Firsts

We've had a few firsts around here as of late, and we're very excited!  My son is 4 1/2 and last week experienced his first candy cane!  I quote him, "This is way too awesome!"  I found a natural candy cane at Whole Foods made by Tru Sweet.  So what if there were "on sale" for 2 for $7, it was magical watching his face light up.  We've avoided these in the past due to his corn allergy and the red dye, and will probably continue to go with the natural ones due to the dye.  I also found a company called Pure Fun that makes natural cotton candy, I'm hoping to find a tub of it for a Christmas present.

Tonight was another big first--ketchup!  Or should I say he thinks it's the first since he hasn't had it since it was about 24 months when he started breaking out into hives over tomatoes.  He did fine with Heinz which has tomato and corn syrup in it.

We treated for his silicone goggles last Friday and he wore them on Monday at swim without issue, so the treatment seemed to have worked.  We're heading out of town for the holiday and will be doing plenty of swimming, so we'll really get to put the goggles to the test.

I can't wait for January when our flexible spending account kicks back in and the monthly out of pocket cost for these treatments aren't so painful.  There's so much we need to work on:  soy, shellfish, milk, wheat, oats, broccoli, latex, blueberries, nuts, flavorings, dyes, palm oil, and I'm sure a few more.  It is so crazy that I've seen every one of the listed items cause an allergic reaction, and some very serious.  I have a theory on what is causing the spike in allergies amongst Western kids. I've probably shared it before, but here it goes . . .Todays mothers come from the antibiotic age where these medications were used frequently and excessively.  Antibiotics kill all bacteria, including the good bacteria in the gut.  And then good and bad bacteria repopulate the gut. We now know that about 80% of the immune system stems from the gut. However, I suspect that the balance of bacteria has been thrown off due to antibiotics.  I wonder if there's any records of gut bacteria ratios throughout the century?  I doubt it.  Anyways, a newborn's gut is sterile until it passes through the birth canal and gets it's first exposure to bacteria.  Or they're born to Strep-B mother's who are on antibiotics or via C-section, in either case they are not exposed to the bacteria.  Now, not all kids born via C-section have these allergies and there are siblings born to the same mother where one is fine and the other is allergic.  I would argue that genetics also play a role in this theory--some are pre-disposed for allergies and once they encounter the wrong mix of gut bacteria, then it's an uphill battle.