Peanut has discovered that the door knobs have been turned around so that they lock from the outside. Babyproof.

Christmas 2007Christmas 2006

I am not an optimistic person by nature.  The glass is never half-full.  There is no silver lining.  I generally don’t like to rely on hope. It often just leads to disappointment.  And, I don’t like to be disappointed.

So, I surprised everyone by feeling optimistic about the fate Peanut’s peanut allergy.  I believed that we would learn that the allergy was not that severe and that it was likely to go away with time.  In short, I had hope for good news.

We met with the pediatric allergist yesterday (Dr. Sally Bailey with Northern Virginia Hospital was wonderful) who performed a skin allergy test on Peanut.  We got great news!  Peanut showed no allergy to peanuts.  The Doctor said that we should act as though he does have a peanut allergy because the blood test was positive, but that it is a mild allergy that is likely to pass with time.  She said that if he had to have a peanut allergy, this was the type of allergy to have.  He did show an allergy to eggs, but that is common in babies and more likely to go away as he gets older than a peanut allergy.

As we left the doctor’s office, the relief and excitement evident on our face, I said to my husband, “see you I told you it would work out.”  He was incredulous, but had to agree.  I had. 

I say that I learn from my son everyday.  He is such a happy little boy who wakes up everyday with a smile.  Maybe one day I will too. Atleast, I hope to.

When I am awake in the middle of the night, the only hope of going back to sleep lies in a bowl of cereal. About an hour after my 3 am bowl of organic amaranth flakes, I am out like a light. As I refilled my bowl early this morning, I had two pressing questions on my mind. Do people who actually have cereal for breakfast want to go back to sleep an hour later? And, more importantly, does anyone have just one bowl of cereal? When the bowl gets down to its last few flakes, I inevitably fill it up one more time. Even if I successfully fell asleep after one measly “serving size”, I am sure I would just dream about that second bowl.

LOVE this line of cleaning products. Safe for baby, safe for the environment and safe for my tile and hardwood floors.  And, makes my floors sparkle.  I, honestly, don’t mind cleaning now. Well, most of the time.

I discovered this website during my new pastime-searching for peanut-free products for Peanut. It is wonderful, chock full of green tips and healthy living information.www.lime.com

This is how story time often ends up in our house.

Peanut learned to open doors yesterday. The little guy refuses to walk, but he stands on his tip toes and pushes the door wide open and crawls right through. I hate to take away his fun, but we will have to baby-proof the bathrooms tonight.

Peanut has a peanut allergy. We just found out last night. Luckily, we discovered this by way of a blood test and not a scary allergic reaction. 

We are shocked. It never occured to us that Peanut would have a food allergy. And, here I was so carefully reading every food label making sure he didn’t have high fructose cornsyrup, added sugar or preservatives when the enemy all along was his namesake.

I imagine I will now enter a whole new peanut-free world. New online groups, new doctors and new worries. I wonder, do I have to change his nickname?

Numi Organic Black Vanilla Decaf Tea: I first tried this tea back in October at the Green festival in D.C. I threw caution to the wind and bought a box without even tasting it. Vanilla anything tempts me, but add the intriguing black vanilla and I am sold. 2 months later I am a full-on addict. I buy them by the 6 pack through Amazon. I try to limit myself to 1 day. It is hard. I mix it with Silk soy milk and a drop of brown rice syrup. I am sure more normal people would like it with milk and honey or just plain. So good!

Snowstorms: I am craving the first snow storm of the season. Do we really get snowstorms in Virginia? The real ones; where the snow is measured by the foot rather than by measly little inches. I love how everything slows down during the storm. You simply can not do anything. You are forced to relax. Make soup, read a book, drink tea (see above) and relax and snuggle by the fire. On any ordinary day, I find it very hard to relax. It is impossible for me to sit and chill out. But, during a storm, I let everything go; every worry, every item on my never ending to-do list is ignored and I am happy. I anticipate the program interrupting breaking news- another quarter of an inch marks off the ruler of the freezing newscaster who jokes she wants to be inside where it is warm. I look forward to sharing snow days with my son. Building snowmen and forts and trying to get that last bit of snow out of our mittens.

Stroller Strides: I am a big fan of stroller strides. I get a great workout. I hang out with fellow moms.  Peanut sees his friends. When the weather is warm, he gains the freedom to roam Lubber Run park with his pals. I like that I have little excuse to miss class because the workout is as hard as I make it.  On the days that I am simply exhausted from staying up late with Peanut, I start by just going through the motions. By the end of class, I find that I am pushing myself. Sticking with stroller strides has made a huge difference in my weight loss. I am so glad that I make the time for stroller strides. 

Television: I don’t watch much, but I am very passionate about the shows I never miss:

The Amazing Race: CBS Sunday nights at 8pm. I love the Amazing Race because it allows me to feel as though I have traveled the world without leaving home. So far this season, I have seen Burkina Faso, the Netherlands and Lithuania. I have watched contestants teach and learn language from school children in western Africa. Yeah, the teams can be annoying when they bicker and it can be so nerve-wracking when the teams are vying for space on the last flight that sometimes I have to leave the room. But, it is such an exciting hour of television. I actually applied to be a contestant once. Well, twice. Odd, since I am scared to do most things they do on the show- skydive, rappel down sky-scrapers, traipse through bat caves, walk through rat infested caves; oh and fly. Can’t imagine why I didn’t get picked.

The Closer: It is a summer show, but TBS often repeats it during the year. I love the characters and the writing.  The relationships between the characters are extremely realistic. The characters seem like real people. Thankfully, the always perfect Fritz was finally brought down to earth recently. Kyra Sedgewick is amazing as Brenda Leigh Johnston. The baseball eipsode is a classic. Thank you. Thank you very much.

The Young and the Restless: Try not to hold it against me. I have been watching this soap on and off since 1988. Between 1988-2006 not much changed. I would miss entire semesters worth of shows in college, but no problem, I never had to tape an episode.  Ashley was in the same fight with Victor she was in 4 months earlier.   In 2006 when I became pregnant and decided that I must watch a soap opera, I started setting my dvr.  I watched each episode in its entirety. Good thing since the head writer had been replaced with one who wants an action-packed soap. Now, each week there is another dead body, life-changing discovery, jail sentence or person and/or his twin arriving in Genoa City back from the dead.  As ridiculous and awful as it is, I can not miss a moment. I allow Peanut to watch the opening credits with me. He loves the song and is immediately entranced. Lucky, for him, his doctor says no television. 

Boots: Can one ever have too many pairs? I have a closet full of tall black boots, short tan ones and every shade of brown. Sometimes, I just open the closet to admire them. More often than I care to admit, the sexy black boots are skipped over for the comfy beat-up UGGS. Don’t get me wrong, I love shoes in general.  As a kid, I was so excited whenever I got a new pair, I slept with them. Not on my feet, but on my pillow, next to my head as if they were an invited guest. But, boots; they hold a special place in my heart. Right now I have my eye on a pair of short Black UGGS size 6. So 2005, I know. But, why bother with another pair I won’t wear? 

The New York Rangers: I love watching all hockey, but the NYR are my boys. There was a time, pre-Peanut, when I could tell you the full name, position, hometown and stats of every player to wear blue. Now, I am lucky to remember to watch the games. I still love good hockey talk.

Alexander McCall Smith: I have read just about all of this prolific author’s books. My current favorite is the Isabelle Dalhousie series. I won’t tell you more until after you read them. Hate to spoil the fun.