Tree nut allergy

When I was a toddler, we found out he had eosinophilic esophagitis (EE). At that time he was allergic to eggs, peanuts, milk, and soy. Over the last year (maybe longer I can't recall exactly) we discovered he was allergic to pecans. It started as a mild reaction (his mouth and throat would bother him), but the reaction has gotten to the point that he now throws up if he eats a tree nut. Unfortunately he ate a nut last night (not sure what kind) at Pastor Ken's house. I rushed him to the bathroom, but let's just say the toilet lid was down and I had a big mess to clean up in their bathroom. He isn't allergic to peanuts. He eats peanut butter all the time without any issues. He wanted to eat a fun size Almond Joy today from his stash of Halloween candy, but I said NO to that. I realize he *might* be able to eat almonds, but I didn't want to take a chance that he'd be throwing up in the van on the way home from Penn State today. I told him for the time being he needs to be very careful to avoid ALL nuts aside from peanuts (which is a legume not a tree nut). So from now on when we are eating at someone else's house, I am encouraging him to get in the habit of asking if there are any nuts in anything being served. When he was a toddler he wasn't able to communicate with us as far as which foods irritated his esophagus. It's nice that now he's old enough to verbalize those experiences, and if he has to have an allergy, I'd rather it be tree nuts then something like milk because I cook with dairy products far more often than I do with tree nuts.

Today I'm giving thanks....

1. That the kids and I were able to enjoy a production of "The Diary of a worm, spider, and fly" at Penn State today. We've owned the books for almost ten years, and the production was well done. They added in three other characters - an ant, a butterfly, and a bee (she was the teacher).

2. While we were in State College, we visited the Appalachian Outdoors store so we could use the $20 gift card we received as a door prize on October 31 at Bald Eagle State Park. We bought a gently used sleeping bag - one that would have cost close to $200 if it was brand new for $20 which meant all we had to pay was the tax ($1.20). Nadia picked a blue one as that's her favorite color.

3. Today was the last music class. They are giving a performance next Monday. The kids have enjoyed the class (choir for Nadia and Ian), and it was free!

4. The boys and I enjoyed spending time at Pastor Ken's last night (minus the part where Ian was throwing up). There were three delicious soups. I brought cheesy garlic biscuits. Nadia doesn't like soup so she opted to go to the Middle (the youth group she has been attending this fall on Sunday nights). They had been studying Genesis and now have switched to Romans. She said they studied Romans 5 on Sunday night.

5. The kids and I are enjoying our study of I Samuel on Monday nights. We also enjoyed eating a breakfast sandwich for our dinner (using a gift card) in between the music class and Bible study. We also got some groceries at Aldi's. I am going to miss not going to Aldi's when the music class is done. We got some delicious grapes tonight, for example.

6. Paul and I got our new glasses on Saturday afternoon as we ordered them online. It was only a slight change in prescription, but I am definitely seeing things more clearly.

7. That Ian only seems to be allergic to tree nuts at this point in his life.