- Calan graduates preschool
- Our big trip to Long Beach
- Evan turns ONE!
- Swimming lessons begin
Calan
The end of preschool
This month kicked off with A LOT of activity. No sooner did we get done celebrating Heidi’s 40th birthday did we jump right into June and Calan’s last day of preschool (forever) along with his graduation ceremony. June 2nd was always the date on the calendar for Calan’s last day of school, but when it arrived, it just felt so final. It was hard to believe we wouldn’t be taking Calan to the school he enjoyed attending the last two years. Even Calan spoke about a “next preschool day” and seeing his friends more as the last day played out. It was a mixed bag of emotions, but exciting nonetheless to know “Little C” is growing up just a tiny bit that day… as he should be.
Both Mama and Dada dropped Calan off at school on a bright, warm morning. As irony would have it, Calan portrayed characteristics of the very first day of preschool two years prior. He was a little apprehensive and not wanting to go along with much. For example, getting him to pose by the preschool grounds entry gate was mostly a bust. Seeing his favorite teacher Mrs. Burns from Monday Funday didn’t help either. Perhaps he sensed how his parents were feeling or was just expressing in his own way that he was a little sad about it being his last day. At any rate, as he entered his classroom, we hugged and said our goodbyes…but not for long.
His ceremony with his class and family was held in the late morning. It was made extra special because Gran and Grandpa were still here for the week to take in the event (and to help with Evan). It was nice to see all the kids “grow up” that morning, standing in a line at the front of the big group of proud onlookers. The kids sang songs together, and Ms. Bosch shared some heartfelt sentiments about the year coming to a close.
Now what really made it special was watching Calan and his performance…or shall we say lack of performance. Ms. Bosch had actually informed us the week prior that during the songs, the kids would not only be sing together but also doing a little choreography, mainly signing the letters during the alphabet song. She mentioned that Calan chooses to just stand there and not participate, even though he’s completely capable. So, in fact, during the performance Calan did just that…nothing. All the other kids singing and gesturing… Calan, nothing.
Our favorite part was near the end though, when each child came up to the front with Ms. Bosch at the microphone and answered the question “What do you want to be when you grow up?” All of the kids stated either real jobs like doctor or teacher, or they came up with something more clever and from the realm of fantasy such as a mermaid. Calan’s was simply the best as he caught everyone off guard and gave the room quite the supportive chuckle. This video says it all.
Trip to Long Beach
Just like that, preschool was over. And just like that, the next big thing of the month kicked off: heading to Long Beach for two days and two nights. Scheduled in April, the trip this time involved Calan enduring a few more tests and collecting data for Dr. R to review and give us a more concrete recommendation on how we proceed with our therapy.
After a lunch all together, Dada went back to work and Mama and Calan gathered all the things they had packed in the days before and headed south for a late afternoon drive. Gran and Grandpa stayed back with Baby E. Mama and Calan knew they would take their time, but after running into much traffic and taking the “scenic tour”, they didn’t actually arrive until 7:00pm.
They had a welcome destination at least, checking in at the Ronald McDonald house, a walking distance from the hospital. This place was truly amazing. It was clean, up-to-date, full of warm, happy staff and volunteers, and came with all the amenities and comforts you would need if you really had to stay there long term with a sick child across the street at the hospital. Mama and Calan had fun the first night, unpacking, setting up the bed, exploring, reading and making their meals in the kitchen/cafeteria.
The rest of the family came down the next day, after Calan completed his tests. The tests included things like a breath analysis and of course wearing a patch for 24+ hours that contained doses of several nuts, including peanuts. Gran and Grandpa ventured down to see Aunt Billie on Calan’s second night, while we played in the game room and visited with Uncle Colin who came over for dinner. Tons of food was donated (cooked and prepared in the kitchens), so there was definitely no shortage of food.
