A Busy Weekend

We had a busy, but very fun weekend.  It started with the Dew Drop Bop at St. Kate's, complete with a bounce house, bubbles and lots of treats! The weather was perfect, and Owen and Maren had a blast.  Maren liked to be where all the action was (music, rides and other activities), while Owen preferred walking around the pond and watching the ducks.  

Maren was pretty fired up over the bubbles!

Owen did a lot of running (and slept in the next morning)!

Maren's favorite treat right now is watermelon.  A few minutes after this picture was taken she tripped and dropped her melon.  It was tragic!

The next morning, we went to an open house at the Bloomington Public Works with our friends, Jack and Annalee.  The open house was fantastic.  There were big trucks and tractors to see and even sit in.  We were also able to ride in a snow plow, which Owen and Maren are still talking about.  

Checking out the trucks!

After the open house, we all went out to lunch, where Owen and Annalee bonded while watching cars out the window.  It was adorable!

Finally, on Sunday, Josh, Owen, Maren and I went to the Gluten-Free Food Fest to get some new ideas for Maren.  It was a great event.  Maren loved all of the samples and one-one-one time with mommy and daddy.  Owen was able to spend the morning playing and baking with Grandma Colleen.  

Miss Maren checking out a new cookie.  She generally doesn't like sweets, but she was impressed by Trader Joe's Snickerdoodles. 

Maren scored a free bag of chips!  

Do NOT ask her to share!

At some point over the weekend, we also tried out our new popsicle mold and walked to a park near our house.

Owen is going through a fun little phase in which he will only eat fruits and veggies in smoothies and, now, popsicles.  Whatever works!  

Both kiddos wanted to hold my hand while walking home from the park. It was pretty sweet!

And, finally, Uncle Eric threw a washcloth at Maren, and it was the funniest thing ever!

Toddlers Are Funny

Owen and Maren make us laugh every day.  Yes, they throw tantrums and whine every day, too, but at least they're funny!

Here are a few of the funny things I've remembered to write down:

Are you a twin?

Maren: “No, I’m a girl.”

Who is the prettiest girl in the world?

Maren: “Maren!”

Who is the smartest girl in the world?

Maren: “Owen!”

Maren screaming for her sunglasses in the car and finding out I can't reach them for her.

Maren: “But, I’m weawwwy bwiind!” (really blind)

Me attempting to make Owen earn his dessert by counting, "1 2 3 4. . . What comes next?"

Owen: Cookie!
Maren: No, 5! (shaking her head)

Me trying to distract two crabby kids, so I can change diapers and put their shoes on.

"Let’s get ready to go see Uncle Eric, or is it Uncle Poop, Uncle Toot (yes, bathroom humor works!)

Maren: (Looking at baby gate) Uncle Gate! (hysterical laughter)

Owen: Uncle Winow (Window) (more laughing - these two totally get each other,)

Owen mashing buttons on the remote control and glaring at the TV.

"Come ON, TV!" (I feel his pain!)

Maren is clearly a bigger talker than Owen.  Owen is generally too busy to sit and chat.  He has work to do!  This little man loves jobs, clearing the table, helping with dishes, cleaning up the yard with daddy, but his favorite is throwing laundry down the laundry chute.  He could do this for hours!

Little Miss Maren's favorite word the last couple of weeks is beautiful, and she has an adorable way of pronouncing it. I've been trying to get it on video for awhile, but every time she sees my phone, she wants to see pictures and videos of herself on my phone.

A Post All About Maren

Way back in March, we found out this cool little chick has some food allergies and sensitivities.  Since she's been about three weeks old, constipation has been a constant issue.  When it led to an emergency room visit complete with x-rays and an enema, we decided to have her tested for food allergies.  We had already reduced the amount of dairy in her diet and made sure she was eating a lot of fruit and fiber.  Clearly, we were missing something, and I was going to lose it if one more doctor mentioned feeding her fruits that start with "P."  Yep, we've tried that!  In the end, we found out Miss Maren is allergic to eggs, peanuts, cow's milk and sesame seeds. It turns out that this sounds a lot worse than it actually is. The peanut allergy is really mild and since she has never had a reaction to peanut butter, she is still able to have this.  She has always refused eggs in all forms, so this wasn't a big loss for her. We have, however, removed dairy from her diet and will obviously avoid introducing sesame seeds.  We were surprised to find that her tests also revealed a high sensitivity to wheat.  She is not allergic to wheat, but our pediatrician recommended we eliminate this from her diet, as well, since we had already significantly reduced the amount of dairy in her diet without any results.  

Maren has been doing really well with her dairy- and wheat-free diet.  She is a good little eater, who thankfully is willing to try new foods.  Her new diet (combined with Miralax) has her pooping daily.  Believe it or not, we tried Miralax before changing her diet, as well, and it didn't really produce results.  Our biggest obstacle now is getting this girl to drink!  She took the complete loss of milk the hardest and hasn't warmed up to any of the milk alternatives.   We are working on making water fun for her (new cups, straws, adding flavor) since that's all she will drink right now.   

It is recommended that we re-test in about a year.  Hopefully, with the elimination diet, we will see different results next time and be able to re-introduce some foods.  

In the meantime, Maren seems more comfortable and is happy with her new "special" foods, and we're just happy to have some answers and a plan moving forward.