Dear Joshua and Luke,
We are almost to the end of 2014! There have been so many highlights and blessings this year, but I do not like anytime I have to say goodbye to family. Right before Thanksgiving, we had to say goodbye to my mom, Grandma Nichols. Despite the fact that she was 84 years old and been through so much this last year, I just wasn't ready to say goodbye to her. I am also not ready to write a post about her. She was the sweetest mom and grandma and she loved us all so much!
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| "Bring on the soccer ball!" |
Early November found us wrapping up a great soccer season with Mrs. Thuls' team. Luke had a lot of fun playing soccer and learned a lot. One of the things he learned is that he does not like to be aggressive with the other team and the soccer ball. He especially liked playing in the goalie position. I do not think soccer is his favorite sport, but I appreciate the effort he put into it, and know that he enjoyed playing on the team.
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| Rides at the Lego Museum! |
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| Look out Indiana Jones! |
Early November also brought us to the windy city to visit a different allergist. We were wanting to get some information on oral immune therapy for his peanut/nut allergy and the possibility of doing a milk challenge for Joshua. We really liked Dr. Bojwala and her approach to Joshua's allergies. She offered us a fresh perspective and gave us ideas on how to manage his eczema as well. Her approach is patient-focused and on helping the whole child with allergies and all that it entails.
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| "I am your father,." |
The short of the long story is....... Joshua is not eligible for any food challenges at this time. He is very allergic to every nut, peanut, shrimp, lobster, milk, egg...not to mention a plethora of almost every environmental allergy. After some extensive blood work, Dr. Bajowala summed it up by saying that Joshua is
allergic to the world. It is difficult to even write those words without feeling a twinge of pain (OK, a big twinge!) in my stomach. Joshua's overall allergy numbers is extremely high based on all of these factors. The good news is that there are things that we can work on to bring down his overall allergy numbers.
There are also some things we can do that will help Joshua feel better overall. She explained that Joshua's body inside is at a constant conflict and always on the defense when he eats. Her approach is basically to help him feel better and bring down his overall allergy numbers. She recommended that we see a local allergist to pursue environmental allergy shots for Joshua. Even though environmental allergies do not seem to bother Joshua so much anymore (knock on wood), Dr. Bajowala felt that the environmental allergy shots will eventually help him with the food allergies by bringing his overall allergies down to a more reasonable number.
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| "Nice tiger!" Good thing it is made of Legos! |
The doctor also recommended starting Joshua on using probiotics every day to begin to balance out the amount of bacteria in his body. Joshua has been so good about getting the probiotics out and putting it in orange juice, pudding, or applesauce each day. He is also working on drinking more water each day per the doctor's recommendations.
While we liked the hopeful information from Dr.
Bajowala the next part of the trip was the most fun!. We surprised the boys by spending the night at the hotel. The hotel meant swimming for a while. We ordered in a pizza and watched a movie. Joshua has been so excited about eating pizza because we just realized that he likes to eat pizza without cheese! For some reason, none of us realized that pizza restaurants could make a pizza with crust, sauce, and pepperoni. It's a new favorite of Joshua's!
The next day we told the boys we were getting ready to drive home. Thirty minutes later we pulled into Lego Discovery in Schaumberg! You were both so excited, and it was so much fun surprising you. Your faces were full of smiles and happiness. We had a great time!
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| "Knock 'em down!" |
The boys participated in turkey bowling with the Cub Scouts. Once you have seen turkey bowling, it is likely that you will not forget it. The boys use large frozen turkeys to knock over bowling pins. It is quite a site. When the Cub Scouts are finished playing turkey bowling, the turkeys are donated to the local food pantry. What a fun activity and happiness for the food pantry!
One other exciting event of November was the boys attending the first wedding that they can remember. It was at a church that Mom and Dad used to attend. After the wedding, we went to Chik-Fil-A for lunch, then on to Toys 'R Us to make our Christmas list for Santa. You both were not too excited about going to the wedding reception until we got there and were able to sit with family that you already knew. It is always fun to visit with the Litteken family. They are a lot of fun!
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| Joshua & Hannah |
During dinner Joshua and Luke were looking for girls to dance with later. I am not sure why they do not realize that girls have cooties at this age, and are not worth thinking too much about until they are at least thirty years old, but I really have two girl-crazy boys! Like it or not. Joshua found one sweet girl, Hannah, to dance with. He worked up the nerve to ask her to dance and she said, "No." He was truly sad and crying. I really felt bad for him, and I tried to explain that these things happen. A few minutes later, the father of the bride came over to find out why Joshua was crying. He left and a few minutes later, Joshua was all better. The sweet flower girl said, "OK," to a dance. One dance turned into dancing all night long. Those two would not leave each other's side. They had pictures taken in a photo booth, fast-danced, slow-danced, drank Shirley Temples together, and danced and played with her younger cousins. Luke found a friend in her little brother as well.
I must admit that I was uncomfortable (to say the least) when they exchanged phone numbers, talked about calling each other, and continued to look googly-eyed at each other. Honestly I just did not understand why he was so heartbroken about this girl and why he liked her so much. He told me she was so pretty. In the midst of all of this, I tried to explain to him that being pretty was not a reason to be head-over-heels for someone. I explained that he needed to see what kind of person she was, how she treated others, what kinds of things she liked to do, etc. Joshua was very quick to explain to me that he could not find out what was in her heart unless he talked to her and got to know her. OK........point taken. As we left for the evening, they hugged each other. As soon as we got to the car, Joshua said, "Mom, I think this was the best night of my life."
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"Happy special birthday, Dad!' Thank you to the Campbell's
for a birthday cake and fun for Dad! |
I am pleased to report that no phone calls have been made. Joshua has mentioned her a few times, and smiles if her name is mentioned. Hannah was a sweet girl. Her parents were super nice, too. My only hope for them is to possibly find each other when Joshua is ready to date girls.....like when he is thirty years old.
I love you both more than I did yesterday.
Love,
Mama
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