Dreams Coming True

I always had this fantasy of the day Max would be able to eat dairy.  I saw it as a sudden thing.  We would go into the allergist.  He would pass an oral challenge then we would go by all kinds of dairy products take him to his school and have a class dairy party.

Year after year his numbers stayed the same.  When they finally did decline his skin test was still huge.  Once that diminished we failed oral challenges two years in a row.  We were finally given permission to try milk baked in goods but by this time the fear had built in.  Yes, he could tolerate baked milk, he just didn't want to go there.

Today we had an oral challenge to cheese at the allergist.  At he age of 9 1/2 he finally passed.  So do we go home and celebrate with a plethora of cheese products.  No.  The fear is still there.  He also says he doesn't like the taste.  Nonetheless, it's a dream come true.  Something I had almost given up hope on.  At this point though it is not the glorious feeling like the heavens had finally shone bright light upon us that I had expected.  It's more of a "huh, how 'bout that."  I guess because it doesn't mean that Max is going to jump into eating mac n cheese and grilled cheese sandwiches.  This too will be a gradual process.  It may still be years before we walk into a pizza joint and get the double cheese stuffed crust pizza.  Dairy went out of our life suddenly with hives and vomiting and swollen faces.  It will enter quietly and gradually they way change usually happens.

Dairy Queen! Yay!

Sorry bring a little snide.  Just got an email from Owen's soccer coach announcing an end of the season celebration at Dairy Queen!  Yay!  I know I have mentioned (in person and email) that Owen is allergic to  dairy (maybe he doesn't know this means ice cream too?) but this apparently has been forgotten.  My first reply email was "Hey!  We won't be able to make it to Dairy Queen.  Owen is allergic to milk (and eggs and sunflower seeds).  But feel free to go on with the festivities without us.  I won't mention it to Owen so he will be none the wiser."  My husband felt this was putting the coach in an awkward spot as then he would be watching what he says at practice and would feel bad if he slipped up.  Well, okay sometimes I don't like wearing others shoes as I don't always think they even try to wear mine so my reply was "So what."


In my heat of the moment angry phase, I will say "Why do I have to spare his feelings?"  Or the feelings of the Mom-who-brings-snacks-my-son-can't-have-and-then-acts-the-martyr as she "discreetly" says to her friend "Well, goldfish are what every Mom brings".  All I said is "Thank you for letting me read the label.  No, he can't have those."  At this point I have to say, your feelings about this situation are YOUR feelings.  I'm sorry he has food allergies and it is inconvenient to you in some way.  Though I have to wonder WHAT exactly is the inconvenience.  That he has them?  That he can't have what you proposed? I'm sorry.  I HAVE NOT asked you to change anything.  ALL I have said is he can't have those or he can't come to that.  It is not a judgement on you IT IS A FACT OF OUR LIVES.  That is it.  It is what we do everyday. Avoid.  Everyday.  Despite soccer games or end of the season celebrations.  Sorry I made you feel something.


So my real email read "Owen is allergic to dairy (and eggs and sunflower seeds).  So we won't be at the Dairy Queen festivities.  You've been a great coach this season.  Thanks for keeping the little guys motivated."


*Breathe out* I had forgotten how therapeutic my blog is for me.  Just had to get that little vent out.

She Might Grow On Me

The allergist that is.  We have been to see her every week for the past four weeks.  History for both the kids and then full skin and RAST testing.  We've spent a lot of quality time with our new allergist.  And, grumble, grumble, she's okay.  I will grudgingly like her.  Mainly because she has managed to tell me somethings I don't know and she wants to challenge a number of things on both kids to perhaps open up our diet a little.

The main thing she explained was conformational versus linear allergy in children with cow's milk allergy.  Apparently, studies have been done regarding children who can tolerate highly heated cow's milk products such as those in baked goods.  It has to do with espitopes attaching to proteins.  And though I understood her explanation at the time I'm not going to be able to explain it in plain English.  The gist of it is that they have discovered that those allergic to milk can be split into two groups; those with conformational allergy (able to tolerate highly heated milk) and those with linear allergy (those who can't) AND at sometime in the not so far future they hope to be able to TEST people to see which they are.

I had wondered what the shift in allergists' views had been as it seemed suddenly that not only was Max given the go-ahead on trying baked milk products but so were a number of food allergy families that I know of.  It seems to me with this study it isn't just that our children are now tolerant, it may be that they always were and we just didn't know it.

