eczema

Ezra has a rampant case of eczema that is driving most of us crazy. It got a lot better over Christmas and then came back on his cheeks with a vengeance. We have no idea where to look for triggers anymore or how to isolate them if we have theories. I've been off dairy completely (well, not all baked goods with dairy in them) for 11 days and it's also making me crazy. It hasn't seemed to help a whole lot although apparently the dairy can stay in my system for up to two weeks. I'm going to try to stick it out for three to rule that out. I've already pretty much confirmed that Ezra reacts badly to nuts, chocolate, tomatoes and citrus *sigh*.

All these food changes have made me aware of how little meat I have been eating - a few times a month at most. I've started to think more about protein and where things like my calcium are going to come from, it's a good learning experience but frustrating at the same time. I don't know what I'd do without eggs right now. Or the salt and vinegar chips.


UPDATE: For anyone still following this, Ezra's skin has improved a LOT in the last few days after being the worst it's ever been on Wednesday. The great news is that I'm now quite sure that it's not diet related (my diet or his - yay!). I saw no improvement after 16 lean days so I went back on dairy and he's been getting better.

The intentional changes we've made have been:
- To get the down comforter off the bed he's in with me - yes, yes, I know, call child protection for it being there in the first place if you have to.
- With the help of a pharmacist I know (and NO help from my doctor), I found a cream I'm really happy with - Spectro Kids Eczema Care. It's apparently not drastically different from Glaxal but it's worked much better for him for some reason. I use it on his face and any other bad spots. I went basic and am putting Aveeno Baby fragrance free lotion on the rest of his body which seems to be working out fine.
- I think the winner is that we've switched back to his original bottles. We finally clued in to the bottle idea after reading Teri's soother tip, the fact that his cheeks were the worst spot and also that he improved when we took a one week vacation without that brand of bottle.
-Ezra's grandparents would all claim divine intervention - whatever the reason for the improvement I'm very thankful and hope it keeps going that direction. It's so nice to see him getting some relief from the constant itching.

Thanks for all the comments and ideas, I appreciate the support on such a frustrating topic.

"free" time

What have I been up to? I have this baby who will be 7 months old next week. He's pretty good natured but needs all kinds of food, diaper changes, loving and endless entertaining. Then there are two more kids, food to make & clean up, laundry...blah blah. Before the sun came out a week or two ago I was contemplating the phrase "stuck at home mom". I don't really mean it. I get more breaks than the average caregiver and I'd be a bitter woman if for some reason I didn't have the opportunity to be at home.

I end up with a "free" hour every evening that isn't spoken for and into that I fit any and all fun pursuits that I happen to dream up:

- learning Chinese or Japanese brush painting/calligraphy
- reading! I finally got started on Barbara Kingsolver's "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle". It's a must-read in terms of setting the stage for eating local. It's got me going on my garden planning and looking at seed catalogues.
- personal grooming (does this qualify as fun?)
- talking. with an adult that I love, about cool and interesting things. Or maybe about eczema and sleep deprivation.
- tonite's choice was blogging and that's all I can fit in because my hour is up and I have to sleep.

jazzy

I don't think I've ever done a music post and may never again but this artist caught our attention last week. I was driving with the girls and there was a major meltdown going on. This Ella Fitzgerald cover by Nikki Yanofsky came on and suddenly it was quiet. Within a minute both girls were smiling and exclaiming over it. That's my kind of music.

blog reads

Here's a little collection of more recent blogs I've been reading (and why). I got the idea from Michelle who recently did a post like this. I also like the idea of collecting some of these links in one place so that they eventually find their way into the sidebar with other favorites, or at least into a feed before they're gone from memory.

Our nest under the rock and Dutch Blitz are a couple of Summerlanders I "met" online. I have had the pleasure of spending some time with Kaili but that Angella is elusive. I hope I don't scare the tar out of her when I chase her down in a parking lot someday just to say hi.

