The Toddler Room

so, max started in the toddler room at daycare this week, and before he actually moved up to the new class, i was afraid i would have the same issues that i had with the big baby room at first. but i didn't need to worry. i think i love the toddler room. it's funny how max has spent the majority of his daycare career in the big baby room (aka, infant 2 class) when i like the other classes so much more. except it isn't really funny. i mean, i got used to the big baby room, and once he was about 9 months old, the big baby room was good for max. but it still sucked for the two or three months before that.

max spent 7 1/2 months in the big baby room at daycare. he started that class when he was 6 1/2 months old and the youngest baby in the class, and now he's 14 months old and was the oldest baby in that class. now he is 3rd youngest in the toddler room. but he is smaller than both the kids who are younger than he is. the youngest kid in the toddler room isn't really a toddler yet. he is 13 1/2 months old, but he can't walk yet. so it seems silly that they moved him up just because he was next in line. the little girl who was behind that kid can walk, but she is still in the infant 2 class. i don't see why they couldn't have moved her up instead and left the kid who can't walk yet in infant 2 for a little while longer. there isn't much difference in their ages (maybe 2 weeks). oh well. at least it wasn't my kid that got stuck in the toddler room before he could walk.

anyway, i was pleased with max's first day in the toddler class. they sent home a schedule last week, and it really isn't much different from the infant 2 schedule. they have lunch at the same time. the only differences are that snack times are a half hour later, and afternoon nap starts an hour later than in infant 2. but max never went to sleep at the beginning of nap time, anyway, so he's still actually going to sleep around the same time in the afternoon (2-ish). also, they do a morning snack from 8:00-8:30 for the toddlers, which is only about an hour after max has breakfast. daycare provides that snack. this morning it was pop-tarts (which max doesn't really like), cheez-its (which max LOVES), or animal crackers (they're ok). max probably won't ever eat much at morning snack, and i guess it won't hurt it him. mostly, it's for the kids who don't eat breakfast before they get dropped off or wake up really early, and their parents usually bring breakfast for them.

the toddlers have their own little cafeteria where they eat lunch and their afternoon snack. it's really just a break room with two big tables that have baby seats built into them. each kid has a little cubby in there with their snacks.

the toddler room is much less chaotic than the big baby room, and the teachers seem much more organized. there is a hook below each kid's box (where we leave snacks, pacifiers, etc) to hang his bag on, instead of the jumbled shelf where the bags went in infant 2. one of the teachers showed me everything on max's first day (where to put max's juice and milk in the fridge, the toddler cafeteria & cubbies, etc.) and asked if i had any questions. i just felt like they had their shit together, you know?

so yeah, i think this toddler thing is gonna work out.

You Got the Road Rage in You

like most of us, i do a lot of driving in my everyday life. and as it turns out, i am very susceptible to road rage. i get SO pissed off at other stupid drivers. and i am the type of person who is going to get herself shot dead by someone else who also has the road rage and packs heat, because i am a honker. but i only carry pepper spray. no firearms here. when another driver wrongs me in some way, i lay on my little weenie horn and let them know about it. so, here are just a few of the things that bring out the road rage in me:

• drivers who whip out in front of me like maniacs, forcing me to slam on my brakes. and then poke along at 30 mph. forcing me to pass their slow asses.
• drivers who run stop signs. especially 4-way stop signs. especially when someone is already there. it happens more than you might think.
  
• people who feel it necessary to put their flashers on just because it's raining. i don't honk at them, but it peeves me.
• people who don't turn their lights on in the rain. it's a law for a reason, people. i don't honk at them, either, but i do flash my lights at them.
• drivers who feel the need to come to a complete stop at a flashing yellow light. clearly, you have the right of way. if it's a flashing red light, then you have to stop.
• people who don't respect the school bus stop sign. it doesn't matter if it's a 4 lane road and the bus is on the other side of a turning lane. you are still supposed to stop, asshole.
• people who turn right on red when i am turning left with a green arrow. this also happens to me pretty often. like the other day, i was turning left with a green left turn signal (i was the 2nd car to do so), and some old guy making a right turn from a red light whips his lexus out in between me and the car in front of me. seriously, i almost creamed him. you can bet i honked at that crazy old man.
• people who have their right turn signal on when sitting at a red light but don't actually turn until the light turns green. granted, this only bothers me when i am also trying to make the same right turn and traffic is clear.
• you know when you see signs warning you that the left lane ends in 1 mile (1/2 mile, 1000 ft., 500 ft.)? so you have to merge? like on eastbound I-10 in mobile right before the wallace tunnel? and you know how there's always some asshole who just keeps speeding along in the left lane trying to bypass all the slower people who actually merged when they were supposed to? because surely someone will let him over when the left lane actually does end? those people make me crazy, and i do everything in my power to NOT let them merge when the lane ends. if i have to sit in slow pre-tunnel traffic, so do you. so when you're sitting there with your blinker on, waiting at the end of the left lane because you're an ass and you tried to pass everybody, i will not let you over. however, if you put your blinker on well before the lane ends instead of trying to beat the traffic system, i am happy to make room for you.
• drivers who pass you and then go really slow. so you pass them. and start to get some distance away from them. and then they realize that you've passed them, speed up, pass you, and then slow down again. interstate leap frog is not a fun game. pick a speed and drive it.
• you know how parking lots often have angled parking spaces and arrows indicating which direction you should drive down that lane? people who drive the wrong way in those make me crazy.

obviously, i am easily angered when i drive, and you can be sure that this is far from a complete list of my driving-related annoyances. so watch out, or i might be honking at YOU.

so, it's been a couple of weeks since i posted, although my twittering has been pretty prolific. i am completely addicted to twitter. it's a fantastic outlet for all of my random thoughts. for some reason, i feel that i need to have more to say when i blog. like, i feel a bit guilty for a one- or two-line blog entry.

there are some things that i have wanted to blog about, but i haven't really found the time for some reason.

