I’m so far behind on recording the little happenings in our life lately. Before they are forgotten forever in the vortex of summer and growing kids, a list (with pics, below):

• Three Dora & Diego window stickers & a beach ball now grace the glass and floor in Lucy’s room, because my girl has gone poop on the potty FOUR TIMES in a row! That’s right, no 3+-year-old poopy diapers in a week. We are so thrilled. And so is Lucy. She keeps asking if we’re calling everyone to tell them — and that “I’m so proud of myself!”
• If you’re wondering what worked, it was a combo of give and take: I bought some dollar store toys, and put them in a bucket in the bathroom so she could see them. When she went poop, so got a prize. If she went poop in her diaper, she had TV taken away for the rest of the day. We only had to take TV away three times before she realized we meant business. — and that television AND a toy was awesome.
• Speaking of poop, poor Alice is battling terrible constipation. A result, I think, of adding a second bottle of formula a day, Cheerios and crackers. She just hollers like the devil when she goes. We are taking out stock in prunes
• Speaking of butts, Alice can sit up on her own now. It’s so adorable when they can do that! A whole new world to learn about from that angle
• Also, her top two teeth are coming in. Anyone else hate teething? Yeesh.
• I have piles and piles of reviews to do and write (vitamins, food, play centres, pacifiers). I think the week I’m at the cottage with the girls will be review week.
• Our gardens look gorgeous right now. Must post pics.
• We saw the Sound of Music on Saturday (must see the movie still, as I don’t quite get what all the fuss is about…), and we were away from the girls from 9:30 a.m. until 6 p.m. During the performance, I had this pain in my arm that traveled from my elbow to shoulder, and was all freaked out telling Eric to watch in case I had a stroke. When we got home and Alice drained my milk-swollen right breast? Pain disappeared. WEIRD. Can one get milk backed up in their appendages?
• The other weekend was our local Duck Derby, and guess who was there? Bram from Sharon, Lois and Bram! Remember Skinnamarink-A-Dinky-Dink? ALL the parents in the audience were swaying and singing, blissful in reliving their childhoods, while our kids were looking around suspiciously. T’was hilarious.
• For Father’s Day, Lucy made personalized keepsake jars for Eric, her Papa and Grandpa. They were a hit, and she loved doing them.
• It’s stinkin’ hot out, and I LOVE IT. Been hanging tons of laundry, with Alice babbling away in her booster seat outside on the deck
• I lost three nose pins this weekend — two down the drain, and one in bed. Grr…
• Lucy and I did swimming lessons together for eight weeks. More on this later.
• Stroller Fit class continues to be great fun, and an even awesomer workout now that instructor Kelly has kicked it up: We walk faster, use benches, tip toe up hills. No weight loss, but this weekend I fit into pants I haven’t been able to in years!

And pics:

After much hand wringing, some general freaking out and a few tears, we seem to have a solution to the State of the House (post and comments here). Or, at least we think we do.

Anyone who knows my husband will not be surprised at how he took to this dilema: He created a spreadsheet.

(Apparently this is what he gets paid to do all day. Who knew!)

I’ve had to give up the notion of a clean house all at once (as Ang does), and we’re now focusing on a specific few tasks each night. Aside from laundry, each night should only require each of us to spend around 20 minutes cleaning. Of course, this does not include the monumental task each night of cleaning the kitchen up from dinner, but that’s just part of life.

We’re on day two, and I’m loving it so far. I feel like we’re both in this together more, and like that I have a specific thing to do each day. It appeals to the planner/controller in me. But I also told Eric The Schedule and he need to be flexible to accommodate my work, too.

We’ll see how it goes. Maybe something you can try?

In other news, on Sunday night I ate a piece of cheese on my chicken burger. REAL cheese from a cow. And Alice was completely fine.

Perhaps we’re seeing the end of the daily allergy?

At Durham Mom’s Night Out tonight, we’re trying out Mexican Cuban. And I am SO having some more cheese…maybe even *gasp* sour cream.

Alice has these random dry patches. One on the back of a chubby leg, on her torso, an elbow.

We can’t say for sure they are eczema. It wouldn’t be surprising, given Lucy’s butt battle and Eric’s lifetime fight with the itchy, red, painful spots.

Because of this, and Alice’s milk allergy, our doctor wants her to be dairy-free until she’s a year. Then she’ll send us for a skin prick test (doesn’t that sound like hell for a 1-year-old?) to determine if we’re dealing with an actual allergy, or an intolerance.

Did you know a milk allergy can cause an anaphylactic reaction the same way peanuts can? I was shocked to learn this. And terrified at the thought of my wee girl’s throat closing up.

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Dear Nerissa,

We loved the cupcakes.

Wanna see?

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Lucy, eat your chili, Honey.

It looks like dirt.

Oh, gee, thanks.

*burp* Tee-hee! I burped!

Goose! I’m going to have to sell you, you’re being so rude tonight!

Noooo, Mumma!

Who should I sell you to?

Sell me to…Mumma!

Dude, I should NOT have to pay for you again.

Yay! A new vantage point! Sitting high up in a chair like a big person!

Something towards my mouth? I don’t care what it is! Let’s open wide!

What…the…f*#@…was that?
(Lucy’s first reaction was slightly more…well, a baby’s version of the middle finger, really.)

Something towards my mouth? I don’t care what it is! Let’s open wide!

