Baby Buzz

Last weekend, we had perfect weather for an outside adventure, so we headed over to Williamson County Regional Park, home of Cedar Rock Railroad.

Nish loves anything with wheels, and he enjoyed the little train at the B.Y.D.E.E. Festival, so we thought a 1.3 miles ride on a 1/4 scale miniature train would make his day.

Sophie (the train) pulled out soon after we arrived at the park, so we had a short wait until the train's return.

Nish amused himself by playing with nifty sticks and rocks he discovered in the woods. Ronak and I later amused ourselves by changing Nish's diaper. Then there were more rocks and more sticks. Then Sophie finally came around the bend.

Nish was so excited to see her.

We purchased our tickets and climbed on board. A slow, steady stream of riders arrived and joined us.

Then, with a whistle, we were off.

The tracks took us through woods, past athletic fields, through meadows of butterflies that flitted in and out of the train ...

... past a pond and hiking trail ...

... until we arrived at the spooky entrance to a tunnel, all decorated for Halloween.

The tunnel wasn't too scary, but it was a bit more than I would have liked to have exposed my one-year-old to. But Nish didn't seem to mind. It was just one small part of a very exciting train trip.

Then Sophie headed back into the woods, and we arrived back at the train depot.

Nish handled the end of this ride better than his last. Perhaps because he was surrounded by so many tempting sticks and rocks.

We'll definitely be back again.

Map of Williamson County Regional Park

Sorry for the alarmist title, but I thought "New Restaurant at The Arboretum Uses Peanut Oil and Serves Peanuts in the Shell, so Parents of Peanut-Allergy Kids Should Be Careful at the Park" was a little long.

That's about it in a nutshell, a peanut shell.

Fives Guys Burgers and Fries opened recently at The Arboretum, right around the corner from Amy's Ice Cream. For those of you who know The Arboretum area, that's very close to the outside eating area, which is right next to the fountains and the cow sculptures where many kids play.

Five Guys is proud of using peanut oil to fry their food and for serving peanuts in the shell. They say so on their website:

Q: If so many people are allergic to peanuts, why does Five Guys continue to offer them?

A: Over the past 20 years, peanuts have become part of the Five Guys identity. We by no means want to exclude guests from our store, but at the same time we would not want to disappoint our peanut eating guests. We make sure that we have signage on our doors and in our restaurants about the fact that we serve peanuts in bulk containers as we would never want someone to risk their health by coming into our restaurants.

(Five Guys FAQ)

They do have signage in the form of white boxes piled by the windows that state that they serve peanuts and that the peanuts should not be removed from the restaurant. And they are prominent enough that I noticed and read them, but I'm an observant person. (If I were a cat, my curiosity would have done me in by now.) But I wonder how many people will miss or ignore the signage. The same people who smoke in hospitals and park in handicapped spots and let their untrained dogs run leashless in parks.

Nish's favorite park has suddenly become a much more dangerous place for him to visit. I guess there was always the chance of families picnicking with peanut butter sandwiches or peanut M&Ms or beef satay. (For all I know there is peanut butter smeared all over the legs of those cow sculptures.)

But it's kind of like having a stagnant pool of water at the edge of the park; it's more likely that you'll be bitten by mosquitoes that way. The odds of peanut exposure have increased to the same levels that we have to worry about when we travel by plane. (They won't serve peanuts on our flight, but left over peanut bits are everywhere. I saw some between my seat and the wall on just my last trip.) Air travel is a peanut-allergic child's parent's nightmare - as is visiting The Arboretum now.

On the other hand, our guard definitely won't be down. We'll be sponging down cows with sanitary wipes. We won't be more than 3 inches behind our child and his exploring fingers, ready to tackle, sanitize, and Benadryl him at a moment's notice. We'll run interference with friendly children, subjecting them to dietary history questions (When was the last time you ate a nut product and when did you last have a thorough bath - with soap?), and covering their little hands with sanitizing foam. (We'll be ready for secret service work after a few trips to the park, and we'll do an amazing job if potential threats are in the form of something small and legume-shaped.)

The Arboretum may no longer be a fun, relaxing, restful (well, as much of those things as it can be with a toddler anyway), but my son should be safe with his extra-vigilant parents by his side.

What about the places that we think are safe? The bead table at the library? The trains at Barnes and Nobles? The swings at the playground? The little girl who likes to give hugs at the grocery store? Shopping carts? The list goes on. Because for a food-allergic kid the world is a mine-field.

Have you checked the list of ingredients on your foods lately? There are nut products hidden in everything, and if not in the food you actually purchased, probably somewhere at the processing plant where that food was made. This makes grocery shopping longer and more tedious, reading those teeny tiny labels for one more thing to avoid.

Do we want nuts eradicated from The Arboretum, the playground, the restaurants, the grocery store? Sure, it would make our lives easier. We could relax and stay maybe four steps behind our inquisitive toddler (There are many dangers beyond his food allergy), but nuts are a good source of protein and tasty. I miss eating my nuts. I love peanut sauces on spring rolls. I love peanut M&Ms and Peanut Butter Cups and Mr. Goodbars.