1. it *really* bugs me when people take my child and just walk off with him without so much as a word to me. especially in a public place. i don't care if those people are his grandparents. i feel pretty possessive when it comes to max. in a "my preeecioussss" sort of way. so when we're at a wedding and you want to show him off? give me a heads up first. and don't keep him too long. because he's mine.
   
2. the next time i want to go to old navy, someone should shake me and firmly tell me no. seriously, i went to old navy the other day to buy a pair of shorts, and i bought shorts. but i also came away with a dress, a half-sleeve cardigan, and an adorable eyelet-trimmed yellow top. i mean, everything is totally cute, and everything i bought was under $20, but really. i have no self control. i think i should limit my solo shopping endeavors to stores like NY&Co or the limited or the gap. when the regular price of clothes i look at is mostly over $30, i find it easy to resist impulse buys (buy one shirt at $39.50, get the second 50% off! um, no thanks). but when most of the clothes i'm looking at are $20 and under, i just can't stop myself. i'm like, "ooh! what a cute top! $15? sure!" i mean, i don't buy tanks from old navy anymore because i discovered that i can get almost the exact same thing from walmart for $4 (and no, i have no problem buying a $4 walmart tank top instead of an $8.50 old navy one. seriously, they look exactly the same). so, i am price-conscious and sort of thrifty. i just also happen to be lacking in the impulse control department.
   
3. i got my hair cut the other day (not the same day i went to old navy. it was the day after). i had the length trimmed about an inch and got long bangs angled to the side. it looks really cute, but i am slightly disturbed by the way it reminds me of the way my hair looked in 6th grade when i was growing out my bangs. only the overall length is shorter now. and i like to think i'm a lot more fashionable now (and a lot more skilled in the application of makeup), even though vanessa says i haven't changed since middle school. i don't know if that's a good thing or not. if that's true, no wonder i always get carded at bars.
4. i am sick of rain, and it is only the second rainy day in a row down here. it is supposed to be rainy until sometime saturday. boo. all this rain is making my sweet new haircut look like ass when really it's cute. also, i really want to wear a skirt or a dress. or both. on consecutive days, not the same day. but i don't feel that sun dresses and skirts are appropriate rainy day attire. so come on, weather. cooperate.
5. yesterday, max took a nose dive into the side of his toy box, and it scared the crap out of me. the side of his nose turned purple (but only for a very brief time), and his forehead was bright red for a while. i tried to put ice on it, but you try holding a towel filled with ice on a squirmy toddler's face, and let me know how successful you are. max is fine. he cried for a little while, understandably. but he was completely fine after two minutes. he has a little red line between his eyes a slightly larger red line/splotch on his nose. otherwise, he is fine.
6. except for the teething and the not sleeping. OMG, i hate molars. they are the most recent bane of my existence. one of max's molars is just barely peeking through (even though his cuspids/canines/eye teeth have not come in yet. he does have all 8 of his incisors), and that tooth has not been an easy one. so once again, the cranky baby has been sleeping in mommy and daddy's bed every night. for the past 7 weeks. because he started sleeping with us every night when he was sick before the hives fiasco. and we haven't convinced him to sleep in his own bed again yet. but at least the hives are gone.

that is all. for now.

Just a Quick Note

mmkay, i have a really long and busy day planned, so i'll just hit the high points of what i want to tell you here.

• i think max's hives might finally be gone! so yay! and keep your fingers crossed.
• frank is getting married TOMORROW. which means i have to buy a wedding gift TODAY.
• i am waging war on the dust mites in my house. and by God, i am going to WIN.
  
• maybe i should have said this first, but i took max back to the allergist yesterday, and she pretty much figures the hives were indeed caused by amoxicillin. and also, max is allergic to dust mites, thus the war waging. but dust mites probably didn't trigger the hives, just his many runny noses (which can lead to ear infections, boo!). so in the future we should avoid penicillin-based antibiotics at all costs. because i can't deal with another month-long war with hives.
  
• the weather this weekend is supposed to be gross. i.e., rainy and stormy and possibly lightning-filled.
• ...which means that i need to do my grocery shopping TODAY instead of saturday morning like usual. plus, there's frank's wedding saturday afternoon in atmore.
• i have to take max for more blood work sometime today because i refused to do that and allergy tests all in one day (remember how we have to repeat the thyroid test b/c his antithyroid antibodies were elevated 2 weeks ago?). as it turns out, though, the allergy tests weren't so bad, and i think max rather enjoyed running around shirtless in the doctor's office for 20 minutes. plus, i put his sunglasses on him, and all the nurses came in to ooh and ahh over his irresistable cuteness. he obliged them with big grins and lots of baby jibberish.

and that's the day ahead of me. i must be off now.

Wasting Time

mmkay, so i'm home (well, i've been home since sunday evening). the trip was long but good, and i am very excited to be home and hang out with max. well, actually he's at daycare today, and i really should be working on the dissertation. but i feel the need to blog out my various frustrations first.

first, my house was a complete disaster when i got home, and now i have to waste a bunch of time cleaning it and putting things back where they belong. seriously, i don't think the floor got mopped once while i was gone because it was disgusting. also, none of max's plastic/vinyl bibs with the pocket to catch dropped food got cleaned either, and they were just piled on the kitchen counter, covered in dried-on food. actually, every square inch of counter space was piled up with something. which makes cooking a bit difficult. also, the dishes that i washed tuesday night were still in the dishwasher, even though i specifically told chad that they needed to be taken out because the plastic cups and bowls don't get dry in there, and leaving them wet invites mold and germs. gross. there's really no excuse for not keeping up with household chores because his mom was here wednesday through friday, and she took max to spend the night at her house friday night and brought him back saturday before dinner. i think she hand-washed some dishes, but she didn't take the valves out of max's sippy cups, even though once again i specifically told chad to take the valves out and wash them separately in the basket in the dishwasher. if you don't take the valves out, milk/juice gets trapped between the valve and the spout, and the cup isn't really clean. i couldn't find a clean cup for max sunday night, so i had to wash one, then chad told me the dishes in the dishwasher were clean. but they were the ones that were still in there from tuesday night. and all the plastic things still had water on them. not cool.

