Allergic reaction

Kyle had a severe allergic reaction to something this past week. The doctors think possibly from peanut butter... but he has had PB several times in the past without a problem. They say he can develop peanut allergies.. but we are still not sure. Anyway, it started on Tuesday afternoon about 3-4 hours after ingesting a PB cookie. He woke up from his nap with a rash all over his body & pruritic. The rash was actually red blotchiness all over. He seemed to feel ok and not running a fever- so I gave him Benadryl and he improved. On Wednesday morning, he woke up with the rash even worse and his left eyelid was swollen 1/2 shut and some facial swelling. I took him to Urgent Care and had him treated with antihistamines. They gave me script for pred if it got worse. Well, the rash never went away and got way worse that evening. I gave him more antihistamines & pred but his face started to swell up again. So, I took him to ER. The gave him more steroids and epinephrine. Since then his rash has slowly been getting better with intermittent hives all over his body. He is 95% better today with only a little itchiness. Unfortunately for me, Benadryl and pred make him like a kid on crack who drank a pot of Starbucks coffee. To say he is "wired" is an understatement. He is so jacked up - he just runs around the house bouncing off the walls. We had him rechecked by our regular doc on Thursday who has put in a request to see an allergist. In the meantime, he has ordered a bunch of tests which I need to do this week.... CBC, Celiac Panel, Metabolic panel, stool cultures, etc.... We are still having some issues of intermittent diarrhea & vomiting- so we are still trying to sort out all his GI problems. I'm attaching a few photos of the allergic reaction - didn't get a picture before ER b/c I was too panicked.

Kyle has Car OCD

Kyle has car OCD. To say he loves cars would be an understatement. He is CRAZY about cars. He loves to be in car. He loves to play with cars. He loves to hear cars. He loves to point out every car we see on the road, on TV, in a book, ANYWHERE. He loves car books and car movies. You have to acknowledge when he says "car" or he will say it over and over again... and louder and louder.. till you say, "Yes, Kyle, I see the car." When we first got him, he immediately found the only car toy in the house and wanted to play with it. :)He also equally goes crazy for any motorized type vehicles including trains, planes, tractors, and construction vehicles. He is all boy.

Kindergarten Blues

Well, Devin started kindergartent this past Monday August 3rd and stopped on Wednesday August 5th. They were 3 days of sadness, tears, and stress for both of us. Devin did not do well at kindergarten at all. She cried all day Monday & Tuesday. She cried so much on Tuesday that she fell asleep from exhaustion. She also would not eat or drink or use the bathroom at school. She had to go to bathroom so bad on Tuesday that she freaked out and the teacher had to rush her to the bathroom. Course, since they started school so ridiculously earlier here.... that it was still 110 degrees outside. Not good if you are not eating or drinking all day.

Well, Tuesday night she wet her pants at home and Wed morning she had diarrhea before school. She was so stressed out. We tried everything to convince her kindergarten was a good thing. I started prepping her months ago "talking about kindergarten". I took her twice to the school to check it out and visit a classroom. I bought 2 books about kindergarten and have been reading them to her the last few weeks. I requested her be put in her friend Cody's class so she would know someone. I walked her to class & requested to stay awhile (they wouldn't let me b/c its against their policy). I even resorted to rewards---if you try and give it a chance, I will give you candy/ice cream after school. Nothing worked. Jack & I drove her to school on Wednesday together and she just absolutely lost it when we went to her class. I was so upset to see my child so sad. I felt like my insides were being torn apart. We decided to go visit with the principal. She already knew about Devin from her kindergarten teacher. She agreed that Devin wasn't emotionally & socially ready for kindergarten class yet being the youngest in her class. She agreed Devin needed more time and we decided to withdrawal her from kindergarten.

Fortunately, Miss Julie's daycare still had a spot open for Devin. I am now looking into putting her in preschool twice a week to help prepare her for next year. The principal offered for her to visit school for a few hours a day a few days a week late next spring to help her prepare for school next year.

I am feeling more at peace now with our decision. My parents also held me back a year when I was in first grade b/c I was the youngest person in my class (also an August baby). Basically for the same reasons... sadness at school, not interacting well with the other children, not doing well in school b/c of being sad at school. So, I think this is the best decision for Devin right now.