Got milk?

Well, if so, whatever you do, DO NOT give it to Zoey. Yep, Little Miss is allergic to milk. Spoke to the pediatrician today and that's the news. Could be worse, a lot worse, like Topamax worse. I will take milk over her miracle seizure medication any day. Boy did we get lucky with that. Blessed really. His recommendation for now is to not introduce milk for at least 6-12 months. I am fine with it. I did however have dreams of giving her licks from her first ice cream cone sometime in the not so distant future. Seems like a right of passage into toddler-hood. Lots of alternative's though. Soymilk, sherbet for instance. Thank goodness she started breastfeeding after heart surgery.Although shes on a hunger strike from that at the moment.But none the less hat was nothing short of a miracle either. No cows milk,no big deal really. See I tend to be a slight organic, natural, no pesticide, no red meat, freak. Ask the big girls. They will tell you. That and probably more. Funny though. As much as they were far from happy that they couldn't have the Lucky Charms, Fruit Loops, Coco Puffs cereal "like all the rest of the kids!" I know I have at least two and 3/4 grown children that see it my way. The little guys go with the flow for now. But there's nothing like your child calling you from Trader Joe's inquiring about granola. Now, don't get me wrong. They love a good fat In N Out Double Double Burger now and then but imagine being my child and telling people you have never had a Happy Meal. Now imagine ME becoming best of friends with a couple, Zoey's Godparent's to be exact, who OWN several McDonald's, and them finding out my kids never had a Happy Meal. Imagine me talking my way out of that. Point is I guess, that Zoey not having milk products is not so big of a deal to me. The Topamax, now that would have been a big deal. So, what's new here? Not a whole bunch. The weekend was full. Mark did fun stuff with his little buddies. They, Mark, included needed it. Boy time. It's the one thing around here that I can't completely pull off. They swam and went to a party and went to a concert in the park. Friday was the movie and Saturday was Eddie Money in concert. Now, if you weren't at least a teenager in the 80's then you are most likely saying "who the h#*& is Eddie Money. But if you were ,because Mark was, me well I think I MIGHT know who he is, seeing I am MUUUUCH younger then Mark. Needless to say the boys loved seeing live, jamming music, with close to 5,000 people crammed into a very small area, rock'n out! Sorry I missed it but after all, remember I have NO idea who Eddie Money is. Sunday, church. Great to be back. Mark has been consistently going with the kids but Zoey and I usually hang back. Time to get into the swing again and it felt good. People loved seeing Zoey. Our church community has embraced us totally and completely. It feels absolutely amazing knowing we have had the love and support of our parish community. Those we know personally and many we have yet to even meet, have touched us beyond words. As I have said before it truly has taken a village to raise up this child. Church was the place to be yesterday. The day finished as the weekend had begun. Uneventful and relatively relaxing. Well, except for the fact that I awoke this morning and realized that because Zoey had gone to bed early that I had not given her her medication. I have never done that before so to say I was a bit wigged out was an under statement. After googling "missed dosage of Topamax" like a crazy person, I snapped out of it and talked myself down, with the help of Mark of course. Then I realized he is the Dad, why didn't he remember? Easier to put the blame else where. Not fair but easier. Like the good guy he is, he took it and we moved on.I continue to embrace the tempo at which summer has begun and my only regret is that the older girls are not here more often. My favorite time is when a everyone is home, in their beds, doors locked, the world locked out and it's just us. All together. Not realistic to last but a mom could dream. Zoey had OT/PT therapy today. Monday, Wednesday and Thursday are her days. Vision therapy two of those day too. She is so determined that little one. Smiles through it all and some of it she really hates! Like tummy time of course and most especially messing with her left hand. She is absolutely bugged most of the time it is manipulated with. She wears a soft splint occasionally but again, not her favorite. Poor baby tries to "get it off" with her right hand, to no avail. We have many areas that will present challenges as we move into the future but that cute, chubby little hand will most certainly pose the biggest one. Her cute, kinda, chubby little leg will also but to a lesser degree. The medical term for this condition is hemiplegic, or one side paralysis or more specifically in Zoey's case,hemiparesis, or one sided weakness. All circling back to her stroke. Darn strokes. Really do a number on these little ones. But she marches on and on. My little trooper. That's the news. Not much but enough for now. Thanks for putting up and still coming back for my lengthy, disorganized but always heartfelt posts. We are blessed and lucky to have you checking in on our little corner of the world.

*Picture from movie night and Zoey in her Amby. She no longer sleeps in it but LOVES to play in it. I found her today,happy as a clam moving and swinging that thing around.Proud of herself I think that she had "control" to set it in motion.