chad got his mom to do max's laundry, but i'm pretty sure she either used the scented dryer sheets or put fabric softener in with his laundry, which means i have to re-wash all that stuff. when i opened the drawer to get out an outfit for max to wear yesterday i could smell the strong perfume-y smell before i even picked anything up. even if he didn't have hives, that would be bad for max, what with the eczema and all. what's the point of using hypoallergenic laundry detergent if you're going to use a scented dryer sheet or liquid fabric softener? anyway, i had to do max's laundry yesterday anyway because he only had one clean pair of pants, and his sheet, changing table cover, and high chair cover didn't get washed while i was gone. again, even though i specifically told chad that he needed to do laundry one day while i was gone and to make sure he washed those things. he could have at least passed that message on to his mom.

chad has been working on getting the dining room/foyer prepped for painting for a while now, and while max was at his parents' house he painted the ceiling, baseboards, and trim in there, including the columns and shelves that separate the dining room and foyer and the closet door. he also changed out the light fixture and the doorknob on the foyer closet. i appreciate that he wanted to improve the look of our house, but he left crap piled up everywhere, which makes me crazy.

oh, and i have a cold or something. i feel like complete crap. i kept waking up last night because my throat was hurting. it still hurts. and i am So Tired. i don't want to work today. i'd rather sleep all day. but then i'd feel bad for taking max to daycare today, even though if he were here i wouldn't be able to nap anyway.

yesterday, max had his appointment with the allergist, and that was a big fat waste of time because they can't do allergy tests until thursday. max actually looks a lot better now, even though he hasn't had any atarax since thursday. he still gets a few welts here and there, and they get pretty bad after a bath or when he gets hot, but they don't really seem to bother him.

anyway, so the allergist asked a bunch of questions yesterday about when max last had atarax, what he eats on a regular basis, previous illnesses, if he's ever had peanuts/peanut butter (yes, twice), etc. to determine what allergy tests they need to do. food allergy is definitely a possibility, and some of max's stomach viruses might not have actually been stomach viruses but a reaction to food instead. same thing with his cold/runny nose. she looked in his ears because he kept rubbing his ear (i thought it was itchy; he's been rubbing them ever since he got hives, and then they turn bright red), and they looked fine. she also looked in max's nose, which has been runny again for a week or so. she said one side looked like a cold, but the other side was paler, which is indicative of allergies. she also said that hives caused by antibiotic allergies can last for up to a month, so it could still be the amoxicillin. for now, she said they'll have to treat him like he's allergic to penicillin.

anyway, the reason they couldn't do allergy tests yesterday is because atarax stays in the body for 7 days (even though they told the nurse from pediatrician's office that we had to keep him off it for 5 days). the doctor wrote us a prescription for orapred (if he has to take it, this will be max's 3rd round of steroids) and said to use that instead of atarax if we need it because it won't interfere with the allergy tests. umm, the pediatrician so could have done that. i'm so pissed. we wasted so much time in there, when they could have told the pediatrician that we had to take max off atarax for 7 days (not 5 like they said) and that we should use orapred instead if needed. but no, instead we wasted a day just talking to the allergist (she was really nice, though), and now we have to go back thursday, which is when max is supposed to have more blood work to test his antithyroid antibody levels again. but i might wait for that until friday, because i don't really want to take him to get that much blood drawn and get allergy tests in the same day.

ok, frustrations vented. time to clean/work.

Corpus Christi

so, i'm here in corpus christi, and it's halfway through the trip. i miss max like crazy, but it's not as bad as i had anticipated. mostly because we've been hella busy since we got here.

also: i did not bring enough clothes. just two pairs of jeans, nice pants for my talk, one shirt for each day plus one extra shirt. and that is not enough. because i did not anticipate that one of my pairs of jeans would get beer splattered all over them. but i'll tell you about that in a mintue.

it took us 11 hours or so to get here. which means the DISL crew was actually traveling for almost 12 hours, since they picked me up in mobile. the drive wasn't so bad. there were 12 of us split between a 15 passenger van and a suburban. those of us in the van stopped in houston, and nate's parents graciously bought 7 hungry grad students pizza (really good pizza) at a place called star pizza. so that probably made the trip longer than necessary, but it was totally worth it. plus, we got to meet nate's parents.

my talk was yesterday, and i totally nailed it. so Yay! me. dr. v. said, "that was your best talk ever." it made me happy. not that i thought it wasn't going to be awesome. i pretty much told everyone i saw to come to my talk because it was going to be the best one of the meeting. plus, the one in the other session (there are two simultaneous sessions of talks) was lame. you could tell by the title. i know, i'm so modest.

there are 14 grad students/interns/postdocs from DISL here, plus dr. v. one of our postdocs just moved here, and charlie flew in early, so only 12 of us drove down. of those 14, there are 3 matts. so i have started using their last names instead of their first names. but i'll just use initials here.

anyway, to celebrate my life-changing, earth-shattering, completely amazing talk, marissa, charlie, matt k. and i skipped out on the last session of afternoon talks and decided to have a drink at the hotel bar instead. matt k. bought drinks for everyone because his advisor is giving him per diem, and we have to pay for everything. it was nice of him to think of us. and nice of us to help him take full advantage of his $55 a day. ;)

then we went to the poster session and looked at the posters (you have the option to do an oral presentation like i did or present a poster outlining your research at meetings like this) before matt j. took a bunch of us to a sweet mexican place for dinner, where we had good cheap food and good STRONG margaritas. well, not matt j., because he was driving. all the matts were there. only matt k. had a margarita, but i didn't question his manhood. pat did it for me, and it was a pretty funny conversation.

after mexican, matt j. dropped us off at an irish bar near our hotel, where i got an appletini. but i sort of spilled some of it. twice. umm, i can't really drink from a martini glass when i'm not sober, apparently. so i asked for my second appletini not in a martini glass. and the bartender didn't even laugh at me. because he saw how clumsy i was, i guess. oh, and nate bought me a hard cider, which was pretty good too. and i didn't fall off of any bar stools. and i was the only one of our entire group to get carded. WTF? i am 26 years old. marissa just turned 22. i am older than half of our group. but the bartender only carded me. i order an appletini (actually, i asked if they had mike's first, but no one around believes in serving mike's apparently), and he says, "do you have i.d. sweetie?" but he doesn't ask anyone else for i.d. boo. everyone else said it was a good thing.

