11/19/08 The kicker

Gabriel was a TAD p.o.'d tonight about losing ice cream. After I held fast, he expressed himself in writing. (Hmm, where do you think he gets that?)

("You will give me ice cream and obey me!!!!!!")

Poor kid....I could only laugh at his written defiance.

But I'm really tired of his new kicking, and to some extent, throwing, problem. He drop-kicked his lunch when we got home, and later threw a puzzle piece and gave Julian a slice across his mouth and a fat lip. He likes kicking in soccer, but really, it's got to get under control at home.

So he lost ice cream. I talked with him at length about it.

"What's better, kicking or ice cream?"
"What's more fun, kicking or ice cream?"
"What do you eat your vegetables for, kicking or ice cream?"
"What makes you happier, kicking or ice cream?"

I still don't think he got it.

Katrina had the mother of all hives this morning, covering much of her right leg and rear end. Red, swollen, itchy.

But we've done hives. We know hives. They change quickly, and without other symptoms, they're mostly a mystery. They change so quickly that by the time you get to the pediatrician, they're gone. And even if you get there in time, the poor helpless doc throws up his hands and says, "it's just one of those things!"

(For those who don't recall: Katrina had a 3-week hive episode when she was 7 months old, resulting in numerous trips to the pediatrician and ultimately, a pediatric allergist. All we learned is that multi-week -- even multi-month -- hive outbreaks are common, and usually their cause is untraceable. Just for completeness, the allergist tested her for dairy and peanut allergies, and she reacted to the peanut test slightly. Hence, no peanut exposure until age 3.)

(May 2007)




By the time I dropped Julian off at school this morning, Katrina's leg/butt hive was mostly gone, so I brought her to Tonya's (she gets dropped off last). Tonya said she had another hive on her face after her nap, but it was gone within an our. Then after her bath tonight, she had another raised hive on her arm, but hives often appear after being in warm water, and it started to subside after a few minutes.

Sigh. She's reacting to something in her environment. I doubt it's food though. She'd have to actually eat something first.

11/19/08