Monday, March 24, 2014

A Day At The Park



   Its VERY rare that Andy takes a day off and we go somewhere as a family.  Not because he doesn't want to, but simply because he can't.  He's so busy with church work and there is always something that needs to be done, people to call, or visits to make.  But yesterday was so nice, and he decided to take a break and take the family somewhere to enjoy the beautiful 65' weather!!!  We packed a picnic bag and the kids up and drove to the park.  We have the most wonderful "old fashioned" park about a 10 min drive away.  Its got the old metal playground toys that I used to enjoy when I was a kid.  The big plastic play places are okay, but there's nothing like the tall metal slides, the old, rough board see-saws, and paint chipped merry-go-rounds.  I spread and old quilt on the grass, gave the kids a baggie full of snacks, and turned them loose. They had a blast!  I held my breath when Christian climbed to the top of the very tall metal slide without a hesitation.  (Did my mom do the same when it was me at his age?)  Andy and I got to sit and talk and enjoy the kids together for an afternoon.  I cherish those times!  Life gets so consuming at times, and its good to just slow down a little and enjoy the blessing that God's given us.

   I'm taking Wesley to the dermatologist tomorrow.  We're still battling this rash, and now he's developed some new symptoms.  Every time I feed him solids, he throws up violently and repeatedly.  Last Wednesday, I fed him some cereal with apples, and two hours later he threw up four times in the space of a half hour.  Once he turned blue and I had to flip him over and pound on his back before he threw up again and his color returned.  He was wore out and slept most of the day.  He was fine until Saturday when I fed him cereal with pears.  Two hours later, he began violently throwing up again.  I did some research online and found a certain allergy/syndrome that matches the symptoms he has, including the rash.  I think its all connected.  Some of the big trigger foods are rice, oat, wheat, and barley baby cereals, and cows milk and sometimes soy.  I already suspected he had an allergy to cows milk because every time I drink a glass of it, he breaks out within the next several hours.  The article I was reading says that the symptoms are milder when the trigger foods are passed from the mother than when they are received directly into the baby's system in the form of solid food.  That would explain the rash, and then the more severe symptoms of vomiting a couple hours after eating solids.  And every trigger food has a different reaction time!  The rash always shows up about a day after the milk gets in Wesley's system.  And the cereal causes the vomiting almost exactly two hours after eating it.  Some trigger foods can have a delayed reaction of 4, 8, 12 hours etc before the vomiting starts.  All his symptoms match this allergy.  The article said that many babies will outgrow it by the time they are three, but some will continue to struggle for years with the trigger foods.  Its a rare condition, and can be serious due to the severe vomiting, which can cause dehydration and shock in infants.  This probably explained Wesley turning blue during his third round of vomiting.   I'm going to talk to the dermatologist tomorrow and see if we can't get referred to another allergist to see if this is indeed what Wesley has.  It could be a long road for him as we try to find what exactly he is allergic to.  One thing going for us though is that since he's just now starting out on food, we can start from scratch as we introduce one new thing at a time, whereas if he were an older child, it would be very difficult finding the trigger foods if he already had so much of it already in his system.  For now, I just have to watch what food I eat, and slowly introduce solids to Wesley very slowly and try to avoid the reactions as best as we can. 



No, he wasn't posing.  :)


How did children survive on such "dangerous" toys???   :)  Hey, these old paint-chipped, metal slides were WONDERFUL!   Christian was more afraid of plastic, covered tunnel slide!







I remember when I was in first grade at a little school in Ohio, our recess was at the same time as the high school student's.  We used to love it when the big boys pushed us little kids on the merry-go-rounds! 
















Remember the thrill of feeling like you were going to fly off at any minute??  :)




An awful picture, but oh well.  I never boasted on being photogenic.  :)  Its for Mom.  She's very forgiving...  :)  My excuse...it was a windy day, selfies do not compliment me, and the background was all wrong.... 


Christian has never met a stranger.  He and this little fellow became playmates within seconds of saying, "Hi".  (Did they even say that?)

Ok, he won't need a ball glove when he plays catch in the back yard.... 


Loading up after a fun day at the park

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