then marissa made matt k. drop his beer. so the glass shattered. and splattered all over my foot. and my jeans. so now they smell like ass, and they will have to be my smelly bar jeans for this trip. but anyway, matt grabbed a broom and swept up the glass, and really i'm surprised we didn't get kicked out of the bar after that. but we didn't.

later i went to the bathroom and noticed blood on my big toe, and i was like, "wtf? i'm bleeding!" but i didn't feel it. and when we got back to the hotel i noticed that my other foot was bleeding too. but i didn't feel that either. they were teeny tiny little cuts.

so that's what's been going on here. max is still breaking out in hives, and chad is having to give him his medicine even though we're supposed to be taking him off of it. oh well. i miss them both, and i'm sort of ready to go home.

Walking Skillz

so, i just read an article on parents.com about walking. it had all the usual "most babies take their first steps around their first birthday, etc. etc." but then it went on to inform me that several months after he starts walking, my baby will be able to do things like carry a toy or throw a ball while walking. umm... max can drink from a cup and walk at the same time. and he's only been doing a lot of heavy-duty, really coordinated walking for about a week or two. he was carrying his cup around with him the day he started doing a lot of independent walking. i mean, he spent a few weeks in the 'step, step, fall' phase and really didn't walk much without encouragement, but as soon as he got going on his own he started carrying things around, drinking, and putting towels on his head while he walks around the living room and kitchen. we have to go take the towel off max's head for him because he can't see with it over his face, and he runs into things. but he doesn't care. anyway, the point is, i don't think it takes several months for babies to progress from walking to carrying things while walking.

but anyway, i leave for corpus christi tomorrow for a conference, and i won't be back until sunday. i'm wigging out just a little bit. because i don't want to leave the max. i know he'll be fine with chad, and chad's mom is coming over to watch max while he's at work, but i'm gonna miss the little guy. chad made me make him a list of things for max to eat, even though he knows what max eats every day, what max likes and doesn't like, etc. the thing i'm most worried about is the fact we're supposed to take max off his antihistamines starting thursday, and i'm afraid he'll break out like crazy. i told chad to try not giving him atarax and see how it goes but to give max a dose if he needs to. hopefully, it won't be too bad. and even more hopefully, the hives will just go away, and max won't need any atarax. but i doubt that will happen.

anyway, i need to run so i can do a couple of last rehearsals of my talk (i made some changes after i went over it with dr. v. yesterday). thankfully, it's on thursday before lunch, so i won't have to sweat long. poor charlie's talk isn't until late saturday afternoon.

crap. i also have to pack. and then go pick max up from daycare so i can get lots of baby lovin' before i leave early in the morning.

Such a Freaking Ordeal

mmkay... so, i already said that i took max for blood tests today. the nurse called back from the pediatrician's office, and everything was normal except for one thing. whatever they test for related to thyroid function was elevated. and that's probably related to the hives. but they want us to repeat that test in two weeks even if the hives are gone by then (pretty please, let them be gone by then?).

also, the nurse made us an appointment with an allergist, but it's not until a week from monday. which seems like a long time from now. factoring into that length of time is the fact that i have to leave for corpus christi on wednesday, and i'm not going to be back until sunday. we couldn't get in before wednesday. boo.

AND - the allergist wants us to take max off of all antihistamines for FIVE DAYS before the appointment. the nurse i talked to said she told them that might not be possible and advised me not to give max any atarax starting on thursday of next week but to go ahead and give him some if he breaks out too bad and basically tell the allergist to suck it (not the words used by the nurse. she was much more professional).

Life's Little Annoyances

so, i still haven't gotten around to cutting max's hair, even though i've been talking about it for a month. and strangers still think he's a girl. we were checking out at walmart the other day, and the cashier thought max was girl. he was wearing a cream colored onesie, navy blue plants, and brown shoes. he had an orange and green paci. does that scream "girl" to you?

then today i took him for blood work at the hospital, and this old man who was also waiting at the outpatient registration desk also assumed max is a girl. today he is wearing an orange onesie trimmed in dark olive green with dinasours on it and jeans. same brown shoes and orange and green paci. again, does that scream "girl" to anyone else?

maybe it's just because he's so pretty...

but whatever. i finally convinced the pediatrician to take some action in trying to pinpoint the cause of max's hives, so he ordered a full blood workup, whatever that means. i'm hoping it includes some allergy tests.

i was at the lab working on some chemical analyses when the doctor's office called me back and told me to take max over to providence for the blood work (they can't do all the tests in the doctor's office, so we had to go to the outpatient center at the hospital). SOOO... i had to stop what i was doing, freeze my samples to finish up tomorrow, pick max up from daycare and get him over to the hospital to get stuck with a needle.

i was a little freaked when the nurse asked how much max weighs so they could determine how much blood they could take (up to 10 ml). so i put him down on the exam table, surrounded by three nurses (gotta keep him still while they draw that much blood), they wrapped his tiny arm in a tourniquet and used a tiny little needle and syringe to take what they needed. we're supposed to get the results later this afternoon. i'm hoping they tell us what's causing the hives. and that we can fix it.