While Calan, at age four, could make staying in the new room an adventure akin to camping, Evan was not so thrilled for his first night away from home in nearly a year (when he was a day old!). He had a hard time going to sleep in his pack-n-go we had set up in the room there. It wasn’t until we pulled the pack-n-go close to the bed and laid there quietly next to him that he calmed down and let himself fall asleep. It was like Evan was saying ” c’mon guys, why did you put me in this crib and not leave the room, and then just ignore me?”
The next and final day for Calan was when we saw Dr. R. Originally we had a mid-day appointment, but due to the doctor’s tight scheduling he actually had to reschedule for what amounted to early evening. We said goodbye to the Gs and Evan as they headed back home. We rested in the afternoon until it was time to get packed up and head to our delayed appointment. Dr. R gave us mixed news; in that, it wasn’t a slam dunk that we should go forward with treating this peanut allergy in the way that Dr. R practices. Other factors are playing in such as this doozy of a name: “Transient hypogammaglobulinemia of infancy.” It essentially means Calan has an immature immune system at this stage of his life. Could this be why he’s showing he’s allergic to peanuts?
It came down to wondering if Calan’s immune system could actually fix itself without manipulating it through this intense therapy. We learned that Calan’s immune system is greatly underdeveloped, so in a sense his body hasn’t gotten to the point where it can possible just beat the food allergies on its own. If we intervene, we have to wonder what the consequences are of revving up the immune system unnecessarily – it’s unknown because it hasn’t been studied like a lot of this stuff. If we do nothing, then we’re essentially missing out on the time-frame when Calan’s system is most changeable with the process, and more, he could actually get worse overall with regard to food allergies. He’s clearly at a fork, where he could go either way, and it’s our job to figure out what the best course of action is! Whew…
The tests revealed to Dr. R that Calan is a food allergic kid. Essentially, peanuts aren’t the only food he’s significantly allergic to. It’s just that peanuts cause him to be anaphylactic. Dr. R found foods like egg whites, soy, and milk to be high and other foods like wheat to be at the cusp of being over the threshold of allergic. We talked about how some of these foods he gets every day, like wheat, and in high amounts. So, his body is more adjusted to these. Eggs and milk consumption aren’t as consistent and in high enough volumes, so his numbers reveal he needs more. He also has an extremely high airborne allergy to alternaria (fungus). Our conclusion for now is to go one step at a time in that we can tackle these foods he’s already eating and get their levels down to zero, and start working on others like the alternaria through SLIT. And finally, see if we can help him feel better in general by helping his air path issues with a daily spray. Then, start checking his levels again and see how his body is responding. We’re hoping these future tests (later this year) can tell us more about which direction to take.
Calan also started swimming lessons at the end of June with instructor Lynn. But more on that next month since most of his swimming lessons will take place in July. 🙂
One funny quote this month from Calan:
“Can you take a break from saying that? I’m afraid you’re going to say it forever.” Said while Heidi was practicing her script for a Semtech video shoot
Evan
While Evan didn’t have any big, involved events this month he did have one major event come up on the calendar. Turning one is somewhat anti-climatic but still super special. Gran and Grandpa got to spend part of the morning with Evan on his birthday before heading back to Oregon. Evan had a pretty typical day until it came to a special dessert that Mommy made: a chocolate crash cake that was wheat and egg free of course. It was Evan’s first cake, and the four us got to take part in watching him experiment with and learn about the new textures. By the end, he lived up to the hype of a crash cake and had produced quite a mess on his tray and his face. We also had a brief present opening session as a family. Here, Calan opened up the present he had wrapped up for his brother in a box- a few toys that Evan already had. 😉
Evan continues to grow in all the ways he’s supposed to. Just doing his easy Evan pace. We have lots of fun during play time; watching Calan and Evan interact together is a treasure. Evan especially likes to roam free around the house with Calan and Dada in tow. He loves to crawl around and discover new objects to grab, hold and play with. He still shows no real intention of walking…it’s as if he’s just happy enough to crawl and furniture surf to get around. What’s the hurry, right?