Being in kindergarten has added a new dimension to Annabelle. She plays made believe as much as possible now, using any object she can find as a prop for her storytelling. She'll scrounge up a stick or two to be baby-misses-her-mommy-in-a-meeting (!) or use rocks as pretend food to sell because she is the rock-muffin-seller-girl. If those items can't be found then she settles for taking off her shoes and using them for her storytelling.
She's learning verses and songs and brings them home for us to hear. I LOVE this.
Often she talks about what happened in kindergarten that day - someone got hurt, or someone was wiggly during snack, or someone was making silly sounds, but most are about Teacher Carole and all the fun stuff Teacher Carole does. This morning as we were getting ready for our day Annabelle told Dave and I about something the day before...
Annabelle :: Sarah is not my friend NO MORE!
Me (wondering if Sarah is a real or imaginary friend) :: Really? Why not?
Annabelle :: Because she takes too many turns on the swing!
Me :: Is that what you said to her?
Annabelle :: No. That's what she said TO ME!
Me (trying not to laugh) :: Did Sarah ask you for a turn on the swing?
Annabelle :: Yes. And now we're not friends never again!
These kind of conversations fill our mornings and evenings. The seemingly brutal nature of giving up friends because of not sharing a swing is something I can only understand abstractly. It helps me to remember the times when Annabelle describes her favorite apple juice popsicles as "boring" or tells me it's "disgusting" to water the plants. Then I really get how she's just trying out new language and new ideas.
Yesterday she got angry with me for not letting her eat a banana before she finished her butter sandwich. She turned to face me, pointed at my face with her pointer finger, grimacing at the denial.
Annabelle :: I'm going to TELL ON YOU!
Me :: Really? Who will you tell?
Annabelle :: My MOM!
Luckily I also get the more precious moments of the beautiful things she picks up from school. Tonight after her bath I was dressing her in her pajamas when she suddenly took a couple steps back and formed a eurythmy E.
Annabelle :: Micha-el! Micha-el!! Micha-el!!!
(pause)
Annabelle :: MICHA-EL!!!! MICHA-EL!!!!!
(pause)
Annabelle (leaning to me, whispering) :: Victorious!
Hearing her chant the Saint's name, practically calling to him was powerful. But hearing my four year old use the word victorious really made my heart so glad. It is so nice to feel confirmation that she is exactly where she needs to be.
Friday, September 25, 2009
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Finding optimism again
Life has been unfolding in interesting extremes.
Annabelle, for the first time in over two years, is the healthiest child alive! On the advice of a new doctor here in the South Bay we completely eliminated wheat from her diet. Even the minuscule amounts found in things we previously considered wheat free. Even foods that say on the package, "shares equipment with wheat products".
And the results have been incredible. Unbelievable.
This doctor explained that when she encounters a patient who is allergic to a long, random list of foods that she has learned to suspect wheat as the primary problem. Especially when that list of foods seems to morph and change without notice or cause. Especially when it includes things that most people are NOT allergic to (like rice, olive oil, and bananas) , and yet the patient is not allergic to certain things that everyone IS allergic to (like corn).
A true wheat allergy can be nearly undetectable until other allergy and immune system problems begin to show up. People who are allergic to wheat but continue to ingest it are often sick all the time. (Annabelle did not go even one month in Oregon without being sick.) Small amounts of wheat burn off the fine hairs that line the intestines. More wheat burns the hairs down the shafts. And regular wheat consumption burns open sores in the intestines. These sores create an environment where whatever OTHER food is eaten is absorbed immediately without any barrier. The reaction to this food often occurs within an hour and can result in any variety of ways that inflammation shows up in the body: rash, hives, crazy tantrums, runny nose. And thus, the person (or her mother) believes that it is THAT food that caused the reaction.
A reaction in under an hour to a food that has been ingested often indicates open sores in the intestines, or some other major problem with the intestinal lining.
