Aaron is Two!

I can hardly believe that two years ago my sweet Aaron was born! It seems impossible that he is already two. He is such a wonderful kiddo. I truly feel so blessed that God chose us to be his parents. He is best gift God has ever given us!

The past few months have been crazy but fun. Aaron had his first weekend away with his grandparents. We took a trip to Colorado Springs for Uncle Tom's wedding. We went camping in Vedawoo and vacationed in Crested Butte.

For Aaron's second Birthday we had a sesame street Birthday party. Since we were in Grand Junction, we had the party at my parents house. His cousins and some good friends came over to celebrate with us. I made cupcakes with sesame street characters. The elmo cupcakes were allergen free for Aaron! I'm pretty sure Aaron enjoyed himself. He kept saying, "Happy Birthday party!!".

Aaron continues to have some pretty significant food allergies. He was recently retested and he is allergic to milk, eggs, peanuts and tree nuts. He also had a reaction to shrimp. The food tests showed a mild reaction to coconut and sesame but since he tolerates eating these foods we will continue to give them to him. He is able to eat eggs and milk if the are baked into something. We have our anaphylaxis treatment plan just in case! Aaron will be retested when he turns three. We are still hopeful that he will out grow some of his allergies!

Milestones/accomplishments: Talking, talking, talking! Singing, counting and doing it "self". Aaron draws with crayons and takes his clothes off. Helps with dishes, laundry and feeding the animals. I have to say his biggest accomplishment lately is using the potty!

Favorite things: Trucks, his grand parents, animals and outside. He loves to help. Aaron enjoys playing with other kiddos quite a bit. Trips to the park and hiking are things Aaron enjoys. Water is also a favorite.

Aaron 20 Months!

It has been a while since I posted an update on Aaron. He has become quite the sweet yet strong-willed toddler! He is a very gentle child. I typically do not worry much if there are babies nearby or if he is holding something breakable. Aaron is also very affectionate, quick to give hugs and kisses to me, daddy, the dog, the chickens and of course his stuffed toys! As most toddlers do, he certainly has a will! Discipline is a large part of our day, with time-outs becoming more frequent. I think he is getting it though. Just today he sent himself to time-out after hitting the dog. He sat still starring up at us with a sullen look on his face. What a funny little guy!

We continue to monitor his food allergies. Milk, eggs, tree nuts, peanuts and sesame are on the AVOID list. He will be re-tested when he turns two. We are hopeful that he will out-grow some of the allergies. It takes some creativity but it isn't too bad. We just roll with the benedryl and epi-pen in tow!

Anywhere Aaron goes he runs. He loves to run! The playground is a favorite place, he loves the slide. He now is putting two and three words together. He has an enormous vocabulary! Chasing Adah (the dog) is a common pastime. Adah is liking Aaron even more these days now that he can throw her ball! Taking care of the chickens is a top priority for Aaron. He loves to help feed them treats. Other favorite things include: Elmo, eggs (not eating them though!) instruments, baths, other kids and animals.

*The photo above was from our ski trip to Dillon a couple of months ago. (Photo courtesy of my mom!)

Aaron Eight Months

Wow! I am actually doing Aaron's eight months update on time! I can hardly believe I am typing eight months. Has it really been that long already? Our little guy is growing so fast. He is starting to look more like a little boy each day.

Before Monday it had been a pretty uneventful month (see previous post)! Poor guy has a milk allergy. I wish I didn't have to add an ambulance ride to his list of firsts for the month. Oh well, we are just so thankful that the reaction wasn't worse! It was so sweet and sad to see him smiling at the firemen and paramedics! Even though his eyes were so swollen he cold barely see and he must have been terribly itchy, he was still trying to be his happy little self. He is even smiling in the pictures I took at the hospital. He is such a happy guy. I just love it!

Milestones/accomplishments lately: He is still SO close to crawling. He gets on all fours and kicks off with his toes. Aaron does quite a bit of exploring this way! He is also very close to going from lying down to sitting. Just the other day I noticed him push up on his side and rest on one arm. Our little man is becoming more and more skilled at showing us what he likes and just as important, what he doesn't like. He will push our hands away, shriek and arch his back if something is happening that he doesn't like. I guess it's good that he is learning to communicate! Aaron is babbling a ton and also got the hang of waving recently!

Favorite things: Standing and walking (with our help)! Chasing Adah. She will move and he will scoot after her! Banging on things and making noise. Swinging in the swings at the park. Monkey toys and us making monkey noises. "Playing" the piano. Listening to us tell him what things are. Silly games with his daddy, especially talking mouse games! Exploring by army crawling all over the house!

Here is a video from Easter. Aaron is playing with his friend Autumn (Elliana makes an appearance too)! Autumn is missing one of her socks because Aaron pulled it off of her foot. Enjoy!

Milk Allergy!

We found out on Monday that Aaron has a milk allergy. I gave him some pear yogurt for lunch/snack. I specifically chose pear since he had eaten pears before without a problem. He started to fuss after a couple of bites. I figured he was getting tired, especially when he started rubbing his eyes.

At this point, he only had a couple of reddish splotches on his face. I didn't think much of it since this typically happens when he rubs his eyes. He continued to fuss and cry so I thought I'd nurse him for a few minutes. Aaron nursed for a minute or two and I thought it looked like his face was much more red than before. I picked him up and was quite shocked to see his little face was covered with hives and his eyes were very swollen.

At this point I knew he was having an allergic reaction to the yogurt. I knew there wasn't any time to call his pediatrician. Allergic reactions are very serious and require immediate attention. So I said, "Alright kiddo, we have to go to the hospital." By this time his whole face was swollen, his eyes were nearly swollen shut and he had mucus pouring out of his nose and mouth.

As I put him in the carseat, a terrible thought crossed my mind. What if his reaction continues to worsen? I would be driving and wouldn't be able to see him. What if he stopped breathing? Would I even know? It was then that I knew my only option was to call 911. The swelling was horrible and he was sneezing non-stop. There was so much mucus that I was having a hard time being able to tell if he was breathing ok. I dialed 911 which felt very surreal, but I was so relieved that help was on its way.

As the ambulance and fire truck pulled up to the house, Aaron smiled and squealed. Through his nearly swollen closed eyes he watched the new people come to the door. That was a big relief, I knew he was going to be ok if was trying to smile. The paramedics checked him out and said he was breathing alright. We all agreed that taking him to the hospital would be best, just to make sure the reaction was subsiding.

Shortly after arriving at the hospital John met us. I was very happy to have him there! After being checked out and observed for a little while we were released to go home. The doctor said no more milk of any kind until one year, I said "No problem." So, we will have to wait and see. Hopefully Aaron will outgrow this allergy. We are so thankful that the reaction wasn't worse! Praise God!

Here are some pictures from the hospital. You can see how puffy his face was. When I called 911 he looked about five times worse, much more swollen, with bright red splotches and hives. I still can't believe how quickly it happened!

Poor baby! We are so glad he is better!