New stuff & a few set backs

DH and I were talking last night and we agree that Austin has really been showing some good improvements. We hope that he is getting closer and closer to saying that first word! I think I mentioned it before but he can point to his own toes now. That is huge considering he used to know the word "nose" but would only point to ours. He is also consistently pointing to his own ears now and we are working on "mouth". It is hit and miss with that one. We also feel like his receptive language is stronger than ever. We can tell him what something is at the beginning of the day and he will remember it.

The set backs we are encountering are the loss of signs. It seems like he really gets used to one sign and then forgets all the ones he previously knew. He knew "more" for a really long time but then he learned "book" and used "book" for everything. Now, he has really picked up "eat" and is using that instead of "book" or "more". If we try to make him do "more" or "book", he will but it is now hand over hand instead of him doing it by himself.

Happy Holidays!

I just wanted to tell everyone who read this blog Happy Holidays & Merry Christmas! I have been really busy xmas shopping, wrapping, and doing a bit of light housework because we are getting to go home to Texas shortly after xmas and I don't want to leave a dirty house!

We have added back most of Austin's old food and still haven't noticed anything different. He actually has been much happier - no reason I guess.

We cheated.

Yep, that's right. We gave Austin gluten and casein. It has been 3 months and since we have not noticed significant improvement we decided to reintroduce gluten and casein to see if anything changed. Austin had some pasta and cheese yesterday for lunch and a biscuit this morning.

We were disappointed to see that nothing changed. In fact, he had a great day yesterday. We took a car ride for about 2 hrs. to Virginia Beach to go shopping at the mall and drop a friend off at the Norfolk airport and Austin was just peachy. He was in a great mood and babbled tons. He slept well last night, has had a great day today, as well as a good 3 hr. nap.

I think for the rest of the holidays we will just continue to add back in more gluten and casein and monitor the effects. If nothing bad happens, I guess we can assume this diet is not for us but we also may end up retrying it in the near future as well. I will continue to keep everyone updated.

So our camera broke :(

I was going to wait to write this blog until our camera got fixed so I could take a picture but it looks like that won't be happening any time soon.

Austin has colored, and I mean really colored!, for the first time!!! This has been an ongoing process for months. He started out wanting to eat the crayons, then he realized what they were for and had no interest in them after making one small mark. And then he finally tried to color but didn't put enough pressure on the colors so no marks were made. But After I bought some flat tip crayons, he colors and loves it! He colored one whole sheet of white paper and then cried when I put the colors away which was sad but the best thing ever! I will save that picture forever :) Too bad I could not share it with my fellow readers.

Also, he is now pointing to his own toes when we ask which is HUGE! He has pointed to other body parts before but only on us not himself because he lacks self awareness. Not sure what brought this on except that I play with feet all the time but we are really excited and are still trying to teach him other body parts as well.

Say Hello to Rice Milk

We have decided to switch to rice milk after reading some more about the similarities b/w soy milk structure and regular milk.

In fact, TalkAboutCuringAutism.org states the following, "To replace milk, use Rice Milk or Almond Milk. Soy is so close in molecular structure to casein that it should be avoided in the replacement of milk and yogurt. It may have to be eliminated all together later but at least avoid it as a total replacement for milk. An overuse of soy is linked to the erosion of the esophagus, stomach and upper intestine."

Great... So basically I probably should have been using this a long time ago. Oh well. Live and learn. So far he doesn't seem to enjoy it nearly as much as the vanilla soy milk but I don't think it's too bad. We are also going to start some Super Nu Thera as soon as it arrives (I ordered it on Friday).

More Tests and More Negativity

We had our follow up appointment with our developmental pediatrician today. Earlier this month, I did post that all of the genetics testing (FISH, Angelman's, Fragile X, etc...) that we had done came back negative but now the doctor is asking us to come in for an MRI and Urine Organic Acid test. Not that either of these things have a high chance of revealing the cause of all this but just to have a better understanding.

The doctor also did his normal spill about how diets, supplaments, etc... will not work or be worth my time. Which is fine that he has that opinion but I don't know why in heck he has to be so very anti biomedical. I don't understand why most doctors are not even open to giving these types of things trial periods. Which brings me to my next point.

I have been posting on a developmental delays/concerns board since March of this year. There is also an ASD board with a lot of good information but some of the stories make me very sad so I try not to read too much there but there is a plethora of information regarding GF/CF, Feingold, supplaments, and therapies. If you have read my blog lately, you know that we have not seen any dramatic or really even subtle changes in Austin during these first two months on GFCF but I can't help but wonder if there are more things that we can be doing to help. Unfortunately seeing a DAN! dr. is just not in the cards for us right now but I am seriously considering eliminating soy and doing Feingold in addition to GFCF. I am also thinking about ordering a few supplaments. From what I have heard, Kirkman Labs has trial portions that are around $3 so that you can see if they might help your child out before you buy a large bottle.

It's still something that DH and I are talking about but I honestly don't know if I can just give up knowing that there is other things that I never gave a shot. I would always be wondering what if.

I've been tagged!

