So long, bottles.

Today is Caitlin's first bottle-free day and it has been a piece of cake. I figured she'd wean easily, but it was almost too easy.

I used the same method I did for Ben: replacing a bottle per day with a cup of milk for the first week, then two bottles per day the second week, and finally replacing the last bottle at the start of the third week (which is today). I just gave her a bedtime snack and some milk and she was good to go.

The trick with Ben was finding the right cup, and in his case it was a silicone straw cup, but Caitlin took to a spout cup right away so there was no guess-work involved.

So yay for my big girl! I'm happy to see her adapt so quickly, but kind of sad to see an end to the bottles because it means our baby isn't a baby for much longer.

Update on Ben's peanut allergy

So yesterday was Ben's scheduled appointment for the oral challenge for peanut at Sick Kids Hospital. They start the appointment by checking his vitals and then by administering a skin prick test for the allergen using an extract (as well as positive and negative controls).

Unfortunately we didn't get past the skin prick test as he had a strong positive response to the peanut extract. This is following a previous negative test to both the peanut extract and peanut butter in August. We don't know what to think. I've left a message with Ben's allergist's office to find out what we should do next: go into the office for a repeat test, wait 6 months (for what would be Ben's usual annual appointment), or wait 12 months.

To say we're disappointed, I suppose, would be an understatement. Despite knowing the test could go either way it's difficult to not hold out hope that this could be it and Ben wouldn't have to consider this allergy long-term. But, on a positive note, I would much rather find out without him having a terrible reaction. Not getting past the skin prick test, however, just feels like a step backwards, especially after months of waiting for the challenge date.

We were a bit blindsided by the allergist performing the skin test. I'd discussed the best way to mentally prepare Ben for the challenge with his allergist (the supervising allergist on duty at the Sick Kids allergy clinic the day of the challenge) at a previous appointment and he'd suggested to not get into detail until the result of the SPT at the challenge appointment - sounded like a great plan to me. If the result had been negative then we'd proceed and explain to Ben that he would eat a little bit of peanut. BUT the allergist performing the test had a different plan and told Ben while he was administering the scratch test that he would be eating peanuts. Ben immediately got upset and said he didn't want to, and so Nic and I were left trying to explain the situation to him -- and in the end all for nothing because he had a positive skin test anyway. Grr. (On a side note I will say that I am very impressed with my boy's adamant stance on not eating peanut. Such a smart boy.)

Our independant boy

When we got home from school on Monday I'd noticed Ben's entire outfit had changed: shirt, underwear, pants, and socks. So naturally I asked him what happened. He tells me he tried to pee standing up and proceeded to explain that the toilet was in one direction and his pee went in another (and apparently all over him - oops!). So I asked him if his teacher helped him and he said 'No, I handled it pretty well all by myself. I cleaned up all the pee with paper towel!' (And he was so proud of himself!)

Anyway, I had a feeling his teacher wasn't aware for a few reasons: a) his wet clothes didn't come home in his bag, b) he'd forgotten to transfer his epipen to his new pants (he told me he didn't know how to clip it on), and c) she hadn't mentioned it to me when I was chatting with her at the end of the day.

So, forward to this morning. I asked her if she'd known and sure enough she didn't. He really did handle it all by himself! He made a mess, cleaned it up, went out and got his bag of spare clothes, changed, put all his wet clothes in the bag and put them back in his cubby. I'm impressed!

Our baby girl is ONE YEAR OLD!

Happy birthday to our beautiful girl, Caitlin! One whole year old today!

I didn't cry at her birthday party (which we held on Sunday) and I didn't really feel I was mourning the loss of my infant like I did with Ben. It's hitting me a bit today though. Especially since I'm quite sure she's our last baby. But I know how many wonderful things we have to look forward to, and so I'm not sad for long.

What a wonderful year it's been. I won't lie, the first few months were rough going. It's so hard adjusting to being a mum of two. You can't help feeling like you're always failing someone, and when the 'someone' is a wee little soul you've been blessed to care for and provide for it's tough to not feel overwhelmed with guilt at times. But once we got past that hump everything improved drastically.

Caitlin is an amazing little girl. She's so happy, social, cheeky, curious, and ambitious. Oh, and tolerant. She can take a lot from her big brother... and she's learning to dish it too.

We're beginning to see Caitlin assert herself more and when she doesn't like something she will let you know! And she sure can get mad when you take something away from her that she's not supposed to have. Foot stomping mad!

We absolutely cannot imagine life without our girl. She has brought so much to our family and I feel we've all learned more from her than she from us so far.

Happy first birthday, Caitlin. Mummy, Daddy, and Ben all love you very, very much!