Saturday, February 6, 2010

Awww... NUTS!

In December, we found out that Ella Kate is allergic to peanuts. Driving down I-65 at night, I looked back to find her eyes swollen shut and one side of her lip swollen to kingdom come. That was our first real parenting panic. We stopped at a gas station at Exit 22, crushed an adult Benadryl and forced it down her. I've never sang The Wheels On The Bus so loudly and so energetically in my life. We were doing everything we could to keep her awake.

Fast forward two weeks: we get her blood tests back from the allergist. Most people with peanut allergies will react to them when their blood test results are .35. Ella Kate's result was 50. Yes, that 5-0. And tied for the highest our doctor has ever seen - in 20+ years.

I didn't realize how extremely lucky we were that night on the Interstate. She could have easily drifted off to sleep and stopped breathing. She was very quiet, but something made me look back at her. I'm terrified to think about what wouldn't happened if I didn't. If that's not proof that we have angels watching out for us, I don't know what is. We definitely had divine assistance that night.

The good news is that we know. It'll be a daily battle outside of our peanut-free house, but we at least know what we're battling.

Monday, February 1, 2010

Sure Sign That EK's No Longer A Baby

As soon as she walked in her classroom this morning, she looked at Richard and told him she wanted to draw with her friends. She walked over to the table, pulled her chair out, sat down, and said hello to two other girls.

One of the girls handed her a green crayon, EK signed thank you, smiled, and started drawing.

Only a big girl would so easily interact with her peers. She definitely becoming a little person.