My blog was tagged so I have to post 8 random things about myself and tag 8 other blogs. So here ya go:

1.) I love Harry Potter books/movies. They may be for kids, but I'm hooked!
2.) McDonalds is one of my favorite fast food places. No matter what kind of horror stories there are about their food and restaurants, I will always eat there.
3.) I'm a t.v. addict. I seriously have at least 2 or more shows on every night of the week that I MUST watch.
4.) I love to read although I never get much time to do it these days. I'll read almost anything but true crime is a favorite of mine.
5.) I do not watch horror/scary movies. When things jump out at me, I literally feel like I am having a heart attack. This is one of DH's pet peeves as he loves scary movies and would love me to watch them with him.
6.) I would much much much rather be in sweat/pajama pants and t-shirts then normal clothes. I do get dressed to go out to the store and such but I pretty much live in comfy clothes whenever possible.
7.) My family is everything to me. I'm sure that is pretty much standard as a mom, but I would do anything for them. The best thing is just spending time with them.
8.) I'm pregnant with baby number 2. I have not mentioned that on this blog yet but all my friends and family already know. My due date is May 1, 2008 and we are really excited!

2 months in

So yesterday was 2 months on this diet. We still have not seen any results and are more and more frustrated each day. I have read about the gluten taking up to 3 months to leave the system but to not see ANY change in behavior is not encouraging me. There has been little developments like riding on his car and learning "book" sign but those are things I really feel he would have picked up b/c we were doing those things on a daily basis.

DH and talked briefly about it and we are not sure whether to continue on for another month, try to eliminate more items such as soy, or to give up. When I started I knew that the diet may or may not work and it's possible that it just may not be for Austin but it is just crappy to see that this hasn't worked so far b/c we were hopeful after most of our therapists said that he would be a good candidate for the diet do to some possible food allergies.

It's been a while!

I haven't posted in a bit but I haven't really had much to report. We are finally starting Occupational Therapy again on the 26th but we still don't have a new Speech Therapist which is terrible but we are working with Austin at home using techniques that we have learned with previous therapists.

When we went to the developmental pediatrician, Austin had bloodwork done to see if his Autism or delays could be attributed to genetics. He was tested for FISH, Angelmans, Fragile X, and some other DNA general stuff and we just found out all of tests came back negative. We were pretty sure that would happen but the doctor did wonder about Fragile X and that has had me on edge for a few weeks b/c Austin does have some signs of that. I can honestly say that it is a relief b/c now I still feel like I can hope that one day he will just catch up to others his age especially with therapy and possibly with being GFCF.

Other than that, not much has been going on except that we are getting ready for Thanksgiving and Christmas and doing a bit of shopping. And I am planning to make a Austin a GFCF Thanksgiving meal! We would not want him to miss out on all that goodness!

New Food!

So if you have been reading my blog, you know I live in the middle of nowhere and I hate venturing off but today I had to get out for a doctor's appt. so I finally located the massive health food store!! I am so impressed. The only other store like that that I have been to was Whole Foods Market when I lived in Illinois and then we weren't really looking for GFCF foods so I had no idea how much these other stores carry.

I found so much goodies that I have read about like Toffuti cheese, all sorts of pastas, even pizza, cookies, bars, cereals...I could go on and on! Anyhoo, I stocked up for Austin and now he can have tons more variety. Tonight he had bean and cheese nachos. Not much but I was excited to use the cheese :) I am planning on trying a version of mac and cheese at some point so good luck to me.

I have been just finding one or two items at the local grocery store and my MIL actually sent me the only pasta I had. So if you are trying this diet for the first time, a visit to a good health/natural foods store is a must!

He's telling me he's thirsty!!!!!

Austin is now leading me to the kitchen on a consistent basis and while at first I had no clue what he wanted, he is now finding his cup and bringing it to me before he takes my hand!!!

This may not sound as spectacular as I'm making it out to be but before this, Austin has never communicated to us when he is hungry or thirsty. So I think it is pretty awesome that he has figured out a way to tell me what he wants/needs!

On another good note, he really seems to be picking up the sign for "book". For a few months now, he always brings us books that he wants us to read to him and puts them in our lap but I know he needed a word so I've been teaching him book. He has been letting me do it hand over his hands but yesterday he did it for the first time by himself. It will take a while but at least I know that he knows what it means and he knows he needs to do it in order for us to read to him.

Halloween & some other progress

Halloween was fun for us. We almost didn't go b/c we waited until the last minute to get a costume hence the lack of creativity but we found one 15 minutes before time to go (literally) and went out with two other couples and their kids. We stayed only on our block but we hauled in plenty of loot. Austin held my hand the entire time (which is good, b/c sometimes he wants to run away) and we walked up to the doors together. He didn't understand the concept of holding his bag out and he picked out candy a few times but ended up putting it back but it was still fun for me to get to do that with him. He also was not scared of any other kids; there were lots of them and some of them were loud so that was nice. In general, he was probably just happy to be outside.

Yesterday was a great day. Austin was in a very happy mood and he had no temper tanturms which was really nice b/c they seem to be increasing daily. And then this morning, I was sitting on the couch and he came over, grabbed my hand, and pulled me really hard like he wanted me up. So I got up and he continued pulling me until he had succeeded in getting me to the kitchen!!! Once we got there, he didn't really do anything but kinda wimper so I assumed he wanted to eat b/c he had just had juice. So I gave him a snack size serving of cereal and all was good after that. I really do hope he was telling me that he was hungry!!!

A DX for Austin

Yesterday was a difficult day for us. We went to see the dev. pedi and Austin was diaganosed as having a global development delay and autism spectrum disorder. He said that Austin was too young to be specific on how mild/moderate it might be or to dx him with a specific disorder on the spectrum. We did get some lab work done to see if this is genetic but that chance is very low.

