Ice Cream for Breakfast

He passed!  The Wee Man passed his soya challenge.  I cannot quite believe it.  I need to monitor him for the next 36 hours in case he has a delayed reaction.  But all being well, come Monday I can introduce soya into his diet.

It was a bit touch and go during the test.  At one point he complained of an itchy tongue and started scratching it quite vigorously.  That's never happened before and it's one of the signs of anaphylaxis.  The Big Man and I got a wee bit anxious at that point.  But the itch came and went quite quickly.  We think there must have been an allergen on the straw he was given.  A straw as it turns out that is left out in the open so it was very likely to have been contaminated with something.  Most likely milk.  

The contaminated straw!

He also had blemishes appear around his mouth.  Not so much hives but red irritations that were itchy.  And again they came and went quite quickly.

A quick phone call to the Consultant to discuss these strange goings on and she confirmed that they do not constitute an allergic reaction and the challenge test had been passed.  We were told to wait 72 hours and watch for any signs of a delayed reaction.  If after all that, nothing untoward happens then it is a big fat pass! 

I am ecstatic!  I cannot begin to tell you how much of a difference incorporating soya into his diet will make.  Pretty much every free from food has soya in it, in one form or another. I've spent the last couple of days surfing the internet for new foods he can eat.
 
He can finally, finally have ice cream.  It's the one thing I have been unable to find or make an alternative for.  We did once find a rice ice cream but the Wee Man thought it tasted "Yuk!" and I haven't been able to find it anywhere since.  I've also found an egg, wheat and dairy free ice cream cone he can have.  So finally after five and a half years the Wee Man will be able to eat an ice cream cone.  And he can now eat chocolate!

That is why on Monday he will have ice cream for breakfast (with chocolate of course).

As always the Wee Man was great at the hospital despite spending eight very long hours there.  His favourite activity?  Painting and glittering in bed!   

Mum's Muffin Top

Whilst cuddling with the Wee Man he said...

Wee Man:  Mum, you have a very nice tummy.

Me:  Do I?

Wee Man:  Yeah.  It's not fat and it's not thin.  It's medium.  

Yay, muffin tops!  Yay, middle age spread!

You see I can't go on a diet.  If I do I will be a bad Mum that gives bad cuddles.

No, this isn't my muffin top.

Tea Cup Craft Challenge

It's been a while since I got my craft on.  I started this blog primarliy to chart my foray into the crafty world and I'm pretty sure I haven't done anything crafty that's blog worthy this year.  Oops!

So to get my craft on I've decided to do a bit of tea cup crafting.  Tea Cup crafting is everywhere on t'internet and everything always looks gorgeous.  I do love a tea cup.  So I'm going to give it a go.

I've got lots of mismatched tea cups dotted around the house, but I've chosen a tea cup set that I bought on my thrifty travels to craft with.  I'm always wary of spoiling a good tea cup with my cack handedness so this set it perfect as it is gorgeous and it's not a known maker.  So I think I can just about live with any mishaps.

I'm not setting myself a time limit on this as I do have a tendency to phaff when it comes to crafting.  So to keep you happy in the meantime here's some pics of the tea cup set I'm going to sacrafice  use.

Four tea cups from the same set but each one is a little bit different.  There's matching saucers and tea plates with them too.

Jeez, the nerves are already starting to set in.  Can I really bring myself to "do" something to these beauties?  I'm off to google and pinterest for some inspiration.  Yikes!


This post is shared on Tea Cup Tuesday.

A weekend with Quinsy.

Whilst everyone has been resplendent in red, white and blue and bigging up the queen I've been "nursing" a sick fool!

The Big Man has been complaining of a sore throat for 5 weeks.  Ever since I had tonsillitis 5 weeks ago so I've been nagging at him to see a doctor.  Being the big strong man that he is, NOT, he decided to fight it himself.  Surprise, surprise he ended up at the emergency Out of Hours GP on Thursday night with a raging fever and difficulty swallowing.

The doctor diagnosed quinsy and declared his tonsils were the worst that he had ever seen.

Dr. Google said

"Quinsy is a complication of tonsillitis.

It is a collection of pus that develops between the back of one of your tonsils and the wall of your throat. This is known as an abscess. An abscess can develop when an infection spreads from a swollen tonsil to the surrounding area.

The medical name for quinsy is peritonsillar abscess."

So I've spent the weekend with a pus filled abscess!  Hope your Jubilee weekend is better than mine.

Look away now if you are of a nervous disposition.  

Here's a pic from Google image for your amusement.

We Won! "In the Night Garden" Live Show

I won my first ever blog giveaway!  Woo Hoo!  I was so excited when I got an email from the lovely Jenny at "Treading on Lego"  I did a happy dance.  An actual bona fidey, bum wiggling, high fiving happy dance!  The Wee Man thought I'd gone crazy but then I told him what we'd won and he joined in with his own street dance version of a happy dance.