Food allergy research still has a long way to go.  But maybe we are making some head way.

Here's the only online info I could find on this study.

"I'll need to give you a demonstration on the Epi-pen"

Starting a full time job awhile back really cut into my blogging time.  Not to mention my ability to think about something other than work, my own kids, feeding them and keeping the house clean.  But then, about 2 months ago...we moved.  From east to west.  Virginia to Oregon.  So here we are.  And with a new place comes a new allergist.  Two kids, loads of complicated history.  I think we tend to overwhelm.

Our first visit to the allergist was Friday.  We started with Owen, which in hindsight was part of our mistake.  So by the time we had waited in the lobby for 35 minutes (Max and Owen are not good waiters)  I was already annoyed.  Which was apparently evident as the nurse immediately started to explain that they were running behind.  Which leads me to our second mistake.  I had been figuring the appointment to take an hour and half tops and had scheduled Max's first drum lesson for later in the afternoon.  You are right I shouldn't have scheduled anything else that afternoon.  I don't know what I was thinking.  I guess part of it is that food allergies are so much of a part of my life, I just expected I would go in there, say test for this and this and this.  His asthma seems fine right now.  Read through his records and catch yourself up.  I wasn't counting on needing to go through ALL of the history AND being questioned about it.  I guess on my part another mistake.

She wanted to start with his asthma history and it quickly became evident that she didn't think we were doing enough or that he had been monitored properly.  They wanted to do various lung function tests and add an albuterol inhaler.  They also think he needs one at school.  Though he never has needed one in the past.

As we started in on the food allergy history, I felt I was put on the defensive immediately with her questioning why I had even had him tested to begin with.  Throughout she kept interrupting (to go along with all the times my two children were interrupting).  I kept losing my train of thought and felt myself getting flustered and nervous.  But when she interrupted me to explain how RAST testing doesn't indicate severity and history is the true indicator of a food allergy I had to pause.  She then asked me if I had ever had to use the Epi-pen.  I said no the one time Owen needed it we were at the allergist and she did it.  Her reply was "Okay then we will need to do a demonstration for you before you leave today."  I was taken a back.  Really?  I have been raising children with food allergies for 9 years and you think you need to demonstrate the Epi-pen for me?  I exploded a little in a flustered unproductive not very helpful way and explained that after 9 years a knew a lot about food allergies indicating Max and his somewhat healthy 9 year old self.  And that we had seen some of the best allergists on the east coast.  I could kick myself for that.  I SO don't want to be east coast and it may have seemed like I played a "the doctors are better on the east coast" card.  Friday night I lay in bed going over how I could have done it all better.  Because you see, we have moved to a much smaller pond and this is the only pediatric allergist in it.  We may be stuck with each other.  Which means I need to do a better job building this relationship.  And at the same time she needs to recognize that I know what I am doing.

I know we are new to her but we are not new to food allergies.  When I said I had never had to use the Epi-pen perhaps she should have replied "Wow, then you've done a great job on managing these kids food allergies."  Doctors need to realize that as parents of children with special circumstances we live with it for 24/7.  We manage their food allergies everyday and in that educate ourselves over and over.  Not to mention demonstrate that damn Epi-pen for every grandparent, babysitter, teacher, parents of their friends, coaches, etc.  Anyone who is alone for any length of time with our kids get a demonstration.  Give us some credit.  We already do know something.

Compassion

One of the things that concerns and confounds me about the world is the seeming lack of compassion people seem to have for one another. Not just in the world of food allergies but in the world at large. It seems as if someone senses their own wants are at all compromised by the needs of others they act with outright animosity and anger. Whether its sharing the road, the grocery store aisle, or space in the world in general. I don't know if it is the area I live in but I have begun to be very worried about the human race due to the animosity I feel around me everyday.

It's the lady at the pool that practically pushes my child aside to go up the steps. No excuse me or even eye contact even though we are the only other people in the pool. Its the woman at the grocery store berating the lady waiting in her car for her grocery delivery because she has been parked there too long and the other woman wants her to move. No, please could you move up or can I get in here. Just a barrage of verbal abuse.

It's also the lack of compassion from others when dealing with those with food allergies. Its the parents of another child in my son's class. As the teacher is explaining that there is one child in the class with severe food allergies the parent spews out "So everyone else has to suffer because of one child." If he had let the teacher finish he would have realized that her comments would have ended in "You can still bring what you want and the parent of the food allergic child will provide a separate snack."

