Diet update...

So far so good with the diet change.  It has been just over 2 weeks that you have been eating an almost totally gluten and casein free diet.  Within the last 4 days your behavior has totally changed for the better.  You are coming up to us and wanting to be held!  Or running up to us and hugging our legs for no reason at all....you have started giving kisses  again too...my how I have missed all your affection!

"Owies?...I kiss"

So a couple days ago, it had been raining and we had just gotten home.  I was getting you boys out of the van and into the house...I got you out and set you inside then went to go back and get Levi, well I fell right off the porch down both of the steps and you were standing there watching the whole thing.  you then responded "WOW, Mommy fall!...r u otay?"  to which I said "No Ayden Mommy has owies..." (I had twisted my ankle and scraped the top of my foot on the way down)  to which you replied "Owies?...I kiss" you then came outside and kissed my owies once you were done you said "there, BETTER!" and walked back inside.

I love the days where you hold conversation with me!

So Far So Good!

So far you are taking to the food changes well.  You have always eaten such a wide range of foods, and you have always preferred fruit and veggies to meat so that will make this a bit easier for us all.

7-12-2010: I made a black bean hummus for you, and you LOVED it...in fact you didn't touch anything else on your plate at dinner.  You even asked for more!

7-13-2010: Today was a bit rough for you, you kept finding things that you couldn't eat...I have not gotten all the things that you cant eat out of the house yet...I am working on it...there is a lot of stuff in our pantry that I am going to have to find new homes for!

we cut out milk today.  I think the milk is going to be harder for me to cut than the gluten...Its going to be hard to cook without any dairy but I am sure I will get the hang of it in time.  Your really liking your vanilla soy milk!  I was so surprised that you didnt throw the cup at me when I first gave it to you.  You LOVE your milk and the soy milk tastes a bit different.  But so far you dont seem to mind.  We also took a trip to the health food store today to get some snacks and things for when we go out of town Thursday.  So far I havent found anything that you just dont like.

7-14-2010: Well it is only 10:30am but we are off to a good start!  You had Cinnamon Chex with soy milk for breakfast...you ate it no problem!  Now I am brainstorming what I should feed you for lunch...I need to do some more research and get some more ideas.

Changes...

Well Ayden,

I really wish I had kept updating your blog...life got busy and I just kept forgetting...I wish I knew an exact timeline for the past years events and I wish that I could give exact dates, but you have been changing in the past year.

Your having trouble with large groups of people.  When we walk into a room full of people you slink back and often yell "NO......NO....NOOOOO"  

You hate to have your picture taken anymore, and often scream if I even try.  Very rarely can I get you to be excited for a picture.  I am wondering where my happy, smiling little boy has gone...I want so badly to have my goofy little friend back.

Your afraid of so much these days, the shower, the animals at the zoo,  a dog walking in front of our house, other children your age....there are others too.  Your also starting to shorten words, words that dont need to be shorter.  For example:  you started saying 'cereal' and said it great for a few weeks, then all off a sudden one day 'cereal' is now 'siree'.

You  have become violent to yourself and to others.  You will scream and kick and bang your head on the floor for no apparent reason.  You bite and hit yourself quite often.  I can not put my finger on what is going on, but something is just doesn't seem right.  I have mentioned the odd behaviors to your doctors before, but it doesn't seem to be of any concern.  I have a feeling that we are headed in the wrong direction and that something needs to be done....

Your having bowel issues, and you find it extremely stressful to even use the bathroom...we have tried laxatives but with no avail.  After talking with some friends, daddy and I have decided that it is time to try cutting Gluten and Casein from your diet.  It wont be easy because you love bread, crackers and milk...You could live on milk...I keep telling daddy that if they could find a way to put a sippy lid on the gallon of milk you would be ecstatic!  But we figure we have nothing to loose in trying.  You only had a very small amount of Gluten yesterday and none so far today.  We will be removing Casein here in the days to come. I am headed to the store now to try and find you an alternative.  I will keep your blog updated on how that goes, and if we notice any changes. I hope and pray that this will provide you some relief.

I love you baby boy, more than you will ever know!

Mommy