And what a wowser of a giveaway I'd won.  A family ticket to the VIP Gala performance of "In the Night Garden Live" at the O2.  Note the "VIP" and the "Gala".  That's right we've gone up in the world.  VIPs r Us.

The Wee Man has always, always loved In the Night Garden (ITNG).  He use to do baby signing as a tot and he made up his own ITNG sign.  He'd hold his hand out flat and trace circles on his palm with his finger (just like the start of every ITNG).  Took me a while to figure out what he meant but I got there in the end.  We've spent many, many happy hours watching Iggle Piggle's antics. 

The Big Man worked on the TV programme so he has a love hate relationship with it.  But we won't mention that.  Though I can understand how watching ITNG for 10 hours every day for 12 months could drive anyone a wee bit potty.

On Saturday we put on our glad rags and headed to the O2.  It took a while to find the Night Garden cos the O2 is mahoosive!  We wandered about for a bit aimlessly then the Wee Man spotted this...

Cue, happy dance.  Though a more sanitised version suitable for public viewing.  How fantabulous is that?!  "Ha Hoo! Ha Hoo! Ha Hoo!" and so it went on until the Big Man put a stop to our silliness.

The Wee Man was given a very huge and heavy goodie bag filled with ITNG goodies.  I must admit some of the stuff was a wee bit too young for him but he loved his illuminating windmill thingie that spun round.  We were treated to some delicious treats.  Filled croissants, bagels, pastries, fruit kebabs anyone?  I'd of course packed some treats for the Wee Man too.

After a wee wait and an interview with a lovely presenter and camera crew (the Wee Man, not us) the doors were opened and we took our seats.  The theatre is laid out so that wherever you sit you get a very good view of the stage.  There's plenty of space for children to get on their feet and dance or do whatever children want to do.

Another wait for the VVIPs (Very Very Important People) to take their seats and some celeb spotting for the Big Man and me.  I saw Emma Forbes and Sara Cox.  I didn't recognise anyone else but I'm pretty rubbish at things like that.  People always look different in real life to what they do on the telly or newspapers, don't you think?

Spot the Big Man.  Hint He's also affectionately known as the Baldy Man.

The show was unbelievably fantastic.  The way they've stage managed it is amazing with panoramic projections and puppets of varying sizes but that's from a Big Person's perspective.

From a Wee Man perspective, it was magical.  It was a fully "immersive theatrical performance".  That's the fancy way of saying it felt as if we were actually in the Night Garden.  He loved seeing Iggle Piggle fall down and we all especially loved Makka Pakka's dance.  The Wee Man danced and sang with Makka Pakka and I may have joined in too.  ;0)  Makka Pakka seems to be the Big Person favourite as was evident when we all went "Aw!" when he came on the stage.

It's a show that every child should experience, because it really is an experience.  It's so much more than just a show.

The show will be touring the UK with dates at the O2, Richmond, Brent Cross (London), Manchester and Birmingham.  Tickets are very reasonable priced from £10 - £27.50.  I say reasonable because you get a very good view wherever you sit in the theatre.  So £10 seems very, very reasonable.  There are two different shows, each running for just under an hour.  Which I think is the right duration for a children's show. 

And the bestest, bestest bit of the day for the Wee Man?  It was of course this...

Disclaimer:  I have not been asked to write this blog post about In The Night Garden Live.  I won tickets on a blog giveaway.  I thought the show was so fantastic that I wanted to share my experience with everyone.  So what are you waiting for?  Go book some tickets!  

Under 300 Followers Blog Hop

Last week I came across a fabulous blog by the gorgeous Amanda.  She's hil-a-r-ious and has the cutest little twin boys who likes to impose themselves on her daily wees(!)

She's hosting a Blog Hop today so I thought I would join in.  Go have a clickey and see who and what you can find.

Chequered Cake Tin - The Result

A couple of weeks ago I bought an interesting chequered cake thingie with the hopes of making the Wee Man a little treat.

Well last week after school, the Wee Man insisted we make a chequered cake and I know I could have put my foot down and refused but I secretly wanted to give it a go too.  So without the right amount of ingredients to make the full size version.  I played about with the recipe and quantities to make a two tiered one. 

It kinda worked out.

We had to kind of squish the cake mixture into the rings.  This was very fiddly and frustrating.  

Carefully ease the rings out...phew!  The white cake batter is lumpy cos it has banana in it.  Just so you don't think I didn't mix it right.  

Ta-Dah!  Baked and out the tin.  Marvel at how the rings have baked into each other but not actually "bled" into each other. 

The second tier. 

Some butter icing between the layers and....Voila a chequered cake!  

A definite hit with the Wee Man and all the kids at school the next day.

This post is shared on Ta-Dah Tuesday.