Allergy appointment

Thank God for email reminders I plugged into my Google Calender. Otherwise I would have totally forgotten about Ella’s appointment on Monday that we’ve been waiting 4 months to go to!

In addition to your basic environmental allergies, she’s highly allergic to milk (duh), bananas, and shell fish. I asked her to be tested for shell fish because when I was exclusively nursing her, I went on a clam binge at Red Lobster one night and she had the most horrifying diaper rash that night. Then about six months later, we went back and let her have a bite of my clam strip and she broke out in these little welts all around her mouth.

Avocado, oranges, and tomatoes came up negative. HOORAY! The weird rash she gets shortly after consuming oranges and tomatoes is simply from the acidic nature of the food. As long as she doesn’t express discomfort, she’s good to go. YAY for being able to offer her the most favored fruit (aka oranges).

We came away with a bag full of swag: a practice epipen, a directional dvd on how/when to use it, TONS of brochures on food and environmental allergies, and a little zip case for the epipen that we picked up the day after her appointment. The piece of paper I’m most excited outlines exactly what to do if she consumes something she’s not suppose to have, based on her reaction(s). Now I don’t feel like I’m wallowing in the dark and afraid I’m going to cause my daughter to OD on benedryl.

In six months, we’re suppose to go back and retest the things she came up positive for this round. The only item that will be rechecked that wasn’t clearly a positive is wheat. If the doctor hadn’t known that Aaron has gluten issues, she wouldn’t have considered it a positive but considering our history she’s going to double check that at our next appointment. The doctor is very optimistic that Ella will outgrow her dairy issues by around ages 5-8, considering that she’s already able to consume products that have highly heat processed dairy in them (bread, crackers, etc). Hooray!!! It makes being dairy free so much easier knowing there is an end in sight.

This is how we spent a lot of our time to ignore the “itchies” on her back. Hooray for Elmo and watermelon!

Ella Update

We’ve been busy busy busy this week and I’ve had little to no time to write any “real” blog posts, so you get my “get out of jail free card” blog post. An Ella update! Feel free to roll your eyes and move on until next week. I’m fairly certain my mom (aka Nana) is the only one excited about these posts, especially since I’m such a slacker and haven’t gotten pictures up on Snapfish.com for her to order since March! Yes, that’s on my to-do list this weekend. I’ve got April almost up and ready.

I feel like we’re rapidly approaching the end of Ella and Mama days at a break neck speed. By this time in September, Miles will be here and we’ll be in the middle of trying to find a new groove. Don’t get me wrong, I’m really really excited about adding to our family but I’m also sad to see the end of what I’ve come to love and cherish so much. Because of this, I’ve been trying to make a point of doing *something* every day like going to the farmer’s market or playing at the park. This pregnancy has found me inside more often than not, so this is kind of a radical change for she and I.

But this isn’t about me. This is about Ella!

Ella cracks me up daily with laughter. She’s learned how to shrug and use it appropriately in conversation. If she can’t find something, she runs up to me with her hands by her head saying, “Uh oh, uh oh!” When I ask if she knows where whatever it is she needs, she shrugs her bony little shoulders, shakes her head, and says “Oh no! Bye byes!”

She’s a lot like her dad and very single minded. Or maybe that’s just a toddler trait. Who knows. Whatever the case, Ella has a hard time letting go of an idea or event once it sticks in her mind. Take Elmo, for example. She loves loves loves Elmo and I’ve even caught her talking about Elmo in her sleep!

Another concept that she won’t stop talking about is babies and breast feeding. Every Tuesday, we go to a nursing mom’s support group even though Ella’s weaned. The older kids are around Ella’s age, so she gets interaction while I get to talk to people over three feet tall! A couple of the moms have had babies in the past year and Ella is simply enamored with the idea that mamas give their babies milk. She spends a good portion of her day nursing her dolls and teddy bears and it’s been quite the challenge to convince her our cats don’t want to be nursed!

Something that has just recently developed has been her desperately wanting to put on her own clothes and refusing all help. Most mornings it doesn’t matter too much but when we have to be somewhere first thing (like midwife appointments at 8:15 am!), it gets really challenging. I can’t wait until she figures out how to put her arms through sleeves.

Every day finds her discovering something new, experiencing the mundane with wonder. Ella has really brought new perspective to my life and it has blessed me beyond words.

Ooops!

Wow, it’s been a while. You know it’s been a while in between posts when your own MOTHER comments on it while you’re talking to her on the phone. What can I say? It’s been busy busy these past days. What I can do is offer pictures and a video as peace offerings!

This past weekend, we went to the pool for the first time this season. Ella had a BLAST! She didn’t care one bit for the kiddie pool but loved, loved, LOVED the regular pool! By the time we left, Aaron decided that next time I can take pictures and he’ll get in the pool since she and I had so much fun! That made me happy since he didn’t want to go in the first place. 🙂

And for some reason, I can’t embed the video I uploaded to flickr… strange. Well, you can click here and view the 30 second clip of swimming time!

A few other thoughts before I have to wander off to make dinner…

With a 103 degree heat index high today, I’ve made the executive decision to have BLT sandwiches, homemade potato salad and watermelon for dinner tonight. I was encouraged to see those who commented on last Monday’s post about summer food and am going to give sandwiches a try. Let’s hope it doesn’t backfire on me!

And do you remember this Wordless Wednesday post about Elmo, aka the furry red creature of my nightmares? Well, that VERY DAY I posted the Wordless Wednesday picture we were gifted our very first Elmo dvd. The universe hates me, I swear. I don’t think Ella would have even known that it could go in the dvd player but the woman who gave it to her explained that it was for the TV and that she could watch it when she got home!!! So now we watch Elmo every day after nap. Thankfully it’s only 20 minutes long.