A lot has changed around here

since the last time I posted!

We had a fantastic vacation with the kids and Grandma & Grandpa in Orlando! I'll post more about that later.

Just before we left, we started giving G a daily dose of melatonin about half an hour before bed. I'd read about it a number of times, and seen very promising research results about it, but the tipping point was when we received a medical recommendation to try it. Well... it's changed our lives. G is now sleeping within half an hour of going to bed! The first two nights he woke up at 3 a.m., because his body was used to so little sleep. Now, he's sleeping between 9 and 11 hours a night! We're enjoying struggle-free bedtimes, and some extra time in the evenings. Getting more sleep is doing wonders for G too.

Last week, I took G to a naturopath. I've suspected for a long time that he has always had some food sensitivities, and I've read a lot of anecdotes about a Gluten-free Casein-free diet making a huge difference for kids on the spectrum. In order to commit to such a drastic dietary change, we really wanted to have some medical testing done to verify that the foods are in fact causing problems and that the sacrifices involved in the diet will be worthwhile. The naturopath did some extensive bio-feedback testing, which was consistent with symptoms that we've observed. The result of the testing is that G has multiple food sensitivies that have damaged his large intestine, causing improper nutriet absorption (and some nasty stuff growing in there). Dairy and Gluten are the two big culprits, but the damage they're causing are making him sensitive to many other foods. So... he's now on a very strict elimination diet to allow his body to heal (no dairy, gluten, eggs, soy, citrus or tropical fruit, tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, sugar, etc.). Hopefully, we'll be able to expand the foods that he is able to eat if we follow this diet carefully. He's also taking a natural immune system booster, and Grapefruit Seed extract to reduce the levels of yeast in his system. I think the testing was a good idea, although we could have done this by trial and error. G watched the results on the screen, and talked to the doctor about them, so he understands why he has a list of foods to exclude and foods to eat, and he understands why we're doing this. He's been quite good about reading labels and accepting "no" as an answer. He's had a few tears when daycare friends have been able to eat eggs, but a bit of his stir-fry as a substitute cleared those right up. I'd be lying if I said he doesn't miss macaroni and cheese, but he's being a very good sport. The good news is that we've noticed some changes already (in less than a week). He's no longer showing signs of stomach pain, has WAY less gas, is walking on his toes less, the circles under his eyes are lightening, and his scalp condition is clearing up. We've all made major adjustments to our diets as a result of this. We're eating brown rice and brown rice pasta, green vegetables, and chicken pretty much every day. Most of the grocery store has become irrelevant to us... and we're cooking everything from scratch!