What's New With You?

i don't really have new stuff to blog at you about. i DO, however, have some OLD stuff to blog at you about. the hives saga continues here in latina-land. it is day 13. or is it day 14? i don't know, but tomorrow will make two weeks with no break from the hives.

yesterday i made the mistake of not giving max any antihistamines until 5:15 p.m. and this was after only giving him the inferior benadryl monday afternoon. why did i do this, you ask? well, i did this because 1) max didn't have very many welts yesterday morning (just a few on one leg and one or two intermittently popping up on his face) and 2) max didn't seem all that itchy and 3) max has once again developed a cold, and for some reason benadryl is better than atarax at controlling his runny nose.

throughout the day yesterday, i noticed more welts gradually appearing, but i held off on giving max any atarax because the idea of keeping my 13 month old loaded down with prescription drugs wigs me out a little. and because atarax makes him hyper (and so does benadryl). hyper = doesn't sleep. and because the welts usually subside a little when max is sleeping. so i waited until after naptime and second snack to give max drugs. alas, the welts kept getting worse (there were more after his nap than there were before he went to sleep), so i have him some atarax (well, the generic version).

max was still pretty blotchy and red this morning, so i guess taking him off the atarax is a bad idea. i did call the pediatrician AGAIN on monday. since, you know, last week he said that if the hives persisted into this week we'd "have more work to do to figure out the cause." and he told me doodly squat. his advice: wait it out. WTF?

true, since we started atarax, max has been much happier with many fewer welts. BUT the hives are STILL THERE. and not taking atarax leads to many more. so the atarax is definitely helping, but what i really want is to find out what is causing the hives, which i need help with.

apparently <1% of hives cases are caused by food allergies. but i am pretty much down to thinking it might be a food allergy. specifically, a milk allergy. max has been drinking whole milk for just over a month. long enough to have developed a reaction but not so long as to rule it out as the cause of the hives. in some cases, processing milk breaks down the proteins enough that they don't cause an allergic reaction (i.e., some people with milk allergies can still eat cheese). and in most cases, children outgrow milk allergies. and guess what? kids with eczema? which max has? are more likely to develop a milk allergy! ahhh! well, really kids with eczema are more likely than other kids to develop any allergy. but anyway.

there are blood tests that can identify food allergies. not just skin tests (which would do absolutely NO GOOD right now, since max can't stop breaking out in hives). perhaps i can convince the pediatrician that we need to do this before i go eliminating dairy from max's diet. that would make him sad.

i'm thinking i need to call the doc back again anyway. we have to figure this out. i'm going nuts, and no one is sleeping well. but if we take max off the antihistamine that keeps him from sleeping, he breaks out all crazy-like and can't sleep anyway because he itches.

This Is Getting Ridiculous

so, the max still has hives. it's been 8 days. that doesn't really seem that long when i say it that way. 8 days. but OMG, it feels like it's been forever. especially when i think about the number of times i've taken him to the doctor in the last two weeks. 3 times. in two weeks. really, in a week and a half. first, the thursday before last (b/c of the bronchitis and the ear infection). then last thursday (b/c of the hives). then tuesday (b/c of the hives AGAIN). and we might be going back on monday. or tuesday, if the doctor's office is open on fat tuesday. it seems like they should be, but daycare is closed tuesday. mobile county schools are closed monday, tuesday, and wednesday next week. mardi gras is a Big Deal around here.

holy crap. i am SO SICK of hives. and i feel so bad for max. he's had two more doses of orapred, and he still looks the same. i mean, he is much improved comapred to those first few days, but the fact that he is still breaking out everywhere is a little scary. on the plus side, he is acting like he feels a little better, and (thank GOD) he's sleeping a little better (but he's still waking up around 1 or 2:00 and coming to bed with chad and me). i attribute the improvement in his mood to the atarax. it really did seem to help the itching. plus, it's used to treat anxiety. my mom said that's what they gave me when i was little and had night terrors.

on a totally different track, max decided to test his walking limits today. i guess technically he's been walking at least a little bit for about a month, but he went almost a week when he first got sick with bronchitis without taking a single independent step. and he will not walk at daycare. at home, he's been walking to something if it's only a couple steps away (from the fridge to the baby gate separating the kitchen and dining room, from the coffee table to the couch), and he's walked across a room to get to me or chad a few times, but he really hasn't been that adventurous in his walking endeavors.

that changed today. first, he let go of the coffee table and just stood there for the longest time. i kept thinking he was getting ready to walk to the couch, but he never did. he stood there until he fell back on his bottom. then he started walking short distances around the living room, gradually walking a little bit farther. then he was holding onto the double recliner, and his walker was in the kitchen by his highchair. he let go of the chair, looked at me, and then took off like a shot toward his walker. he made it to the island in the kitchen (about 3 steps away from his destination) before he fell down. then he just crawled the rest of the way and took off running with his walker.

and that is max's issue with walking - he runs with his walker now, and he doesn't have the balance to run on his own yet. the reason he fell down on his way to the walker is that he was going too fast. falling down doesn't bother him, though. he just keeps on truckin', as they say.

now he just needs to start walking at daycare. he's only done it once, and he was walking to me. and that was three weeks ago. he's 3rd oldest in the big baby room now. week after next, he will be the oldest baby, since the two babies who are older than max are moving up to the toddler room. at least they're not moving max up yet. he still gets a little wigged out when other babies walk around him.

Betcha Can't Guess What This Post Is About

surprise! it's hives! again! because max STILL has them! all over! ahhhh!

now that that's out of my system, allow me to tell you about our visit to the pediatrician yesterday. pretty much, he asked a bunch of questions about how max is feeling/behaving (itchy, whiny, sometimes fine), how the welts are behaving (they pop up all over max's body and disappear after a while. then new ones pop up), and if i've thought about anything that has "changed in the environment." of course i have. and i've come up with exactly two possibilities:

• i bought dryer sheets w/ a new scent (the ones we use on chad's and my laundry)
• i bought a new brand of hypoallergenic dryer sheets for max's laundry

so i went and bought some more bounce free dryer sheets, which is what i've pretty much always used on max's laundry until walmart started selling simplicity brand hypoallergenic dryer sheets, which cost $1 less per box than the bounce ones. apparently it costs manufacturers a lot of money to not add fragrances and dyes to their products, 'cause the hypoallergenic stuff costs a lot more than the regular, scented variety.

anyway, i'm in the process of re-washing all our clothes/sheets/bedding and using the bounce free dryer sheets on everything. just in case that's the problem. oh, and i wiped out the dryer first, in case any residual scent molecules were left in there. which seems just a little bit OCD, but OMG, we're going crazy over here with the itchy, whiny baby who can't get rid of his hives. i also cleaned all the ceiling fans. because they were covered in dust, and it makes my eyes itchy. so maybe it affects max, too? i don't know, but i'm sure it can't hurt.

