Allergies, Fathers Day, Grammy's operation

Teaghan recently had her 18 month allergy skin-prick test to see how her allergies are going.
Some of you may recall that we had a horrible experience last time we had her tested at 7 months. We went to a different doctor this time and had a very pleasant visit. Teaghan was very brave and endured most of the skin-pricks without a fuss (she had at least 12 pricks on each leg, poor baby!). The test revealed that while she is still allergic to milk, wheat, and eggs, she has lost her allergies to nuts, soy, yeast, and codfish. YAY!! We also got her tested for strawberries and kiwi fruit, for up until now we've been told to stay away from them as they're common allergens for children. Thankfully Teaghan tested negative to them, so we celebrated that night with strawberries for dessert (she didn't eat the whole bowl...just two strawberries!). It's also very exciting that she can now have soy, as there are so much more soy products available as a milk alternative. We were very excited to find soy cheese and soy yoghurt!



Pete celebrated his second Fathers Day on 7th September. He was treated 'Woddles' (penguin shaped waffles) for breakfast and lunch at a cafe.  Teaghan gave Daddy a hand-painted card, a pen holder, and an MP4 player.



Jo's mum had surgery on her feet (sorry, don't know the name of the condition...) on 12th Sept. We thank God that it was a smooth and successful surgery. It was good to see her in good spirits when we visited her the next day. Mamee was her usual chatty self!
 

WHAT'S NEW WITH THE ONGS?

Teaghan is 18 months old today!! It's amazing how time flies! We just love watching her little personality come out more and more each day. She is getting chatty now, with some of her favourite words being: "Daddy" "meow" "more" and "no". Teaghan likes to make animal sounds and reminds Daddy (by saying "Bible!") to read her Bible devotional after dinner when he forgets. Jo continues to teach ESL two days a week and fulfil cake orders the rest of the time. Pete is recovering from a bad case of the flu/cough which has seen him out of action from work for a week!

Aunty Lisa and Uncle Tony (Jo taught both their kids when they were in kindergarten) came to visit from Melbourne recently. It was wonderful catching up with them. Teaghan has missed her Aunty Lisa!! :o)


Daddy and Teaghan's nightly bedtime routine...

First... a visit to see Moonbie who is usually snoozing on Mummy and Daddy's bed.

Then before the bath, a visit to Teaghan's bedroom to make sure things are in place for bed time

Then Teaghan has a play in the bathroom whilst waiting for Daddy to fill up the bath

Then it's off with the clothes! Teaghan usually helps put her clothes in the laundry basket

Into the bath!!

Teaghan watching 'In the Night Garden' with her tigers (or as she calls them: 'tata's!).


We finally got around to sorting through our garage of junk!! It took a whole weekend but we are glad we did it! Now we just gotta wait for a council clean up to put all the unwanted junk out by the kerb. Here's Teaghan trying on a pair of Jo's old shoes...

Sleep sleep sleep

Sleep is such a big part of being new parents. Baby's sleep and ours. Sleep sleep sleep.
Luckily for us, Teaghan is a good sleeping baby and has slept through the night since she was 8 weeks old. Nowadays, she sleeps 12-13hr straight at night, so we can't complain!!
When Teaghan started rolling, Jo invented a 'Bed Sock' which is basically zip up bed sheets, so Teaghan wouldn't roll onto her tummy at night (SIDS). Then when Teaghan started crawling, Jo sewed her sleeping bag onto the 'Bed Sock', so Teaghan wouldn't crawl out at night! As she used to crawl out, get stuck, and cry for help!
Both contraptions worked beautifully and gave us wonderful peaceful sleep, but recently we thought that it was about time to unsew her sleeping bag... she can't use it forever! So we braced ourselves for sleepless nights of repositioning Teaghan once she got out of her sheets...
It turns out that although Teaghan does get out of her sheets, she generally doesn't wake up... She just spins around her bed and we sometimes find that she'd spun 360 when we get her in the morning!

Here's Teaghan, out of her sheets with her head at the opposit end of the bed from where Pete had put her down the night before!


If you look in the photo above, you'll see our 'spy camera'. It's just a cheap old webcam that we attached to Teaghan's cot... well this is what happened one day when she was supposed to be having her nap!!!!


New fluffy pink butterfly slippers

a wonderful stage

Life with allergies

YUMMY VEGEMITE SANDWICH
Eating a sandwich is something most people take for granted. But for those with allergies like Teaghan, eating a sandwich is a huge deal!! Teaghan cannot eat normal bread as she is allergic to the wheat, yeast, and egg in it. Thank God for a company called Orgran (www.orgran.com) who makes foods, including bread mixes, that are free of all that Teaghan's allergic to. Jo bakes a loaf of 'special' bread for Teaghan each week and for the first time in Teaghan's 16 months of life, she can eat a vegemite (well, it's actually Freedom Foods 'Vege-spread' - yeast-free vegemite!) sandwich just like everyone else!
Teaghan's allergies (to wheat, eggs, milk, yeast, soy, nuts) have somewhat settled now that we know how to manage it. She gets the occasional itchy spots but hasn't had another emergency room episode. We carry infant Zyrtec with us at all times and have adjusted to living with allergies. We have become wiser in how to feed and nourish Teaghan given her restricted diet. She's booked in for another allergy test in August followed by an appointment to the paediatrician to review the status of her allergies.



JO HAS SURVIVED HER FIRST TERM
Jo has just finished her first term of part time teaching and is thankful that it's the school holidays. Teaghan has enjoyed time with Mrs McElveney, Luke, and Kaylee every Tues and Wed while Mummy has been at work.
 

Mrs McElveney even bought Teaghan her first pet fish!

MONKEY SEE, MONKEY DO
Teaghan was fascinted by these bobbing monkeys she saw at the shops!



PARTY GIRL
Teaghan at her friend Callum's 1st birthday party.


The cake that Jo made for Callum's birthday.