It's the same teacher a month later refusing to change her plans to make cookies using both milk and eggs in the classroom, even though I have offered to make cookie dough for the whole class, because "We do not deprive the other children because of one child." They had made no other plan for my child, he was just not going to be allowed to participate in the cookie making.

It's a woman in one of my former playgroups that would continuously bring unsafe snacks not just to our playgroups but to my house. An eggy milk, based dip one time. A snickers cheesecake to another. That time the playgroup wasn't at my house it was at another members house who had just found out her son had a severe peanut allergy. I could never understand if she just didn't get it or just didn't care.

It is the Washington Post printing an editorial response (in very large print) to an article about peanut free sections at baseball games. "I'll give up my peanut butter and jelly sandwich when you pry it from my cold, dead hands."

I realize that all these incidents may seem very minor. But I have dozens more. They one by one add up and make me wary of people's reactions to me, to my children and to their food allergies. I honestly didn't make up their problems or cause them or want to even burden YOU with them. But we all live in this world together and we all, in one way of the other, too often look the other way and say "That is not my problem." We lack compassion for another person's burdens and instead focus on how their problem encroaches upon my rights.

I am not asking you to change the way you live. But if you are my neighbor, I think it is kind if you look me in the eye and say hello. If you are my son's teacher, I expect you to make him feel included and keep him out of dangers way. If you are parents of other kids at my children's' school I wish you could see us as part of your community and not as "the child who deprives others."

Just walk a day in my shoes. I am striving to walk a day in yours.

Ace of Cakes Take Two

I always post Max's birthday cake. I think I outdid myself this year. I started working with fondant for Owen's birthday last January and made him a Mighty Mac cake.

Not bad for my first attempt.

Well, leave it to Max to up the anti. He immediately started talking cakes and would watch any cake show I put on with rapt attention. (He also likes design shows like Trading Spaces Boys and Girls). Problem was the cakes he wanted me to make sounded impossible. In the end we found a picture of a dragon in one of his books and settled on that.

I need to work on taste though. When I add a lot of food coloring to the marshmellow fondant it changes the taste and not in a good way. Also I have been using my basic chocolate cake recipe that I don't think tastes as good without my chocoloate frosting recipe. I'd like to make really tasty good looking cakes. Not that this one was bad but I'm always striving for perfection.

Working FAM

Like I said, I went back to work this past year. I knew it would be hard. But I didn't know it would be as hard as it was. There were points in time this past year where I really thought I couldn't do it. That I was going to crack. That I really was in over my head.

I also might have over scheduled myself. Beside being enrolled in an American Montessori Society training program and working full time I was the treasurer for our HOA (thankless job) and taught my son's 1st grade catechism class (good Lord do first graders like to chat).

I found it particularly hard on the food allergy aspects of our life. We don't eat out so food prep sometimes seemed insurmountable. Both Max and Owen were in school which is full of "fun" food laden events many of which I was informed about the day beforehand. This was troublesome to me on a few fronts. 1). I work at the same place they go to school. It would not be impossible to give me a heads up more than 12 hours before the event. 2). I spent many blurry eyed evenings making baked goods. I began to feel resentful and angry but with food allergies it is hard to know where to direct that resentment and anger. 3). Conflicts particularly with Owen's teachers over food allergy issues led to a stressful working environment for me as they tended to see me not as a parent but as a co-worker.

We are halfway through the summer. Halfway to going back to school (for the kids, I completed my training) and work for me. And I'm not looking forward to it. I LOVE Montessori. I am a really good teacher. But it was a lot this year. I don't know if I can do it again.

It can only get better right?

Where Have I Been?

It's been almost a year since I last posted. In the past year I went back to school and back to work. It's been a complicated busy year and I mainly didn't post because I had no brainpower left to write cohesive sentences that didn't have to do with the many papers on Montessori Education which I HAD to write this year.

I hope to post some stories this summer, partly because I have missed my therapy. That is what this blog is for, my own personal therapy to deal with my kids issues. And issues have multiplied in the past year. Upcoming posts may have titles like Adventures in Asthma or Adventures in Sensory Perception Disorder or, a favorite for all, Adventures in Dealing with your child's' teachers.

Thanks to the many people who have posted comments in the last year during my absence. I have now published them.

