Here a Moo, there a moo...

...everywhere a moo, moo.... except at our house!

I think I've mentioned, but maybe I haven't, that we figured out Asa and dairy foods do not agree! So, I've been on a quest to figure out what I can eat that doesn't have dairy or what non-dairy alternatives I have access to.

Enter: Mother Earth Market. We have a local health foods market that I found out carries several vegan brands. Yesterday I went to check it out. We already bought some rice milk from Publix so I can cook meals that call for milk. And we got dairy free "butter" (the cholesterol lowering kinds do not have dairy protein! We got benecol) from Publix too. Hooray for bread and butter and butter on a baked potato. :) At Mother Earth I found vegan cheese slices. I put some on my baked potato (I tore it into pieces so it would be like shredded cheese) last night. I can't say they have a TON of flavor, and the texture is much stiffer than a slice of real cheese, but they did a little something and it didn't taste bad.

I also got some rice milk based "ice cream." It has strawberries mixed in with it. I have to admit, it does not taste creamy like ice cream, but it is cold and refreshing. :) For dessert last night, I scooped myself some of the "ice cream," added slices from half a banana, and crumbled some nilla wafer cookies on top. It was quite tasty!

Someone from church recommended Tofutti Cuties ice cream sandwiches to me, so I picked up a box of those. They are soy milk based. I found a variety that has vanilla cookies for the sandwich part (still avoiding chocolate, i.e. caffeine) and key lime pie flavored soy milk ice cream. YUM!

Lastly, I got some frozen pizzas that are completely vegan and a Luna bar--hopefully a lunch option and snack option when I'm short on time due to errands, appointments, or just an off day for our little guy.

The funniest part of my trip to the store was when I was checking out. I had to laugh that I was in a health food store and basically had all this junk/snack food. The cashier commented on the ice cream bars, and I told her I have a newborn who does not get along with cow's milk. She said she'd never heard of that, but that if he doesn't drink cow's milk he'll grow up to be a really healthy baby. hehe So there I am, the horrible meat eater buying vegan food just because my son has driven me to desperation. :) Maybe you had to be there, but it made me laugh in the car on my way home. :)

In other news, Asa has almost worked himself into a pretty regular routine. The only bad part of that is when something changes it throws him for a loop even more than before! For example, the past several days he's eaten at 2:30 AM, 5:30 AM, 8:30 AM, 10:30 AM, 1:00 PM, 3:30 or 4:00 PM, 6:00 PM, 8:30 PM, and 10:30 PM.... so some 2 hour spacings upon real wake up and right before bed time, 3-4 hours at night, and about 2.5 hour splits most of the day time feedings. Anyway, last night he got off. He at at 2:30, I finally got him settled in at 3:30 (he had gas that kept startling him, but at least he was not in pain from it), he woke up at 4:30 and I was with him until 5:30. He often eats then, but he was so tired from not sleeping he was definitely not hungry at 5:30. Then he woke again and Matt took him at 5:45. He got him to sleep at 6:00 and they slept on the couch until 7:15, when he woke up and I fed him again. Then he went back to sleep with me until 10. But that means he essentially skipped the 5:30 feeding, which also means he missed a chance to have some milk help relax him and push some gas out. Anyway, he's off today. Tired but hungry but gassy and not relaxed enough to push it out. I fed him again at 10, tried at 12 to make up for the missed feeding, but he was distracted by his tummy. Not interested at 12:30, and finally ate okay at 1:00. So at least we are back on his usual (for lately) feeding times now that I fed him at 1:00. He is currently asleep in the swing because he wanted to be cradled instead of laying flat in his crib. I think it will be much better when he finally empties his stomach, but who knows how many more feedings that will take! Poor little guy!

So anyway, when he is in his routine, he has been doing really well. And it's really nice to have some predictability to the day. He's also interacting more during play times which is sweet. He's noticing his feet more and more and even grabbed one today! He is also starting to flail his arms at things that hang above him, hitting them. He's not doing it totally intentionally, but he does notice that he's doing it and seems to like when he manages to hit a toy. We'll try to get some video of it soon. :)

There you have an update from us. :) My mom arrives on Wednesday to spend a long weekend with us, and I can't wait to hear how she thinks Asa has changed! We hope you've had a good weekend and have a great week ahead. :)