Dear future daughter-in-law, college roommates of my son and others who may share bathroom facilities with my son:

As Little Dude uses the potty, you will be pleased to know we are teaching him each of the following steps:

• how to keep pee-pee in the potty
• that we wipe up pee-pee that somehow ends up not in the intended target
• how to close the toilet/put down the seat when finished
• that we wash our hands (using water AND soap) prior to exiting the bathroom

You are welcome.

Little Dude’s Mom

p.s. With any luck, by the time Little Dude enters your life, you will not need to award him a sticker, trinket or jelly bean upon successful completion of these steps.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

I’m still on a slight blogging hiatus, due to a crazy-busy life, but I appreciate all the great notes on my prior post and the follows via Twitter! Sorry for yet another potty post, but potty training is still slowly continuing at our house (he’s doing really well, overall – especially since we aren’t going full-blown on the training right now).

Happy Fourth of July to my friends from the US! (And happy belated Father’s Day to all of my dad-type friends, and especially to my father, my husband and Little Dude’s other grandfather!)

Two years ago today, I began blogging. (And this post is actually post #501 for those two years.)

As I’ve mentioned in the past, this blog was started to record events in our life, especially capturing the growth of Little Dude, to share with our friends and family. Over time, I’ve ventured into other subjects, made other friends via blogging, and lately I’m not certain in which direction I would like to take this blog.

My dilemmas:

• Little Dude is growing up. As a Little Dude gets older, I find myself wanting to share less and less online, as I don’t want him being embarrassed when he looks back many years from now, at what I shared publicly in this forum. At the same time, I know some stories will just be too good not to share.
• Free time is limited. I find that I’m spending more and more of my online time working versus playing. Those who know me, have even joked that I’ve been pretty quiet regarding Facebook status updates and Twitter updates (and that they might actually have to *gasp* call me to find out what is happening in our lives – thank you, Brenda!). I just feel that busy and tired lately, and I’m not feeling very witty when it comes to unique updates.
• Writer’s Block. I have more rough drafts of posts than I care to count, right now. I start writing about something that Little Dude has done or about some brilliant thought I had, and suddenly it hits. I really hate it when a piece of writing doesn’t come out as I envisioned it in my head.
• Hiding under a rock. I think I’ve mentioned it before, but I’m a natural introvert. I know, I know, I do a good job pretending to be an extravert – my career choice has been a big help in this area. However, when I’m feeling busy and social in the professional world, I need to pull back in my personal life. It is all about finding balance and finding time to decompress. For me, decompressing means putting away the computer, well, the internet, and reading a book or spending time with my little family. (And now that my son has a sandbox, I’m finding it therapeutic to read outside, while he happily serves me sand on a plate – okay, so he calls it “chicken nuggets.” Have to love his great imagination.)
  

  The new sandbox.

Thank you to all who have joined me on this blogging journey over the last two years, and all who have given advice or sympathy when I’ve posted a question or a problem. Although I’m not certain where I intend to go in the future, I hope I continue to bump into you on the Web.

(Okay, this sounded an awful lot like this was my last post, ever, and I don’t think that is what I am planning, either… It might just be time for another blogcation. In the meantime, please feel free to follow me on Twitter, @RCRambling.)

When we began the journey of our son’s dairy-protein allergy, we ran into many challenges explaining why our son couldn’t have bread, certain deli meats, cookies and many other wonderful foods.

“But I’m allergic to milk, and can still eat yogurt, ice cream and some cheese,” was a line we heard often.

What these folks meant was that they were lactose intolerant – quite a leap from being allergic to dairy proteins. To better illustrate the difference between being lactose intolerant and allergic to dairy proteins, I present today’s terrifying experience.

We attended a potluck brunch today, following church. We brought a dairy-free dish, so we knew our son would be able to eat at least one of the items on the menu. My parents attended the same potluck and also provided a dairy-free treat for his benefit.

After eating, Little Dude wanted to play with one of his friends. Feeling comfortable in letting him play by the toys in the dining area, I returned to the kitchen to help with kitchen duty. In the meantime, Little Dude helped himself to a cup of milk on the beverage table.

Thankfully, one of the other moms noticed Little Dude was acting funny, and recalled the signs at his school (her daughter, the friend Little Dude was playing with, attends the same school) which remind all of his caregivers to never let him have anything containing dairy proteins (mainly the ingredients whey and casein). She immediately called me out of the kitchen.