Errupting Volcano Cake

We had a birthday party for Max on Saturday. Of course his party theme has changed MANY times over the past year. He finally decided on a Gormiti/Volcano theme. I did not have to work with fondant after all. Instead I adapted this Volcano cake recipe.

I used my own recipes for the cake and buttercream frosting. Instead of Marshmallow Fluff which contains egg I used Ricemellow Creme. Worked well.

Now we are headed out for vacation. Packing here I come.

Update

I have been in school all summer. I am studying to be a Montessori teacher (ages 3-6). Therefore my blog has really suffered. So here are some quick updates to issues I left hanging.

Tortilla Factory - Went great. Everyone there seemed to be in the know. Max had a black bean taco. No reaction! Yea!

Owen and Sesame - All tests negative. Dr. and I decided his reaction very well could have been cross-contam. Once we are back from vacation we will try an at home challenge.

Owen and Mustard - Positive test result. Grrrr! Dr. wants us to try an at home challenge. Like Owen is going to willing eat mustard directly.

Owen and his other allergies - Numerous environmentals. Eggs and milk - down. Sunflower seed -up.

Max and Weight - Max gained an entire POUND this past year. He's got to be the skinniest 7 year old on the block. Ped. is worried. Looks like we'll be seeing a GI specialist and a nutritionist sometime soon.

Here's One For You

Picking up Max from school one day last week, he said to me "Mom, we are going to go eat at a restaurant!" Stop in my tracks. "What?" "My class. We are all going to go to a restaurant!"

I turn around and head back to the teacher. With a big smile on my face and sweetness in my voice I say, "So Max tells me you are going to a restaurant." The teacher replies yes. "We've never been to a restaurant." I say. "Oh!" she seems surprised. I ask where they are going. She says she looked at the menu and it seemed there are things on there he could have. We discuss cross contamination. I end with telling her I will need to call the restaurant to see if they can safely provide Max with a meal.

Damn it. What do I do? Max will feel left out if he can't go but I don't know if I trust a restaurant to feed him. I'm also perplexed by the teachers' decision to do this without talking to me first. As a school they have been great with Max and brought him a long way academically. They support him as a student in unbelievable ways. And for the most part are very sensitive to his allergies but this is disappointing to me. I little more conversation with me would have been nice.

Responding to Questions

Sometimes people ask questions or comment on a post and I want to respond to them. I have struggled with how to do this. Do I go to their blog? Sometimes that doesn't seem appropriate. Do I just respond on my blog in the comment section? I have gone back and forth and then end up doing nothing.

So I decided to make a policy. If you ask a question in the comment section I will respond to it there. So you'll just have to check back and maybe I will get better at answering questions.

Two Posts in One Day

I had David ask how proactive we should be regarding the sunflower seed allergy and daycare/preschool. Though he broke out in hives from contact with Sunbutter when he was 18 months his test score is extremely low. As parents are now trained to use Sunbutter instead of peanut butter I wondered what I should do about preschool. Our Dr. said Sunbutter should be banned from the classroom as well.

I'm not sure if I should take this hard line. We want other parents to be empathetic to our children's health needs however when is it crying wolf? With low scores (we're talking .37), no history of anaphylaxis from or even ingestion of sunflower seed, do I really need to have it banned from his classroom? Am I going to ban milk then? His RAST for that is 8.32. Or egg, for which he has needed a previous epi? Is this really fair?

If it was just a preschool where he was going two hours a day for a couple days a week I could see drawing a hard line because this wouldn't be too much of a hardship to go without for a couple of hours. Kids would go home and have whatever they wanted for lunch. But Owen will be at the school where I will also be interning next year. He will be in another classroom until 1 and then with the nappers until 3 when I get him.

What is fair to Owen? What is fair to the other children?

I Really Can't Be In Two Places At Once

"We'll see you tomorrow at the Mother's Day Tea!" is what Max's teacher said to me that triggered the "Oh crap! I screwed up!" Owen's allergy appointment had been scheduled for months. It was too late to change it and I could not be at Mother's Day Tea and at the allergist at the same time. So, I did it. I sent the husband who was so kind to rearrange his schedule to go. I sent him with pages of notes and questions and....he came back with notes which elicited more questions from me.

