Jastef

I really have nothing interesting to post here, but I can't stand blogs that never have updates, so here I am! Its not much, but be happy its something.

Our week was nice; not terribly busy (speaking for the kids and I, of course) and we've made some good progress with the potty training - though not as much as I had hoped for at this point. Ethan will go on the potty anytime we tell him he needs to, but without the timer and our reminding him... he'd be happy in his diaper. Jason reminded me tonight that I tend to give up too easily and asked that I hang in there one more week... so I am.

Rachel is learning lots of new words, basically by copying everything she hears us say. When the kids play in the playroom together, Ethan talks and she literally repeats (or tries to repeat) every word he says. She's also expanding her taste for girlish things. When we're out at the store and she sees anything bright pink or something with princesses on it, she takes a huge breath in and starts panting "pincess! pincess!!" **Confession time**  I used to think parents had to push this sort of behavior onto their kids, but I'm finally realizing... its in their blood. We have never paid attention to the "Dolls, Barbie, Princess, all things girl" aisle at Target, but Rachel discovered it a few weeks ago and its the only thing that has taken her breath away - at this point in her life.  We really enjoyed the sunny weather this week! The kids have done lots of front yard playing, going to the park and going for walks again. Between the rainy weather and Ethan being sick the past several week (with his sinus infection) we've had to stay out of the cold weather.

An update on Ethan's sinus troubles (for those of you who care). His most recent diagnoses is that he has a milk allergy. So, he's been temporarily taken off all dairy products and we're going to see if that helps. We took him off dairy in December for 3 weeks and he did marvelously! Then his Dr. had me start giving him one glass of milk a day starting January 3rd and within 24 hours... sinus infection and ear problems. So with that, we're pretty sure the dairy seems to be causing it and it appears he takes after his Grandma Arnold who has similar issues. I originally thought taking him off dairy was going to be SO hard, but then I remembered the day and age we live really provides very safe and healthy alternatives. He love the rice milk and drinks chocolate Almond milk as a treat, he tried Soy ice cream today at Trader Joe's and said it was "pretty good"   and thankfully they have goat cheese in the form of real sandwich slices and has the cheddar flavor to it. I know... its amazing. Thankfully he does fine with yogurt. I didn't know this until about 2 months ago, but yogurt is not a mucus producing food, so its fine to eat when you're sick with a cold or have allergies like Ethan's. I believe its a different story if you're lactose intolerant or avoid milk products altogether. 

Our weekend is shaping up to be a nice relaxing one. We have some fun plans tomorrow with our friend Dan in Livermore and the kids get to go spend time with Jason's parents. Sunday should be a very restful day and get us ready for the next week!

I love that my "nothing" posts turn out to be the longest.