversations he gets me into, I am so blessed by him daily. He is an amazing little guy.
We have decided to take the diet thing a bit more slowly. First I am focusing on eliminating most of the sugar he takes in along with dyes and preservatives. I reduced the casein/gluten intake by about half. We shall see!

We blew it.

Yes, we blew it today. Our fourth day Casein free and we blew it today. The boys were asking to use their Pizza Hut Book It coupons, and I agreed. It never dawned on me about Andrew and his diet. I tried to reason with him and offered him some of his other favorite foods, but he wanted the pizza! I probably would have been more strict, but after all I have read today...I just could not follow through. He was perfectly calm all evening, though, with no out of the ordinary behaviors.

I'm definately going to have to do alot of praying this week. I need the Lord's guidance with these changes. It is so easy for me to go off the deep end into diets and interventions. I read alot online today.

I guess I just don't feel settled like this diet is right for Andrew, but I feel like I should try it anyways, because I really believe it does help some children. Today I read that most children with "leaky gut" (the reason you are to eliminate gluten and casein) suffer from digestion problems such as loose stools and have weakened immune systems. Andrew has never been prone to diarrhea, even when others have it! And he has the strongest immune system in our family next to his Daddy.

I do feel like I need to whittle down some of the preservatives and sugars our family consumes. I have done this before, but they seem to weasel their way back in when we have trials. I haven't taken him OFF of the GFCF diet yet, even though we failed. However, I am going to use the rest of this week to journal his foods and behaviors and pray, pray, pray! I believe the Lord gives us ALL foods to enjoy, but there are so many "foods" that are no longer anything but man-made chemicals. I think it is important that we know what we are partaking of when we eat, don't you?

All brands are not created equal.

We try to shop bargains for groceries. Eddie especially loves to buy off brand foods. However, yesterday I learned we are going to have to be more careful now. It started with the syrup. We had the off brand and name brand syrup. The off brand had traces of milk and soy. The name brand did not. The most surprising was the pizza sauce! The off brand label said it contained traces of milk, wheat, soy and shellfish?! Gross! I don’t want that in my food. The name brand had NONE of that. I know that brand was only about a quarter more. Today is grocery shopping day, and it will probably take me a LONG time!

Back to school!

We started school today! Monday’s are already rough, but when you add in a great and relaxing Christmas vacation before a Monday….

Andrew, of course, wanted to do his own thing. He needed constant reminders of what he was supposed to be doing, but eventually he did complete his work. I had to hold his little chin a lot to look in my face to get him to listen to me. That is the only way he would repeat his bible verse back to me. He was totally tuning me out there!

Eating went okay I guess. I made them some French toast spiked with sweet potato and banana puree, and sprinkled with flax seed. Andrew ate a little. He was super picky at lunch and ended up eating the rest of the banana puree, and some fruit. He did take a few bites. However, I found out that Sammy really likes homemade pizzas made with RICE cheese! (Ugh) I made him some special casein free cookies tonight for a treat. (Of course, I made regular ones as well). His were not bad! They tasted about the same, only without chocolate chips. I need to see if they make those GFCF. He loves chocolate. I bought him some new plastic containers with RED lids. His things will be red and labeled with sharpies to avoid cross contamination. I find myself wondering how strict I am going to have to be with that. Today I almost sprinkled soup cheese over his pizzas that I had been so meticulous with.

Time for bed……..today was tiring! There were lots of fits from the Snider children. Tomorrow is a new day!

Second day.

We have a few new discoveries on day two. Rice milk does not resemble cow milk after an hour…at all. (Gross!) GFCF donuts are really good! Sammy even had one today and thought so.

We are praying the Lord help us with this diet. Andrew is constantly in the kitchen. Last night, Eddie walked in just in time to see Andrew pop the top off of a pudding cup (big NO-NO). Thankfully, he didn’t eat any or get any on himself. This is going to take work!

Several times today I felt myself thinking of how we are going to do this long-term. I even caught myself hoping it doesn't work (and immediately felt guilty). I do want this to work. If something so easy as a diet change can help him learn and grow, I will commit! I need to remember to take one day at a time, so as to not be overwhelmed. Wouldn't it be wonderful if removing milk fixed everything and we didn't even have to remove gluten? Wishful thinking, I know.

Tomorrow he starts back to school (at home of course) and he starts back to class at Warrior’s Way. Hoping he does well after such a nice break. Until next time............

First Casein Free Day...almost.

What a journey we are embarking upon. After a fun trip to Market Street to stock up on some Casein Free (and a few Gluten Free) foods, I started the first part of his diet today. I mixed a tiny bit of cow milk with Rice milk in his cereal. He ate it all. I tasted the Rice milk, and it really isn't bad. I thought I did well, but then as I read the box of Peanut Butter Cap'n Crunch, I noticed a preservative he isn't supposed to have. OOPS.He was hungry pretty soon after that, so I tried to give him some Soy Yogurt. He isn't supposed to have soy yet, and it does have a smidgeon of casein, however, he is a yogurt addict. I figured since this week is supposed to be gradual, it would be ok. No worries there because he didn't like it anyways. He had a Tofutti Ice Cream Sandwich instead, which he loved. I don't think I'll remove Soy right now. The sandwich did have gluten, but we haven't started that yet...ahhhhh. Dinner was potatoes as a main course. He wasn't having any roast (and he never has), but I did make him some noodles with Earth Balance margarine and some tomato sauce (with carrot puree). He then ate apples with a peanut butter/chocolate sauce to dip.

I can tell he feels he is missing something. He seems even more fixated on food than before. He is in the room with me and keeps asking to go eat at various places which are not typical for him. We never eat McDonald's, but he is asking for that and Taco Mayo. I feel bad. :( He keeps asking for foods from the kitchen. I KNOW he is not hungry, but he is not at all satisfied. It makes me wonder if it is because I removed the milk.....hmmmm.

He is so cute, though. Today he took me in his room and told me I had to stay there for time-out. What he really wanted was to visit with me alone. We chatted for sometime until I started getting restless with so much to do today. I asked him if I could clean his room while I sat in time-out. He said yes, so I got his room clean along with some more colorful conversation.

He was sent to his room three times today. All three times he disobeyed after clear instruction not to turn various things on. He had to have a chat with Daddy once, which he handled well.
He has watched Olie for a bit too long today. I don't know how he is going to handle Monday when all that is taken away and it is time to start school again! I pray he does well.

He has a new and embarrassing fixation. He likes scalps. Yes, you read that right. He loves to look at your scalp. I don't know. I don't get it...at all. :) He asked Papa if Grandma could come over so he could see her scalp. I wonder how well this will go over at church tomorrow! Oh, what the Lord is trying to work out of me through Andrew.....