TGIF!

It's been a LONG week and I'm so glad to have another weekend ahead of us!  The early part of this week, I was sleeping TERRIBLY.  I'm talking up 10+ times a night.  I would wake up in the mornings with bags under my eyes and mom and dad were so exhausted and didn't know how to help me :(  They thought I was having night terrors because I would wake up screaming about random things:  "There's a bird on my back," "Make the monkey go away."  Then a half hour later I'd wake up and want to go potty.  Lather, rinse, repeat.  All.night.long.  We almost headed back to the pediatrician for another ear check, but I seem to have settled down a little.  I've still been waking up to go to the potty, but at least mom and dad can get a *few* hours of sleep here and there. 

Mom and dad had a date night last Saturday and went to dinner and to see South Pacific at the Kennedy Center.  Dad had never seen South Pacific before and mom knew all the words to all the songs - they told me it was a great show.  I was glad to have them go out for a night because it meant that I got to play with Ms. Sharon, my favorite babysitter!!!  We had such a great time together, though I didn't sleep well that night either.  Sharon told mommy that I was up every half hour from the time I went to bed and that trend continued for several more hours after mom and dad got home :( 

School was closed last Monday for Martin Luther King Day, so mom scheduled an allergist appointment for me and took a sick day.  After my last outbreak of hives at daycare last week, my pediatrician said it was time to see the allergist.  Mom prepped me that it might hurt, but that the doctor was going to try to figure out why I keep getting itchy rashes.  I got a little antsy while we were there (mom had to wake me up early from my nap) and I couldn't eat while I was there since a lot of the patients have food allergies.  I was hungry and found a bag of pretzels in mom's purse and got pretty upset when I couldn't eat them :(  But after the doctor talked to mom for a while, the nurse let me pick out a movie to watch while they did the tests.  I picked Finding Nemo!  I have a giant Nemo in my room, so mom thought I might be able to identify with that movie.  The nurse told mom to sit on the table with me across her lap and she put the movie in.  Unfortunately, the nurse then pricked my back with what felt like a ton of needles and I cried and wanted to sit up :(  Mom had to keep me laying down so none of the tests would run together.  I squeezed mommy's hand and she rubbed my shoulder to let me know it was ok.  I did finally calm down and we watched Nemo for a few minutes until the doctor came back in.  I did have welts around all of the pricks, but the good news is that I tested NEGATIVE for all of the allergens they tested for, INCLUDING DAIRY!!!  They tested me for peanuts, tree nuts, shell fish, fish, eggs, milk, soy, wheat, cats, dogs, dust mites, and a few others mom can't remember.  That's awesome - either I outgrew my dairy allergy, I was never allergic to begin with, I just have a dairy intolerance, or there's something else going on.  Mom talked to the doctor a little more about some of my history and he wanted us to keep a very detailed food diary for a month.  Including times, what I eat and drink, ingredients in each meal, how much I eat, and note any "issues" with my skin or bowels - times that rashes begin and end, etc..  After they talked a little more, the doctor had another thought.  He asked mom if he could scratch my skin and see what happened.  Of course mom said "Do what you have to do."  The doctor scratched my back with the tongue depressor and wouldn't you know, my whole back broke out in hives.  The doctor asked if that's what the rashes looked like and mom said yes, sometimes they do look like that.  So he feels pretty strongly that it's just a skin condition such that when my skin gets scratched, I get hives or rashes.  It could happen more at school than at home because I tumble and get bumped by other kids more so than I would at home.  And I could have gotten hives from a virus after my ear infection that made me itchy, then I scratched myself which caused even more hives.  He said if that's the case, we don't even need to come back for a follow up!  Mom decided to keep a food diary anyway because the rashes don't ALWAYS look like the one in the office and at least this way, we'll have some data to look at if I do break out again and we won't have to start from square one again.  The doctor told mom to bring me in even without an appointment the next time I do have a rash and we'll go from there.  So that's where we left things. 

So far so good.  Mom and dad even started re-introducing dairy to me - they've given me a tiny bit of cheese and some butter and I seem to be ok thus far!  This is so great because I can now start to eat some of the things that mom and dad do.  Mom said she's going to keep me on soy milk for now so my system doesn't get shocked, but I can start to have cheese and maybe even some yogurt.  We're going to take it slowly with the dairy, though, because I'm not eating much these days, so it's hard to tell if there's a reaction.  In fact, the past 5-6 nights, I've MAYBE eaten 2-3 bites of food for dinner.  If anyone has any suggestions on how to get a toddler to eat, mom is willing to listen...

We have another busy weekend planned.  We have my swim lessons tomorrow morning and I'm getting my hair cut tomorrow afternoon.  We started swim classes last weekend and I wasn't so sure about the whole thing.  I had been in a pool before, but for some reason I just didn't like it.  I cried a lot and wrapped my arms and legs around mom.  I kicked my feet a few times, but otherwise didn't really "let go."  I think daddy is going to go with us tomorrow and hopefully I will be more comfortable if they're both there.  Mom and I have been talking about it all week, so maybe I'll be more prepared tomorrow.  My hair is also pretty shaggy, so mom decided it was time to get my second haircut.  Can you believe I haven't had a hair cut since I was 11 months old???  Mom made me an appointment at a salon that gives out lollipops and balloons :)  Fingers crossed I'm not as traumatized by this cut as I was the last time!  I also have a playdate with two of my favorite friends on Sunday!!!  I can't wait to see Zachary and Alanna :)  We all used to be in the same school, but are all now in different places.  I'm so glad we've all stayed in touch.  Then of course I get to watch the STEELERS play football on Sunday!!!  Mom got me a new Polamolu jersey and taught me how to say "Here we go Steelers," and I did a "Polamolu dance."  She tried to get the dance on video tonight, but the memory on the camera was full, so we'll have to try again this weekend.  Let's go Steelers!  Beat the Jets!!! 

Here are a few photos from the past few weeks:

I picked out my own jammies again.  Both the tops and bottoms are elephants, but they're clearly from different sets:


Happy girl after school:


Going up to bed:


In honor of South Pacific, "I'm gonna wash that man right outta my hair..."


I have a new cell phone (i.e. mom's old phone):


Eating my pizza with soy cheese:


Love my ducky towel from Jenn!


I told you I need a haircut!


Mom got me a bunch of new library books, including a Richard Scarry book (one of hers and dads favorites from their childhood).  Where is Goldbug, mommy?


There he is!


Hope everyone is doing well and I'll update again soon.  Love you!