Is it really July? We have now entered month 10 of OIT--- but it's possible Coby will be able to graduate this month, and if not this month; then next! That finish line really may be in sight!
CRAZY!
It is ironic that we really are so close but at times still so far...
We decided to make Coby's birthday party a few weeks before his actual birthday. He wanted to have a sleep-over party and Shabbos ends too late to have it then, so we had to do it on July 3rd since there is no camp or work on the 4th.
Since his party theme is "How to train your dragon"--- of course I had to make a dragon cake. And of course that cake had lots of odds and ends necessary in order to complete it--- fruit roll ups for the wings, fruit by the foot for the fire, fruit gems for the claws. marshmallows and chocolate chips for the eyeballs, hershey kisses for the nostrils...
I needed one last item and that was chocolate covered graham crackers for the spikes.
But we couldn't find any that was both kosher and safe enough for Coby.
So I thought okay, I'll juse chocolate square mints---- but it said "may contain peanuts".
That was sooooo aggravating because he is just a few short weeks away from being able to eat those items, but still- we could not use it. Instead I just dyed some fondant, rolled it out and cut triangles for the spikes.
Coby literally gasped out loud when he saw the cake. The kids were amazed too. One boy exclaimed within his first ten minutes of being here, "this is the best party ever!!!!" (he was not at Coby's Harry Potter party last year.)
So that finish line is in sight; but we still have to navigate our way through our 'new normal' and make adjustments when necessary.
For example, Coby's party began at 6:45. We definitely wanted his two hour rest period post dose to be done before the first guest arrived.
Usually he comes home from camp at 4:25, showers and carbs up. Our doctor had told us that we need to wait 45 minutes after showering Coby before he could dose. Obviously we did not have time for that today. He got home and we had him carb up right away. As he was eating, we were sponge bathing him with a baby wipe to get all the chlorine, bug spray and sun tan lotion off.
His two hours ended just four minutes before the first kid arrived.
Pheeeew.
He'll have a real shower tomorrow.
And speaking about sun tan lotion--- while we all know about sun safety, and lotioning up every two hours or so and yada yada yada... it takes on a whole new level of conscientiousness for Coby. We learned that if your child gets a sunburn---- that elevates the temperature of the skin---- and there have been reports of more reactions to those kids who have sunburns.
Crap.
So far this summer we've been doing okay. His cheeks are a bit pink when he gets home from camp, but nothing major. We do keep reminding him to reapply the lotion at least once during the camp day as well.
As I type I hear the occasional giggle emanating up the stairs. It gives me such joy to know Coby has such happiness surrounding his birthday. Due to the severity of his allergy, Coby has not been able to attend most birthday parties through the years (I believe he went to a total of one this year), so I try to make his birthdays extra special.
3 YEARS OLD/UPSHERIN-- no real theme. Just had about 50 people over. Milchig meal. Aleph bet choo choo train. tallis cake I made. I made aleph bet cookies, boy cookies wearing tzitizit, kippah cookies and scissor cookies. Until this year we simply had been purchasing Costco cakes. Costco was no longer safe so I had to bake everything.
4 YEARS OLD--- JAKE AND THE NEVERLAND PIRATE THEMED kids first had splashy fun outside in pools and waterslides, made pirate cupcakes, each got a pirate hat, posed for pix by the pirate boat, made treasure chests and went on a treasure hunt and then had a cannonball balloon fight
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| water slide |
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| decorating treasure chests |
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| treasure hunt |
5 YEARS OLD- I threw out my back and couldn't pull a party together on my own. So we went to BOUNCE-U and on his actual birthday we went to Busch Gardens.
6 YEARS OLD-- construction party at the Home Depot kids each got construction hat and Home Depot apron. They each built a tool box and painted it. Food/cake and games.
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7 YEARS OLD--- Ninja turtle themed- they made Ninja Turtle cupcakes, and ninja turtle pinata bags, they each got a mask, pinata. Musical sewers. Pass the pizza box around. Food & Ninja turtle cake
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| making turtle cupcakes |
8 YEARS OLD--- In my opinion, this year can never be beat. Not ever ever. Harry Potter. I spent months planning this. I made platform 93/4. I made Coby a robe. I turned our dining room into Hogwarts. I made wanted posters. I even decorated the bathroom. I made wands for each kid & we had a sorting hat ceremony. Each kid got the proper tie, a tattoo, and glasses. We played quidditch. We did magic spells and potions. Each child created their own owl. They drank butter-beer. They brought home souvenirs from honeydukes and gryffindor.
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| After the hat sorted them, they each got the proper tie |
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| Platform 9 3/4 |
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| drinking butterbeer during potions class |
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| Quidditch |
Coby's 9th birthday celebration is going on now. Not much prep needed for a sleep-over. Just some decorations and making a dragon cake. Game table, food, mad libs, movies, popcorn....
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| mad lib hysteria |
in their sleeping bags- progress!
Obviously we'll celebrate his birthday again on the actual date.
And America's birthday is tomorrow. Last night we went to see fire-works and thanks to OIT for the very first time ever Coby was able to buy something from an ice cream truck!!!
It's kind of ironic. Coby was not able to get his top choice since, 'may contain peanuts'. His second choice actually said, "made in a nut-free facility". Who would've thunk? It was still the very first time we ever approached an ice-cream truck.
I was very excited when Coby decided to taste and then eat the rest of Yitz' ice-pop which DID say, 'made in a facility with peanuts.' BOOYA!!!
So Coby had his ice-cream (up until the cone--- since he decided the cone was gross). Then he had Yitz' ices. At this point we are about three hours post dose and we play catch with Coby as we listen to the band and wait for sunset and the fire-works.
Was he reacting to the ice-pops?
Even though it was 3 hours post dose, was the heat plus the exercise causing a reaction?
I took a picture and told Yitz we have to page the doctor.
He asked me, 'do we even have Coby's medicine with us?'
'Obviously we have the epi and the benadryl, but we don't have the steroids with us, what do we do?'
I took a minute to brain-storm and did some detective work.
"Coby--- the ice-pops you ate had a very big stick, by any chance did you accidentally poke yourself on the roof of your mouth a few times?"
"Yeah."
"But you finished that ice-pop 40 minutes ago."
"Okay."
"Then you were playing sports."
"Yep."
"Yep."
"Coby when my body hurts--- I tend to be in more pain when I am sitting still, when I get busy I forget the pain. Is it possible your mouth was hurting as soon as you poked it with the stick, but since you were busy having fun you didn't pay much attention to it."
"I guess."
I had him sit down and drink some water and spray himself with a misting fan. Within a few minutes Coby said, "Okay- I feel much better now."
Pheeeeew. Crisis averted.
I don't think I'll ever be able to completely let my guard down.
But he had a great time last night, and stayed safe and that's what counts.
Meanwhile the boys just stampeded upstairs now and one shouted out "THIS IS THE BEST BIRTHDAY PARTY I HAVE EVER BEEN TO!" Coby took me aside and whispered, "You make me the best birthday parties ever."---and that makes it all worth it.
It is 10:47 and they are all still awake.
Yes it is gonna be a long night.
But my boy is happy. And in this momma's book- that (and safety) is all that matters!
And in case you haven't figured it out by now----
Entenmann's for breakfast!!!!
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