Pool Time

Holy heat wave, Batman!! And it's just getting hotter. Today will be 90, and it'll be 99 on Tuesday. That's just way too hot. To make it manageable, we've been spending a lot of time on or around water, either in our backyard, at friends' houses, or at the water feature in the park. 

 "Look at my jump, Mama!" Poor unsuspecting Hannah wasn't too happy after that.

 Pool party with Jonas and Elsa.

Hannah update: It's bad. She gets better when she's on Prednisolone, but the rash comes back full force immediately afterwards. The pool photos from above were taken when she was on it so her skin was clear. This is what it looks like now.

We have an apt. with an allergist on Wed. but she can't wait that long. I'll be calling in the morning to get something earlier. I called the on-call doc at our clinic today (Sunday) and he said to give her some Benedryl (which we were told not to do by the allergy place). She itches and paws at herself constantly and is miserable. She doesn't sleep well because she itches herself and wakes up. We don't know what is causing it...she's been off gluten for 3 days, we banished Virgil outside and mopped the floors, the rugs are gone, we switched her to rice milk, no more strawberries, we use dye and fragrance free detergent, no fabric softener, loose cotton clothing, we switched to daily baths with a coating of Aquaphor afterwards, she's on vitamin D supplements....what the hell is going on?!!!!

An update on the update: Hannah woke up this morning (Monday) looking and feeling so much better!! We are beyond thrilled about this and so happy that the little lady is getting some relief. Because of this I did not call the allergist for a new apt. and we will see him on Wed. She is currently gluten and dairy free, and we've been keeping Virgil outside. I'm praying it's not Virgil. Please don't let it be Virgil. We will hopefully have answers soon...in the meantime I would like to thank everyone for your concern, sympathy, advice, suggestions, and happy thoughts. Hannah and the rest of us are so lucky to have such a great community of family and friends in our lives.

PDX & Eczema

Zane has been asking if sister can come to PDX Playdate with him for quite some time. They have a toddler area so we thought "why not!"  Off we went, one of us chasing Zane and the other sitting with Hannah.

There are mini slides, large soft blocks, and a tunnel, among other things in the toddler area, but all Hannah wanted to do was play with this. The whole time.

It was very loud and colorful in there so she needed frequent breaks from the chaos.

The dance floor was a big hit with both of them. Here they are playing dodgeball.

 Yesterday I took Hannah to the doctor for the FOURTH time for a rash that just will not go away. It started on her neck and we were told to put hydrocortisone on it. Ok, done. Then that stopped being effective and we took her back in. Now it's a yeast infection. We treated for that. Meds stopped working, we went back and were told it was eczema. It was so bad they put her on Prednisolone and Benedryl. It went away while she was on Prednisolone but promptly came back so they think it's something environmental. I think it's due to the irritation of her clothes rubbing on her while she scoots all over the place. The doc told me to pick up the rugs to reduce friction and see if it gets better. That's where we are now. In a rugless house. If this doesn't work we're going to take away one food at a time and see if there is improvement...starting with dairy and then gluten. AAHHHHHH! This is so stressful. I just want my baby girl to feel better.

 We're also using fragrance and dye free detergent, oatmeal baths, many many ointments and lotions, no fabric softener, lightweight cotton clothing, wiping drool...does anyone have any other ideas? The rash is on her cheeks, neck (front and back), arms, chest, sides, and upper back. It's red, puffy, and itchy for her. If I don't give her the Benedryl she paws at herself and scrapes her chin on her sheets in her sleep.

 She's still happy though, look, she can clap :)

They're helping get the lawn back in shape. Thanks guys!

Swap

A group of parents got together last week and made some huge improvements to the outdoor playspace at the swap n' play. It's amazing what people can do once they make up their mind to do it! They made a dig pit by surrounding the rocks with tree stumps (the tree stumps also double as excellent chairs), made natural building blocks, and set up a rope bridge...all in one afternoon!

 Of course the indoor area is still really fun too!

I love watching them play together :)

 Hannah has been pulling herself up on everything! Go, baby, go!

Zane's cars are no longer safe on the couch.