since the hives have stuck around for so long, amoxicillin probably wasn't the trigger. it's been 6 days since max has had any. the doctor did some blood tests for viruses that can cause hives, but they were negative. so we still don't know the cause. i REALLY hope it isn't a food allergy. especially to milk or wheat, because the max loves his dairy (yogurt is super yummy, and so are grilled cheese sandwiches, hello) and his pasta/bread. i don't think that's it, though, because max has been eating dairy products and bread/pasta products for months with no adverse effects.

anyway, after the tests and questions, the doc wrote us a prescription for atarax (an antihistamine) and one for orapred (the steroid). but we aren't supposed to get the orapred unless max still has hives tomorrow. if max still has hives after another three days of steroids, he'll have to go back to the doctor next week for more tests to figure out what the hell he's allergic to, so we can eliminate it (and the hives) from his life.

Hives, STILL

ok, so max's hives look marginally better today, and his face isn't nearly as swollen as it was over the weekend. but HE STILL HAS HIVES, OMG. it's been FIVE DAYS. everything i can find says that hives should resolve themselves within 3-4 days, with most cases clearing up within 48 hours.

max seemed happier today, anyway. he actually played happily by himself for long stretches. in between the demanding that i hold him for long stretches and crying and scratching.
















as you can see, max's hives look better than they did at first. they're much smaller, and there aren't as many. but they are still ALL OVER HIS BODY. even his SCALP. in the photo below, you can see the hives on his nose (sort of, for some reason bright red skin doesn't translate well to my photos).































and this improvement ONLY took 3 days of oral steroid and 5 days of benadryl. and guess what? despite being all hopped up on benadryl, max had a RUNNY NOSE today. wtf? oh, and you know how benadryl usually makes people sleepy? it has pretty much the opposite effect on max.

i called the doctor this morning, and he told me to give max benadryl every 4 hours today (his previous recommendation was benadryl every 6 hours) and go see him in the morning if there's no improvement. i'm thinking we'll being seeing him tomorrow.

OMG, The Hives

i am half convinced that max's hives will never, ever go away. the ones from thursday are FINALLY completely gone. yesterday they had faded, but they were still visible. today they were gone. but there are new hives now, and they are EVERYWHERE. and i do mean everywhere - chest/belly, back, arms, legs, hands, feet, bottom, neck, face. benadryl seems to help the itching some, but it does nothing to make the welts go away. max gets one more dose of the oral steroid, and then we'll have to rely on benadryl. and i swear, if he still has all these crazy spots monday, he's going back to the doctor. because i find it hard to believe that this is normal.

it should not take 48 hours for individual welts to disappear. and max's face, hands, and feet are incredibly swollen (i called the doc about that yesterday and was told this was normal). the poor baby is completely miserable, and who could blame him? his entire body itches ALL THE TIME. i have found over the course of today that the red fades when max is sleeping and then worsens when he's up and active (which is all the time when he's awake). today he has welts all over his face, and his eyes look really puffy.
















the corticosteroid (orapred, generic version is prednisilone) is supposed to help "stubborn hives," which is what you'd call max's variety for sure. he's been on it for 2 1/2 days (we only got a 3 day supply), and he is still getting welts all over his body. there is a small bit of improvement, however. the welts that formed today aren't nearly as large as those he was getting thursday and friday, and they do fade some when max is asleep (but they return full force once he's up and moving). but now they are all over his hands, feet, and face, areas that were largely unaffected on thursday.

we are not sleeping well, because max wakes up itchy and miserable. last night, he woke up just before 3 a.m. and did not go back to sleep until after 4:00. he woke up again at 6:05. on a saturday. geez. poor kid.

i decided to give the situation until monday morning to resolve itself, then we're going back to the doctor. he will complete his round of steroids tomorrow, and i shudder to think what will happen when he's off them. hopefully, the welts will continue to diminish in size and redness. and then disappear for good.

given the issues we've been having getting rid of the hives, i really don't want to turn around and give max 1/2 a dose of amoxicillin in a few days to see if he's allergic to it. because i DO NOT want to have to deal with this again. and more importantly, i don't want max to be this miserable again because of something i knowingly did to him. on the other hand, i really want to find out what he's allergic to so we can avoid it like the plague.

The Powers That Be Are Conspiring Against Me

ok, here's the deal. i have accomplished NOTHING in the last two weeks. first, the fine folks at walmart decided that my time isn't worth anything and let me spend two hours there before telling me that they could not change my oil because the dipstick was broken. WTF? so that forced me to drive to daphne to get a new disptick and let the dealership change my oil. because it needed changing before the 5 hour (one way) trip to atlanta on sunday.

atlanta was actually pretty fun. chad, vanessa, and i had a good road trip over to see the flyers play, and vanessa and i had fun reminiscing about the days when philiadelphia's glen metropolit played in pensacola. we took pictures with him and sean gauthier way back then, and we still have them. i was 14. the flyers won the game 3-2 over the thrashers, and we made it back to mobile around 10:15 p.m., so driving to atlanta for a hockey game and then back in the same day really isn't bad when the game is at 3:00 ET.

oh, but before atlanta, the day after i spent all morning waiting at walmart, i had to take the max to the doctor. again. he had and ear infection and bronchitis, so we got antibiotics. in case you didn't know, sick babies aren't conducive to a good working environment. so i didn't get anything done.

so, after atlanta, with max on the mend and able to return to daycare, i thought i could get a good bit of writing done. but no. i was wrong. because my computer, which has been circling the drain for a few months, died for good on monday. ahhh! i was SO FRUSTRATED. see, my retarded computer had been randomly freezing and not starting correctly 1 out of 4 times since before christmas. i NEEDED a new computer. but i was going to wait until after graduation, and it was going to be my graduation present. and then my computer, which managed to recover from the Blue Screen of Death a few weeks ago, finally bit the big one on monday. it was plugged (to a surge protector) all day, but it did not recognize the fact that it was plugged in. so the battery went completely dead. the a/c adapter is not charging the battery, and it will not run on a/c power. because the part that you plug the power cord into on the computer is fried. well, not really fried, just completely fucked up. and it's not the first time. about two years ago i had to have that part replaced. but it was covered under the warranty, which after almost 5 years is no longer in effect. plus, laptops are cheap now, and i wanted a new computer anyway ('cause mine was retarded, you know), so i opted to let the old laptop go. i lost about 1/2 a page of dissertation work that i did while in the waiting room at the kia dealership, but it's really not a big deal. everything really important was saved in several locations.

