Elliot vs. Allergist

Because Elliot has had a reaction to eggs, our pediatrician would not give him immunizations for chicken pox, measles/mumps/rubella, and the flu. It turns out all have an egg derivative that could be bad for Elliot, so he referred us to an allergist. The appointment was today and went really well. After sharing our medical history, Dr. Greiner explained that the test they would be using wwouldn't even use a needle. It doesn't actually pierce the skin. It is like the end of a pen being pressed against the skin. We stripped Elliot's shirt, and they used four panels with eight "pricks" each. Elliot didn't seem to care as much about the pricks on his back as he did about my restraining him for a moment. Next, we waited to see which of the 32 dots seemed to react. Within minutes, five pricks looked more like mosquito bites than a dot. Elliot was irritated that he couldn't reach his back to scratch (and they wouldn't let me).

When the timer went off, the doc returned to tell us the five culprits: eggs, milk, peanuts, dogs, and cats. I consider all this good news. We knew about the eggs and milk problem and have easily worked with these. He hasn't had reactions to cheese and baked goods containing eggs. Even better, he could outgrow these problems. As far as I'm concerned, the peanuts are no big deal. The trend for the human race is to be allergic to peanuts, and hence, they are being slowly eliminated from schools and public places. Soon, we will have to explain "PB and J" to our children! As a responsible parent, I will be forced to consume all Reese's peanut butter cups that cross the path of my child or find their way into his Halloween bag! I was most disheartened by the dogs and cats determination. The good news here is that he has been around both and has not had severe reactions. The doc suggested that we not own a pet (we don't right now anyway), but he said this is a fairly easy one to deal with. In the end, peanuts are the only biggie right now in the top 32 most common allergy-inducing substances!

The even better news is he is not allergic to dust mites (i.e. I don't need to worry about dusting!!) He also showed no reaction to shrimp, which means he will be able to split my fav coconut shrimp appetizer with me someday! Finally, no reactions to wheat, soy, grass, pollen, and trees, so that is also good news. I can say, "Go outside and play...and take a glass of soy milk with you!!"

Pre-celebration of Elliot's Birth

It just so happens that our friends here in San Diego, Joe and Kimberlee, have a daughter Emmy who will celebrate her birthday on Tuesday with Elliot. She will be five, and she was gracious enough to share her birthday festivities yesterday afternoon with Elliot! Elliot had the pleasure of having about fifteen little girls wearing "Hello Kitty" ears sing "Happy birthday" to him at the top of their lungs. Kimberlee had even bought a "baby" cake for Elliot to squash with his little hands.

After Emmy helped him to blow out his "1" candle, Elliot plunged his hand into the cake out of curiousity to quickly discover he didn't like the feel on his fingers (a similar thing happened when his Aunt Booie made a cake for him last month to celebrate early). He made a snarl of disgust, so George tried to give him a lick off his finger for a taste of the sweet sugar I have deprived him of for a year. He still wasn't interested. It turns out I have a sugar-free baby!

To wrap up a super afternoon, we cruised along the coastline and breathed in the ocean air.

We have decided to make it a tradition to celebrate special Hampton events at the beach...with an ice cream cone! Although Elliot won't be eating ice cream with George and me tomorrow, we will make sure he has a handful of his favorite food, cheesy Goldfish crackers. Wow, a year has gone by fast!