I love the passing of time

.31

Oh, well… One more year, then

Woot! Happy Dance! Just got the call from allergist office a little while ago…

2006 - 1.02
2007 - 0.99
2008 - 0.71
2009 - 0.62
2010 - 0.485
2011 - 0.27 <——-!!!!!!

They want him to avoid milk ingredients for another year & still carry epipen. But, if they keep going down, we may do a food challenge next year! Wahoo!!!!

Just blogging the milk allergy test results for this year…

We went in to do the Children’s Memorial family allergy study in June of this year. The study included testing all biological parents and siblings. Jim, Annie & I got tested, too.

They gave both a skin test and a RAST/blood test. The skin results were as expected - the only reaction was Shelby & only to milk.

We just got the RAST results in the mail, today. Shelby’s at 0.485, now. Down from last year (0.62). The progression of RAST results in his life, so far are -

(years approximate…)
2006 - 1.02
2007 - 0.99
2008 - 0.71
2009 - 0.62
2010 - 0.485

Slowly, but surely, he’s on his way to ice cream and pizza some day and worry-free eating for him and for us!

My heart is full of pride, anticipation, contentment.

Yesterday, Al posted a on her blog that she had sent a snail mail card to someone who had been sending her cards lately and who she probably should have contacted sooner.

She set the post up so that it could not be commented on. I’m sure she just wanted to let me know. And, while we will probably never speak of it and I’ll probably never get confirmation from her, I’m sure she sent a mother’s day card to her mom. I hope she sent a positive message. I hope that her mom feels joy and love when she receives it. I hope that Al finds peace in walking across that burning bridge.

I am very proud of her. My heart is soaring for her and afraid for her all at once. I know it’s odd, but I could not receive a greater mother’s day gift than to know that she has found the strength to start putting these particular pieces of her life back together again.

And, happy mother’s day to all of my stepmom friends, those I know every day & those I’ve known in the past. Our own lives are so much fuller with every heart that we reach out to and hold close to our own. And, the connections that we have to work hardest to make & maintain, are so much more precious & treasured, as they are built on a personal ambition and enduring hope to make them work.

Shelby’s joining in on the adsense blogging craze He’s got one at funbrowsergames.blogspot.com

So, if you’re looking to waste some time playing some browser games, go see what he recommends & read his tips & advice!

He’s really excited about the whole thing & I think it will help him learn a lot about blogging, websites, writing, economics, etc.

Just a fun blog that I’m working on this holiday season at: http://itsawonderfulmoviedescription.blogspot.com/

In years past, we’ve enjoyed the one or two sentence synopsis that Dish Network has on their program guide for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanzaa and general Winter Holiday movies and TV specials. They can be goofy, funny, thoughtful, completely off-base or so very succinct in the way they summarize a classic in a whole new way.

So, this year, I’m blogging as many of them as I can. And, I’m tagging/labelling them to try to keep track of trends in themes and casting.

Take a look, when you get a minute (and click an ad, while you’re at it!)

I know that, all along, I’ve told myself not to worry - that when puberty & peer pressure kick in, they’re going to start choosing to sleep on their own.

And, more and more often, now, they are.

Two nights ago, Shelby was sleeping in his own bed (it was dad’s night off, though, so we had asked him to start there anyway). He woke with bad wheezing at 1:30am or so, while dad & I were still awake in the living room. He sat with us for a while there. We gave him benadryl & let him breathe cold outside night air. And, after he relaxed & started breathing easier, although still rattly, I slept with him sitting up beside me on the couch, until I finally brought us both to ‘the big bed’ at about 3:30am.

Last night, he chose to sleep in his own bed. And, I said, without thinking first “Oh, now I’m going to be worried about your breathing all night” He looked worried, then… I tried to cover up with “Oh, you’ll be fine. You’ve been fine all day. And, even when it started being rattly last night, you woke up & got us. I’m sure you’ll do the same tonight, if you need me.”

Then, he went to bed. And, later, I went to bed, after checking to make sure he was breathing OK.

And, I, eventually, fell asleep - but still worried a bit, first. And, he did wake & come to my bed sometime before morning.

But, he’s doing it. He’s choosing to sleep in his own bed more often. He’s waking up in his own bed more often, too. And, I’m sure that as the weeks & months pass, he’ll eventually be sleeping on his own all night every night.

And, so will Annie.

And, then, I’ll miss them, but they’ll be teenagers and, even if they did sleep by me, it would be a little weird & uncomfortable, probably. They wouldn’t be little any more.

I’ll miss that.

Aargh… I hate starting off my day and hers (in this case) with unresolved tears, fears, anger, emotion, drama - as she gathers up her backpack & gets out of the car to head into the school & then I drive off to work.

There’s always the nagging feeling that, if something bad happens to her or I before we can see each other again, the last memory will be a bad one.

And, even if nothing bad does happen before we can see each other again, the last memory all day, until then, is a lingering bad feeling about unresolved issues.

I wish I was better at all of this & knew how to smooth things over, fix them right away, with just the right word, action or expression….

We saw Where the Wild Things Are on Fri night. It was not too scary at all, at least, not for my kids. It was scary at times, but in an ‘exciting movie’ kind of way. And, it was achingly emotional at times, for both the kids and for me, but the emotions were all part of the plot of the movie & it flowed into them and out of them.

I’d like to see it again, without my high expectations for an emotional epic. I think that it would have been better going into it expecting what I had been expecting, before the week of reading reviews & being told that crybaby kids & parents might not be able to deal with the movie. Before that, I was expecting a sweet, exciting journey into the imagination of a very real child. And, I think that’s what the movie brought - quite nicely, actually.