Could it be?

So we had almost given up hope on this gluten free diet. We knew it helped Eric's eczema but we hadn't seen any behavioral changes in him. Mind you it hasn't been 3 months yet so we truly shouldn't have even thought about stopping it yet but we are very impatient people. I know, I know...we must work on this. Anyways, almost a week ago Eric decided he wanted me to buy some baby carrots at the grocery store. I raised my eyebrows a bit at this because he doesn't like carrots. I told him if I bought them he would need to eat them. His response "okay." Sure thing kid...this is totally not going to work I was thinking to myself but I'll buy them anyways. At the very least it will force me to eat them. We get home and I put them on his plate and wouldn't you know it he ate them and liked them! Wow! But the shock wasn't over yet. We asked if he would like a little ranch dressing to dip them in and he pushed back a bit at that one. But we told him if he didn't like he wouldn't need to eat anymore of it. Well guess what? The child loved it! This was followed up with him agreeing to try raw spinach (and he liked it!), craisins (he liked it too!), and finally apple balsamic vinegar (another like!)....talk about being floored! We followed this record breaking day up with a trip to Yomii, the local frozen yogurt place that the kids LOVE. Since then he has been eating these foods like a champ. Follow all this up with the fact that while his behavior has had a few rough spots the past week (what child doesn't have behavior issues from time to time really?) we haven't had near the amount of behavioral issues we are used to. Now is this coincidence or a result of diet or just getting older? I'm not sure but we aren't going to change it if it is working. This does not mean that we won't have some hiccups along the way...in fact I'm sure there will be plenty...but it is exciting to see the changes happening.

And speaking of getting older, I believe I failed to mention that Eric is now 7 years old! Where is the time going? He is growing up so fast! He wanted to have a Lego party this year which is actually a very fun theme I found out. He had a great time with his friends at the party. Another fun activity was his first flag football practice on his birthday. He LOVED it! While he is the smallest on the team in stature, he is all heart and gives it his all out there! I can't wait for his first game this coming Saturday. At the ripe old age of 7 Eric is a very fun, silly, lovable young man! He loves God (one of his favorite gifts for his birthday was a new Bible that contains all the books), football, Star Wars, and bike riding. He is a great student and loves to help his friends at school. He is still a strong willed kid but you can really see how he is starting to grow up and learn how to use this to his advantage in a positive way.

Tyler has been so cute regarding Eric's birthday. All weekend long he has been walking around telling Eric that he is the birthday boy. Tyler reminds us that Eric gets to choose things or go first at something because Eric is the birthday boy. He loves his brother! Tyler has been learning how to add, subtract, and read. Ummm...what happened to my baby? With Eric starting football, Tyler has been at me to sign him up for "skoccer." I sent everything in this past week so hopefully I will hear back soon because I'm not sure how much longer Tyler will be able to hold out! :) Oh and I just had to put this in writing before I forget to but Tyler has some of the cutest vocabulary such as "stumpthing" for something and "pinano" for piano. I'm pretty sure he knows how to say it correctly (I've heard him do it) but he knows it is cute and does it for the cute factor. He is a charmer. In fact his teacher told me they were outside the other day and Tyler was on the swing. She looks over in time to see him blow a kiss at a group of girls on the playground! Say what?! Oh my goodness...it's the quiet ones you have to look out for apparently. Haha!