September 30, 2016

Fox, Katie & Nadine in 2016: Week 35

Day 239
Jet Skies and Stingrays in Moorea

Day 240
We arrived at our Bungalow in Bora Bora

Day 241
Welcome to Paradise

Day 242
Our breakfast view

Day 243
Swimming with these guys...eeks!

Day 244
ATV Tour in Bora Bora

Day 245
We were sad to leave this place, but we were looking forward to getting home to Fox!

September 28, 2016

Fox, Katie & Nadine in 2016: Week 34

You've probably seen most of these pictures, but I'm trying to catch up on my daily pictures and there were no new ones from our vacation on my phone, so hang in there!

Day 232
Leaving Phoenix!

Day 233
Arrival in Tahiti

Day 234
Our first day on the cruise

Day 235
Our first shark experience!

Day 236
Work never looked this good!

Day 237
Exhausted, but happy after our rainy and cold excursion!

Day 238
Dinner with new friends!

September 26, 2016

Allergies

A few months ago, we found out that Fox developed food allergies. 

It all started when we were in Chicago and Katie’s mom, who was taking care of him at the time, reported that he was throwing up his milk every time he drank it. We stopped giving him milk and took him to the doctor the next day to see if there was anything going on with him, but the doctor suspected it was the flu and said we can give him milk again after a couple of days. When we did, the same thing happened, so we switched to lactose free milk and just kept watching him.

It all went well for a couple of days until he ate some cheese crackers and threw up all night long. We took him to the doctor again, where we finally received a referral for a blood draw.
Let me just tell you, those five minutes were awful. He begged us for “no pokes” and screamed bloody murder when it happened, while we pinned him down. My Mama heart broke seeing him like this and not being able to explain to him why we were doing this to him. 
It’s been three months since and he is still talking about the “poke”. Poor kid. 

So while we were waiting for the results of the blood test, we cut out all dairy in his diet. The milk part about it was the easiest, because we simply replaced his milk with almond milk, but the rest of his meals were not so easy. There is dairy in so much stuff he used to love and we threw it all out. 

While we were hoping that he didn’t have a dairy allergy, it wasn’t a surprise when his levels were highly elevated and we found out he had a severe dairy and egg allergy. They wanted us to see an allergist because there were other red flags in the blood work and of course, we also wanted to know exactly what we have to look out for. It took about a month to finally get the referral and appointment with the allergist and while Mr. Fox didn’t have the time of his life, it wasn’t as traumatizing to him as the blood draw. 


Luckily no other allergies were found. They prescribed us an Epi Pen, because they said that while he is “only” throwing up now, it could develop into something much worse, so we needed to be prepared. The good news is, that there is a possibility that he grows out of it by the age of 7, so that’s what I’m hoping. 

So our picky eater went from barely eating anything to eating even less than before. It surely has been an adjustment and we are slowly learning and finding new things to feed him. The only thing that we haven’t been able to replace is Cheese. There is a dairy free cheese, but it tastes like shit, and all of us tried it and none of us liked it, so that’s that. 

We practically gave up going to restaurants, because there is never anything available that he can have (or would eat), sometimes we bring his own food when we go out.
I’m sad that Fox will not be able to eat the same lunch as the other kids at school (they order in every day, and he will always have to bring his own lunch). I’m sad, that he can’t have cake at any birthday party we go to, and there are often multiple parties a month. 
Amazingly enough though, this little two year old understands much more than we give him credit for, and he realizes that he has an upset tummy when he eats certain things. So while he still asks to eat the cake at the party, he is not upset when we remind him why he can’t have it. Katie has been making him dairy and egg free special desserts or vegan gelato (pictured below) and we bring it with us when we go to a party, so that helps as well.
And while I am sad for him that he has to go through this, I’m so happy that he is healthy otherwise and that this is the only thing we have to deal with right now. 

September 24, 2016

Fox's First Day of School

A few days after we returned from our trip, Fox had his first day of preschool. Well, the first day would've actually been while we were gone, but I didn't want him to have to start school when we are gone and of course, I also didn't want to miss his first day of school. 

I mentioned it here before, I was SO nervous about him going to school. He is a little shy and he's never been anywhere without someone he knew. I was sure that it would be a few very hard weeks for all of us, that there would be a lot of tears and worry, but we knew that there wasn't another option and that it would be an amazing opportunity for him.

