Dreaming of ice cream...

... and yogurt, and milk, oh and peanut butter... the list goes on and on...

Man, I must sure love Alexa- this not eating dairy is getting harder and harder for me. For those of you who don't know about it, Alexa is a multiple food protein intolerances (MFPI)baby, which pretty much just means she is unable to digest certain food proteins- in her case dairy, soy and peanuts. Because I am breastfeeding her, if I eat any of those foods, it is transferred to her through the milk and makes her a pretty miserable baby. I have been relatively dairy free since her birth, but I didn't cut out all forms of hidden dairy (items with milk in it) until just over three months. I went on an elimination diet which cuts out pretty much all food with the exception of a few for two weeks and then started to incorporate new foods as I could. I pretty much had it narrowed down after about a month and she is like a new baby- happy as can be and her reflux is soooo much better.

Hopefully she will outgrown her allergies, many MFPI babies do by 3 years and their digestive system matures. I may start incorporating some hidden soy to see if she tolerates it, but until then, I may just have to keep dreaming! You would be shocked to find out just how many things have soy and dairy in it... for instance, I had to change our spaghetti sauce because there is dairy in it. So that is why I am dreaming of ice cream-- Mark had a blizzard from Dairy Queen the other day- and ever since then... oh, what we do for our babies! For awhile it was getting easier, but then it got so stinking got here in Georgia the last week or so. You know that stifling hot that nothing seems to help? That is what it has been here. We've had 90 degree days pretty much all summer, but it has seemed worse lately. Maybe I'm just ready to be able to spend some time outside with my little girl- I just know I'm ready for fall to arrive.

In other Alexa news, she has been able to sit up on her own for a few minutes. She still uses her hands like a tripod, but she is sitting pretty independently! Here is a picture we took at Mark's parents- it is kind of hard to see, but she is sitting by herself!


Here is a cute picture of Alexa and her cousin Charley (Jessica's daughter)- she is exactly 11 months older and she loves Alexa so much! She loves giving her kisses!

Alexa also got her first little haircut- she was born with a ton of dark hair, that has been slowly falling out. She was left with three tufts of hair, one on each side and one at the top. So I trimmed it up for her. I'm no hairdresser, but it turned out pretty good!

Before:

During:

After: I'll have to get a good after picture...