so i spent tuesday computer shopping. since it was sooner than planned, and we've been spending a hell of a lot of $ lately (new tires for the truck, $450 eye doctor visit/contacts/glasses for me, max's birthday, trip to ATL - which actually was pretty cheap), i had to go for something pretty inexpensive. so i shopped around all morning (i hit up circuit city, walmart, best buy, and target), and ended up buying a toshiba laptop from best buy. the hard drive is smaller than a lot of new laptops, but still almost 3 times the size of my old one, and the RAM and processor are comparable to computers that cost $200-$300 more. they didn't have any in stock, so the best buy sales guy sold me the display model for $50 off the regular price. the total price with tax was $326. i had budgeted $500 (pre-tax), so i felt pretty good.

so tuesday afternoon was spent getting the new laptop set up. you know, getting my programs installed, antivirus updates, etc.

then wednesday i had planned on spending the day with max because the weather was supposed to be crappy, and he still didn't feel all that great. plus, i still had thursday and friday to send him to daycare. so max and i pretty much chilled on wednesday, and we had a pretty good day. he ate really well for me, which i was excited about. when he's sick, he barely eats anything.

so, yesterday i was all prepared to get to work. i had some ideas bobbing around my mind, and i was ready to write. but the max? he woke up with what looked like big mosquito bites all over his legs and lower abdomen. which freaked me out. when we visited the pediatrician last week, max had a big red spot on his leg near where he got the chickenpox and MMR vaccines, and it had still been there wednesday night. i was told to take max back to see the doc if it spread or started to look worse. well, yesterday morning the original spot was pretty much gone. but he had new spots. so i decided the new rash warranted a doctor visit. especially since 2 hours after max woke up, the rash had spread all over his body.

i'm sure i've mentioned this before, but max is a naturally rashy baby. he has eczema, which means that his skin is prone to dryness and frequently breaks out in rashes. his skin is very sensitive to fragrances, so everything we use on him is unscented. he gets a bath every other day instead of every day, and we slather moisturizing cream (lotion doesn't help) all over him twice a day to prevent excessive dryness and rashes. but eczema rashes are not scary. they usually cover pretty small area and consist of tiny red bumps. and they go away within a few hours to a day or so if you put aquaphor on them. we are accustomed to rashes around here. so it has to be bad if it wigs me out.

yesterday's rash? it was SCARY. see for yourself.
















the diagnosis? hives. the recommended treatment? benadryl every 6 hours. but after two doses of benadryl, the hives were still spreading. and growing in size. so that freaked me out. and i called the pediatrician twice. so he called in a prescription for prednisilone, a steroid. this morning, the hives are still there and still huge. but some of the spots have disappeared, and the big patches aren't quite as angry-looking as they were yesterday.

we aren't sure what caused the hives. they are an allergic reaction to something. but we don't know what. possibly the amoxicillin, so we've stopped that. when the rash clears up, i'm supposed to give max half a dose of amoxicillin and monitor him for a couple of hours. if he breaks out in hives again, i have to call the doctor's office and tell them to make a note in his chart that he's allergic to penicillin. the other two possibilities that i've thought of are the chocolate frosting on the cupcake max had after lunch on wednesday or the dryer sheets that chad and i use on our clothes. i really don't know what it is, though. the doctor said that hives usually appear within an hour of exposure to the allergen, and max was asleep. he didn't have hives when he went to bed, and he did have them when he woke up. it had been 12 hours since he'd had any food or medicine. the only thing he came in contact with was his clothes, his sheet, our sheets, and our clothes. it's baffling. and the doctor said it's likely that we'll never know exactly what caused the hives. hopefully, this won't happen again, because poor max is really itchy, and this rapidly spreading rash is scary. especially when it makes large portions of his body red and makes his belly button swell so much that it closes to a little slit. *sigh*

now, it's time to get some work done. here's hoping that nothing interferes with my ability to write next week.

The Worrying, It Never Stops

so, max has bronchitis. the doc made a point of telling me he doesn't think it's pneumonia. the thought of a barely 1 year old getting pneumonia scares the crap out of me. i had it when i was 14, and i missed 2 weeks of school and was thisclose to being hospitalized. i imagine it would be very bad for a baby.

max's right ear is also infected, and there is a dime-sized red bump on his leg near where he got his last round of shots. it could be a reaction to either the MMR vaccine or the chickenpox vaccine, both of which were given in his right leg. the bump appeared within the window of time when reactions usually appear for those vaccines. i was told to apply a warm rag to the area for a few minutes a few times a day and put neosporin on it. if it gets worse (bigger, more tender, develops pus), it'll have to be looked at again.

and if that weren't enough to make a parent crazy, max has lost 5 ounces since his checkup two weeks ago. as you are well aware, i spend enough time freaking out about max's weight as it is. and the thing is, he's been eating pretty well lately. i think i will choose to blame the weight loss on the timing of his snacks before the two appointments. he ate about 45 minutes before his checkup a couple of weeks ago, and it had been almost two hours since his snack when he was weighed today.

oh yeah, and just in case the ear infection, runny nose, and bronchitis weren't making max fussy enough all by themselves, he has a molar trying to come in.

woe is me.

Things I've Done Today...

• made doctor's appointment for max for 2:30 this afternoon
  
• took max to daycare
• went to library
• drove to daphne to get oil changed in car
• worked on chapter 2 while waiting for car to be finished
  
• did max's laundry
• swept and mopped living room and kitchen
• made and ate grilled cheese & tomato sandwich

things i still have to do today

• play w/ krull the warrior king so he doesn't feel abandoned
• pick max up from daycare
• pack a diaper bag
• take max to doctor
• figure out what to have for dinner
• make dinner
• tend to the max
• lots more work on chapter 2

and possibly make a pharmacy run, depending on how the doctor's appointment goes. busy day.