I really just wanted to confirm if he is really allergic to sesame and how serious his sunflower seed allergy is. Going into daycare this summer (while I'm in school) I just want to have a good read on what his true allergies are. At this particular appointment he skin tested positive to milk, egg, peanut, mustard seed, soy, strawberry, trees, grass, dog and dust mites. David told her he eats strawberry and soy without problem and she said they were probably false positives. The peanut is new (he had a previous negative RAST). David told the doctor Owen didn't like mustard which me being the Mom knows Owen eats mustard in baked beans all the time and doesn't have a problem with it. Also the wheal for peanut and mustard seed was the same size as the strawberry and soy, so couldn't they be false positives? The only thing he skin tested negative for was sesame...

"So we are clear for sesame?" I ask my husband. "I don't know, she didn't say" was his reply. "She didn't skin test sunflower seed?" "No, she didn't" So instead of clearing up my questions about sesame and sunflower seed we have new allergies to worry about.

I took him for the blood test yesterday. Owen was great, Max was a pain (and he wasn't the one getting anything done.) I'll wait for the results and try to sort things out with the doctor.

Diary of an At-Home-Food-Challenge

Note: There are two to three actual "days" between each day recorded as I decided to start out giving him something every two to three days.

Day 1 - After soliciting advice from other parents I settled on starting our challenge with Kellogg's Nutri-Grain Bars which contain non-fat dry milk. I broke off a piece and asked him to have a bite. Much drama and face making. He finally puts it in his mouth the whole time making yuck faces. I only get one bite in him. He says "Watch me closely Mom. In case I get sick." Yeah, like I didn't want to just sit and stare at him with the Epi in my hand. After a while I asked if he was itchy. Yes, he said. I little spot on my knee here and on the back of my hand....
"Are you itchy in your mouth, throat or lips?" "No." No hives or vomiting followed. I breathe a sigh of relief.

Day 2 - I try a Nutri-Grain bar again. I can't get more than one bite in him. No reactions.

Day 3 - I decided to switch tactics in order to get him to eat more. I make Bisquick biscuits using 2% cow's milk. He eats the entire biscuit and asks for another. I laugh and tell him we will need to build up to 2 biscuits. No outward reactions.

Day 4 - I do biscuits again. They seem to have already lost their appeal. He only eats half of one. No reaction.

In between Day 4 and 5 the weather heats up, the pollen starts to fly and Max spends most of the weekend outdoors. The windows are wide open and everything in the house is coated in a fine green dust. Saturday I notice Max's face looks puffy.

Day 5 - Already tired of making biscuits I buy some plain Goldfish Crackers. Max looks terrified at the thought of eating Goldfish Crackers. Have I really instilled this much fear in him. I explain I can't always make biscuits. These aren't the cheese kind they just have milk baked in them. He eats two, thinks about eating a third but doesn't. His face looks horrible.

By Monday (yesterday) morning his face is so puffy his eyes are becoming slits. His cheeks are red and rough. I call the allergist. Though it is probably pollen related she asked that we postpone the challenge as we cannot tell right now what he is reacting to. So there ends the food challenge and thus began the frantic me, closing up the house yesterday, turning on the air, vacuuming, dusting, mopping, and changing bed clothes. I'm exhausted.

I gave him Claritin and Nasonex last night. He already looks better.

Ace of Cakes

Today Max requested a Bakugon shaped cake for his Bakugon themed birthday party. I pondered how this would be possible and thought of Ace of Cakes (awesome TV show) and fondant. Then wondered if fondant was allergen free. Apparently it is just sugar and water. Then I found this recipe for fondant. And now I am pondering if I can really make a Bakugon cake ala Ace of Cakes. Hmmm. What a challenge. Problem is I will be coming off of 5 1/2 weeks of an intense teacher training course. Will I be up for a challenge the end of July?

Milk Challenge

To begin with challenge days are hard because we have to get Max up at 5:30am to eat breakfast because he can't eat for three hours before the challenge. So by the time we got to the doctor's office at 9:00 am he was hungry and cranky already.

After the first dose (approx. a teaspoon) he immediately started complaining that his tongue itched, his throat hurt, he felt sick. But...there were no hives, his tongue and throat were not red and irritated. There were no visible signs of a reaction. So the question became whether this was anxiety. It is partly my fault. I did not prepare him well for this. I asked a couple times if he would be disappointed if he didn't pass the challenge and I can imagine, for a six year old, telling him to avoid something his whole life and then asking him to eat it can be anxiety inducing.

In any case, he didn't want to continue with the challenge. We let him make that call. The doctor gave him Benedryl and about an hour and a half after arriving we left. However, because his numbers are so low we are going to approach the challenge a different way. A couple times a week I am to give him baked goods that contain milk product. Milk baked into things breaks down the proteins. We will do this for three months and re-do the blood test. If the RAST number spikes he will need to go back to strict avoidance.