As a parent, this is not the news I wanted to hear. I have told others that I thought Austin could be on the spectrum but to hear it from a doctor, a good doctor who knows what he's talking about, is a completely different thing.

I know that this is not a bad thing but I am not going to say that I am not upset because it does hurt and it is not what I wanted or expected to hear. I also know that my baby is still the most wonderful and perfect baby to me and DH but that does not make it hurt any less. The wonderful thing though is now my baby qualifies for OT and 20 hrs. weekly of ABA. The only thing now is for us to find a program with openings near us.

Also, I have recently been researching sensory diets. The dr. said that although Austin has sensory issues, they are at the bottom of the list when it comes to his issues. However, from what I have been reading, these diets incorporate a routine and structure into a child's day. By doing therapeutic activities throught out the day, every couple of hours, you can help your child out. We are going to give that a try because right now, Austin does not like/can not handle structure. He pretty much flies off the handle if we try to make him do an activity with us unless he is the one in control.

Egg Chalk!

One of the things Austin has trouble with is coloring/drawing. He doesn't quite get the concept of holding the colors and making marks on the paper. We have worked with a magna-doodle before and his therapists have also recommended that he try to use egg shaped chalk. With this shape of chalk, he can just hold the entire "egg" and draw. The only problem is you can't find egg chalk in stores unless it is Easter. Yes, I could have took the easy route and ordered a box off of crayola.com but I wanted to get creative after my MIL found a recipe to make your own egg chalk. I thought it would be a neat idea to share. If you have older kids, this is fun craft that you could do together and if you really want to get creative, you could make this at Easter and put them in little goodie bags to pass out at their school. The picture above are the ones I made. The only thing that I did different from the recipe is I took the chalk out of the plastic eggs a few hours later and then let the chalk finish drying by setting it out. It really does take about 24 hours before you can use it.

Below is the link that you'll have to copy and paste since I can't figure out how to link yet:

http://skiptomylou.wordpress.com/2007/03/12/egg-shaped-sidewalk-chalk/

Also I found that the website actually has alot of other neat craft ideas if you want to take a look.

It's been one month and counting

Officially today, we have been GFCF for one month. Has it been as hard as I first thought? Not really. But I have a toddler who doesn't require a gazillion different menu ideas and he doesn't really like bread. We've been eating lots of hot dogs (hebrew national), gf pastas, gf fish sticks, beef, pork, and tons of veggies and fruits. Anyhoo, we have 2 more months to go before I officially decide to scrap the diet if I don't see any improvements.

In other news, my ST quit this morning. Actually she quit on Monday morning but that day I just thought she called in sick. Her reasons were personal but it sure sucks. First of all, I have no idea how long it is going to take to get a new one. And second of all, this will be the 3rd ST Austin will have to adjust to since July. The only good thing is, once we do get a new ST, they will make up any sessions lost.

And finally one more note: Austin is feeling better. Still icky and coughing but getting that yucky stuff up!

the culprit

Good news : Austin's sick so that's why he was fussy. Bad News: Austin's sick.

Last night was miserable for the both of us. He hardly slept and was up every 45 min. He also has a really bad cough and with all the news about cold and cough medicines not being safe for kids under 6, there isn't really a whole lot I can do for him. We are using a humidifier, vicks, warm liquids, and steam baths to make him a little more comfortable.

I wish I had something new

So nothing new here but just a quick check in. Austin has been very fussy the last few days. Everything and anything sets him off for no reason so I am hoping that he either is feeling slightly under the weather or he is teething. He has some new k-9s (sp???) but I have no idea how long they have been there so it is possible that they are the culprit. Meanwhile, I am just trying to be patient with him.

Oh and on Friday evening, he decided he was going to tear off a piece of his foam blocks and jam it up his nose. Yeah, that was real fun but luckily I have long nails and was able to dig it out with out too much trouble.

The new signs are going ok. So far, we are working on "book", "drink", and "eat". He did "drink" once by himself but all the other times he only does it as long as I am holding his hands.

Terrible Twos and he's still ONE

I told my friends that therapy has become a nightmare. Austin has decided that he doesn't want to be forced to do anything (ie..sign for "more" or "all done" or complete tasks). When we try to get him to do things in sessions, if he doesn't want to than he throws temper tantrums where he lays on the floor screaming and kicking his legs. This really has me worried and I don't like it but for now I guess I am going to chalk it up to those terrible twos. Going forward, we are going to implement more structured routines daily and incorporate more signs into his "vocabulary".

Also, not to be pessimistic but we have seen no big improvements on this diet either. Things like this are hard when you are not having a good day.

YUM-O!

I finally got around to making those Mexican chalupas (See Sept. 28th post for recipe) and they were so yummy! They had great flavor and literally took less than 30 min. to cook. The original recipe did not call for corn but I had a small can on hand so I mixed that in. I really think they would have been even better if I had topped them with either guacamole or just plain avacado slices and lettuce but I didn't have that on hand so maybe next time. This is just easy for the little ones to eat and puts a little variety into ground beef.

Austin did not have a whole chalupa though; he had smaller tortilla chips mixed in with his. But mine was prettier so that pic is what you get!

