mommy's lil helper

i took this pic this morning with my cell at the grocery store, but wasn't bubba just the cutest little helper?? (he was pointing to the Cheetos)

normally when we go to this particular store, the boys ride in a shopping cart that has a 2 seat car on front; but today all of those were being used. i'd never even seen the little carts before, but we tried it and it worked really well. okay, bubba did run his cart into my heels about 5 times but other than that-he did great.

we're trying a new diet with bubba and so far (today was day 2) it is going really well. hence why were were shopping today, we are eliminating gluten/wheat from his diet. kids who have a gluten/wheat intolerance or full blown Celiacs Disease can have major health/lifestyle issues.

"There is a wide range of symptoms, but people also can�be asymptomatic. "Children seem more likely to present with 'classic' symptoms of celiac disease: tummy aches, lactose intolerance, constipation, short stature, failure to thrive, lack of ability to concentrate and learning difficulties," says Alice Bast, executive director of the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness."

we know for a fact that bubba has been getting tummy aches alot lately. he'll tell me that his ''baby ouchie", meaning his stomach. (he's been calling it a baby instead of belly since I became pregnant). we also know that he his pretty small for a 2.5 year old; he's on the low-low end of the growth charts for his age and he used to be smack in the middle. i already posted about his speech delay, he also regularaly has diarrhea/soft stools, and he's had a rash on his bum that looks like chigger bites for well over 3 weeks now. also, if you know bubba you know that he has a lot of little idiosyncrasies that are almost OCD. he has to have a green tray to eat on for lunch, he hates being messy, he freaks out when his nose is running--things most 2 yr olds could care less about, really bother him.

lately he's also become a very picky eater. refusing to eat things that he used to love: spaghetti, chicken pot pie, Ritz crackers, chicken nuggets, most cereals and bread. but then wants seconds of things like fried rice, fruit, B's asian crackers, cheese, etc. well the common factor in ALL the foods he's suddenly not eating--wheat. i buy whole wheat pasta, bread, crackers, cereal--anything that comes in a ''whole wheat'' variety, i buy it.

so after researching alot, we decided to eliminate wheat/gluten products for a few days and see if that helps. he hasn't had ANY wheat or gluten products since tuesday at lunch time. from snack time on tues until this moment, he has been gluten free. it is going WONDERFULLY!

first of all, and most importantly. he has made a 'happy happy plate' at EVERY SINGLE MEAL since we started! he doesn't stop eating 1/2 way through, he hasn't gagged or vomited at all. we've had fruity pebbles for breakfast (its a rice based cereal), fruit snacks, chicken with brown rice and corn, homemade chicken fried rice (with carrots, peas, and scrambled eggs) turkey with cheddar rice cakes, cheese, and grapes for lunch, popcorn for snacks--and he's eaten all of it. the same kid that wouldn't eat peas and carrots in chicken pot pie 2 nights ago, picked out and ate every single veggie in fried rice at dinner! i was eating leftover chicken pot pie and he told me it was ''ucky''.

behavior wise, we had one tantrum today (at the store, he wanted to put up ALL the groceries by himself) but no meltdowns over the ''little things''. he ate at the table on a placemat--not the green tray and when we were playing outside this evening he actually had snot running out his nose and didn't even notice!

obviously i don't know for sure that its all related to gluten. but i can't help but get excited. the last 2 days he's been so happy, talkative and hungry! today he pointed at, and said ''pond'' instead of making the sound for 'water' like he usually does. he said ''air-pane" instead of making the noise that an airplane makes. at bedtime and naptime he went down without a fit!

i honestly think that he's probably been living with tummy-aches for awhile now, but since we didn't know, we couldn't help him. now that he's not in pain, he is SO much happier. sure i could be wrong, we could just be having a couple of really good days but i'll take a good day any way that i can get it! we're going to keep up the diet for a while longer and see how he does. if he is genuinely making improvements, then we'll have him tested for the allergy/ Celiac disease itself. it is genetic so pooks could have it, peanut could have it--we just don't know yet. and thats the hard thing, you don't know until they are on solids. they can have no symptoms or every symptom. its hard, but can be controlled simply by changing your diet.