In fact, those are the candies I usually purchase to hand out at Halloween (hoping no trick-or-treaters show up, and I can have them all to myself). But now I have to rethink Halloween completely. I don't want my kid getting candies he's allergic to. And I don't feel right handing them out anymore. I fear I'm going to become box-of-raisins-lady or fruit-roll-up-woman. But they're healthier, and the kids' dentists and maybe their parents too (if they aren't the primary treat eaters) will thank me. Meanwhile the trick-or-treaters will probably leave a "steaming goody bag" on my porch.

It's not easy to explain in a short meet-and-greet time:

Door opens.
Kids: Trick or treat!
Me: You look adorable. What's that a ghost? A monster? A pumpkin? Wow! Listen, my son is allergic to peanuts and possibly other nuts, and chocolates are produced in factories that handle nuts. And even artificial nut flavoring is made by stripping down peanuts. So long story short, no chocolates here. Please don't leave me any presents on my porch. Happy Halloween!"

I guess I could hand out Skittles or Starbursts. I'll have to check the ingredients and make sure there aren't any hidden ingredients: peanut flour, groundnuts, made on machinery that also processes peanuts. You just never know.

Which is why we are three steps behind our toddler, ready to tackle, sanitize, and Benadryl.

Oh no! Out of the way! I see a green peanut M&M on the sidewalk! Clear the area! Clear the area! Oh wait, it's a leaf. False alarm. I'll just get up from the ground now. Wait! What's that over by the tree? Got to go find out! Look out!

Over and over again, we've heard "Wait until he is walking, then he'll really keep you moving."

We knew we wouldn't have to wait long. Our boy was determined to move from day one. When he was just a few months old, arms not strong enough to lift his upper body, Nish was trying to crawl. He'd use his powerful legs to push, push, push, plowing his face through the carpet toward his target destination. He didn't always end up where he wanted, because 1) it's difficult to aim when you're facing the floor and 2) rug burn on the forehead can dissuade even the most determined of babies.

He was crawling properly before Christmas. Then he was sitting up, and the same day he realized he could sit, he attempted to climb onto the sofa. By mid-January, he was crawling up stairs. And at about 10 1/2 months, he was walking.

And both his parents were exhausted, but not really losing the weight. Because once your toddler is toddling, your pace slows down to match the strides of his small legs. No more power walks, pushing him in the stroller, because now he wants to be the one pushing the stroller, and you are starting and stopping to adjust said stroller so it doesn't careen off the sidewalk into the road or through a neighbor's bed of petunias. Your heart rate may be up on a walk with your toddler, but it's not exactly cardio, nor fatburning.

So how exactly does a toddler help you lose weight?

By exercising some of his other new skills: reaching, pincher grasping, aiming for his mouth, and chewing and/or throwing what you had thought was going to be your food.

One time I was eating lunch, and Nish asked to sit on my lap. I figured I could do both, and maybe my boy would like to try a little of what I was having. After one taste, Nish began eating with both hands, and I struggled to keep up and get a few morsels of food for myself.

That was a more successful moment. Other times, I have found my meal attacked with gusto, only to be tossed on the floor the next moment, because it didn't taste quite the way he had hoped.

I could indulge in disappointment and hunger, or I could view this as an opportunity for a little aerobic floor cleaning along with my extremely low-calorie meal. (It's so hard to see the bright side when you can barely focus due to hunger.)

Yes, the days of feeding Nish pureed green or orange stuff at a restaurant while Ronak and I enjoyed pizza or burritos is over. He's not quite big enough for a kid-sized portion, but he's definitely big enough to "share" and reduce Ronak's and my food to kid-sized portions.

Thanks to Nish's improved feeding skills, the pounds are just dropping off me. I only wish I had the strength to enjoy it - or to catch my racing toddler! That boy is really moving! (Must be all that good food he's eating.)

Give Mommy a hand up, will you, honey? And maybe you could toss me one of those Cheerios? Then hopefully I'll have the energy to make another meal - that you can steal off my plate, of course.

We had hoped to arrive at the BYDEE Festival in time for the Big Wheel Races and the Karate demonstration, but Nish's nap ran late, so we too ran late and didn't make it to the festival until the very end.

Nish loves vehicles of all kinds, and he was in awe of the fire truck and the police cars.

We got in line for the train ride first, because the line was longish and it was getting late.

Nish loved it! The entire time he looked around him to see all the trucks and emergency vehicles. The view from the train was great!

In fact, Nish enjoyed the ride so much that he cried when it was over and time to get out.

We had hoped to get back for another ride, but there were a lot of other things to see.

Most of the activities were for older kids. There were arts and crafts projects and inflatables. The inflatables were split up, so there was one for small kids and one for bigger kids, but no one was supervising, so we decided it wasn't safe for our toddler.

Sadly, we were too late to get a caricature of Nish done, and we never did see any stilt walkers. But the live music performed by Inside Out Steel Band was fantastic.

