6months GFCF.....

My 2 gorgeous boys, Holden (6) & Ashton (9)

Well, it's our 1/2 year anniversary since going GFCF, so I figured we should celebrate, right?! :-D Ashton is doing extremely well, all things considering. Through the journey, he's battled several illnesses (and seems to be on the verge of another... argh!) such as pneumonia (which quite literally, knocked him on his butt for 2weeks.....!) and sinus infections. He's of course also dealt with the yeast monster (which we're treating with Nystatin and probiotics) and he's taking Super Nu-Thera, Calcium and Cod Liver Oil. Unfortunately, he's battling another cold/upper respiratory junk right now so he hasn't had the supplements/meds in a couple of days. He'll be back on track tomorrow though as I don't want his system to get used to NOT taking them, if you know what I mean? So .... BEFORE the diet ... 1. we had CONSTANT diarrhea, MULTIPLE times a day along with a nasty rash all over his behind 2. CONSTANT meltdowns over the SILLIEST things (move his plate an inch, screaming banshee comes alive!) 3. he had very little interest in his peers 4. was a CONSTANT battle to get good work out of him 5. and he just seemed so combative over EVERYTHING! So... AFTER the diet ... 1. his stools are down to ONCE a day (woohoo!) and are mostly formed. They got a bit icky when we started Nystatin (and each time we raised the dosage) but they're "okay" now. Not back to what they were pre-Nystatin but ANYTHING is better than runny water MUTIPLE times a day! 2. We're able to talk him through most of his meltdowns, which are really NOT meltdowns, just some minor "fussing us out" because we're asking him to do something he doesn't want to do. 3. he's become a social bug! He'll approach peers (and others) with interest and try to engage in conversations. Still a long ways to go but heck, I'm just happy that he's interested in other people, besides ME! lol 4. He does pretty good work with his system of reinforcers, with very few (if any) verbal reminders. 5. he is back to being our easy, laid-back kiddo! His eye contact is SO much better, his spontaneous speech has increased dramatically and he's a whole lot more conversational. Still working on him using SENTENCES as opposed to 2-3word phrases, but it's better than having to second guess him all the time. His eating habits have improved drastically and he's eating things we thought he'd NEVER eat, woohoo! I'm anxious to see what the future holds for us, and as long as we see improvements, we'll keep trying new things. We're getting the heavy metals toxicity test done and that's our next step I think. We'll see. SO ... if anyone out there knows someone contemplating this diet for an OLDER child (over the age of 5 or so...) please feel free to forward my email to them. I know SO many people think "oh my kid is set in his ways, he'll never go for it..." well, I thought the SAME EXACT thing and my kid is surprising me every day. Just wanted to share!