I'm sure you have seen these on Pinterest...I couldn't resist. The plan is to take a picture with him wearing this shirt until he graduates...ha! Or, until he refuses...I'm sure that will happen way before graduation! 

What a bittersweet moment to get my boy all ready for school. It was a little bit like the night before Christmas. 

We got some flowers for his teachers, complete with a "Fox" ribbon and "Thank you for helping me grow" tag.

And then it was time. A quick picture before school and we were on our way!



We walked in, were greeted by his teachers and he went off to play.
That was it. No tears, no boo boo lip, no begging us to stay. 
Say what? Who is this kid?

Of course I was THAT mom, who emailed the director after two hours asking how it was going...ha. She assured me he was having fun and even sent me some pictures!
One thing I really like about his school is, that every day, they are sending an email to all the parents with pictures of what the kids did and a re-cap of their day together. I really look forward to this email every day, because it's impossible to get any information out of him and it's even better to see how much he is having fun there. 

We picked him up at 12:30pm and he was excited to see us! We told him all along that there would be a surprise at home after his first day of school, his very first "Schultuete". You can read about the tradition HERE!
I can't get over this face, look how excited he was for his surprise! And yes, he did have an outfit change, because he had a little accident at school. 

So sweet!

The "Schultuete" was filled with some toys from the dollar store: Stickers, a small calculator (that he calls his computer), his first pair of kids safety scissors, some small trucks and cars, a coloring book, flash cards, etc. He was so happy!

I was so relieved that the day went so well and was incredibly proud of this little dude. It's been a couple of weeks since and while he only goes two mornings a week right now, it has been awesome ever since. The other day I picked him up and he started crying, because he wanted to stay there. 
Hopefully he will continue to love school! 

September 22, 2016

Ready for School?

After all these vacation posts, it's back to regular scheduling over here! :)
And what's better than some cute Fox pictures?

This school bus was parked right in front of our house for weeks. When we left for the airport for our trip, I was thinking how awesome it would've been to take Fox's pictures in front of it, getting ready for his first day of preschool (although it will be years until he can ride a school bus). 
I was so mad that I didn't think of this idea before, so what did I do...I texted Hannah and she got the job done for me while we were gone! Ha! 








I was told that this killer smile cost her a popsicle with Mr. Fox! :)




I really love these pics!

And while the school bus was gone when we returned, it has been back almost every day for the last week. Not sure what's going on there, but they just keep parking it in front of our house, so if anyone else wants school bus pictures, come on over! :)

September 20, 2016

Jet Skies and ATV Tour in Bora Bora

You made it! It's the last vacation post!

The last excursion we did was a ATV and Jet Skiing Tour, again on the Main Island. 

Ready to leave the resort! 

I sent this picture to my brother in law and he immediately commented how smart it was that Katie didn't let me drive my own ATV. He was referring to what happened on this vacation HERE! Ha!




Look familiar? Same spot the jeep tour brought us to, where we visited the canons!


The tour also went to the bunker where I had my freakout, but this time they gave us a buffet local fruits to eat, which was amazing! 



After our tour, we went jet skiing again. 
Katie's favorite activity, can you tell?



They brought us close to this small island where the water was super shallow and gave us some fruit.


Isn't this cute?

Well, here we are. I made it to the end of my vacation posts, whew! I'll be glad in a few years to have the memories and pictures to look back to, we already miss this place fiercely!

I'm so thankful for Katie who worked incredibly hard to make this happen for us, she planned the entire trip and her work truly showed. It was the vacation of a lifetime and while it was certainly not easy to leave Fox behind, it was amazing for our relationship and to make these incredible memories together. 
We couldn't wait to get back home and see his reaction, which went like this:
He came running towards us, super excited, then stopped right in front of us, said "oh hey", turned around and went back to the house. Hahaha. It was funny! I think he was a little confused and shy during that first hour of us returning, but he told us all about his adventures with Grandpa and had a great time. I think Grandma had an even better time, being able to take care of her little love for the entire weekend (they never watched him overnight before). We feel so blessed and grateful to everyone who made it possible to leave Fox with such a piece of mind, both sets of grandparents and Hannah!