Still scared of the vacuum

So last night I vacuumed our living room while Austin was in his bedroom playing. Any time he is around the vacuum, he screams until it is turned off and put away unless he is in another room or he is in his high chair. However, he came out of his bedroom and played in the same room that I was vacuuming in with no problem. It was strange for him to do this but I figured that maybe since he came to the noise on his own terms, it was okay with him. Then today I pulled out the vacuum to do the dining room and he was back to his old screaming self, but while he was screaming he still came near the vacuum. Weird...
Maybe he's getting used to it and wants to explore it.

A failed experiment

So tonight I tried the grinch fries shown by Kimmy Krocker as you can see. Did NOT go well. They were bland and I think I could taste the flour. I'm not sure if I didn't fry them long enough, did not add enough seasoning, or if I am just too used to TGI Friday's version. Probably a combination of all three. Next time, DH is going to cook them and use our Fry Daddy.

On a good note, Austin is making a new sound! All last night and today he has been saying ni ni na na sounds. We haven't heard him really use the "n" sound before this so it is nice to hear something new for a change. I thought I heard him say "ni ni" (night night) to a book with a picture of a baby in a crib but of course he said it once and never again so who knows.

Also the ST has been working with him on the sign for "go" with a push car and she thinks he did it 2x today during therapy but the sign is kind of an arm up and down movement so I am not sure if he was just flapping b/c he was happy that the car was going or not. Either way, he played more today with the push car than ever before. He kept pushing it around and he did not turn it over to spin the wheels except for when she first got the car out.

Another good dinner...

It cooled off where we live today so instead of Mexican chalupas we had homemade jambalaya. I love jambalaya and we actually used to eat the box kind from Zatarins but it is really too spicy for my taste. After I had Austin, I went on the South Beach Diet to lose the baby weight and I found some really great recipes in their cookbooks. The jambalaya recipe is taken from their Quick and Easy Cookbook. An added bonus was that it is GFCF so below is the recipe. The original recipe calls for chicken but b/c of DH's allergy, I add shrimp or sausage. I also use onion instead of scallions. If you have a good GFCF cornbread recipe, it would be a great side.

Jambalaya

1.5 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts (cut into small pieces)
1 tbsp evoo
2 bunches scallions (reserve 2 tbsp for garnish)
1 green bell pepper chopped
2 garlic cloves minced
1/2 cup minute brown rice
1/8 tsp cajun seasoning or cayenne
2 cups low sodium chicken broth (I use beef or veggie - Also read your label)
1 can diced tomatoes (14oz)
Salt & Pepper

Heat oil in skillet. Add seasoned chicken, scallions, bell pepper, and garlic. Cook until veggies are tender. Stir in rice and cajun seasoning/cayenne. Add broth and tomatoes with juice and bring to a boil. Simmer until liquid is absorbed about 30 min.

An additional note: I use Swanson Beef Broth 99% fat free. I called the company to verify that it is GFCF and they sent me a list of all their GFCF products. But it does have MSG & yeast extract in it for those limiting or avoiding that.

I got nothing!

Nothing new here but I am just writing to check in as my family reads my blog almost daily. Our ST brought us this massager/vibrator tool that we are going to be using on Austin's face every day. We have a bumble ball and a little vibrating teether that Austin likes to put in his mouth when he is craving oral stimulation but this tool is supposed to actually strengthen his mouth muscles. He mostly keeps an open mouth posture and especially has one when he is trying to focus but today during our session, the ST massaged his face and his mouth stayed closed so that was good.

On another note, I am getting better with his meals. He had spaghetti (well, penne) with meat sauce last night. And tonight, he had roasted zuchinni and squash on the side rather than green beans, corn, or peas and carrots. I've also been giving him more variety of fruit. Before it was just grapes, pears, and plums. He has had peaches, cherries, apricots, and pineapple the last few days. Tomorrow we might be making the Mexican Chalupas from the recipe I posted on Sept. 28th. If that happens, then expect a pic :)

All Rice Dream is gluten free???

*ugh* Another frustrating day on the GFCF diet. Although I looked at plenty of websites and blogs when researching what kind of drinks were GF, I was still confused when I went to the store and saw that Rice Dream regular milk was made with barley. Originally, I wanted to try rice milk instead of soy but after I saw the ingredient barley, I was confused as to which varieties of Rice Dream were actually gluten free. So I wrote an email to the company asking them for more information. They wrote me back and told me that even the barley they use is gluten free and probably has always been although their testing methods did not allow them to say so. From what I read during my research, barley is a form of gluten so I am still confused. Any insight would be helpful. As for what I buy next time, I am not sure. If I am correct, I think the Rice Dream organic variety actually says GF on the label. Below is the email that I received back:

Dear Customer,

Thank you for taking the time to contact us regarding our Rice Dream Beverage. We apologize for the delay in our reply and appreciate your patience. We strive to maintain the highest quality products and we appreciate your patronage.
Analytical testing methods and detection limits have improved over the years. Recent testing shows that the Rice Dream Beverages (as well as the barley protein used to make the product) meet gluten free requirements. This has probably been true historically, however analytical testing methods did not permit us to make this claim. We have always maintained a conservative stance regarding gluten in the beverages. The same rigorous standards now allow us to declare them gluten free. The formula and processing methods for Rice Dream beverages have not changed. Each batch will be tested appropriately.
Thank you for your continued support. If we can be of further assistance, please feel free to contact us at 1-800-434-4246, Monday through Friday from 7AM - 5PM Mountain Time.

