Happy Early Birthday Nicky!

Nicky's birthday is June 2nd, but since we have a lot going on over the next few weeks, we decided to celebrate today with a couple of close friends and family.

It was a beautiful day and we have a lot to celebrate this year.  Here's hoping that his coming year is as great as his last!

We started chelation almost two months ago, but had to pull back and start over at one point.  He was detoxing too fast and it was causing a lot of stimming and hyperactivity.  We've been taking it much slower now and over the last couple of weeks we've been seeing some progress.  He's more talkative, more observant, and just more interested in what's going on around him.  There's definitely still some focus issues, but some of the positive standouts for me recently are:

1)  Every morning, I would send him out the door to get on the bus and he'd never look back, say goodbye or acknowledge me in any way.  Over the last two weeks, every morning he stops on our porch, turns around to look me in the eye and says "See you later!"

2)  He's never had any interest in riding a bike.  Every time he's gotten on his two-wheeler (with training wheels) he's wanted to get right off as soon as he sat on it and it wobbled.  And even on a tricycle, I always had to grab the tops of his legs to help him pedal.  Last weekend, he wanted to get on his bike and he finally rode it for the first time.  He pumped his legs and didn't complain or ask to get off even once.  He even fell off once and got right back on.  I was SO proud of him.

3)  I've noticed him talking to Samantha more.  They have mini-conversations.  And yesterday when I put lunch on the table, he said "Come on Samantha!  Lunch is ready!  Go get your water bottle!"  That's a lot of successive sentences for him.

Here's a video I took this morning.  He sang himself "Happy Birthday."

One Big Hippie Family

Not a lot to report on the Nicky front at the moment.  He recently started chelation and his growth hormone shots and he's still adjusting to both.  About two nights after we started the injections, Lance said "Am I crazy or does he look like he's grown already?"  He's crazy.  And I thought I was the impatient one.

So while we sit back and let the kid breathe a little bit, I thought I'd fill you in on how Nicky's new way of life has directly affected the rest of the family...

Back in the fall, Samantha's teacher would pull me aside every now and then and tell me that she was having trouble paying attention in school.   I started to notice that on the days her teacher mentioned it, Sammy was very congested, had a runny nose, etc.  She's always seemed to have allergies, but they  were getting worse and becoming year-round.  So I mentioned it to Nicky's nutritionist at PATH and she suggested I try putting Samantha on the gluten-free, dairy-free diet as well, to see if it helped.  At first, I was pretty skeptical and wasn't super strict about it.  I'd make sure she stayed on the diet at home, but if there was a special snack at school or something, I'd let her have it.  Every time she had the snack (or in one case, a glass of milk) she'd be horribly congested for several days.  On two occasions, she ended up with a sinus infection.  So I decided to go all in and we started to see a lot of improvement.  Her teacher even commented a month later, that she'd been doing much better in school.  I was shocked.  At home, we noticed she was more observant and started paying closer attention to detail, particularly in her drawing.  She'd never shown much interest in art before, but now she's gone through about two rolls of scotch tape to convert the walls of her room into a Samantha museum.  Since this horrible pollen season started, we've seen a little bit of a backslide, but we've recently started her on an all natural allergy remedy that seems to be helping.

With neither kid eating gluten or dairy, I felt like I shouldn't be eating them either.   Nicky's always been so passive that he never seemed to mind when we ate things he couldn't have, but I knew Samantha would feel differently.   I used Christmas gift cards and money to buy five Paleo cookbooks.  While we don't follow all of the restrictions of a Paleo diet, they're all gluten-free, dairy-free recipes, so they're a good resource.  I've been cooking a lot more and for the most part I don't miss any of it.  Except feta.  I really love feta...

Eliminating dairy was new, but I'd been restricting my gluten intake and carbs in general for the last few years.  I had been experiencing a lot of joint pain, moodiness and fatigue, and a holistic practitioner had put me on thyroid medication and diagnosed me as insulin resistant.  The excess insulin my body produced while eating carbs was causing a lot of the inflammation.  I notice a big difference now in my joints when I'm not eating the way I'm supposed to.  I also started exercising more and hired a trainer.  I see Dawn once a month, but she checks in with me regularly and is a constant source of inspiration.  Over the last 3 1/2 years I've gone down 5 dress sizes and feel younger than I did at 35.

I can't say I've felt a burst of energy since I eliminated the gluten and dairy completely.  I've come to the unfortunate conclusion that I'm just not an energetic person.  However, I recover from my workouts much faster and I virtually never have any kind of stomach upset or other digestive issues.  And while I'm nowhere near my goal yet, it also just makes me feel leaner.

I think some of my friends may think I've gone hippie or joined some kind of granola-crunchy cult.  I never would've seen myself making these choices 10 or 15 years ago.  But I was tired of feeling ten years older than my age, and felt responsible for taking care of myself so that I could do everything possible for my kids for as LONG as I possibly can.  Having a son that may never become independent, that particular responsibility weighs on me heavily.

So now you can call me an open-minded skeptic and a reluctant hippie, but rest assured, 1/4 of our family will always be gluten-eating and ice-cream-loving.  Nothing can get between my husband and his pasta with Country Crock!