FAAN Walk: Meeting Others Just Like Us

In late September, we made a trip to our favorite Ohio city, Columbus, to take part in a FAAN Walk. We toured a few booths to check out a few new products and listened to a few of the key speakers (interestingly, not a single one of them had kids with as many food allergies as Colin!) before taking part in a walk around a park to build awareness and sensitivity for kids with food allergies. 

There currently is not a cure for food allergies and more and more families are having to face the challenge of having a child that is diagnosed with allergies, some of them life-threatening. I have had numerous conversations with other parents who's kids are 'normal' and they express frustration with the peanut bans in public schools. There is still a huge misunderstanding when it comes to the severity and important of food allergies. It brought tears to my eyes to hear other people's stories of dealing with the same challenges and fears. We will definitely be more involved with FAAN in the future.

Boo!

After weeks and weeks of debating on the perfect costume, Colin finally decided that he wanted to be a ghost. No idea where this idea came from. Unfortunately, no one makes a ghost costume in his size. So, Dadda and Momma made a trip to Hobby Lobby and picked up some white felt and a few other sewing supplies to make this:

He kinda looked like a KKK member so we put the eyes on the top to make it look more like a ghost. He LOVED it! While we were out Trick-or-Treating, he said 'I don't want to be a friendly ghost, I want to be a scary ghost!" Too bad no one else agreed with him!

For his little school party, I made white chocolate covered strawberry 'ghosts' and allergy-free dirt cups. There turned out so cute!

Down on the Farm

For our little man's birthday celebration, we had to be a little creative in a venue since we were currently not in our own home. Colin had developed an affinity for horses and farms so we toured a few of the local farms before deciding on Benton Farms in Walton, KY.

I made sure to come up with a menu that he would be able to enjoy all with our guests- sliders and hot dogs, fruit skewers, rice, cut vegetables, popsicles, and a very special rainbow cake that was completely allergy-free!

Every last bit of that cake was gone. I was worried that people wouldn't like it because it was gluten- and egg-free but a clean plate sure proved me wrong! And to see Colin sitting there next to Carter enjoying his own slice of birthday cake made all the effort worth it :)

Our family from Fort Wayne and Pittsburgh traveled in for the special occasion. And our friends came with their kids to enjoy the festivities. It turned out to be a great day! The weather was clear and very warm, especially for this time of year. And the farm was very well run, making it a great place for families to do their own thing and enjoy themselves. And, of course, no trip to the farm would be complete without a hay ride to the pumpkin patch!

One of Colin's little friends from school, Carter, was able to make it to the party. They were inseparable and so cute to watch! 

Little man was overloaded with gifts. We are so blessed to have the friends and family that we have. 

Thanks to everyone for making it such a special occasion!

Three Year Update

Look Who's Three!

Height/Weight
Our little guy is still small by most standards. 35 inches high and 27 lbs. 4 oz. small. In fact, he's not even on the chart for his height or weight at this point. He did reach as size 2T just in time for his third birthday! His pajama drawer is overflowing because we keep getting new pj's when he can still fit in his old ones. Being small has it's benefits :)

Food
Since his first, severe allergic reaction this summer (he threw up all night after eating broccoli that had been seasoned with a teriyaki sauce), he has been very cautious about trying new foods. He has become somewhat of a picky-eater, even starting a gagging reaction. It's been a very frustrating time, and a little sad as a parent. I don't want him to be afraid of food, I want him to be able to enjoy all sorts of foods!

For eating out, we stick to Wendy's and Chipotle. They have the 'safest' options for him. At home, we always have an abundance of Eat for Life snack options, tortilla chips, cheese, Boar's Head hot dogs, corn tortillas, sausage, rice, and plenty of black beans!

His new favorite food of choice is celery. Who knew?

School
Colin moved up to a new room at the beginning of the school year. We were a little hesitant at first because his little buddies were not going to be in the same room. But we have been very pleased with the transition! Teacher Tina is beyond patient with the students. She is sweet yet stern. For this age group, it's a good combination! Colin has improved greatly in his speaking skills (in fact, Chris asked today if the 3's were called the 'Talkative Three's"), he is learning to color and cut on his own, he can now count up to almost 20 and is beginning to recognize some letters. He has also become successful at learning his colors and is doing great with potty-training! We could not be more proud of him. He's learning and growing in so many ways!

Next stage: becoming a big brother!

End of Summer 2011

Due to some computer issues, it has been very difficult for me to post any updates! I have a whole line-up of pictures waiting to be logged, so here is a quick summer update:

Colin's First Boat Ride with Grammy and Grampy

Co-Captain Colin!

Our second trip did not go so well. We lost all of our props and had to be towed. Forever etched in a two-year-old's mind.

Lots and Lots of Homemade Popsicles! Colin preferred the cantaloupe and watermelon varieties, Dadda and Momma preferred the peaches & cream and blueberry-lime. Yum! Fresh fruit makes a HUGE difference.

Playing soccer and baseball with Dadda in the backyard. Riding bikes. Anything to be outside.

Swimming. Swimming. And more Swimming. While staying at my parents we took advantage of the neighborhood pool. By the end of the summer, Colin was able to swim on his own with his Nemo swimmies!

And, one more first, horseback riding! We made our first trip the Horse Park in Lexington and he loved it! He experienced his first horse ride and was IN LOVE! We will be going back to the Horse Park for sure.

WDW - Day Two

Back to our Disney trip...

We decided to head to the Animal Kingdom for our second morning. Camp Minnie and Mickey opens early and we were lucky enough to be one of the first ones to catch pictures with a few of the characters!

Here's Colin with Daisy Duck...

And no trip to Walt Disney World would be complete without seeing this guy...

As you can see from his hands in his mouth, Colin was a little nervous. He loved to take pictures of the characters but wanted no part of being in the pictures!

After visiting with Mickey, we rode a few of the rides...

waited for Dadda to get off of a ride...

And even went on a Safari! Needless to say, at the end of the day, Colin was a tired little pup!

After taking a quick nap, we got ourselves prettied up and headed over to Epcot for dinner and fireworks at the beautiful Illuminations show.

Epcot ended up being our favorite park. We ended up there almost every night for dinner! The restaurants are all delicious and there are interesting little shops in each country you visit. Great for the entire family!

Crazies...

We've had a case of the crazies around here lately! I still have to finish up our Disney trip, haven't even started our Nashville trip and it's almost Father's Day! Please forgive me, I think I have a few good excuses:

still his best pup!

a) We had a sick baby :( It was just a virus. The kind with a high fever and throwing up. Not much fun with a two-(and a half)- year- old.

b) We SOLD our condo! Did I mention that happened in a week? Don't believe me? We couldn't believe it ourselves. It was a quick turn-around. As soon as we got back from Nashville and Colin was healthy again, we started packing and moving, and packing and moving some more! Finally, we are settled into my parents' house and we closed on the condo Wednesday. All that in just two weeks -phew! Just writing it all is enough to put me in a tailspin.