Sincerely,
Consumer Relations Representative

Hippotherapy and yummy potato soup

Thomas from gfcfexperience.blogspot.com recently wrote to me to tell me about Hippotherapy and how it really helped with his dcs development. It seems really neat and I can see from his latest blog how this technique can work for children especially with balance and coordination. Unfortunately, I looked up therapists in my area at americanhippotherayassociation.com and surprise surprise there are none :( I am still planning to ask my ST about it next week though just in case she knows someone involved in it.

DH and I had a very delicious potato soup for dinner and while Austin couldn't have any this time, I am planning on trying to make a GFCF version in the future. I'll have to experiment though with milk substitutes though b/c from what I heard, not everything is equal. If you have any suggestions, please let me know! Here is the recipe:

2 cups cut potatoes
1 cup cubed ham
3 cups milk
1 small onion chopped
3 tbsp melted butter
3 tbsp flour
1/2 tsp sugar
salt
pepper

Boil potatoes until soft. Drain, reserving one cup starchy water. In pot, combine butter, flour, onion, salt and pepper. Slowly add potatoes, reserved water, milk, ham, and sugar. Simmer for 30 min, stirring frequently.

Additionally, this recipe called for cheese but I know in the future that I will have to omit that.

Is pork OK?

I made carmelized pork slices tonight for dinner and went ahead and gave some to Austin along with some veggies and fruit. With all the information on this diet out there, I was wondering if pork is okay for him to eat. I know that some people on this diet strictly avoid or minimize the amount of nitrates eaten. I know that nitrates can be found in most hot dogs, ham, and bacon so I wonder how much if any are in pork ribs, pork chops, etc. With DH's allergy to chicken, we only eat pork and beef in our household. If you read this blog and are already following the GFCF diet, please give me your feed back on this situation. Any info will be appreciated!

Grocery stores are frustrating!!!

When we moved to Virginia, we found out that we were going to be living an hour away from basically civilization :) Anyhoo, it's not very often that I get to venture out to health food stores so I have to try to rely on the local grocery for Austin's basic foods. I friend of mine said she was feeding her toddler some risotto with veggies and so I go to look for the risotto and the grocery store doesn't carry it. It's risotto, basically rice and I can't even find that here. But I did buy some bananas and some more fruit. Austin hasn't really liked bananas as a whole food. I think it was more the texture than the flavor that he didn't like b/c he would always stick them in his mouth and then right back out. But now that he's had so much more foods and textures, I'm going to introduce them again. Then I went to go look for the Silk yogurt and the store had some other strawberry fruit drink in it's place. So I guess I can't count on this store to carry anything long term. So frustrating!!!

One other item off topic was just the fact that I have been giving this diet a lot of though lately. Even if this diet doesn't work for us, I now realize how much crap is added into many foods and at least I feel like Austin is eating really really healthy now. He is eating so much more fruit and veggies every day and that's is one thing that I would like to continue doing.

All is good with rice cakes and now a new worry

I know that yesterday I was kind of worried that there was a reaction with some new foods. I didn't necessarily think it could already be a reaction with the diet (although I didn't want to rule it out) but I was definitely worried about an allergic reaction given DH's allergies and history. But there was no rash and no diarrhea, just fussiness and a little bit of eye rubbing. I gave him a few more rice cakes today and everything was all good. So yesterday was just a fluke day and Austin was just whiny.

I now have a few more things to research because my ST brought up verbal apraxia as a possibility. From what little I have read, I know that Austin exhibits 3 of the signs of apraxia but that a dx usually isn't given until about age 3 b/c of the difficulty to tell with little ones. He has low muscle tone in his mouth and is almost always using the open mouth posture and drools especially if he is trying to focus on a task. Another thing that I read is that sometimes with apraxia, you will hear the child say a word but then never say it again and that is because they can not make the words form. Something from the brain to the mouth does not connect when they want/need it to. There have been several times where DH and I have thought Austin said a word but have never heard it more than once or have heard it randomly. He can also say "mama" and "dada" but just does not use them appropriately even though if we ask him to point to a picture of mama or daddy in a photo album he can usually pick out the correct person. Finally, with apraxia, the child's receptive language is usually stronger than their expressive language and I must admit that I feel like Austin understand a lot of what we say and do.

She also is positive that all of Austin's sensory issues are one of the causes for his delays. I can't imagine what is going through his mind but I can only hope that this diet will lessen some of those sensory issues so that he can feel more calm and focus more on his therapy and the things that we are trying to teach him.

A fussy spell; what causes it?

Austin has been so whiny after nap today. Coincidentally, I just read on GFCF mommy's blog that when her prince does this (well more like not being his usual self), she has to look carefully at what he has eaten. Today Austin had two new (sort of) food items. He had a plum with his lunch today and for an afternoon snack, he had some apple cinnamon rice cakes. He has had plum before but only in baby food and he has had apples, apple chips, and cinnamon on toast and french toast before. Of course, since Ausin has shown no improvement on this diet it could also just be exactly what it is, a whining spell which he has been known to have from time to time. Tomorrow we will try a plum again and on Thurdsday we will try the rice cakes again. I really hope it is not either. One of my friends came up with a great idea for snacks or lunches. She suggested peanut butter and jelly on rice cakes which would be great for a toddler lunch. Of course I don't use peanut butter but I've heard peabutter is great stuff!

