Outdoorsy

We've been busy lil' adventurous bees this week. My favorite part was the afternoon we spent at the most perfect lazy river spot we discovered 15 minutes up the mountain from where we live. The river is shallow and slow-moving this month, so we brought some tubes and relaxed/splashed around. Jack and Jared had competitions to hold their breath under water, since that's what he's been struggling with in swimming lessons recently. Me and Jared looked at each other a few times and said, "More of this." More sunshine by the river, in the Cascade mountains, surrounded by trees, with our babies. What a stunning place to live. I'm wishing we had done more of this this summer, but it can be tricky with a baby who still naps frequently and just wants to eat the sand/rocks. Next summer we'll try to be here weekly. 

^^Miss Alice quite pleased with her new proficiency at stair-climbing. 

^^Jared and Jack found a secret picnic table tucked away down an offshoot of a forest trail we frequently  walk on. Can't believe we've never found it before, but this won't be our last secret forest picnic.

^^One of Alice's more mild allergic reactions :( We discovered a new allergen this week: sunflower seeds. I was kind of shocked. I have been using sunflower butter for months in my smoothies and on sandwiches as my substitute for peanut butter while Alice is still breastfeeding. I wonder if this discovery might explain some of the lingering fussiness and the always-frequent messy diapers? She's had sunbutter before in very small doses when I've given her little sips of my smoothies, but this week was my first time giving it to her directly in a larger amount. It went poorly. This also explains the hives she broke out in a few weeks ago after she had a couple bites of my sunbutter sandwich. I thought her reaction was due to a potential cross-contamination if the jelly had ever made contact with a peanut-butter-coated knife. But now I know it was just the sunbutter.

Every time I trial her on a new food I'm prepared for this hivey allergic reaction to be the response. It usually isn't, but when we do discover a new allergen there's a wave of sadness that washes over me. Sunflower seeds should be fairly easy to stay away from, but it hurts because sunbutter was going to be Alice's peanut butter substitute. I already made peace with replacing her pb&j sandwiches with sunbutter sandwiches, but now I have to abandon that image too and come up with something else? It's fine. It really is. We tested hazelnut butter later this week and that went ok, hooray. When I focus on what she can have instead of what she can't have I feel much better about the allergies situation. We have another appointment with her allergist tomorrow and I'm very interested to see what we find and excited to talk to him about strategies for potentially reducing some of her existing food allergies over the next few years. Also excited to discuss a dairy-free plan for weaning her, since she's almost a year old and she's starting to show signs of self-weaning.

^^Jared's mom brought us two big boxes of delicious peaches. We've all been eating sooo many every day. Jack cut this one up himself with his kid knife and shared it with Alice. 

^^Playing "train station."

^^Agate hunting near Baker Lake with Jared's parents and brother and sister. So fun. We found a few cute lil' blue agates.

^^ Pretty happy despite weeks of teething. She now has two chompers on bottom and one-and-a-half tooth nubbins on top.

^^More pictures from our sunny afternoon by the river. We've mostly given up peeling our peaches since we have to get through so many of them. Turns out you get used to the fuzz and it isn't so bad. I'm at the point where it's time to can/freeze the rest, but we've loved eating them fresh all week long. 

^^Last night we roasted hot dogs and s'mores on our back patio, and then me and Jack had a backyard campout that ended in a wet bed while Jared and Alice slept peacefully inside :) It was Jack's "favorite day ever," so worth it. After we finished roasting hot dogs and marshmallows he ran up to me with a big hug and said, "That dinner you made tonight was delicious, mom!" Love him. My favorite part was when Jack was about to drift off to sleep and all of a sudden his stuffed bunny came peeking out from under his sleeping bag and said in the loudest cheeky bunny voice, "Iiiiiiiit's BUNNY! I'm nocturnal! Time to do the peepee dance song!" Then he proceeded to sing a loud peepee dance song until Jack fell asleep mid-fifth verse. (This was probably foreshadowing to the bed-wetting incident, but he did go to the bathroom right before bed so not much more we could've done.) That 5-year-old of ours keeps things interesting.