Allergies and Energies

We had our first visit with the allergist this morning. Dylan had a skin test done (he was a trooper and didn't even wince). He's allergic to trees. Thankfully, no reaction to cats or dogs.

We now have an idea on how to proceed with his stuffed nose and breathing so that hopefully we can wean him off of the Flovent in the coming months.

Hopefully, taking him off Flovent will help decrease his energy level. Dylan is being seen by a therapist for his speech. Well, not really his speech. They know he can speak but they feel that he's so busy that he doesn't sit still long enough to learn. ~sprays anti-labeling spray~ No, he's not ADD or ADHD. The therapist that works with him deals with many children with ADD, ADHD, Autism, etc. and he shows none of the classic signs. He's definitely spirited and like my friend Cecily, I picked up a copy of Raising Your Spirited Child and began reading that this weekend.

I've only read a few pages but the first thing that struck me was the desire of the parents to remove the negative words like hyper from their vocabulary. I agree. There is nothing negative about Dylan. Sometimes he exhibits negative behavior but that's normal - we all do. I had labels growing up and I hated it. I don't want to do that to him.

Broken Hearted

I had once said that my heart was broken when my Dad died. Now I know it's true and I have proof - an EKG was taken today (for some super minor hand surgery I'm supposed to have for a cyst) and it shows a left axis - anterior fascicular block. What does that mean? According to my adorable doctor, it means the lines go down when they should go up. It could be indicative of a past heart attack she says but she doesn't feel that the case. She said I need to know this because if I was in the ER for something and got an EKG, they may think I was having or had a heart attack.

I left there with an okay attitude and called Mom. She flips out and tells me I have to call Dad's cardiologist immediately. She reminds me that my father's side of the family has a history of heart disease. Fuck.

I get back into the office and promptly call the cardiologist. Cardiologist assistant is lovely and has me fax the EKG into her office. She's going to review it w/the Cardiologist and see if it's something they need to see me about immediately or if it's something that can be scheduled normally (I want a full workup as I'm planning to do the MS 150).

Then I start thinking to myself that this is just a baseline - I've never had an EKG before so don't panic yet..... yet..... wait.... what about 10 years ago when I was sick. DOUBLE FUCK

Here's a bizarre story for you.

I woke up one day at 3:00 a.m. with a blinding headache. I never get headaches like this. I thought I had carbon monoxide poisoning (I had fallen asleep to a show about CM poisoning). I drove around at 3:00 a.m. looking for a store that had a CM detector - finally found one, came home, plugged it in and it showed nothing. Decided in my haze of pain that it was broken and called the gas company who promptly came out and told me I was crazy. Shortly after the gas guy left is when it hit... horrible vomiting & diarrhea at the same time (thank Gd my toilet & sink were next to each other). I ended up passing out a number of times and ended up in the hospital. I had a 94 degree temp when I got there (brother took me) due to the dehydration. The hooked me up to an IV and also gave me an EKG because I had a horrible pressure in my chest.

Now I don't think I had a heart attack that day - they said the EKG was fine... but... they said it was fine. If this thingie is something that is my baseline then it would have showed up then. TRIPLE FUCK

Needless to say, I have a call into my regular doctor to tell her that I'm not convinced this is "normal" for me.

I really need to relax this weekend!

Co-Parenting

So tell me - wonderful internet people - do you and your significant other truly co-parent? How do you handle discipline.

I really need to get a better handle on this discipline thing. I am so tired of feeling like the bad guy. Dylan will pitch a fit and I feel like I am the only person willing to handle it. I've asked Marc several times if I am going over board and he's said no so.... how do you handle co-parenting when disciplining your child. Oh, and by discipline, I am referring to giving time-outs, removing child from a situation when they are acting up, etc.

I'd also love to hear any creative parenting techniques. Dylan has fallen in love with throwing and has quite the impressive arm. This is completely acceptable when we are tossing a ball. It's completely unacceptable when it's french toast and we are sitting in a restaurant and he managed to nail a guy in the head that is sitting across the isle from us (I shit you not).