GF Pasta brand #1

I finally tried out some GF pasta. The brand: DeBoles; The verdict: Austin ate all of it :) From what I tasted, it really tastes like rice but in a different form but if Austin likes it, then all is good. For a different meal (finally!), I made some pasta and tossed it with veggies, garlic, and a tiny bit of pepper for him. I have to make it to the grocery store this week before I can really try anything else out. I still haven't noticed any huge changes in him. He is still stemming (hand flapping & toe walking) the same amount as usual and the temper tantrums are normal or at least the same as always; He only whines or gets mad when told no. He did let us put a hat on his head and kept it there for a minute or so but we were playing a "my turn", "your turn" game so I'm not sure if that was the only reason he did that. Before he has let us put a hat on his head but then he immediately pulls it off.

A Sunday morning breakfast

I'm really bad in the kitchen. I can do okay with dinner as long as it simple but forget breakfast and anything that has to do with baking. A friend sent me this recipe in an email forever ago and I love it. I like omelets but I always always mess up when it comes to flipping/folding them. This recipe is simple and can be fun especially if you have guests over or your child(ren) is having a sleep over. The omelet I made for Austin is above. I only used one egg for him (because he won't eat any more than that) so it is smaller than what you would normally get. In his, I only put ham and seasoning this morning. But if I had some veggies on hand, I might have tried some diced cherry tomatoes and spinach as well. He also had some fruit on the side.


ZIPLOC OMELET

(This works great !!! Good for when all your family is together. The best part is that no one has to wait for their special omelet!!!)

Have guests write their name on a quart-size Ziploc freezer bag with permanent marker.

Crack 2 eggs (large or extra-large) into the bag (not more than 2) shake to combine them. Put out a variety of ingredients such as: cheeses, ham, onion, green pepper, tomato, hash browns, salsa, etc. Each guest adds prepared ingredients of choice to their bag and shake. Make sure to get the air out of the bag and zip it up.

Place the bags into rolling, boiling water for exactly 13 minutes. You can usually cook 6-8 omelets in a large pot. For more, make another pot of boiling water.

Open the bags and the omelet will roll out easily. Be prepared for everyone to be amazed.

Nice to serve with fresh fruit and coffee cake; everyone gets involved in the process and a great conversation piece.

A heartbreaking yet inspirational read

I started and finished "Louder Than Words" today. It made me cry several times because I know personally what it is like to be going through some of those same situations. No, we don't have a dx and we may or may not at some point but it is hard to read about the things your child is experiencing and knowing that it may be autism. However, I really did find inspiration and hope in the book; Knowing that if it does come down to Austin being on the spectrum, there is possibly a way to treat him and make him feel at his best. I am already on my way down that path by starting the GFCF diet, having him in EI therapy, and by seeing a developmental pediatrician. A must read for parents who have children with Autism and want to try or believe in an alternative treatment for our children.

Yummy Mexican Food!

I am so happy! My MIL sent me 2 boxes of rice penne pasta b/c I haven't found any yet and she also sent me some Red Mill flour so I can try those grinch fries I have been wanting to make. Next week Austin should finally get some variety! She also sent me the Jenny McCarthy book so I am really looking forward to reading it.

Nothing new to report today, except the potatoes I made for Austin at dinner for a different side. I just cut up some red potatoes, drizzled them with oil and seasoned with garlic powder, salt, and pepper, and baked for about 15 min.

I'm not sure where this recipe came from but my MIL sent it to me via email today and I'm going to try it with Austin next week after I make it to the grocery store. It is GF and you can make it CF by not using cheese at all or by using the veggie cheese/toffuti, which I still have not found btw. And if everyone is lucky, I just might post pictures ;)

Open-face Mexican Chalupas (serves 4)

2 Tbs. veg. oil, divided
1 lb. lean beef
1 15 oz. can black beans, drained & rinsed
1 28 oz. can diced tomatoes with green pepper and onion, drained
4 corn tortillas
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese (not essential since you are not doing dairy)
chopped iceburg lettuce or romaine
1 red pepper, diced
1 green pepper, diced
Other Topping Options: guacamole, corn or other veggies

1. Heat 1 Tbls. oil in large skillet . Add ground meat, and cook until evenly browned. Add black beans and tomatoes, and simmer 5 minutes.
2. Heat remaining 1 Tbls. oil in another skillet. Cook torillas till golden and puffed then flip. Repeat with remaining tortillas add more oil if necessary. (Actually, I left the tortillas soft)
3. Place one tortilla in middle of plate. Top with generous amount of meat mixture --sprinkle with cheese and lettuce and toppings.

4 days down; so far, so good

Not much new regarding food here today. Austin didn't eat much of anything he hasn't been eating except for breakfast. He ate a Van's GF blueberry waffle and loved it. I would like to give him some more fruits besides grapes but he loves them so much, plus he only eats like 8 at a time so I am trying to hurry and get rid of them before they go bad.

However, there was something new that happened with one of his toys. He has 3 riding toys and has had them since last Christmas but he has never really known how to ride them/make them go. Every now and then he'll sit on one of them and I'll push him around for a minute or move his feet for him to show him how to do it but if I stop, then he loses interest and gets off the toy. This morning, he was looking at his car so I asked him if he was going to ride it and he got on it and started moving his feet and made his way across the living room and into our entry way! WOOT! I am excited that he finally learned how to ride it.

