Something as simple as being able to eat dairy is magical for Anna.
We recently discovered that Anna no longer has an allergic reaction to dairy. Since that realization, a whole new world has opened up to Anna, or at least for a 4-year-old girl who never had ice cream before, this is a momentous occurrence.
How we discovered this lack of a reaction is a bit funny so I’ll share.
I had baked a chocolate cake using milk and butter but no eggs. We had left the cake in a container on the kitchen counter. I went to work and returned home to find the cake gone. Her father reported that Anna had snuck the cake into her room and he found her under her bed eating the cake. When questioned, Anna said the bear did it, referring to a large stuffed bear as big as Anna. The bear didn’t even have a crumb on him, nor any frosting, but Anna sure did. Her face was covered in chocolate frosting.
After that incident, there was no reaction so we introduced other dairy products to see if there was a reaction. It’s been a couple of weeks, and Anna is now eating anything and everything dairy: buttered toast, grilled cheese sandwiches, buttered cooked vegetables, butter in her cookies, milk and just simple slices of cheese.
While cheese and butter are one of her new favorites, nothing compares to her first ice cream experience. The look of joy on her face was so wonderful.
Now, we’re encouraging her to eat her dinner first before she eats ice cream, which I’m pleased to say she’s doing a fabulous job at following this new rule.
Now, all we need is more ice cream in the freezer!
Lisa Mitchell is an editor for Berks-Mont Newspapers.