Ahhhh, the trying two's!

Hey - Anonymous gave me an idea!

If anyone out there has some good recipes for Guatemalan food, please share them here! I'd love to start compiling recipes. I have a recipe for a Guatemalan Ginger Chicken Soup which is easy, delicious and low in calories/fat. I'll have to dig it up but I promise to post it.

I'll run the Charoset through a recipes builder to see if I can get some nutritional information to post for my weight watcher peoples.

That's my boy!

Yesterday was beautiful so I took Dylan to the park near my office at work. There is a fountain that hasn't been filled yet that all of the toddlers love to run around in (and all of the parents love the fact that the kids are contained to a small area).

Now, there is a group of kids we see all of the time and Dylan plays beautifully with them. Yesterday, a new girl joined the group. She is 6 and has Downs Syndrome and was quite aggressive at first. She had two balls and would throw them. Dylan would run and pick them up and she would run up to him and scream at him and snatch the balls away from him. She threw the balls again and again Dylan chased them down and picked them up. Again, she got in his face and snatched the balls away. The third time this happened I could see Dylan's beautiful brain working. He ran after the balls, picked them up, ran up to Miss P and very gently handed her back the balls. After that, the two of them just played beautifully together.

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In other news, I'm weaning off the lexapro. I keep forgetting to take it so I kept getting agitated but I know it's just a side effect of forgetting so I am able to deal.

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Well, Passover begins this weekend and I came across a recipe for Guatemalan Charoset. I'll be making it for our Sedar tomorrow and I'm just so excited to be able to bring some of Dylan's culture to our Sedar table. If anyone else is interested, here's the recipe...

Haroset ingredients

* 3 green apple, peeled, chopped, with a splash of lemon juice
* 2 tablespoons cashew, chopped
* 2 tablespoons honey
* 1 ounce sweet passover wine
* 1 teaspoon fresh cilantro, chopped

Sauce

* 1 ounce green chilies, and
* red chilies, chopped, they are locally called chiltepe
* 2 teaspoons onion, chopped
* 2 garlic clove, peeled, chopped
* 1 small tomato, chopped
* 1 tablespoon wine vinegar
* 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
* cinnamon

Directions

1.Toss all haroset ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
2.Liquify all ingredients for the sauce in a blender and season with salt to taste,.
3.Add 1 tablespoons of the sauce to the haroset and blend.
4.Add cinnamon to taste.

It was in an article in Hadassa Magazine about a new Jewish Community in Guatemala and how they had a Charoset contest and this was the winner.

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Chag Samaech!

Time for a redo

I hate the way my blog looks. It's boring. I'd love to spruce it up a bit but I suck at this kind of thing. Anyone want to take a stab at it for me??? I have an appointment on Friday with my doc. I need a redo too. I want off of my anti-depressants. I needed them to help me get past my father's death. While I don't think I'll ever be over it - I've healed enough that I can exist with the meds. I'm tired all of the time and I think it has to do with the drugs. I hate feeling like this. I can't enjoy my evenings because I'm so exhausted by the end of the day, that I just go to bed right after dinner. It sucks.

Moving Right Along

I really need to post more often. So... what's new? Well, Dylan is 2 1/2 and is Mr. Independent. He will throw the most spectacular fits if now allowed to do things himself. He is a dare devil - he loves to jump and flip off of anything and everything. He (of course) loves Elmo and Dora and is just now starting to enjoy the idiot box. His speech is a bit delayed but that is improving with the help of early intervention. My depression is lifting and I think I'm ready to wean off the anti-depressant I've been on since my Dad passed away. I don't sleep and I think that may be because of the medication. I've been working out consistently 4x a week (2 days spinning and 2 days training w/a personal trainer) and it's definitely paying off. I'm down to a size 10 and feel stronger than I've ever felt (physically). Marc is amazing. He's such an incredible husband and father. It's just amazing to watch him play with Dylan. They are best buds. Adoption related... We are still waiting on Dylan's COC (Certificate of Citizenship). According to the website - we are hopefully about 2 months away from getting it. Let's keep our fingers crossed!