Now, ask me if this is the diet's progress and I'll tell you I'm not really sure. I don't think it could be effective this soon and I'm a skeptic by nature anyway.What I think is that he probably would have learned soon if not today, just like with the waving and the "more" sign. But whatever it was, it was funny to watch him scooting around. :)

Am I boring ya'll?

Ok, so I guess the pictures were cheesy or so my friends said! :) But I really wanted to give moms of toddlers some ideas and show ya'll how I'm feeding my little guy. When Austin first started eating solids, I literally had no idea what to feed him or how to serve it to him. I even got on message boards looking for ideas on meals. My plan all along was to post a picture or two of the first few meals and then going forward to only post pics of new recipes I come up with or try out.

Speaking of, if you are reading this blog and are already pretty familiar with GFCF, you probably have heard of Kimmy Krocker. But if not, I posted a link to her you tube videos on the right hand side of my blog. I read about her in a few other blogs and decided to check it out. She makes videos of herself trying GFCF recipes that she gets out of books or that people send to her. Since I'm a fan of food network, this is great for me. It lets me see how the food is actually cooked and I get to decide if it looks easy enough for me to try.

Today, the only new thing Austin had was baked beans with cut up hot dogs in it and for a morning snack he had the envirokids organic rice bar. I pictured those being more like a granola bar of sorts but they are more like a rice crispy treat and Austin loved them!

Tantrums, Tantrums, Tantrums...

On my friend's blog, she noted that her son has had increased tantrums and wondered if it could possibly be due to gluten withdrawals. Today, Austin had 3 tantrums but could this be the cause already? Or was it a combination of that and lack of nap because huge, loud trucks kept driving down our street and woke him up early?

Today's menu was about like yesterday except for dinner. He had yesterday's dinner leftovers for lunch today and will probably have them again tomorrow for lunch or Thursday for lunch. For this morning's snack, he had 100% grape juice watered down and 1/2 cup of applesauce. For an afternoon snack, he had 100% apple juice and Mott's all natural fruit snacks. I have always bought 100% juice and have always watered it down. Regular grocery stores carry the Motts and when I found out that they were GFCF, I was really excited b/c those were already one of Austin's favorite snacks. Dinner (above) was Ian's GFCF fish sticks, Ore Ida french fries, peas and carrots, and grapes. And once again, his plate was emptied!

Our First Day GFCF

Above are pictures of lunch and dinner.

Today went really well and Austin didn't turn any food down except for the Glutino pretzels. He actually gulped down the vanilla soy milk so I guess that was tasty. I'm not sure what the deal is with the pretzels but he just didn't want to eat them. He's had pretzels before but the little sticks so perhaps he really wasn't sure what they were with the shape. Today he had:

Breakfast: 5oz soy milk & 1 bowl Gorilla Munch
Snack: 1 cup 100% apple juice (watered down) and a few pretzels
Lunch: 4oz soy milk, diced ham, peas & carrots, and grapes
Snack: Juice again and 1/4 organic apple
Dinner: 4oz soy milk and a meat mixture that I made using meat, rice, & tomato sauce, green beans, and grapes
Bedtime Snack: 4oz soy milk
Also had bottled water in between

I mentioned this before, but I have a toddler who is not picky at all regarding food. I have looked at many GFCF recipes online and I'll admit that many of them seem too difficult and time consuming for me especially considering the fact the DH and I are not going on this diet. The dinners I currently cook for DH and myself are very simple but good and don't require many ingredients or time. I'm going to try to do the same for Austin with this diet. For tonight's dinner, I made him the same thing that I use for stuffed bell peppers minus the cheese. And, if I would have thought about making this a few days ago, I would have picked up a bell pepper and sauteed it and chopped it up as a side for Austin instead of the green beans. Anyhoo, I had some leftover plain ground beef from last night's meal of nachos so I just cooked up a cup of rice, mixed in the ground beef, and added about 4oz of tomato sauce for flavor. His plate was empty after dinner :)

Day 2 Grocery Shopping

Today I went to another grocery store in our area called Bloom. They are a normal grocery store but they do have a small section of organics so I decided to see what I could find there. I was going to go to a Healthway store but we are new to this area and I didn't really know if I could find the way there. Anyhoo, today I picked up:

2 boxs Vans GF frozen waffles (1 regular, 1 blueberry)
1 box Envirokids Gorrilla Munch Cereal
1 box Envirokids Koala Crunch Cereal
1 box Envirokids Crispy Rice Bars (Berry Flavor)
2 boxes Ians GF fish sticks
1 bag Glutino pretzels
2 cartons of Silk soymilk fortified for kids (vanilla)

Total Cost: $43 (ouch!) Cha-Ching! Wow, I don't know if this stuff would be any cheaper at the Healthway or any other health food store but I'll have to make my way to those stores next weekend to compare prices. If not, it doesn't matter really. If this diet works, every penny is worth it :)

The only two things that I really wanted to pick up today that I couldn't find were the GF pasta, preferably the Tinkyada brand and Vegan cheese. I talked with a store associate and they are actually supposed to carry the Tinkyada but she helped me look and it was not there. She said that maybe it is a new product to their store and something happened with warehouse shipping and hopefully it will be there next time. For now, Austin will have to do without the cheese until I can find it somewhere. The store also carried several GF baking mixes and flours but like I mentioned earlier, Austin just isn't picky enough yet for me to have to experiment with those, although I would like to try the GF brownie mix some time soon for a treat.

