HI all, 

Wanted to share this photo of "Binky Man!" 

This is him as I snuck into his room this morning.  He sleeps with a binky in his mouth, and holds one in each hand.  What a stitch!  He only gets them when he sleeps and as you can see, he LOVES his binkies.  I'm not "for" or "against" pacifiers in general - I don't think it's a big deal either way.  But I noticed how much he loved them so I started letting him have them only at bedtime and boy is it easier to get him to go to bed now!  Plus it cuts down on the possibility of "binky teeth" which Cody has in spades.  Luckily he doesn't pitch a fit when I take them away in the morning - just hands them over and goes about playing with his toys. 

I continue to marvel at what an easy child he is.  He sleeps through the night now.  He is ALWAYS smiling.  He is always happy.  God seriously knew we needed that to balance out Cody's craziness. 

I took Cody to Toys R Us today to pick up a new swing - and he screamed at fever pitch the first 20 minutes in the store.  I call it his "tea kettle" scream because it is the exact pitch and tone of your teapot when it whistles at it's highest volume!  People stared, I plugged my ears, and eventually I gave up.  I have no idea why he does this.  I don't know if it's drug side effects or what.  He always has bad days and good days - fussy days and easygoing days.  This little fit at Toys R Us was unexpected and out of the blue.  Soon as we got home he was fine.  Ugh.

It's been about 10 days now on his protocol from the DAN Dr.  I give him his host of supplements, yeast fighters, pro biotics, creams, every day.  I added Amino Acids and Magnesium cream today.  HE seems to be tolerating it all well.  He's sleeping much better, but is still hard to get to bed at night.  I'm having to get creative in what I use to give his supplements in.  He's so limited and I don't want to give applesauce all day long.  So I went to the Whole Foods store and got some creative alternatives - canned sweet potatoes, canned pumpkin, and even goat's milk yogurt!!!  Since he can't have dairy, I thought it might be a nice alternative.  But after tasting it, I about turned green.  I got plain yogurt because the others had too much sugar in them (I was told to avoid sugar while we treat the yeast issue.)  And I'm telling you this tasted like cold moldy cheese!!!  I put a dash of Stevia in it (a plant extract that is used as a sweetener) - and some fresh blueberries - and would you believe Cody gobbled down 2 containers today!  I kept putting up his picture board with "all done" and "eat" on it - and he kept grabbing "eat!"  I'd say, "are you serious??!!"  And he's grab eat and shove it my way - demanding more goat's milk yogurt!  GROSS.  Proof positive that Cody is a Saint.  One issue I have never had with him is eating.  Thank you Lord! 

I've figured out some good food choices for him - while staying away from sugar and his 15 "food sensitivities."  I found some organic chicken and turkey dogs with no nitrates and preservatives at Whole Foods.  I found rice bread tortillas which he loves with mayo and turkey, or cashew butter.  I found fish sticks that he can have...turkey meatballs...turkey meatloaf.  I even found a zucchini bread at the market he can have with no dairy and no eggs!  It's taken awhile, but once you get in a groove, it's pretty simple.  I've discovered the whole host of nut butters - macademia nut is my favorite for Cody because it's the highest in calories.  He's even gaining weight!  I also spread coconut butter with the other nut butters to add calories to my string bean boy.  Coconut is SO good for you.  I also do lots of fresh fruits and vegetables - and my BIGGEST thrill is that both boys are addicted to organic vegetable juice!  It's got carrots, parsley, spinich, kale, celery, tomatoes - and they love it and chug it down!  That makes me feel less guilty about having to steam their veggies till there's probably no nutritional value left.  That's because Casey has 8 teeth (all in front) and Cody doesn't chew super good.  So things have to be somewhat soft for both of them. 

I share all that in case any of you are dealing with the same issues.  Those are the things that have helped me. 

I better run, have to put the boys to bed.

with love,

Shawna