Birthday cake!

[Anonymous]

Ian turns one in a couple of weeks-yeah!!! We did a brief hidden (and I mean hidden) trial of dairy last week for 3 days (of Good slice soy cheese with small amount of casein in it) and my little guy did not handle it well. Good news-no blood like he used to get on alimentum-so I think that’s improvement but little guy got major cramping and fussy. I feel positive he’ll outgrow now though! HOWEVER, birthday cake time! He can tolerate soy and I’ve had him take some wheat in small tiny doses and he’s been fine sooo…

What to do? I heard chocolate is highly allergic-the only cake gluten/dairy/egg free from cherrybrook is chocolate (which I made this weekend and is delicious) but should I maybe just use the vanilla which has some wheat in it instead? It’s still dairy free. They have both chocolate and vanilla frosting gluten/dairy free. Besides, the chocolate cake did taste dark and bitter-which I like, but not sure Ian will. Whatever we decide, I’m going to get a cake in same flavors from cupcake cafe here in nyc (delicious bakery) for the grownups. I just want to trick Ian into thinking it’s the same thing he’s eating. Going to have it designed with a big baby einstein dragon (his favorite puppet).

Anyone whose child wasn’t mspi still have a baby dislike chocolate at this age? Curious on taste preference.

THANKS!!!!

[Anonymous]

Happy early birthday to Ian! Where did you decide to have the party?

We also got Marisa’s cupcake from Cupcake Cafe (they made a fab Elmo cake

for us). It was SOOOO good but Marisa wouldn’t even try it. I hear it’s pretty

common for one year olds to be upset and overwhelmed at their parties –

but it’s still good to have him a cake to eat in case. I’m not sure about the

chocolate issue – maybe get the vanilla just to be safe?

[Anonymous]

We got a gluten free/dairy free cake mix for Kaelyn. It wasn’t bad. I’m thinking that it was made by Kinnikick, but I’m not positive. Alex’s christening is this weekend, and we’re having a cake at my mother-in-law’s afterward, so I’m going to make a separate cake for Kaelyn. I’ll try to remember to post again after I check the brand.

[Anonymous]

Thanks Karen and Kim.

I gave him a taste of the cake to see if he’d even like chocolate and all he did was keep feeding it to me-sooooo darn cute! Too dark I think. So I’ve ordered the vanilla/yellow cake even though it has wheat. I’ve seen him eat wheat in low doses so I’m not really that worried about it. Besides, he probably wont eat that much with everything going on anyways.

Karen-what kind of cake did you order from cupcake cafe? I’m thinking yellow with cream cheese frosting for the grownups-make it a little tasty but still throw off Ian into thinking it’s the same thing. Sorry M never got to try. I”ve heard babies get overstimulated too. How’s she doing these days btw? Eating texture better? No viruses I hope??

[Anonymous]

OK, that’s why I miss New York so much. You guys have places like Cupcake Cafes. Where I live you get a round of applause if you show up with a dozen white cupcakes with a few sprinkles and a plastic Dora sticking out of the top!

Happy Birthday Ian.

[Anonymous]

Sorry it took me so long to get back to you Tracy! Has been busy here – I

have a nasty cold (which I suspect Marisa is coming down with), she is

teething badly and transitioning to one nap. Plus she’s constipated again

since switching to whole milk (even though she was fine on milk-based

formula) so speaking with the doctor today about that one. And textures are

still a problem – might give a call to Early Intervention soon to make sure it’s

just that she’s a picky eater and no developmental issues.

Anywho, enough about us – what are you doing for Ian’s birthday? My SIL

threw a big bash for her DD’s first birthday this past weekend (83 people!). It

was too much, but also for her and her husband’s 30th birthdays. Anyway,

she had someone come as Elmo and Marisa went nuts – she loved it! She

had much more fun at her cousin’s party than her own…

[Anonymous]

No worries Karen-in fact, I just got back from vacation in Dominican Republic (no less!) so I’ve been MIA as well. Hope you’re feeling better now and that Marisa didn’t catch it. We’re in daycare H#*L with colds, stomach viruses, etc. so I know how tough it is. I’m just not thrilled with daycare in general-but that’s another post. Is M still constipated-what did hte doc say? Otherwise-fine though? No rashes, etc? Maybe she just needs more prunes, greens, etc? Is she eating finger foods still or prefering purees? I’m frankly pretty disappointed with EI I have to say. The OT and FT/ST (same girl) are super sweet, but nowhere near as skilled or disciplined as the evaluators-I kind of feel it’s been a waste of time. We’re having no real feeding problems anymore except he won’t hold his bottle or spoon yet. Will drink from a cup (water only-but only take and toss and those are tough for him to hold) and no straws yet. Only food we’ve had problem tolerating is dairy stuff but we see ped and will have to figure out what to do. I don’t think he wants to give up his elecare yet-still drinking 24oz within 3x a day and (never thought I’d say this) seems to love it-sucks it down. That being said though, you may get a better therapist assigned to you. Ian still kind of needs OT but I’m too chicken to call and request someone new.

Glad to hear she had fun at her cousins party! That’s great-Elmo sounds fantastic. Did you get pics?? Can you post or send to me?? I’d love to see that! We’re just having it in the seminar room at my office but I’m going to decorate and try to make festive. Already ordered cupcake cafe!

[Anonymous]

Tracy – sorry to hear that EI is not working out. We actually fought a lot and got the therapists we wanted and it has made a huge difference, so you should do the same. And happy birthday Ian!

Karen – what are Marisa’s issues? I would recommend just trying to get EI to evaluate her – she may or may not qualify if that is her only issue but if there is something there you can always get therapy privately. We saw an OT in Manhattan who was fabulous – she has been seeing a friend of mine’s daughter since she was around Marisa’s age and the daughter is doing so well… 100% self fed for a while when she would only take a couple of foods at 13months and they do tons of activities for fine motors etc, cartwheel etc so let me know if you are interested…

[Anonymous]

Thais – Marisa is beyond the normal picky toddler – she’s almost scared of

certain textures and won’t try or even really touch anything not dry or too

mushy or that sort of thing. I think we are going to talk to her Ped at her 15-

month visit and maybe call EI after that. Definitely let me know about that

OT – maybe email me with the information? Thanks!

Tracy – will email you and post separately!

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