is how I measure a year without cheese. I have been dairy free for an entire year. Henry started reacting to diary (among other things, lets not get into that right now) through my breast milk. His pediatrician told me to cut out dairy at Henry’s one month check up if his questionable poos weren’t better in a week. Well, they seemed to get better for a while so I kept eating cheese. Around 5 1/2 weeks, the runs were back, so I decided that I would stop eating it after Christmas. (A girl needs to have fudge. I remember fudge…….) The pediatrician told us that I would probably be able to add it back in a few months. “Okay,” I thought, “How bad can it be?” I started looking through every aisle of the grocery store for things that don’t have dairy. Did you know that Oreos are dairy free? That my friends is the reason I am not currently the size of Nicole Richie. Well, it was a downward spiral from there, and Henry and I are currently dairy, soy, peanut, wheat, barley, potato & turkey free. “What do we eat,” you ask? I eat my weight in tortilla chips each week, and Henry lives on fruit. Yes, I am one of those dreaded “extended nursers.” Shudder. I never thought I would breastfeed to 12 months, let alone after. Parenthood really teaches you a thing or two, doesn’t it?
So, here I am, nursing a toddler and not eating cheese. If anyone would have told me that a year ago, that I would still be doing this, I would have kicked them in the crotch and slapped them across the face.
Here’s to cheese in 2008!
PS, If anyone can find “Rice Slices” that are diary and soy free, please let me know. The only ones I can find have milk in them. No, the irony is not lost on me.