Avarie Sue turns 2!

Hard to believe that this was already two years ago! This picture of Tate was taken the morning of February 18, 2007 as he was saying goodbye to my belly and hello to his new baby sister. He was so excited! After weeks and weeks of keeping me company on the couch, he was so anxious to finally meet this baby sister we had told him so much about.

Here she is with her daddy at the hospital. Little did he know how a little girl could capture his heart...and she has.

Here is Avarie on her 1st birthday. She had just had her tubes put in and was such a happy girl. She was crawling all over and just beginning to pull up on things but not walking yet.

And, now a year later at 2 with her new dolly. It's fun how girly she has become; a year ago she was pretty happy with Hot Wheels and legos. She still loves to play with her brother with his Batman cave and legos, but she definately has embraced her girly side and plays dolls and kitchen too. She chatters up a storm and has LOTS of words. Just this week she has really started to string a few words together. A favorite topic is the dogs and how they drink water in their room. One of her favorite things to do is go to storytime at Barnes and Noble where we sing songs and hear great stories. She also loves to wrestle with Tate and Derek.

She had a pink cupcake cake and lots of balloons. We took them to Chuck E. Cheese for pizza and games and we all had a great time. There are more pictures on our shutterfly website http://familymattila.shutterfly.com The password is mattila.

We are so proud of our little girl and so happy she came to live at our house! It's hard to believe that she is growing up so fast, but, as Tate says, she will always be our baby sister! Happy Birthday, Avarie Sue!!!

Family Dinner

Although the past month has been difficult since Circuit City announced their liquidation, we have really enjoyed having our daddy home almost every night for dinner. It's been great to have him at the table with me and the kids most nights since his work day is shorter. He has also been able to witness some of the dinnertime antics that two kids can muster up. I think sometimes he thinks it's a bit crazy as they both come running to the table, but he happily sits down and then cleans up after. Happiness!
Well, the kids have had colds, so time for some good old chicken soup. I made it yesterday afternoon and we were happy to be able to add the yummy wide egg noodles to the soup, instead of the egg free ones we used to have to eat. We often comment on Avarie's strange dislike of certain toddler favorites. For example, melted cheese, and often cheese in general. What toddler doesn't like cheese? So, as the kids were eating their soup, I noticed each of them after particular things in thier soup. Tate slurped up those yummy noodles so fast, and then picked through the carrots and chicken. Avarie ho hummed for a few minutes, slurping broth from the spoon. Tate kept saying, "Avarie, eat the noodles. They're slurpy and yummy." She eventually picked out all the carrots, celery, onions and chicken. Then proceded to pick up her bowl to drink the broth. Seriously?

So, then here's her bowl...she left every single one of those noodles in there. Don't most kids only eat the noodles?

And, here's Tate's bowl...not a noodle in sight, but every onion is in there and a few carrots.

Just had to share, more for my own memory than anything else. Leftovers tonight...wonder if she will try the noodles.

SNOW

Well, it finally snowed in Richmond, enough to be on the ground long enough to play in it. This was last Tuesday morning and we had to hurry out to play in the snow before preschool in case it melted. This was Avarie's first snow and she loved it!

Tate threw a few snowballs,

made a snow angel, but we didn't quite have time for a snowman since it was only 8:45 and we had to head to school at 9:00. Avarie didn't even mind being the target of the snowballs.

But she didn't like it when she fell down and only had one mitten. Well, learn it early, right? Snow is cold on fingers.

It was actually so cold all week that there was still snow in many shaded areas until Saturday when it got to 65.

A whole new world...of food!

We have great news to report - Tate has had two successful weeks at the allergist challenging both egg and peanut. He is now able to eat eggs, peanuts, and anything containing either of those items. We are so proud of him, and so proud of us!!! It has been a long and sometimes difficult road with food allergies. Derek took him last Monday with a hard boiled egg and Tate forced a little bit down every 15 minutes, working up to a full tablespoon. No problems whatsoever! Then they went back this week with an jar of organic peanut butter (the only thing we felt safe enough with) and worked his way up to a tablespoon again. No problems again! He didn't really like either on of them but forced them down anyway. Can you imagine trying something for the first time, that your parents have always taught you is dangerous, and having to eat like 2 tablespoons of it? He was a trooper too because 15 minutes after they fed him each taste, the nurse came in to check his belly, breathing, temperature, etc. and then feed him some more.

We feel so fortunate to have had the food allergy journey we have had. We have never had to carry an epi-pen, but we have been vigilant about what we feed him, ingredients and cross contamination. If you haven't had to deal with a food allergy, or haven't known someone who has, it can be rough and frustrating. When we started 4 years ago, it was hard to read the labels on food and eating out was very difficult. Now, allergens are printed in bold at the bottom of the ingredients and many restaurants have thorough allergen safe lists and have chefs that are trained to accomodate people with allergies.

So, the past two weeks have been exciting for Tate. He didn't have to take a special cupcake to the birthday party yesterday, he ate his first bag of M&M's, and as you can see in the picture a powdered sugar donut. After the egg challenge, he chose Campbell's Alphabet soup (egg noodles) and a donut for his first treat. It's a bummer of a time to outgrow a peanut allergy since they can't guarantee the safety of cookies, candies, etc. So, the peanut buttery treats will have to wait. In addition, the allergist feels comfortable feeding Avarie the same foods Tate is eating, just not a plate of scrambled eggs or a PB&J, not that she would like it anyway.

My friend Sarah said it best, "Celebrate by going out to dinner, and don't even call first to ask if there's anything your kid can eat there!" Think about that for a second? Yahoo!!!