After school prickle patrol.

Someone forgot to tell the prickles it is still winter!  Now I am certainly not discouraging Spring from Springing.. but I really do loathe prickle season.  Left unchecked they would basically overrun our entire 23 acres, anyone seen The Day of the Triffids movie?


Last Tuesday was a slightly warmer day (13.5!) so we headed outside for a quick play before Legoman's tutor arrived.  I was horrified to see that the prickles were once again making their move.  They certainly aren't going to let last years prickles, who went down in a showdown with Coder and his backpack poison sprayer, go un-vindicated.  If they start early perhaps we wouldn't notice... until it was too late!

Legoman knows that this prickle bush is capable of growing taller then him.

Legoman pointed it out to me and immediately got down to business. He is an expert prickle remover, well in his eyes he is. Unfortunately his methods, of whacking and stabbing with a pointed stick, inevitably spread more seeds. He decided this day was the perfect time to pass down the age old (well 2 years) knowledge of prickle whacking to his eager to help brothers.

 First the demonstration.  It was an unusual tactic, using a branch rather then a stick, time would tell if it would be successful.

They look so innocent and small but looks can be deceiving.  (I'm talking about the prickles!) 

 Following Sensei's instructions Voltorb has a crack at it.

Oshawott struggles to even lift it.

Well now you're just showing off.

Crafting a new tool. 

Testing.

Not all showed the dedication of Legoman.

Best Tassie weather by far.

And this is NOT it.

It's going to be 1 degree overnight, with snow showers forecast for above 500 metres.  That means we will probably get some snow flurries up here.  Not enough to see on the ground, nor make snowmen unfortunately, but just some flurries of it swirling around in the wind.  The "feels like" temp in the morning will undoubtedly be negative something, which is not uncommon, especially on Saturday mornings it seems, when we have to brave the soccer field. 


It's pretty depressing really, especially when you really don't like the cold.  Not the snow flurries of course, snow is the silver lining of winter.  But give me a 40 degree day back in Broken Hill any time! So feeling sorry for myself I went back and looked through some of beach photos taken last Summer.  We had a long warm (sometimes hot) Summer, though I did miss most of it while we were away for 2 weeks in Coolum, and then 5 in Broken Hill. 


The most memorable days we had in Tassie over summer were definitely February 25th and 26th.  It was a glorious 39.4 degrees and windy on the Saturday!  The day of Legoman's 8th party, which we were going to the park for.  Opps!  We loved it, but many of the guests' parents were clearly struggling.  Just a quick change of arrangements and I had 100 water balloons ready to go.  

Water balloons were a hit.

Who had more fun?

This is a Minecraft inspired cake, gone terribly terribly wrong.  The idea was solid, but the picture I had in my head certainly didn't come to fruition.  39 degree temperature didn't help much either!

On the Sunday it was also a beautiful hot day and we take every opportunity for a beach day here as if it will be the last, because it just might be snowing the next day! It's just that unpredictable.


Actually, I even put on my bathers... not at all thinking I would actually need them.  Even if the sun is melting icy poles, the water will always be frigid.  Born and bred Tasmanian's will disagree, but I grew up in Broken Hill and 18 degrees water temp is too cold.  It was such a lovely relaxing day, mostly.  I mean, there was still the small matter of 4 children to keep an eye on near the water, and Coder was surfing part of the time, or boogie boarding with the older boys.  This made the (seemingly) frequent pleas from Oshawott needing a toilet very difficult to orchestrate.  But we managed.  And it was so hot that I did go into the water!  I admit I did not get my head wet, but I certainly got my bathers wet! Baby steps...


Pichu had his own unique way of cooling off.

 And discovered tantrums on sand are not a good idea.

We stayed at the beach all day, it was 5.30/6pm by the time we left. No big deal when it doesn't get dark until 9.30/10pm in Summer.

Mummy! A dinosaur is biting my face!

So finally I got around to replacing some batteries in toys.  It's something I put off time and time again, so today I decided to just do it.  And I was rewarded with an audience with the "circle of dinosaurs".  The little boys had a great time playing with the reanimated toys. 

These dinosaurs walk, roar and toss their heads around.  Plus they are well traveled. They were originally a gift for the two older boys, from their American Grandparents. That was roughly 5 or 6 years ago I think and since then they have moved house 3 times.  It was a bit rough for them, with their tiny little hands and horns getting in the way, packing and unpacking boxes, but they were little troopers!  Only stopping when their duracells needed replacing. 