I seriously have to stop this open mouth reflex.
(Lucy’s disgusted death stare…)

Great. Now the little little big one has it.

Fine. I will seize your implement of torture.
(I love how we as first-time parents were paranoid about Lucy getting the SOFT rubber spoon, but the second time around? With the metal spoon? Go to town, kid!)

Alice has since had apple sauce, plus pear in her mesh teehing thingie, both of which she enjoyed. I’m so excited to start making baby food again! With what time, I’m not sure, but I’ll find it. Moms don’t need to sleep, right?

Here’s an Easter craft tip to file away for next year: If you’re going to dye eggs with a toddler? Use hard boiled ones. And lay down lots of newspaper, because flicking the metal egg dipper in the bowls of food colouring is hilariously entertaining. And messy.

But Lucy and I had a blast on Thursday morning doing this while Alice napped. The results, in my biased view, are egg-ceptional!

(Sorry. I couldn’t resist.)

Hope you’re having a wonderful Easter, and Mr. Bunny is good to you. Eat some chocolate for me, OK?

(Damn milk-allergic baby keeping me from Mini Eggs and peanut butter chocolate cups. Good thing she’s delicious herself.)

Today marks 12 days since I gave up dairy.

And today is day 10 of a much happier baby.

Evil dairy.

Sweet, creamy, cereal-hugging, blueberry-coating dairy. Oh, how I ache for you.

But I don’t miss Miss Screech Alot, so it’s absolutely worth it.

Alice’s poops, however, are still green. But they are normal breastfed baby consistency — not the liquid that destroyed countless onesies and was so painful for her to pass. They’re just avacado or four leaf clover or pea coloured. It’s like a rainbow! But the same colour!

Our doctor, who we visited today, is not worried about the colour. That should right itself over time as Alice’s digestive system continues to develop. Our baby is thriving (up a pound and half an inch since our last visit, to 15 lbs., 26″) and not The Angry anymore, and that’s all that matters.

And even with one tooth through and another busting its way up, we still have so much of this:

(The Baby for Sale sign has been removed from the window.)

Lucy has had a love/hate relationship with carrots since she started on solid food. For whatever reason, she tends to go on and off them depending on the day, weather, the side of the bed she woke up on, and any other unpredictable variable including the colour of her plate.

This summer, we grew a ton of carrots in our veggie garden, and Lucy just LOVED pulling them. Unfortunately we did this on our own together, and I wasn’t able to capture the look of wonder on her face as the green bushy tops gave way to vibrant orange carrot flesh. It was priceless.

Ever the parent, I started using this to our nutritional advantage.

(That means I lie.)

Not long after we picked the garden clean, I served Lucy a bowl of our favourite vegetable soup — loaded with carrots of course.

“Carrots from our garden, Mumma?” Lucy asked out of the blue, holding a spoonful up.

“Why,” *cough* “yes, they are, honey!”

And then she ate the whole bowl. And I learned there really is something about kids eating/enjoying food they helped prepare — or, in this case, picked from the Earth.

Now every carrot in every dish ever is from our garden. Soup, casseroles, the shredded ones in Swiss Chalet salad, takeout vegetable Guy Ding from the Chinese restaurant in town, the steamed ones at Papa’s house last night.

While Lucy is stringing complex concepts together every day (”The arrow points the way to go, right Mummy?”), she has yet to figure out a) how the small bag of carrots from our garden in the freezer has lasted so damn long, b) how they get into cans and restaurants long before we get them/there.

I know she’ll figure it out soon enough. Until then, the lies, they continue…

Do you love dairy as much as I do?

I start the day with milk in my cereal or oatmeal, and have it in my tea throughout the day. My favourite drink is a cold glass of milk (especially with dinner and ice cream). I live off yogurt and blueberries, and eat cheese and crackers almost every day (not to mention add cheese to a good portion of our meals, along with the occasional cream soup). And ice cream and frozen yogurt? Mmmmmm.

But no longer.

We suspect Alice’s vibrant, watery and rather painful green poops are the result of a milk allergy. They haven’t gone away in a month, and now that I’ve read more about it, she has many other signs:

• rubbing her eyes even when not tired, what we now guess it itchiness
• a sandpaper-like raised rash on her cheeks
• persistent red rash on the bum

We don’t know for sure, of course, but it’s a likely culprit. A milk allergy is very uncommon (between 2%-3% of babies), but if a baby has a food allergy, it’s most commonly milk.

The best we can do is cut it out of my diet, and see what happens. The milk proteins can take up to three weeks to get out of your system, but we should notice an improvement in Alice in 5-7 days.

It’s a stress and sacrifice I could do without, but we think it’s worth it. A few months in the grand scheme of my life is nothing, and I’m not willing to give up breastfeeding over what should be a simple fix.

(And she’s so worth it, don’t you think?)

But do you know that dairy is in everything? It’s in margarine! And crackers! Granola bars, cookies, pasta sauce, and — be still, my breaking heart — potato chips.

(I was hopeful about cereal — those that don’t contain dairy, anyways — and tried soy milk on some Mini Wheats this morning? Then gagged. Bleh. Imposter milk is great in tea, but there’s no way I’ll be eating it so overtly.)

So, we’ll see what happens. I’m trying to take a positive attitude and see it as (forcibly) opening up some new recipes and foods. Maybe I’ll discover something I never would have tried otherwise.

Except soy cheese. Gotta draw the line somewhere, and that’s just wrong.