The Most Wonderful Time

Hubby and I look forward to Christmas brunch all year long. I guess it helps that we never whip up the motivation to recreate any of the holiday goodies that are indulged upon during the most magical of mornings at any other time of the year. But anyways, we were still salivating over the visions of future lefse and breakfast round when the referee called a time out for an ingredients check.
You see, ever since Scootch was diagnosed, even the most simplest of pleasures now needs to be scruitinized for potential dangers, and boy oh boy did Christmas brunch fail the test.
Here is a run-down of the menu;
-Scrambled eggs (are you kidding?)
-Homeade sausages (one thing he can eat)
-Bacon (two things he can eat)
-Hardangerlefse with jam (we were doing good until the "brush with egg" part on the baking directions)
-Almond breakfast round (yeah, no. Totally not)

As you can see, Scootch seemed limited to the Christmas version of the Atkins diet. So what is a momma to do besides loading him up with Apple Jacks before heading over for the brunch festivities? It was still a little disheartening that on the first Christmas he was actually able to eat with us at the table, he couldn't fully participate in a meal served by his own family (who I would think would be a little more sensitive to his needs).
So, live and learn. I guess I'll need to insist on bringing something next year if we can't agree on a change to the menu.

Happy Happy Birthday, Baby

I didn't do much to celebrate my kids half birthdays growing up, but for Scootch I made an exception. For his 18 month birthday I bought him a Med-Alert bracelet. Who knew that a small bit of piece of mind only cost $32?
As much as I felt that him being only 18 months old would protect him for the most part from being fed anything without my permission, I figured the bracelet would serve as an additional safeguard to remind some loving and well meaning relatives who have a tendency to forget the super vigilance his food allergies require. And to my pleasant surprise, the bracelet has had another slightly unexpected effect; public awareness. I mean, this boy has flirted with the public in general since he figured out how to smile, so its only natural they would also notice the little bit of "bling" he sports on his left wrist. And a simple explanation of the bracelet's purpose has opened up all kinds of discourse from perfect strangers; from empathy, to pity, to recipe and restaurant recommendations for allergy friendly venues.
Looks like the free enrollment into the Online Medical Registry wasn't the only bonus to getting him the Med-Alert tag. :-)