A Life In Progress
Michelle's daughter Jen's blog. She writes about eco-cleaners, organic food, toxic personal care products...right up my alley. I connected to Michelle and Jen's blogs somehow through Kaili.

new pants
This was an odd connection. She found me through babyblogorama as our babies have the same birthdate. I had no idea my birth story was on that site, the internet is a strange beast. She pokes fun at herself for blogging about "the same 6 topics" that moms blog about every day but her take on things keeps it real and interesting. She somehow finds time to write poetry. I have so much admiration for anyone who can sustain creative energy in the baby/toddler vortex.

better make it a double
Linked off of new pants...her comments caught my attention and I made my way to her site. She's got some amazing stuff going on - like committing to The Compact and raising chickens in the city. This post had me snickering - she nailed the way my mind works when I find myself in big stores.

So that's a few of the favorites that come to mind at the moment...I'm sure there are many more so don't kick me if I left you out.

GardenWise

Last week I found the BC GardenWise site that has great local tips and info on farmer's markets. It got me all fired up about the coming growing season. I'm going to commit to improving my soil before I plant this year and then actually water my poor vegetables regularly to give them a fighting chance. Basics.

local bounty blog

It's always a little scary to go public but I finally got going on a project I've been wanting to do for years - I started a blog called "Local Bounty". It's my small effort to connect consumers with local food sources. Here's the catch, to make it work I need the help of dedicated Summerlanders to tell me about their favorite spots and the people that grow/make the food.


Some ideas for things I want to include:
- eggs, orchards, veggies, honey, meat, favorite fruit stand, winery, brewery, breads
- I'd especially like to highlight anything organic, spray free, foraged or free range.


Here's what I'm looking for on each entry:
- name of place
- names of people
- what they grow/sell
- why you love it
- contact info if appropriate


If you happen to be a grower/producer yourself I'd love to hear about you but want to be careful to not create a blatant marketing site. I'm thinking of an interview kind of format - I'd like to know the answers to these questions:
- who you are
- what you do
- why/how you got into it
- why Summerland?
- if your product is seasonal, when is it available?
- contact info

I have a first post up that highlights my favorite farmer's market organic farm. I'm going to add others as time and energy permit, which you know can be painfully slow. If you email me your contribution (check profile/email) I'll try to get it up in a timely manner and put your name on it.

Thanks!

learning

I've been exploring educational ideas for our kids over the past few weeks and it has had the effect of making me analyze my past schooling and also rekindling my desire to learn. I am slow to follow up on so many opportunities I hear of but today I dug into one that made me feel like weeping (in a good way). MIT Open Courseware. There are at least a dozen courses that jump out at me that I'd love to follow up on and that is only one source.

One monkey I'd love to get off my back is to learn some good hard math. Or physics. Just to do it and make the brain grind it out. I gave up on math in grade 9 because I didn't like my teacher and I had never learned to study well anyway. In grade 8 I'd been in the "enriched math" stream. I grit my teeth in frustration even thinking about it now. I came away from high school thinking it was too hard for me and NOBODY disagreed, not out loud anyway. Certainly there were plenty of careers open to a bright girl without math. With just a bit of science I could reach as high as being a nurse, teacher or social worker! It's a whole world out there! Jobs like a physio, doctor or lawyer never even hit the radar although university in some capacity was an expectation.

There was one math teacher that got furious with me because he knew I could learn it and wasn't bothering. If only he'd taken that a step further and tried to encourage me rather than muttering negative comments under his breath. It has taken me almost until now to forgive myself for not seeing the bigger picture at the time - I took the same path that so many smart girls my age did because nothing more was expected or encouraged.

I think about going back to school once in a while because I love the process. I've examined inter-departmental degrees and other custom options. Seeing these courses online is exilerating though - I want to learn and if I don't have to go somewhere and pay someone to learn what they tell me to, why would I? I don't get the piece of paper that someone deems I should have...can I move beyond that now? I want to learn enough to apply things to the world around me. My challenge is that I learn theory quite easily and then stumble when it comes to the "doing" part.

I'm passionate about a lot of things, with the local economy as my focus for ideas that could eventually have a bigger impact. Eating, producing and preserving food here. Knowing where my food comes from. Building with materials that are non-toxic and relevant to this area. Smart house design to take advantage of the sun and local climate. Learning to retrofit the infastructure we already to be more functional isn't glamorous but is a great opportunity to make use of what exists, rather than tearing down and starting over. Most of us can't afford to build new on an acreage. Not that I can't dream. I want to figure out how to motivate other people to care as much as I do. I want to make better decisions more consistently.

That's a bit much to bite off at once, eh?