Long Time No Write!

Hi everyone,

I have been busy with a touch of lazy and haven't written to you lately so here's a update on what's been happening. I am happy to inform you that James is drinking milk! His allergy is not affected when I give him boiled, organic whole milk (or homo) milk for you Canadians! I read that there are two proteins that make milk difficult to digest: whey and casein. When milk is boiled is reduces the allergenicity of whey but not casein. The whey must be what James is allergic to because he can tolerate boiled milk as well as foods made with milk, like cheese, pizza, etc. This is great news because now I don't need to pump milk for daycare anymore and because it increases James food options. Now if only I can get him to eat fruit!

Second big news is that James started daycare! He's been attending almost 2 weeks now and he loves it. I was so worried that his transition would be difficult, however on the first day he cried for 5 minutes after I left the room, and didn't cry when I picked him up. The second day he didn't cry at all and went straight to eat breakfast and was fine with me leaving. On pick-up he hopped over to me and took my hand to show me the classroom, then he cried when I picked him up to leave! That was a perfect sign to show that he's happy there. Also these teachers write a daily sheet of his meals, diaper changes, naps, and write about his day. It's so nice being able to know how he did in detail, especially since there is no webcam here. The only con to this daycare is that they don't provide meals, but have an outside caterer that we have to pay in addition to monthly fees, thus this is more expensive than Toronto. However we have a larger and nicer facility that's located on a farm rather than the busy city streets we were used too. I loved my old daycare, but I have fallen in love with this new facility too!

We also flew to Toronto a couple of weekends ago to celebrate a second birthday party! It was so great seeing the old gang and the kiddies. Everyone is doing great and we really enjoyed ourselves. We also visited some friends for brunch and met their puppy, Eli. This was James' first real interaction with a dog. Eli is a dachshund and about a month old. At first James and Eli were scared if each other, but after some time James was petting him and talking to him. It was fun watching the interaction.

We also celebrated Thanksgiving recently. We were invited to my brother's in-laws for dinner which was nice. Their family is big into ping pong and they had a tournament which was fun. My sister-in-law made an amazing turkey and her gravy was a big hit! After eating the huge meal, we headed to my cousin's house to meet up with everyone there. They are into football so were watching the game. Instead I enjoyed catching up with everyone. James feel asleep on the drive over so we put him in his cousin's crib until it was time for her to sleep. He was good and slept on the way home too. We got home really late, but I was still up so I went to the mall for my first Black Friday shopping. It was not really worth it. I just got some clothes for James. I think shopping in Manhattan would have been better, maybe next time. Lol!

While James is in daycare, I've been spending my time cooking, settling in and preparing for Christmas. I am really excited about getting a real tree! We weren't allowed real trees in the condo, nor did we ever put up a fake one since we were never home then. I look forward to starting this Christmas tradition with James!

Lastly my 2 months off of work is coming to an end and I start on Monday. I can't believe how quickly my life has changed. Life is so different here in the suburbs. What's funny is that the driving that I've done this past month is probable more than I've ever done in my lifetime before!

Hope you have a safe and happy holiday!

Happy reading!

Rachel