Oshawott is setting up a race for the dinosaurs.  Pichu at this stage is freaked out and hiding in the hallway. Takes him a little while to warm up to loud moving toys that are quite confronting, which these certainly are.  His first reaction was actually a terrified squeal.  

Plotting to take over the bedroom.

First, we take out the baby.

Pichu was warming up. Okay.. so we can be friends? You don't scream at me, I won't (might not) scream at you.

He was very interested in the red glowing eyes and teeth.  This dinosaur throws the whole top half of his body around whilst roaring. 

Ok, I thought we were going to be friends...

Pichu closes his eyes, anticipating the impending attack.

At this point, I realise I should intervene as the dinosaur goes in for a second attack.

Pichu is exasperated.   Where did things go wrong?

Watch your back Oshawott, Pichu has gotten the hang of this!

Even after recent events, Pichu can't help but get close again.

Big dinosaur resisting Oshawott's attempts to make everyone a family.

Maybe it's not so bad to be liked...

This raptor became the flying dinosaur "son" of the big dinosaur.  He would swoop in, hang off door knobs and save the day.

The de-brief.  Things didn't go to plan, but that's ok.  Cuppa anyone?

Because she has a giant mouth.

Legoman is 8 and has only lost 3 teeth in total. The 3rd one was just this last weekend, and before that it was a year ago that he lost the first two. I sense the teeth are stubborn in this one.

His two top middle teeth are being ground away from use, and no, not from lollies if that's what you are thinking. That boy is a strange one, he doesn't like lollies, or chocolate. He would rather eat a lemon and some olives any day of the week. It was just that they would have normally fallen out by now in most 8 year olds. I was worried he might not have any adult teeth waiting in the wings so we went off to the dentist. She said it was not completely unusual to be 9 and still losing teeth. But, she suggested we get the little stumps out as soon as possible. Let the wiggling commence!

We wiggle those top teeth every night, they are getting a little bit wobblier each day, but I am sure they seem to re-attach themselves by morning time. Like robo-terminator teeth. It's 2 wiggles forward, 1 back. Yes, gross I know, but I have a no nonsense approach to these types of problems, it has to come out? Right then, come here little grasshopper, trust me... I'm a dentist (but you must finish that sentence with an evil laugh to get the full effect).

In the meantime, some of his other teeth had finally gotten loose and he lost his 3rd ever tooth last weekend. We then had to place it carefully under his pillow that night. The tooth fairy would rather it be next to his bed for ease of access, but he was insistent. And naturally, because the tooth fairy is always right... I had quite a time of locating that tooth later that night! 

I told him when the top ones come out (if they ever do, I am really starting to wonder) I am going to put them under my pillow because I did most of the work!. Maybe the tooth fairy would leave me a new pair of shoes? He didn't take too kindly to that.

Legoman with exhibit 3.

Voltorb is 6 and has had no wobbly teeth, so he is quite intrigued by the whole process. I was coming up the stairs when I heard the beginning of an interesting conversation, so I paused to listen in.

Voltorb: "But why does the tooth fairy need teeth?"

Legoman: Theory 1: "Because she has a giant mouth and needs to fill it with teeth."
Theory 2: "She just likes teeth"
Theory 3: "She has a magic wand and turns teeth into money"

Personally, I like number 1.  I can just picture a delicate pretty little fairy with a gigantic mouth filled with trillions of teeth. Now if that doesn't give you nightmares, nothing will!

Let's talk about Salicylates. Excuse me, what?

Most people don't even know what salicylates are, let alone be able to pronounce it. 

Sall as in sally - i as in ink - sill as in silly – ates as in dates.

They do not know what a big deal it can be if you are intolerant to them. Which Oshawott is, along with amines and dairy. This was not something easily diagnosed. In fact, it hasn't been officially diagnosed. I actually don't think there is a test for it, its mostly related to diet, but can be in many products also, like Asprin.

Salicylates are chemicals that occur naturally in many plants, including many fruits vegetables, and herbs. Salicylates in plants act as a natural immune hormone and preservative, protecting the plants against diseases, insects, fungi, and harmful bacteria. Salicylates are also created synthetically and can be found in many medicines, perfumes and preservatives.

People with salicylate intolerance are unable to handle more than a certain amount of salicylates at a time. The tolerated amount and items vary slightly from person to person. Salicylates also have a cumulative effect in the body and build up over time, this means that a salicylate sensitive person may be able to tolerate a small amount of salicylates but will experience symptoms after excessive exposure.