The Max is a Weird Eater

foods max loves:

• green beans (i am thanking my lucky stars - i have a kid who likes green veggies)
  
• whole wheat bread
• corn bread
• almost any bread, actually
• beans, especially field peas and butter beans
  
• green peas
• corn
• short cut pasta (he loves mini farfalle, the little bow ties).
  
• tomatoes
• squash
• cheerios (to be a baby means to love these, i think)
• graham crackers (with peanut butter sometimes now that he's a year old)
• bananas - i should have put these first. they're his most favorite food EVER.
• canned peaches
• canned pears
  
• yogurt
• applesauce of any variety. i've been buying the mott's healthy harvest with other fruit purees mixed in lately. or the plain old natural applesauce (regular, not all natural, applesauce is just full of corn syrup).
• zwieback toast
• any kind of cracker you throw at him
• baby cereal (rice, oatmeal, etc. mixed up thick) with applesauce
• sandwich meat of any kind (i try to find the one w/ the lowest sodium)
  
• baby snacks - puffs, yogurt melts, li'l crunchies, wagon wheels
• grilled cheese sandwiches
• chicken (usually. he is currently boycotting meat in all forms, so i'm pushing beans right now.)
• pot roast
• birthday cake and cupcakes. duh. but he doesn't eat cake very often.
• mac and cheese. duh.
• pasta sauce with lots of veggies in it - onions, bell peppers, zucchini, carrots, throw in some frozen mixed veggies. tomato or alfredo sauce. he loves it.
• couscous
  

foods max sometimes tolerates:

• carrots (he eats them best when mixed w/ something)
  
• french fries
• cinnamon rolls (but only when i'm eating one. if you give him a piece of his own he doesn't want it anymore)
• regular oatmeal
• pancakes
• kiwi (lately, he will not eat kiwi at all, but he used to eat it all the time)
• pineapple
• rice (you never know if he will eat it or spit it out). last time i made fried rice, max picked out the veggies and ate them but wouldn't touch the rice.
  
• spaghetti (i think the long stringy pasta frustrates him)
• broccoli, but only if it's pureed. one day i will convince him to eat little chunks of steamed broccoli.
• small pieces of cheese
• ice cream
• chicken and dumplings
• microwave meals with tomato sauce (think chef boyardee)
• english muffins
• cereal bars
  

foods max simply will not eat:

• potatoes (most of the time)
• teething biscuits/biter biscuits (surprising b/c they're kind of sweet. yes, i tasted one when max consistently took a bite and threw it on the floor.)
• muffins
• plain baby cereal
• meat loaf
• any kind of chex cereal. cheerios are far superior.
• fresh blueberries. he likes blueberry applesauce.
• beef stew
• gerber li'l sticks meat sticks. i tried one. they're pretty gross.
• microwave baby/toddler meals (sometimes he'll eat the little pasta stars in tomato/meat sauce. he won't touch the mac and cheese, chicken or turkey stew with rice or noodles). he will pick the veggies out of them, and eat them. nothing else.
  

Little Things

i swiped this from holly's facebook. not sure why i decided to post here instead of there. it just felt right.

RULES:
1. Put your iTunes, Windows Media Player, etc. on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS.


IF SOMEONE SAYS 'ARE YOU OKAY' YOU SAY?
Last Summer

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF?
Unfaithful
(wow, umm... pretty much the opposite, but it's kind of funny)

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
T.N.T.

HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
Some Might Say

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?
Popular

WHAT'S YOUR MOTTO?
Take It Off
(hey, that's pretty funny)

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
Baby Baby

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
Ghost of a Good Thing

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
Who Will Save Your Soul

WHAT IS 2 + 2?
Ticks

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
You Shook Me All Night Long

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
Back 2 Good

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
Capricorn
(sorry, i'm a leo. not gonna happen.)

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad
(hehe, that's appropriate, eh?)

WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
I Hope, I Think, I Know

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
Big Dumb Rocket

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST??
American Girls

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST FEAR??
The Dope

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
Better Man
(by Oasis, not Pearl Jam, though I have both)

WHAT DO YOU WANT RIGHT NOW?
Getting Away with Murder

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
Sing My Best

WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?
Little Things
(one of my fave bush songs)

let me just say, i am quite surprised that no green day popped up here. my computer is full of green day. but 3 oasis and 2 ac/dc. hmm...

Focus, Just Focus

focusing is one thing i am having real trouble with lately. i (understandably, i think, especially to those who have spent any significant amount of time with max) can't get any work done when max is home with me, so i really depend on the three days a week that he is daycare to get the majority of my writing accomplished. unfortunately, it is also easier to do things like wash max's clothes, disinfect toys, and clean my house when he is at daycare. of course, i do those things on weekends when chad is home (or i make chad do them), but with max eating things off the floor all the time, slobbering all over his toys on a daily basis, and making a giant mess at mealtimes, household chores have to be done at least three or four times a week.

so with writing tasks and deadlines pressing down on me and having a zillion things to take care of around the house, i feel like i'm being pushed in a hundred different directions all at once. which is not conducive to good (or even mediocre) writing. with the editing left to do on my first chapter and having barely made any headway on the second, i am beginning to doubt my ability to have a solid draft of my dissertation ready to submit to the graduate school by march 26.

that is particularly problematic when i keep redoing stats in different ways to try to simplify my data. and when those extra stats only make things more complex. gah.

i've done some editing today, along with two loads of laundry and a load of dishes. i am about to go sweep and mop the living room and kitchen and then fold max's laundry. after that i need to turn the car seat around so that it faces forward (max doesn't have to face backward any more now that he's a year old and over 20 lbs). then it's off to pick the little guy up from daycare.

tomorrow i am going to take my laptop and go to the library to work after i drop max off. maybe i'll be able to focus better there.