Odds & Ends

Hey, all.

Nothing major to report, just a few little things.

First, I heard back from Dr. Linsk regarding the antimony issue I mentioned in my last post. He sent out an email to all his patients as he recommends one of the tainted products (zinc) for many of this patients and even sells it in the office. He said that he is unsure exactly how much antimony our kids were exposed to, however, it was enough that it has shown up on the lab tests of several patients. However, he also mentioned that he did not believe the amounts were enough to cause acute poisoning. And, most people's bodies will naturally eliminate the antimony within a few weeks. HOWEVER, since our kids aren't like most, Dr. L. said he will discuss testing and treatment on an individual basis to see if action is needed. So, we will be seeing him soon.

Ben is at the tail end of a cold, and Jeremy and I are just at the beginning. :o( We kept Ben home Thursday with a very runny nose, wet cough, and some diarrhea. Now it seems as though he has a sinus infection. (He gets them monthly this time of year.) I'll give him garlic drops for a few days. If that doesn't clear it up, we'll have to seek a course of antibiotics from the doc.

Despite being sick, the kid has been all kinds of fun!! We've really enjoyed playing, crafts, watching movies, and even doing housework together over our long weekend. See picture below for our latest craft we did with Noah...caterpillar magnets. Ben's is the one with brown antennae, Noah's is the one with the extra stick...which he said was to make it into a puppet, very creative idea! Oh, and mine is the third. Can't let the boys have all the fun!

It amazes me that Ben will not only sit to do these things now (sometimes with a little encouragement), but that he is able to follow directions (sometimes with visuals) and do most of it himself. Awesome progress!

Finally, Ben continues to do great with trying new foods (and new things in general.) Mostly, however, it is proteins that he is eating (chicken, ham, pork, beef, steak, etc.) in addition to his old favorites. He will eat many of these "new" things now without any reinforcement (aka...pop bribe.) Sometimes he will eat them with the promise of delayed reinforcement (ex., "if you eat all your dinner, you can have some ice cream.") This is a great developmental milestone...understanding delayed reinforcement!

Anyway, we are now backing off for a bit, and slowing down on reinforcing these things. This is because I want to start introducing new fruits and veggies, and we need the reinforcement to be very enticing! Not so when he gets it every day!!

So, that's about all I have for now. Ben is dying to play games on Playhouse Disney's website...he's been waiting pretty patiently so I better not press my luck!

Hope all is well with everyone!

Love,
Julie

PS - GIVE TO HAITI!!!!! Such tragedy. No matter how little you think you have or "need" they have less and REALLY NEED more. Pray for them...our brothers and sisters!