Allergies!

We took Lilly to the allergist yesterday since we think she may have a walnut allergy. Turns out she is allergic to all tree nuts (except peanuts). It was a prick test on her back and the nurse wiped the stuff off about 7 minutes into the testing- she was supposed to wait 15-30 minutes, but I guess her reaction was really positive, so they stopped it early). I'm bummed about the results since she does like almonds (this one only had a small reaction, but the doctor told us to stay away from them anyway). I didn't realize how many things are processed in a plant/bakery with tree nuts. Lilly has to stay away from granola bars and peanuts in a jar (processed with tree nuts). Now we have to have an epi pen for her! At least we now know why she avoided nuts for so long!

Florida!

We went to Florida last week! We were hoping to be able to get away from the cold for a bit- but today in south bend it's 64 and sunny! No winter here right now! Here are a few pictures from our trip. We spent most of the time at the beach. We went to Animal Kingdom for one day (thanks, Mark, for getting us in!!). Both kids ended up getting sick (Lilly with some weird fever thing that turned into an ear infection and Zach with a horrible cough/cold that is still lingering). We had a great time anyway!

Lilly and Goofy (her favorite part of the trip was meeting the characters)







At the zoo (so much fun here)







The beach!!

Updates

Here are some pictures from the last month or so:

Lilly and her snowman "fuzzy" (who melted about 2 days after being built):

Zach's first experience in the snow- he did great, but did not like his hands being so cold! I need to find some way to keep them more protected (or glue mittens on his hands so that he can't pull them off):

Zach, with one of his favorite activities (instruments with the mixing bowls) and wearing Lilly's hat:

Lilly showing off her first lost tooth (we lost the tooth- I think she swallowed it!). She has since lost another one and one of her top ones is loose too!

Merry Christmas!

Happy Birthday to Zach!

Zach turned 1 on Thanksgiving this year. We celebrated in San Francisco, but I really wanted to make him his own cake also, so we had another celebration this past weekend. He's an amazing 1 year old. He's so interested in everything- he loves to try to put things together and tries to figure out how everything works. He is such a happy, smiling kid!

Zach and his "bu" (bus) cake

After eating the cake:

Celebrating in SF with Pete's mom's side of the family:

warning- overload of pictures

Seeing as I haven't updated this blog since the beginning of October, I am including a lot of pictures! We went to San Francisco for Thanksgiving this year and had an absolute blast. Here are some pictures (and others):

Visiting Grandpa Bill in Petaluma, CA

Z having fun at Muir Beach in CA (very fun spontaneous excursion on our way back from Petaluma)

Lilly found some starfish:

Z and Grandpa Bill:

Muir Beach:

Lilly hanging out with Aunt Jean:

Celebrating Zach's first birthday (is anyone surprised that he enjoyed the ribbon and wrapping paper more than the actual present?)

Hanging out with Meg's cousin, Mary:

Yum!

Lilly enjoyed Boudin's bread:

Zach, chasing a pigeon at the wharf:

Lilly, all dressed up to go to a wedding in Chicago with Pete:

Zach reading (one of his favorite things to do)

Zach in one of his halloween costumes

The kiddos dressed for Halloween (the skunk outfit was too small, but way too cute for me not to put him in it for a picture)

Fall

Here are some recent pictures. We've been pretty busy so far this fall- I started back at work 2 days a week, Pete has been travelling more often for work, Lilly is in preschool 3 days a week and Zach is with his Grandma (Pete's mom) while I'm at work. Lilly is starting to read and Zach is constantly on the move and into everything.

Apple Orchard- I had no idea Zach was really eating the apple until I realized he had been very quiet. He ate through the skin! He got really upset when I took the apple away from him. I did give him another, but didn't trust him to eat one in his carseat, so I had to throw it away! He also kept saying "ap, ap, ap", so maybe he's saying apple! Of course, that could just be the speech therapist in me- hearing words!

Lilly eating an apple (of course, she won't eat the skin, so I had to bite into all of her apples first!)

Lilly posing with her roller skates (I know these are kid skates, but she's pretty good with them! She refuses to have me help her)

Zach and his bus (or "bu, bu, bu, bu" as he likes to say whenever he sees this toy). This is by far his favorite toy. He pushes it around our house and is super fast with it. He also loves balls (he's so typically boy- he loves things that move and sports). He loves to throw the ball to anyone!

Zach walking (almost)!

This is a little blurry (mainly b/c our original video is in HD and is like 102 MB and I couldn't get it to upload, so I had to resize this one), but here's Zach and his first steps! Crazy 10 month old we have- he's into everything now. He climbs into our kitchen cabinets, puts everything in his mouth (his crib bars look like a beaver has been visiting him), and is a super happy kiddo!