And so, within one month of being off wheat completely, we have successfully introduced the widest range of foods to Annabelle's diet! Avocado! Rice! Tomatoes! Oranges! Bananas! Cheese! Beets! Millet! Almonds! Coconut! Canola Oil! The list grows dramatically each week. It is an enormous, life altering, relief.
It has been a fascinating process for me, facing my inner doubts that good health was even viable for my daughter. I did not believe it was possible to be where we are in terms of Annabelle's physical health. Somewhere my thoughts of hope got lost...
This doctor said that it would be many many months for the sores to heal completely. Wheat is detectable for up to four months after ingestion! Wow. It is important to take things slow. We are introducing so many new foods that I am keeping track diligently so as not to miss a cue that something does not yet work. It will be quite a while before she is ready for certain foods.
Today Annabelle and I shared some gelato sorbet. It was the most simple experience you could imagine: just she and I sitting on a bench outside, in a strip mall, chatting, eating something new and exciting. A part of me wanted to burst into tears right there, watching her enjoy her "ice cream". She savored every spoonful, tipped the melted drops into her mouth from the cup. And no tantrum, no tummy ache, no reflux, no nothing afterward... just the memory. A fun, good memory of something sweet - in more ways than one.
Thank you God!
Annabelle, for the first time in over two years, is the healthiest child alive! On the advice of a new doctor here in the South Bay we completely eliminated wheat from her diet. Even the minuscule amounts found in things we previously considered wheat free. Even foods that say on the package, "shares equipment with wheat products".
And the results have been incredible. Unbelievable.
This doctor explained that when she encounters a patient who is allergic to a long, random list of foods that she has learned to suspect wheat as the primary problem. Especially when that list of foods seems to morph and change without notice or cause. Especially when it includes things that most people are NOT allergic to (like rice, olive oil, and bananas) , and yet the patient is not allergic to certain things that everyone IS allergic to (like corn).
A true wheat allergy can be nearly undetectable until other allergy and immune system problems begin to show up. People who are allergic to wheat but continue to ingest it are often sick all the time. (Annabelle did not go even one month in Oregon without being sick.) Small amounts of wheat burn off the fine hairs that line the intestines. More wheat burns the hairs down the shafts. And regular wheat consumption burns open sores in the intestines. These sores create an environment where whatever OTHER food is eaten is absorbed immediately without any barrier. The reaction to this food often occurs within an hour and can result in any variety of ways that inflammation shows up in the body: rash, hives, crazy tantrums, runny nose. And thus, the person (or her mother) believes that it is THAT food that caused the reaction.
A reaction in under an hour to a food that has been ingested often indicates open sores in the intestines, or some other major problem with the intestinal lining.
And so, within one month of being off wheat completely, we have successfully introduced the widest range of foods to Annabelle's diet! Avocado! Rice! Tomatoes! Oranges! Bananas! Cheese! Beets! Millet! Almonds! Coconut! Canola Oil! The list grows dramatically each week. It is an enormous, life altering, relief.
It has been a fascinating process for me, facing my inner doubts that good health was even viable for my daughter. I did not believe it was possible to be where we are in terms of Annabelle's physical health. Somewhere my thoughts of hope got lost...
This doctor said that it would be many many months for the sores to heal completely. Wheat is detectable for up to four months after ingestion! Wow. It is important to take things slow. We are introducing so many new foods that I am keeping track diligently so as not to miss a cue that something does not yet work. It will be quite a while before she is ready for certain foods.
Today Annabelle and I shared some gelato sorbet. It was the most simple experience you could imagine: just she and I sitting on a bench outside, in a strip mall, chatting, eating something new and exciting. A part of me wanted to burst into tears right there, watching her enjoy her "ice cream". She savored every spoonful, tipped the melted drops into her mouth from the cup. And no tantrum, no tummy ache, no reflux, no nothing afterward... just the memory. A fun, good memory of something sweet - in more ways than one.
Thank you God!
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