It's been a long process, looking back I can see it all started when he began eating solid foods. His first food was avocado, he vomited that back up, accompanied by some lovely big red hives on his mouth. Back then, I just assumed he was allergic and avoided it.

Not long after he started eating more solids, he developed a rash on his cheeks, sometimes it was red raw and would bleed. Because this was also on his legs, I (and doctors) assumed it was eczema. We had a few creams we cycled through, and along with changing the bathing conditions, we managed to keep it under control.

Low/Medium intensity breakout.

It was when he was in hospital with pneumonia (the first time) that I started to unravel the real problem. Because he was sedated, and obviously not eating anything (his milk was syringed into his stomach through a tube), his rash was clearing up. There was no cracking, and no bleeding. His bumpy little face was starting to clear up. At this time I thought it was just banana, or more specially, latex, so it included avocado, kiwi fruit and others.

None of my boys are good eaters, they eat, but not massive quantities. Legoman is a very healthy eater, Voltorb wont eat most vegetables, Oshawott would eat so much more variety, if he could. So because of Voltorb I blend up all veggies before adding them to dinners, so the best things for that are Bolognese, lasagna, quiche, meatloaf, meatballs and risotto. I have also gone as far as to make a carrot and mushroom puree for a pizza base sauce, and our pancakes always have sweet potato in them.

But back on topic. When Oshawott started to have cows milk at 12 months old, he started having restless nights, alot of wind and very messy nappies.  So I trialed a non-dairy option, soy.  Worked wonders!  

I figured that was the end of it.  Easy enough, we avoid dairy and foods that have latex.  This was a bit of a pain because he did (still does) love bananas.

But we managed.  

Then Pichu came along, and was extremely reluctant to eat solids.  He just didn't want to even put toys in his mouth, no way would he put food in it! I became paranoid and arranged for them both to have allergy testing, once and for all I wanted some answers.

Allergy testing wasn't easy on an almost 3 year old and a 10 month old.

The tests showed that neither of the boys was allergic to anything (that they tested for anyway).  The doctor talked about intolerance's and suggested a book, compiled by the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney.  Conveniently, he had them for sale... 


Turned out to be a very good purchase.  It was using that book that I first discovered Salicylates and Amines.  I had no idea, I also didn't clue in straight away that this was part of the problem.  It was a light bulb moment, an actual light bulb appeared above my head, I'm certain of it. 


It was around the time of the two little boy's Birthdays, actually around this time last year.  My parents were visiting for our August/Sept Birthday season. One night we discovered Oshawott liked pumpkin, he ate a whole bowl of it.    A little while after the pumpkin, his mouth became covered in hives.  Alarmed, I had a quick search of the 'book' and sure enough pumpkin was the culprit!  Salicylates build up in your body if you aren't able to process them normally, over time, the "bucket" fills up with salicylates and starts to overflow and along come the symptoms.  If you don't cut Salicylates out of your diet to let the "bucket" empty the symptoms just get worse.  


So then a few days later we had a BBQ for Pichu's birthday.  Oshawott had a sausage covered in tomato sauce, and half a cucumber.  More reactions, and even on the parts of his face where he had so carefully (not) eaten his sausage.  I referred to the book again.  Processed meats, tomatoes and cucumbers are a no no!  Opps.  I felt terrible.  

So Oshawott can't have most vegetables, including tomato, and some of the ones he can eat have to be double peeled. He can't have most fruits, actually.. he can only have pears, or the delicious variety of apples double peeled. Preservatives are out, as are any artificial flavouring like MSG (or 'flavour enhancer' as they like to disguise it on packets).  


The things that he can't have are so many, it's just too many to list here.  A few of the most annoying ones are gravy, sauce, most stocks, yeast extracts, honey, jams, alot of herbs/spices, vegemite!  And then of course the artificial flavours and colouring. But if you want more information, this site is great.  


It's not just the Salicylates though, that would be much easier, he would be able to have banana's for example.  They have no Salicylates at all, but they have Amines.  So even if a food is low in Salicylates, I have to then check the list for the Amine levels. 


And of course there is the dairy aspect.  He has a soy/rice milk mix as a substitute for cows milk, soy yoghurt, soy ice cream.  We are able to manage his dairy intolerance by just changing those things, allowing him to still have butter, cheese and sometimes cream.


The symptom list is also extensive, but luckily for us, so far, he only suffers from a handful of them, depending how much Salicylates sneak through into his diet.