Bad news? Good news? I don't know. I do know that no matter how much I prepare MYSELF for the disappointment I always still am. I feel like hanging my head and sobbing. Even though I went in soooooo pessimistic I still wished deep deep down that it would work. That I would have one less allergy to worry about.

Birthday Planning

Max is always planning his birthday party. He switches themes on a weekly basis. After a viewing of Toy Story he suggested a space theme and said we could serve the special cheeseless pizza I make for Max and Owen. I laughed and wondered out loud if other children would like cheeseless pizza. Max said "Why wouldn't they?" I replied that most kids were used to only eating their pizza with cheese and I wondered what they would think of pizza without cheese. Max simply said "Well, if they don't like it they can just bring their own." There was no malice or sarcasm in what he said, just a statement. Because this is what he knows; when you go to a party you bring your own food! Makes me ponder what he has learned about hospitality.

Puts a whole new face on BYOB or should I say BYOP!

PS. Speaking of cheese, wish us luck. Milk challenge tomorrow!

The Numbers

We got the numbers late last week and then I misplaced them so I had to call the allergist back yesterday to get them again. So here's my little chart from when we first started blood tests to now.

2004 Egg 1.45 Milk 2.71 Peanut 1.61
2005 Egg 1.10 Milk 2.36 Peanut 1.80
2006 Egg 1.34 Milk 0.90 Peanut 1.09 Cashew 2.67 Pistachio 3.40
2008 Egg 1.59 Milk >.35 Peanut 0.51 Cashew 1.40 Pistachio 2.08
2009 Egg 2.86 Milk 0.17 Peanut 0.49 Cashew 1.63 Pistachio 1.55

Dr. B. started off saying that the results were a little disappointing but after getting the news I didn't think it was all that disappointing. Maybe she was hoping for more negatives than I was. She did say it was unfortunate that we had to switch labs as different labs run different types of RAST tests. One runs the ImmunoCap and the other the CAP FEIA (I don't remember which runs which). But as we have moved over the years, switched allergists, etc, I couldn't tell you which year or what lab used which type of test. All I have is the numbers. Dr. B. said the numbers could vary though from one test to another.

Looking at the numbers there is a definite downward trend with all Max's allergens except one. Egg. I asked if that was an indication he wouldn't outgrow egg and Dr. B. responded that his body just seemed to be a little stubborn (possibly like his whole little being.)

I think Dr. B. was most disappointed with the milk as though it is less than .35 it is still there. She rescinded the at home challenge but did say if we wanted we could do an office oral challenge if I didn't think it would be psychologically hard on Max if he didn't pass as we wouldn't challenge than again for another year. I got the feeling with a positive (no matter how small) blood test and a still fairly large skin test positive, the doctor is thinking he won't pass a challenge.

So I told Max I had his blood test results back. He very adult like turned to me and said "So, what do they say." I said milk was low but still positive and he could challenge again but would he be disappointed if he didn't pass? He said "No, I'd be okay. " "So do you want to do it?" I questioned. "Yes" was his reply.

I made the appointment yesterday for March 31st. Though I sometimes question whether I like this doctor, I have to say it is great not having to wait too long for appointments.

Blood Test

We went in for the blood test yesterday. I had to try a new lab because our insurance no longer covered the one we had been using. No big loss, they weren't that great.

Things went well. Max started crying when I told him where we were going so I did what any good Mom would do. I bribed him. I told him if he was brave we could go to Target afterwards and buy him something new. And we went over ways to be brave and stay calm. Be still, take big deep breaths. The front desk people at the lab were actually friendly and had a sense of humor! And the lab tech, though initially had a hard time finding a vein, distracted Max enough while it was going on that he stopped crying and talked to her. All and all easy in easy out. Even Owen sat patiently with his back against the wall quietly watching as he always does.

We then went to Target. As we were walking up to the store Max realized he was still holding his Clifford (you know, the big red dog) and asked that I take it back to the car. I got them on the sidewalk and told Max to hold onto Owen while I ran back to the car (it wasn't far away). As I turned back to look at them. I saw Max had pulled Owen way over to one side away from the street and protectively had his arms wrapped around him. Owen in turn had his arms wrapped around Max's waist. Sometimes the amount of love they have for each other brings me to tears.