I like to think that someday, I’ll come back and write a post for each month of sweet Finnegan’s first year, but for now, let’s all just meet me where I am, and celebrate the fact that our Finny is 13 months old!

Finnegan is an absolute delight. He’s happy 99% of the time and he lets us know when that 1% hits with the most blood curdling scream I’ve ever heard. We had to have a monitor for Liam because he wasn’t much of a screamer and would often just wait for us to come and get him. In fact, he is still quiet when there’s something wrong – so quiet that when he sneaks into our room in the middle of the night, he either scares us or we have no idea he’s there until morning. Finnegan is…different. If it wasn’t for checking in on him in the middle of the night or morning wake ups when he’s happy and NOT screaming, we definitely would not need a monitor.

Our food journey with Finny has been completely different than it was with Liam. He’s had food sensitivities since the very beginning and were confirmed when he was about two months old through NAET testing with Dr. Greg Kempf. We identified sensitivities to dairy, fructose, and gluten, and so avoided each until recently when he was tested for actual allergies. He is not allergic to any – but is allergic to peanuts. After we discovered that he is not allergic, we have started to introduce each category slowly (except peanuts!) and so far, so good. We have another week in our mini gluten trial, then will add in dairy the following week. (We are still doing “trials” because though he isn’t technically allergic, he could still be sensitive and have some degree of reaction.)

The backstory to all of this is that we started to see a direct correlation between my milkshake addiction 😬 and his digestion and his skin. We consulted with Dr. Kristy and the AMAZING lactation consultants at Senders Pediatrics, checked his stool for blood, confirmed the microscopic drops to indicate irritation, and started to see Dr. Kempf for testing.

The NAET, or Nambudripad’s Allergy Elimination Techniques, is 100% a “have to see it to believe it” kind of situation. The very short, non-expert synopsis is that it is a means of identifying sensitivities and allergens and then desensitizing the identified offenders. NAET practitioners give vials of allergens to patients (one at a time) and, while holding the vial in one hand and holding out the opposite arm at chest level, the practitioner tries to lower the arm with slight pressure with his or her finger. If the arm drops, there’s a sensitivity. If not, there’s not. Got it? 🤣

We went to the first appointment knowing that the offending allergen was likely dairy and in fact had already eliminated it from my diet, but needed confirmation and help. We went through lots of vials, one by one, and all of a sudden, while I wasn’t paying attention, my arm dropped. (Because Finny was a baby, I held the vial on his head and held my arm out – I was like a conductor for the energy.) I thought I had just lost my concentration – we were chatting away, so surely, I was just distracted. I said oh shoot, try that again. Sure enough, he used one finger, pushed on my outstretched arm, and it dropped like a stone. I looked up at Dr. K – he said “that’s dairy”. I said “SHUT UP” because… because it sounds like nonsense! How is that a thing?! He tried it on Shane and same reaction. Once we got over the shock, we went through the desensitizing process, which is essentially acupuncture or acupressure. I am obviously a firm believer in acupuncture after the success we had with it with both boys’ transfers, so this required no convincing from Dr. Kempf. Finny was desensitized, we eliminated dairy from our diet

We went back twice more with additional sensitivities and identified fructose and wheat. The great news is that Shane and I each lost a TON of weight – my current grand total since Easter 2021 when we first started eliminating is about 42 pounds and his is somewhere close – maybe a little more. His GRAND total is well over 100 pounds, but that’s a story for another day. As I like to remind him, clearly we are sensitive to those foods as well because essentially “all” we’ve done to lose that weight is eliminate dairy, fructose, and gluten, and all sweets. No problem, right?! Thankfully we did it in stages so it never felt like deprivation.

Back to Finny… as far as 13 month milestones go, he is completely mobile, walking and hurrying everywhere (he has figured out how to hustle when he sees an opportunity to make a break for it out of the living room). He loves to imitate – actions, sounds, etc. Big Brother thinks that’s hilarious so he does silly things to see Finnegan do them too. Food is becoming more fun as he has more options. He is – and has been for a while, actually – very clingy to me. We joked that it was because I was the food source, but now that we’re in the weaning process, I think it’s just an attachment thing. Speaking of weaning, we’re down to about three times a day at most. Unlike Liam, who required intentional weaning, Finny is doing it much more naturally, which is perfect for him and for me.

So that’s it! Finny is a blast, I love this age so much, and I am so excited to watch him continue to grow and develop and get to know who he is!