A few days ago Hannah and I stopped by the swap for a bit before we went to pick up Zane from daycare. There was a group of older kids running around and Hannah SO wanted to play with them. She wanted to keep up so badly that her scoot went from a walrus flop to a faster lizard scoot! Here's her new mode of transportation:

Dino Time

We went to the Children's Museum today to check out the new dinosaur exhibit. It's pretty cool, but Z was unsure of the statues and didn't care for the volcano with lighted lava, but other than that, thought it was neat.

 The small scale dino figurines were favorites.

 Hannah explored the baby area.

 We need one of these for our house.

 I believe this is when his hair got soaked.

 Precision face painting.

 Fun with clay.

 Fun with sister. Hannah couldn't get enough of the tunnel!

Water, Mater, & 11 Months

Lately I feel like we go through spurts of extreme mellow-ness, where we just hang out at the house and do nothing in particular. And then BAM! In one day a whole bunch happens. Well, yesterday was our BAM! day. The kids and I went to the park in the morning (so Papa could mow the lawn!) to run around in the fountain. I wasn't sure if Hannah would be interested or not, but as it turns out the water was frigid and she was quite content to sit in her stroller and watch Zane run around like a maniac. He would do a loop and then come back to be wrapped in his towel, then run back out, and back for more towel...and so it continued. Seriously, that water was freezing. A time or two the wind shifted and Hannah and I were sprayed with the mist. I don't know how he was running around in it, but then again, he is his father's son.

"Zane, let's take this snack to town!" - Zane's friend, Ada.

 Granmama has been slaving away on this gigantic pillow of Mater for Zane. Holy Moly, it's amazing and he absolutely LOVES it!!! It has to be on the same level of the house as he is, he slept on it last night, and really wanted to take it to daycare to show everyone today but I managed to talk him into just taking the camera so we could show them the picture.

 Also in the news, Hannah is 11 months old (tomorrow)! She waves and claps with gusto and is still scooting all over the place. I think she may actually crawl soon. She's been getting up on all 4s and rocking back and forth and occasionally does a small frog hop and then falls over. She's sleeping like a champ - from 7pm to about 5 and then goes back down until around 7:30, or whenever Zane wakes up.

 Hannah is really working on her fine motor skills these days. She can pick up the smallest of objects (mostly rocks that come in from the garden), puts things inside of other things, puts things back...we have a standing activity center with a little spoon that comes off. She takes it off and then puts it back, over and over and over.

 She's proud of her word, uh-oh, and we think we've heard "woa" and "mama" and "papa" a few times but she's still connecting the meaning with those. She has turned into a very easy going kiddo. Most of the time she's content to scoot around and explore her surroundings on her own. She loves playing with Zane and other kids. I think she's going to be one of those kids who loves other babies. When she was teeny, we'd go to swap to let Z run around and every once in a while there would be another little one who LOVED her and just couldn't stop touching or staring at her. She does the same thing to other babies. She cannot be close enough to them! If they happen to be sitting on the floor with her she has often scooted right over the top of them. She also likes to play with baby dolls and tries to put them in things. She has one that her cousin, Kenzie, gave to her and she picks it up and puts it inside the largest stacker block and them beams with pride.

 He was in hog heaven before bed :)

These next two are from a different day.

This is how Hannah was entertaining herself while I was on the phone with her Aunt Audrey. 

A few days ago Zane found my badge from when I used to volunteer at the Red Cross and started asking me questions about it. I told him that I helped people after they donate blood by handing out juice and cookies. Well, guess who was super interested after that?! I was due up to donate so he came with me and did a phenomenal job. He was very patient while we were waiting to be called, during the questions, and sat on a chair next to my bed while I donated and played games on my phone. He was getting a little antsy towards the end "Mama, is it time for juice now?" "They will let me have cookies, right?" Never fear, little man, cookies will be had. And they were. And a bag of Cheezits, cinnamon graham crackers, some raisins, apple juice AND orange juice. He even brought some cookies home for Papa. It's good to be 3 - he also got stickers, a coloring book, and one of those things they give you to squeeze to make your blood flow. I'm pretty sure Zane thinks donating blood is the best thing ever. He asked Mason "you have to donate too, right Papa?"...hint, hint.