Here are some of the more common symptoms.  The green ones are the symptoms Oshawott suffers from.  It's not constant, only appearing if i've let something unknowingly slip through, or sometimes letting him have things like his brothers, that he loves and is hard to see him always missing out. He also doesn't get them all at once, often one or two at a time.

Physical Symptoms:

• Itchy skin, hives or rashes 
• Stomach pain/upset stomach 
• Asthma 
• Headaches 
• Swelling of hands and feet 
• Breathing difficulties 
• Bed Wetting 
• Mouth Ulcers or raw hot red rash around mouth 
• Persistent cough 
• Frequent need to urinate/urgency to pass water 
• Wheezing 
• Changes in skin color/skin discoloration 
• Swelling of eyelids, face and lips 
• Fatigue 
• Sore, itchy, puffy or burning eyes 
• Watering eyes
• Anaphylaxis (this is very rare, but deadly)
• Sinusitis
• Diarrhea
• Nausea
• Chronic sweating or no sweating
• Aching Muscles and joints
• Congestion
• Nasal polyps

One example of a reaction was during our holiday to Coolum over Christmas. We were going to Sea World!  It was a very exciting day for everyone, actually no, it was very exciting for the children.  Well, 6 out of 8 of them.  Pichu couldn't care less where he goes as long as Mummy is with him, and Oshawott was having a bad reaction to something he ate.  I think it was a sausage the night before, if it had sauce on it (which I couldn't remember) it would have definitely been the culprit.  It was probably a few other factors, possibly icy poles (he can't have citrus or food colouring), or if he slipped a few cheesy goodness chips from his brother. 


We had just arrived, after getting stuck in Surfer's Paradise traffic for an hour, it was 11am.  The kids were pumped.  What to do first!?  But not Oshawott, he complained of being tired and needed to get into the pram.  He was very lethargic, his eyes were red, swollen and he basically couldn't keep them open.  So within 10 minutes of arriving, he was asleep in the pram.  He ended up spending most of the day in there and didn't go on a single ride, and saw only a handful of animals.


But thanks to torrential rain starting an hour after we arrived and not letting up all day, no one else had much fun either. 


I can mostly keep it under control now, at worst he will get red lips, swollen eyes, go off his food and sometimes get achy joints that disturb his sleep.  But luckily, discovering this when he was 3 is going to make such a big difference to his life, and not having to go through so much more pain before getting any answers.


He is going to learn to manage it himself as he gets older.  He already does ask me if he can eat things if he is unsure.  He also knows he can always have a taste of something the boys have by giving me his puppy dog eyes and saying "Just one Mummy, just one?".


Today I took this picture of his mouth.  This was all because I put a little bit of bolognese sauce on his gnocchi last night.  We had friends over for dinner and I just wanted him to feel like he could have the same as everyone else.  Next time I will know better, and I should have known better.  But on another day a little bit of bolognese might be ok, it all just depends on that "bucket" of salicylates in his body.  

Part 2: DNA hair testing for intolerances.

Happy homework madness.

I have discovered something.  It's not entirely a new concept in this house, but it has moved to a whole new level of late.  Child does x thing and receives  something in return.  I know, it's not a new discovery, it's how the world works!

But if something 'encourages' the boys to do their homework I am all for it! Within reason of course.  And I don't just mean, 'do' their homework, as it always does get done in the end.  I mean to complete it without the groaning, crying, running away and hiding.. it does get quite frustrating.  I am still unsure whether it's for their educational benefit or a form of torture for me.

Legoman already has a tutor that comes once a week.  His spelling has improved a great deal since the beginning of the year.  He has more confidence writing and has a crack at spelling anything.  He will sit with the tutor for an hour without complaining, yet 5 minutes with me and you'd think I was pulling off his fingernails.  I have had to resort to threatening that the tutor comes twice a week if he doesn't comply with the daily sessions with me.  It works, to a degree.

Voltorb has been more cooperative.  Probably because it's still a novelty.. this learning to read business.  But as he has moved on to more challenging home readers he has become slightly more reluctant to participate in the nightly reading ritual.

So one day whilst shopping I came across some items in the clearance trolley at Kmart.  They are called "The Trash Pack", shortened to Trashies.  I knew the boys liked them, though we hadn't ever purchased any. I get put off by toys that encourage you to 'collect them all', because you just know you are going to be nagged and nagged to keep buying them. But I thought I would get a few packets, stash them away for presents for class parties.