The other children near him were able to confirm he had drank milk – from what I can tell, he drank an ounce or less.

Fortunately, I don’t leave home without allergy medicine and I’m especially thankful for Children’s Benadryl® Perfect Measure, which I’m able to conveniently carry in every diaper bag we own. Within minutes, Little Dude had received his first dose of allergy medication.

Even though this all happened in the matter of ten minutes, my son’s face still became red and full of hives. One of his eyes and several areas near his mouth began to swell. He complained of “owies” in his mouth. This was all from less than one ounce of 2% milk, and we see the similar results if he accidentally eats something made with any type of ingredient derived from milk (and you can even find those ingredients in some of the common lunch meats).

To recap:

Being lactose intolerant usually looks something like this:

While having a dairy-protein allergy, means this can occur (pictures taken about 25 minutes after the Benadryl ® was given, when the hives/swelling began to subside):

With lactose intolerance, you may end up here with exposure to dairy:

With a dairy-protein allergy, a dairy exposure may find you here:

We were lucky today.

No emergency room visit was needed, since the allergy medication was able to reverse the effects of the dairy pretty rapidly. I don’t think we need to bother retesting to see if his allergy is subsiding at this point, even though he was scheduled for a retest this fall. Today’s mishap provided an answer the hard way.

I truly wish he was lactose intolerant rather than allergic to dairy proteins.

(Thanks to K. Hatasa II @ edupics.com, for the stomach ache picture.)

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Just a quick note to say this post marks my 500th post to this blog! Cool!

One of the perks of being a firefighter? Being able to take Little Dude on his first fire truck ride in the local Memorial Day parade. (And since my Father is a firefighter, too, Little Dude’s first fire truck ride was with Grandpa and Mommy – he had a lot of fun waving to his adoring fans, including his Daddy, Grandma and Aunt J.)

To earn this honor, Little Dude had to help us ready all of the trucks for the parade, though. I’m hoping we don’t get in trouble for breaking child labor laws. (We won’t mention the fact that my child has to do laundry and vacuum, too, right?

I hope everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day, and that you took a moment to remember – not only those who gave the ultimate sacrifice in service to their country, but those that have served, or still serve today.

As always, I think of my G’pa, who served in the Navy, in WWII. He passed away about a year before Little Dude entered this world, and I miss him still. In the past, Memorial Day festivities would have been attended with him – he would have been especially proud to have Little Dude a part of the parade. I also think of my other Grandfather, my Dad’s Father, who also passed away prior to Little Dude’s birth (he would have adored him, as well), and served proudly in the Air Force.

Thank you to all who serve, or who have served, as well as the families who have stayed behind.

I didn’t have to climb a beanstalk to enter the land of the giant – just a walk to my car after work one night found me encountering a thistle more than three feet tall.

Until now, I never knew thistles could get this big.

(And I’m pretty certain it would have eaten my car had I parked any closer.)

He was one of my heroes – one of those cool adults who allowed all of us kids to call him by his nickname, who encouraged us to be kids, pushed us to excel and cheered us on.

He wore many hats – friend, confidant, teacher, coach, father, uncle, mentor and, in a way, a peer.

So many of us loved him.

When the accusations came, made by someone who was the opposite of everything he was – someone rather unlikeable in so many ways, we leaped to his defense. We couldn’t believe someone would accuse him of such things.

As a teen looking up to him, I believed in him – believed he had faults, but felt they couldn’t be as bad as the accusations being made.

Everything he went through shaped my life – my education and career choices were altered as I was disillusioned by the things happening to him.

But I was a teen. He was one of my heroes. It is hard to see the whole picture in those circumstances.

Here I sit, many years later, and the scenario has been altered by a few people revisiting all that happened so many years ago. Sure, I’ve thought about what happened over the past years, but I never dwelled on it for long – and allowed it to fade into the past. Until now. I no longer look at the situation through rose-colored glasses, and what I now see breaks my heart a bit.

I still admire him and appreciate all he did for me when I needed encouragement and an adult that believed in me, but I know there was more to the story then I saw back then. I know there was more truth to some of those accusations that were made and am disappointed in myself for not asking more questions back then.

Is it silly to feel this way after so many years – like I was just told the Easter Bunny, Santa Clause and the Tooth Fairy exist, but the gifts they bring come from slave labor?

