Saturday, May 22, 2010

So, we went looking for some answers....
And this is what we got. 
She's potentially allergic (or at least sensitive) to pretty much everything.  Except cats.  Which would be good, if only we had two cats instead of two dogs.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Breaking News: Mariel Eats Soup!
 Bonus News: One Eyed Monsters Return
When I picked Mariel up from school today there was a note taped to her cubby.  It says:
Today Mariel tried veggie soup!  She said " it tastes real good.  Now I like it."
This is probably not shocking for most households.  In our house, this is big news.  The surprise of it is maybe (maybe!) equal to waking up speaking a new language or finding a pot of gold in a flower bed.  Mariel has not eaten soup in two years.  She will try pretty much any food and give it at least one "no thank you bite" before turning it down- except for soup.  She has absolutely refused to touch it since before she turned 2.   I wondered if it was genetic (my mother does not like soup either... we will have to do some research to see if this is an inherited trait)... but maybe it was just an extended phase.  Or some deep ethical opposition to soup that faded?  Oh, to know the mind of a child.
In other equally exciting news, the one eyed monsters have returned:
I love the one eyed monster drawings.  She did a series of them two weeks ago. My favorite was the one eyed monster family (a mom holding baby, dad, big sister, little sister, and brother- each with their very well centered one eye) surrounding a lopsided box.  When I asked what they were doing, she looked at me with suprise and said (because it was really perfectly clear) "Laundry, Mom.  Can't you see that they are doing laundry?"  After the one eyed monster drawings were complete she went into a scissor frenzy, which happens frequently, and before I knew it my precious drawings (which I was honestly prepared to frame) were turned into tiny shapes and shreds of paper.  So once I saw this one today I snagged it and scanned it- even if the scissors come out, I will have my own copy!

Monday, May 17, 2010

Eczema wins again.
We have gone from good  to bad to worse.  There was a wonderful 4 or 5 day period of no eczema.  I was excited, thinking maybe something that we had changed, the diet, the new regimine of creams or lotions, or even different pollens in the air, something, was working.  Instead, I think we just got lucky because in a few days the very dry skin reappeared, and then back to red patches and severe itchiness.  And now she is now covered in blisters.  They appeared Saturday morning, and I thought they were tiny inflamed bug bites.  I checked the dogs, took off all of her bedding, and finally realized that if we had flea infested house or dogs, it was likely that someone else in the household would also have at least one bite, and that the fleas might not be smart enough to only bite the parts of her skin with eczema.  It still didn't register that these were blisters until Patrick took her to daycare this morning and they immediately called and said that they needed a doctor's note to say that her blisters were not contagious.  Blisters are a common part of eczema, sadly, so it seems pretty likely that this is just something else we will have to try to figure out.  We were headed to the doctor tomorrow to do blood draws for allergy testing, so now she is home with me and we go to the doctor this afternoon.  Poor girl.
On a more amusing eczema note, I have started putting her to sleep with socks on her hands to keep the cream on and to keep her from scratching herself or chewing on her hands. I thought this would be torturous, but instead she seems to think that it is pretty funny.  She carries her sock mittens over to me and once they are on starts acting as though the are puppets, saying "Ga ga gaaa" in a silly voice and wiggling her hands over and over. 
She does not wear that hat to bed, although chances are good that she would try if I let her.  I have also tried to take pictures of her hands (where the blisters are the worst), but everytime I do so she keeps playing patty cake with the camera.  It is very effective at getting me to laugh, and her to laugh, but it does make taking pictures more challenging than usual.