Guess who's allergic to fish?

As if it couldn't get any worse, I discovered today that you are allergic to salmon and trout. The allergist said you may be allergic to white fish, but that I should still try giving it to you as the test results didn't come out 100% positive. On a positive note, you were actually amazing at the doctor's office today. You didn't cry and you were in such a good mood (as seen in the photos above). I also saw the most current issue of Best Health Magazine in the waiting room!

Mommy's magazine at the doctor's office.

Chicken pox?

Daddy texted me this afternoon saying that your daycare called him saying that you were covered in spots and to take her to the doctors right away. At first I panicked because I thought you got chicken pox. I was in production at work so I was working late almost every day so I knew I couldn't afford to take any days off. But then I remembered that you got your chicken pox vaccine a few months ago. I told daddy about it, but he decided to pick you up anyways. When he got home he sent me a video trying to show me your body where all the spots were, but you were acting all shy and not having any of it. I think you had a reaction of some sort. I have a suspicion that you may be allergic to some fish as you also broke out in hives when I gave you salmon a few days ago. I'm going to have to ask your doctor during your 18-month checkup in a few weeks. I'm hoping that it's not, but we shall see!

Getting ready for kindergarten

Mommy's been running around like a headless chicken getting you ready for kindergarten. I had to get a whole bunch of school supplies (see above) that you have bring to school as well as get the whole daycare transition in order. Yesterday I went shopping at Walmart to shop for lunch stuff that I have to start packing for you. My boy is all grown up!

I went out earlier today to pick up an extra epipen for you (your new daycare needs 1 and your
school needs 2!). While I was out I guess you were not behaving. Daddy was so angry and
you were a crying mess. I took this photo of you after I calmed you down and put you
down for nap time. Yes, you can be a total nightmare when you are bad, but when you sleeping
like this it makes my heart hurt that we were angry with you. I know daddy feels the same way.
Please behave, my little monster!

Mommy and Aidan day

Daddy worked from home today because I had to take you to your new school in the morning for your j/k observation and then to get your allergy test redone in the afternoon. 

Your j/k observation involved us going into your new junior kindergarten class and observing the senior kindergarten students. It was only a 20 minute session, but it was great as you got to meet your new teacher- Ms Stamkos and see some of the older kids play. You and 4 other kids were observing and it was so funny because you guys all looked deathly scared coming into this new surrounding. One kid, Cole, looked shell-shocked the whole time we were there. We sat in different stations and one kid, TJ, was talking to you the whole time. He was talking about his birthday that was in October and he even invited you to come and have a cupcake. It was so cute! Ms Stamkos came around and saw you stamping your name on a piece of paper. She got TJ and another s/k student- Maya to take you around the class and show you the different stations. They were holding your hand and taking you around. I think you really liked it there. 

Afterwards we went to Shoppers Drug Mart so that I could mail out your Vancouver grandpa's Father's Day gift. You tend to love doing errands with me or daddy.

We went back home to eat lunch and then headed out to get your allergy test redone. I needed to know that you were still allergic to peanuts before you started j/k in September. Unfortunately you still are allergic :-(

Even though it was a long day I decided to take you grocery shopping at No Frills as there were no groceries in the house. You really enjoyed helping mommy pick out all the produce and place it in the bags. I thought that since you didn't nap you would be all cranky, but you were so good.

By the time we got home it was close to 4:30pm. We had dinner and then mommy took you to the part to get you tired out. It turned out to be a beautiful day so the park was busy with lots of kids and parents. While we were playing at the park you kept saying to me, "Mommy, I love you!" It really melted my heart. I know pretty soon I'll be going back to work so I'm trying to cherish these days as much as possible. I'm so sad that I won't spend as much time with you when I go back :'-(

Kendall's 7-month checkup & a little haul

You had your 7-month check-up today. You got another 5 in 1 shot on your right thigh. I was worried how you were going to react, but other than the initial crying you were fine after 5 seconds. Here's where you're at:

Weight: 7.29kg or 16.07lbs

Height: 65.5cm

Head circumference: 42cm

According to the doctor your length is at the 15th percentile, weight is just below the 50th percentile and your head circumference is at the 50th percentile.

The photo above is a picture I took of you sitting on the doctor's scale. You were so cute smiling while naked that I couldn't resist taking a quick snapshot. I also love all the rolls.

Your brother Aidan also had a quick follow-up. Daddy took a day off from work today so that he could help me take both of you to see the doctor. Last time I was worried about his constipation- he was not having ANY bowel movements in the potty and was pooping in his pants :-S Luckily he is now going poo in the potty, just not daily. Because he is holding it for 2-3 days his poo has been HUMUNGOUS! It's so big that he would tell me it was painful and I would also see some blood in his stool. The doctor suggested I give him more fiber-rich foods. I might try baking bran muffins as Aidan loves muffins. I also asked the doctor about his peanut allergy and if he can redo his allergy test. I don't think his allergy is that severe so I'm curious to see if he outgrew his allergy to peanuts. She is going to refer me to an allergist. Also, his nose is prone to bleeding. Lately, he's been having a bloody nose almost every single night. I think it's because the air has been so dry in his room since we turn on the heater fan. He wakes up screaming my name because I think he is alarmed that his nose is bleeding. It doesn't bleed for a long time, but I'm still concerned why his nose is so sensitive. Maybe it's because I also had a lot of bloody noses when I was young? The doctor suggested I try an OTC medicine for his nose. We shall see if that works. In the meantime I have his humidifier blasting at full strength in his room.