We each enjoyed a slice of pizza while we listened to the music and watched the fire fighters take down the giant ladder on the fire truck.

Nish had a great time. The festival was just his size, peopled but not so crowded that he might get run over.

We'll definitely head back next year, and hopefully we'll arrive a little earlier, so we can see and do more. We'll see how Nish's nap schedule works out.

Nish had some cute MiniStar elephant shoes with soft bottoms that his grandma bought him. They were adorable. They were unscuffed, because Nish usually did his crawling indoors - and often shoeless.

Then those lovely long toes (that showed up so well on the ultrasound) grew a bit more, and we had to get him some MiniStar shoes in a size large with red trucks. (The only large ones they had in the store.) These shoes lasted him a mere two weeks, because Nish not only began crawling outside the house but walking too (with the support of mommy's or daddy's fingers).

He crawled on the driveway and through the grass. He grabbed the bottom of his stroller with one hand and spun it in circles as he crawled around it, scuffing the red hoods right off those shoe cars.

Nish walked in the grass. He walked on the sidewalk. He walked on pebbled and mulched paths. He walked through wet grass. He walked up steps to slide down slides. And he walked a medium-sized hole straight through the bottom of his right shoe. (Teething could have contributed to this hole as well.)

Since his little car shoes were in ruins, we decided we couldn't delay. It was time for new shoes.

Our stop gap measure was a trip to Target for shoes he could wear to the water playscape at Brushy Creek Park.

Since these weren't elastic slip-on shoes we were looking at and since Nish was now extremely mobile, we spent our time searching through the mid-sale rubble for anything that we thought might be his size, trying to compare shoe soles against a moving footsie, and pinning our son down long enough to wrestle his foot into the possibly-right-sized shoes one by one.

We were all exhausted by the end of it. And frustrated. (Although Nish was frustrated for very different reasons than his parents were. We were interrupting his exploring to squish his feet and press on his toes. He didn't really see the point when there were so many fun things to grab and swing and toss. And there was a lot more in the store to see than smelly shoes.)

Ronak and I settled for a 2/3 pair of water shoes and some size 5 shoes he might grow into some day.

I told my mother about our adventures, and she suggested we visit a real shoe store for real shoes now that Nish was doing some real walking. I had pleasant childhood memories of visiting uptown Kingston for my annual Buster Browns when I was a little girl, but not knowing this area very well, I had no idea if such a store specializing in kiddies existed.

I got on the internet and found Sandy's Shoes on Yelp. The reviews were positive, but "pricey" and "not cheap" had us on the fence. How long would he be wearing these shoes? Was it really worth it to spend the extra money? Couldn't we just find something at a Rack Room Shoes or some place like that?

I pictured us chasing Nish around a Rack Room, tackling him, shoving his feet in shoes too big and too small, shoe boxes and their contents strewn everywhere.

I decided we should at least get his feet properly measured at a store that specializes in such things. Let their salespeople try to keep his feet from moving long enough to figure out his size.

So we visited Sandy's Shoes. (It's in the same plaza as Terra Toys, which we thought would be a fun place to go after the stressful shoe sizing.)

I had been forewarned by Yelp reviewers that we would need to sign in and wait (amid fun puzzles and puppets) but still wait - especially on a Saturday.

Perhaps it was the rain or the fact that we were actually out the door early on a Saturday, but there was no wait and a salesman helped us as soon as we walked in.

He said that Nish could sit on my lap while he was measured. And my ten-month-old boy sat in awe. He didn't move a muscle as his foot was expertly placed against the metal show sizer and proclaimed to be almost the size of an 18-month old child.

While the salesman was in the back getting shoes, the spell was broken, however, and Nish decided to use the man's stool as a walker and began pushing it around the room and into the wall.

The salesman brought back two pairs of shoes in size 5 (a size which we mistakenly thought would be too large for him in our exhausting ordeal at Target). He said they were two of the more popular shoes, sturdy but with flexible bottoms. But he also had some that beeped in the heel while the child walked. (Ronak vetoed the beeping shoe idea, as he imagined Nish contorting his body while he walked, stumbling, distracted by the mysterious sound emanating from his heels.)

The sandal was a See Kai Run, and the sneaker (with an antibacterial coating inside so it could be worn with or without socks) was a Tsukihoshi. They fit Nish beautifully, and he enjoyed trying them out.

Ecstatic, relieved, we didn't look any further. Ronak said, "We'll take them." And we asked if Nish could walk out in one of them.

Which Nish did, happily, to Terra Toys where he gave the shoes an extensive breaking in test, crawling on the floor with push toys, racing around the store with walker toys (and anything else he found with wheels that he could push), and climbing up on the sofa in the kid's section.

And at the end of the toy shopping, when we didn't see toes poking out of any newly-formed holes, Ronak and I were very pleased with our real shoe expedition - which was not only successful, but surprisingly relaxing - especially when compared to our wrestling adventure at Target's shoe department.