"I don't really like Ice cream."

Today Owen and I were food shopping. I found some chocolate soy ice cream, and he was excited. A little bit later, we walked by chocolate soy milk. He begged to buy some. I told him he had to choose between the chocolate soy milk or the ice cream. Owen said "I want chocolate soy milk. I don't really like cream." The comment made me sad. Who doesn't love ice cream? I'm sad that soy ice cream is not as good as the real thing.

In the end, he has the healthiest diet in the world! I refer to his diet as the Daniel diet (from the book of Daniel in the Bible). I am so glad that Owen doesn't complain. I can't wait until he is older, and he can express his thoughts and feelings more. I wonder what is going inside his cute, little head.

Join Us For The Food Allergy Walk on October 2nd!

Please join us again as we walk for a food allergy cure. Please support Team Cress as we complete a 2 mile walk. There is no cost of join the team. Even if you can't make the walk, you can show your support by being a virtual walker (also free!)

Date: Saturday, October 2, 2010
Time: Check-in begins at 9:00 a.m.; Walk begins at 10:00 a.m.
Location: Meadowbrook Park, 5001 Meadowbrook Lane, Ellicott City, MD 21043
Distance: 2 miles

There is a great, big park and a moon bounce. And after the walk, join us at our house for chili bread bowls!

Join us by registering here:
http://www.foodallergywalk.org/site/PageServer?pagename=Home

1. Click "Sign Me Up."
2. Click "Maryland-Baltimore"
3. Click "Join A Team"
4. For Team Name, type in "Team Cress" and click "Search for a Team".
5. Click on "Team Cress"
6. Scroll down, and in the box that lists the team members names, click "Join Team".










More than 12 million Americans have a food allergy. That’s one in 25, or 4% of the population. Between 1997 and 2007, the prevalence of food allergies among children increased 18%, to reach 3 million U.S. children. Food allergies result in more than 300,000 ambulatory- care visits among children in the U.S. annually. Eight foods account for 90% of all food- allergic reactions in the U.S.: milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts (e.g., walnuts, almonds, cashews, pistachios, pecans), wheat, soy, fish, and shellfish. Owen is allergic to all of these items, except for fish and shell fish.
There is no cure for food allergy; strict avoidance of the food allergen is the only way to prevent a reaction.

Allergic Reaction- Good Reminder

I dropped Owen and Caroline at the neighbor's house, while I ran an errand. Owen and Caroline had a great time playing with the kids. When I picked Owen up, he was itching his face. When I got him in the car, I realized he had some hives on his face, and he was sneezing large amounts of snot. It was clear he was having an allergic reaction. Since it was the morning, I didn't want to give him Benadryl. I decided to give him Claritin instead, and he eventually improved. He didn't eat anything, so I don't know if it was an accidental food exposure or if it was an environmental allergy.

This reaction is a timely reminder to me of what a new environment can do to Owen. I am blessed to have a daily, steady routine.

Play Doh Experiment

Owen played with play doh when he was 2 years old, and broke out in hives. In the past year, Owen did a pasta craft and held a piece of bread while feeding a duck. With these 2 successes, I wanted to try play doh again.

On Thursday, Owen played with play doh for 1 hour without any problems. I was so excited. On Friday, Owen played with play doh for about 45 minutes without any problem. On Saturday, Owen played with play doh for 2 hours. Most of the time was unsupervised because we had a guy giving us a window replacement estimate. After 2 hours, his eyes started getting itchy, red, and swollen. I washed him up, and avoided giving him Benadryl, just to see if he can improve without intervention. But about 1 hour later, it was nap time, and he had hives on his arms and legs, and was uncomfortable, so I gave him Benadryl.

It was very frustrating to see him have a reaction. After Thursday's success, I thought we a breakthrough. I guess it is good news that it took 2 hours to have a reaction. Ugh.