After the doctor's appointment the whole family was exhausted. We were planning to go to the mall to buy Aidan some much-needed clothes, but we decided to go home and crash.

We all ended up napping for a few hours. When we awoke we decided to head to the mall as we didn't have time in the weekend to go- Aidan starts his Korean school tomorrow.

Here's what we got Aidan:

At H&M: I love the kids clothes at H&M. They are so cute!
I immediately was drawn to these monster tees and at $5.95 each I couldn't pass up on it.
As for the pants I absolutely ADORE THEM! They reminded me of the J Crew Saturday Pants that
I've been wanting for myself, but in a boys version. The mannequin at the store had the pants
paired with the gray monster tee and high-top kicks. It looked very cool.

At Children's Place: Not my favourite kids store, but I love their price points. I got these 2
shirts for $4.99 each! Aidan's been outgrowing all his long-sleeve shirts so I wanted to get a couple
more for his daycare. I didn't want to buy too many as spring is just around the corner.
I still have to get Aidan boots (his boots I got this past fall is already falling apart!) and maybe PJ's.

Allergy test results

Dear Aidan,

So you are allergy to peanuts and eggs. Your peanut allergy is more severe than your egg allergy, but by no means is it a severe case. However, the allergy doctor still wanted me to get an epipen for you. I had to get one for us and one for the daycare. I'm not supposed to give you any peanuts until you take your next allergy test in a year. I can give you eggs, but only when it has been cooked/baked for a long time- i.e., baked goods, casseroles, etc. I can't give you fried eggs, scrambled eggs, and any raw eggs. However, the doctors did say that most kids grow out of their egg allergies. We will see.

I was very nervous to take you to the allergy doctor today because I've seen how you've been at your family doctor's office (BTW, I'm taking you there on Friday to get your belated 18-month shots). You basically freak out once they start touching you. I totally expected that today, but it was not that bad. You cried when the nurse pricked your skin with a needle (see the 6 red dots in the pictures above where she pricked you) when she put the allergy drops on your forearm, but that was expected. I'm so proud of you and I hope that you will be the same way when you get your shots on Friday.

Here's the scary-looking epipen in the plastic container. I hope I never have to use it...

So when I asked the pharmacist how much 2 epipens cost (because I was planning on buying 3 just in case) she told me it cost 217. I asked, “Two dollars and seventeen cents?” She replied, “No. Two hundred and seventeen dollars.” Holy crap.

After the appointment I decided to drop by my parents' cafe because the doctors office was right there. Plus, they hadn't seen you in a while. They were so surprised and happy to see you. Can't you tell how enamoured your grandpa is with you?

Your Toronto grandpa acts like a little kid in love when he's with you. He plays these silly games with you and can't stop kissing you. I've never seen him like that... well, with Auntie Sara, I guess... I guess this is what grandparents become once they have a grandchild...

You were shy at first, but once you got comfortable you were running around talking jibberish. You even went to a few stranger's tables and just stared at them. Awkward!

Your Toronto grandma gave you some banana bread that she baked this morning and you gobbled it down like a little pig. I think you had 2 slices!

It was a tiring day for mommy on her day off, but it was a good day for you. You looked like you really enjoyed spending time with me. Tomorrow, you head back to daycare. But don't worry, mommy will be working home on Friday.

Allergic scare

Dear Aidan,

What a day today. Mommy went out for a bit in the afternoon to do a little bit of shopping and when I came back home I found out that you had a bad reaction to peanut butter. Apparently daddy gave you a slice of bread with peanut butter on it. How stupid! Considering how a lot of kids have a reaction to peanut butter I avoided giving it to you. Plus, I'm taking you tomorrow to get your allergy test. You already had a bad reaction to eggs so I wanted to make sure I found out what else you were allergic to. I guess daddy didn't know any better. Your whole face was covered in hives and your left eye was really red. Your left ear was also bright red. The crazy thing was daddy put you in your crib to get you to take a nap to 'sleep off' your reaction. Ugh... What if your throat started swelling up and you couldn't breathe??? Who would be there to see that? I'm just glad I got home in time. I immediately took you out of your crib and we watched you to make sure you were okay. These pictures were taken while I was watching you. The camera wasn't able to capture how bad your reaction was because I think the exposure of the camera was washing you out, but it was BAD. Your left eye looked like it was punched in the eye. You started getting dark circles underneath that eye.

It's hard to tell, but your left side of the face was really splotchy. See that bump below your left eye? Plus, your left eye looks like it's darker underneath than the right eye.

See the man behind the bad reaction on top of the bed.

The good news was that you got better. The bad news was that you were crazy for the rest of the night. I don't know if it was the peanut butter, but you were hitting mommy and Rosco too. When I tried getting you to stop hitting you just smiled and kept doing it again. Then you were so cranky the rest of the night. It was a rough, rough afternoon. I'm not looking forward to tomorrow. I just know that you will freak out at the doctors office. Ever since the time we went to ER for your fever you've been terrified of strangers touching you.