Shopping at a regular grocery store

I'm not sure how many gfcf families have had this problem, but our local grocery store carries next to nothing gfcf! I knew that I was going to be purchasing many items at health food stores but I had no idea just how much. Here's what I picked up for Austin today at the local grocery:

Hebrew National all beef hot dogs
ground beef (for hamburger patties)
diced ham
Prego 100% natural spaghetti sauce
grapes
plums
pears
silk yogurt
Quaker apple cinnamon rice cakes
Bite Sized Tostitos Rounds
Bush's Baked Beans (original)
Rosarita Refried Beans

I also bought some freezer storage bags and froze individual servings of the meat and hot dogs. This method will ensure that I don't waste anything and I can pull out just enough for Austin at meal times.

I was at least hoping to find some gf pasta and some vegan cheese but no such luck. They actually carried the Silk milk but I am hoping to find some rice milk tomorrow when we go the the health food store. One good thing is that my toddler is not very picky when it comes to eating and I feel like at first, this diet maybe simpler than what I had originally thought. He is not a bread eater so I can wait a while before I have to get brave and try my hand at baking. I have read on several other gfcf blogs that this diet can be quite easy if you go back to basics, like meat, rice, veggies, and fruit to start with and that is exactly what I think we'll be starting with.

Our History and Before the Diet...

This is my first time to actually blog so here it goes. My son Austin is 20 months old and at the current time, he does not yet talk. There are some other things that he does not do as well but let me go back to 12 months. At 12 months, DH wondered why Austin did not have any words. My understanding is that most boys are slower to develop than girls so at 12 months I had no concerns at all and told DH he just wasn't ready to talk yet. At that time, I felt that he had met all other appropriate milestones but then I realized that Austin wasn't waving, gesturing, pointing, an d basically had no means of communicating with us. I still just figured he needed more time. Then came 13 months, 14 months, and 15 months, and still nothing. I made an appointment with the pediatrician to discuss my concerns. I forgot to mention that at 12 months, we had moved from Texas to Illinois and left ALL of our family that we saw daily. I wondered if this could be Austin's way of stressing. My pediatrician said that Austin would have been stressed but not enough to not improve at all 3 months so he referred me to the Illinois Early Intervention program. My coordinator, along with an OT, DT, and a ST came to evaluate Austin. I was shocked to learn how far delayed they considered him. They only category that he was not delayed in was gross motor skills. I found out that he needed fine motor skill and hand eye coordination help. He expressive speech and responsive speech skills were delayed both over 50%. And on top of that, they told me that he had low muscle tone in his upper torso and mouth, and he was seeking sensory input when he hand flapped, walked on his toes, and would spin in circles. Austin qualified for ST, DT, and OT and we began. The therapists were a big help. They showed me how to play more interactively with Austin and how to model words and play correctly. They also brought up other things that needed improvement, things that I never would have given a second thought. This month, we moved to Virginia due to DH's work. I had Austin evaluated once again and this time he only qualified for ST twice a week. We are going to see a developmental pediatrician at the end of October and try to see a private OT as Austin still has many sensory issues. He has improved greatly on some things but like I mentioned at first, he still has no words. He is able to wave, sign the word "more", bring us a book when he wants to be read too, and most importantly he understands about 70% of everything we tell him if not more. Now that you have our history, onto the reason I am blogging. My biggest concern is Autism. I know that we will love Austin no matter what and do what we have to do for him no matter what happens but at this time, we are doing everything possible to strengthen his development in hopes that this is just a developmental delay. I am giving Austin Nordic Naturals CLO and have been for a few months. I have not noticed any huge changes and I have to wonder if the waving was just a natural development; like he just finallly grasped the concept of it or was finally motivated enough to do it back. For months, I have been researching the GFCF diet, the benefits, the negative aspects, how it can be helpful, why people do it and so forth. I have spoken to my therapists in the past about it and they all thought it might be good to try. I also brought it up to our new ST this week at our first session. We got on the subject because she wondered if I gave Austin sticky foods like peanut butter to work his mouth muscles. I told her that I have never given him peanut butter because I am terrified of a peanut allergy. She immediately wanted to know why I thought that way and so we got into a discussion of my DH's allergies. He is allergic to chicken (yes, chicken!), many fruits, soy, and a few other random foods. When I our pediatrician found out about DH's allergies, he told me it was best to wait until Austin was 2 before he tried peanuts, eggs, and chicken. The ST was very interested in this information she told me because it is generally children who have allergies or sensitivities to food that make improvements on the GFCF diet. Austin may not be allergic to wheat or to dairy but he may be senstive to these products and they could be causing him more damage than doing good. This conversation got me really thinking about the diet but then I came back to what I always did; Is this diet right for us? Will it be too difficult? Will it work? etc... Then, later that day, I saw the Oprah show with Jenny McCarthy and Holly Robinson Peete talking about Autism. Jenny's son Evan is an exact description of Austin minus the seizures. Her son was actually diagnosed with Autism and she found out about the GFCF diet online and decided to give it a try. In her words, her son is now recovering from Autism. I know this diet may or may not work. Austin may not improve greatly but just stem less and/or be able to focus more but at this time, I feel like this is the right decision for us. I have found several blogs, stories, and discussion boards on this subject that have helped me find out more about the diet and have hope that there is help for my child. If my blog helps at least one person with this diet, then I will be happy.