Then Voltorb came home from school, two days in a row, with a miniature rubiks cube and some pens. He had apparently done some good work at school, yet he couldn't recall what exactly. Don't you love that? I get mono toned grunts from them when I inquire how their day has been. Or often, they have done nothing at school, so they say. Tax dollars at work.

His teacher has a 'special box' filled with goodies that they can choose from. Voltorb thrives on this kind of reward system. He seems to have an almost obsessive attitude when it comes to 'things'. He has a couple of stashes of 'things', one in the car, a few boxes in his room (on his bed). Hopefully he won't be appearing on the "Hoarders" tv show in 20 years...

So he asked me if I could make one of these boxes for home. Immediately I think of the Trashies I have hidden in the cupboard, and tell him I would see.

Next afternoon I opened up several packets and found an empty basket to put them in.

To say that it has worked wonders for their homework would be an understatement.   I now have two little knowledge soaks, or fiends really, because they really are -that- persistent about doing their 'work'.  Voltorb spends most of his free time now either reading quite difficult books or doing units in a Spelling Conventions workbook I purchased through a school supplier.  

It's not just spelling and reading this has helped.  Voltorb, who has an aversion for orange food and drinks, tried carrot last night.  Couldn't swallow it, but had at least tried it!  The brief was to swallow it, so no Trashie unfortunately.  But knowing what a big deal this was, I gave him another chance with cabbage.  Not only did he try it, he swallowed it!  Big big deal for Voltorb.  He didn't like it.. but he still did it.  For a Trashie.

This morning when I woke up, bleary eyed and heading for the kettle, Voltorb boasts from the lounge chair that he had done some 'work'.  I checked it over, and he had done it all correctly. He then had breakfast, got dressed for school and managed to squeeze in another unit, finishing seconds before we walked out the door.  All in the name of Trashies.

Legoman has been reading chapter books, and doing units in his Spelling Conventions workbook, though not as obsessively as Voltorb.  I think that is mainly a personality thing though.  He also has been extremely helpful and kind to his brothers, another big deal in this house.  Being the oldest he does get the rough end of the stick a lot of the time, yet still gets the most opportunity (like going off doing big boy things with Coder). 

So we have come full circle, I am now finding it difficult to get anything done in the afternoons and early evenings, being constantly pulled here and there to listen to reading, and checking 'work'.

Oshawott has jumped on the band wagon, asking what things he can do to get Trashies.  So he could have a hair wash, eat all of his dinner or even practise the alphabet with me.

This afternoon Voltorb has read 4 books and done one unit in his workbook. Legoman has read 4 chapters of his current book. Oshawott has just resorted to asking for one with beaming smile on his face telling me he is being good.

So the Trashies have been all over the place, even to school (Voltorb just keeps them in his pocket all day) and the boys have been all playing together with them.  Well mostly.  There are sometimes arguments over where each of them live, and whether the trash truck will stop at their allotted house.  I know how they feel, ruins my day if I miss bin day too!

  

And Pichu loves seeing the camera come out.. so I couldn't resist.

A cause for celebration!

I found another meal everyone eats!  

Last week when our visitors were here, one of the older kids asked if we could have gnocchi (not my boys of course, they didn't even know what it was at first).  I have wanted to make gnocchi since I saw it being made on one of the earlier Masterchef seasons, during their master class.  Seemed easy!  But I had just never gotten around to trying it myself.  So now I had a reason to try it.  

It was fairly easy, but has a number of different steps which make it a bit time consuming. You have to boil the potatoes first and then let them cool down before peeling them, otherwise you hop around the kitchen juggling potatoes with that song playing in your head, "Hot potato, hot potato.."  After mashing and mixing in flour, egg and parmasen I had to roll it out a section at a time, which made good use of my playdoh skills.  Lastly, using a fork to make those little grooves in each tiny piece.  I also made a double batch, because there was 12 of us in the house. It's not something I can rustle up in 30mins.

The bolognese sauce simmered away all day, packed full of veggie goodness. It was delicious!  The gnocchi was also delicious, light and fluffy, like pillows.

The big test was a few nights ago when I made it again.  Would they eat it this time?  Were they just being polite in front of our visitors by eating their dinner without complaining (highly doubtful!).

They all ate it, and alot of it! Normally they eat the absolute bare minimum to pass the mummy test.  Usually they have to eat x amount more mouthfuls, depending on what's left.


When I get a clean bowl proudly shoved into my view, it's cause for celebration!