Fallen hero

My son was beginning to look like he was sporting a mullet, and since I don’t want Miley Cyrus to think she has an illegitimate half-brother, I made an appointment for Little Dude’s first non-mommy haircut, Thursday night. (Yes, I’m aware Billy Ray has cleaned-up his look… But when I think mullets, I think “Achy Breaky Heart.”)

I’ve saved money in the past by shearing his head myself, but sadly, due to my lack of talent, the Army expects him to report for basic training when I’m done. Not that the Hubby minds, since he has sported the buzz look since our dating days.

For his first “real” haircut, Little Dude was incredibly well behaved for our good friend and hair stylist. He even gave her a hug, said “thank you,” and then said, “love you,” as we left. What a charmer!

The haircut isn’t a huge difference in how he looks, but yet it changed his look completely, if that makes any sense. Just the straightening of bangs and the trimming around his ears has made him look older.

I still don’t know how we got from this:

or even this:

to this:

To celebrate this milestone (okay, because I took the day off of work), Little Dude and I spent our Friday having fun.

Our morning was spent playing, going to the park, visiting the library and then we had a special lunch date. We wish the Hubby could have taken the day off and joined us, but it was fun to have a special “mommy and son day.”

Hope you had as nice of a day to end your week!

The Hubby got me flowers – some to hang on our porch from him, and an indoor arrangement and balloon from Little Dude. Not only that, but he purchased a new, beautiful attache case for my laptop computer, to replace the ratty-looking black case I’ve been using for years. (The new case is sleek. If I use it for conferences or meetings, there is enough room for me to put a portfolio, purse-type items and much more – so I would be carrying one bag, not 50! I will feel so professional!)

On top of all of it, even though it is technically not a gift for Mother’s Day, I finally found a new pair of tennis shoes. I’ve been on the hunt for a good pair of walking shoes for many months now, since my current pair predates my child and pregnancy. The age of the old shoes isn’t a big deal unless I’m walking or standing for long periods of time, in which case, my ankles end up hurting due to lack of support – not a good thing when the Hubby and I are trying to walk a lot more while the weather is ideal. I loved my New Balance shoes, but was talked into trying Nike again. So far I love them, but will have to put them to the test this coming weekend.

These are all great and wonderful things – and way more than I expected, since we are trying to watch the spending within our family. However, the best gift of all came this morning. Little Dude goes to school (day care) twice a week, and his teacher had the kids create a special project for their moms, last week. I received my gift this morning.

Check out my first piece of handmade mom jewelry – a locket pin made from stapled hearts, tin-foil, glitter glue and a laminated picture!

Please excuse the photo quality, as I quickly snapped the pictures and my camera didn’t like the shiny foil/lamination (didn’t have time to mess with the settings), but I’ve determined it is the most beautiful piece of jewelry I own.

Yes, I’m proudly wearing it on my work name badge today. Excuse me while I continue beaming with pride.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Dear Hubby: Your gifts are wonderful, too. I love every one of them, and I love you.

Dear Little Dude: I’m sorry yesterday was so frustrating for both of us. I’m hoping we have many better days this week, and am happy our day began to improve in the evening, and you woke in a sunny fashion this morning. I love you and you are my greatest Mother’s Day gift ever.

Best Mother’s Day Gift Ever

Happy Mommy’s Day to some special moms (and grandmas) from a favorite daughter/granddaughter/daughter-in-law (and sister and niece).

Thanks for being there for me, the Hubby and Little Dude!

Dear Supercat:

You know I love you.

I adore  your shiny, black fur – I’ve never had a cat quite as silky and soft as you. I am comforted by your over-loud purr – a noise that creates vibrations measured on the Richter scale. I love to watch you play – even at almost 12-years-old, you are still the same kitten I received all those years ago, at heart.

But my darling Supercat, I have one request…

Every so often (usually never) I get a day when Little Dude sleeps in, and where I don’t need to leave the house at a specific time. It doesn’t happen a lot, and when those days arrive, I try to take advantage of them – especially if I stayed up late to work the night before. (Remember last night? I was on the computer while you were happily curled-up on my feet?)

Could you please, please, please not shove your cold, wet nose into my face prior to 6 am? Ideally, I would love you to give me until 7 am, since Little Dude is usually awake prior to then. I could have used that extra hour and a half today…

Thank you,

Your loving and devoted “mom”