Terrible two's are not always so terrible after all...

The after effects of his scratch tests

Let's allow ourselves to be side tracked from CHD for a moment... on Tuesday I had an allergist appointment for Kaleb (my youngest for those of you new to this Blog. Kaleb has always had problems with hives, eczema and breathing. Everything for Kaleb goes to his lungs, every cold, every allergy attack, every thing. He cries too hard, laughs to hard, yells to long, plays to hard and he begins to wheeze and cough. This I am learning is life with Kaleb. He has severe diaper rash that never goes away because he has toddler diarrhea and has been hospitalized because he couldn't breathe and turned blue (thanks to what I believe is asthma - though at this early age doctors are unable to diagnose.) We have had two run ins with anaphylactic reactions, one to his vaccine at 6 months old and one after a dab of peanut butter reached his mouth. So, all this to say that we wanted  him checked for everything and anything that could cause him trouble, we also need his needles up to date because we don't want him or Josh to get into trouble with an illness we could easily avoid with a needle. So, off we went on Tuesday to be thoroughly checked by his allergist. The doctor was fantastic, but immediately noted that Kaleb's breathing was off, we were given an asthma action plan (a step closer to getting him diagnosed). We were given a whole host of puffers and cream for his rash, which I should mention is caused not by the allergies as I had thought, but because of this thing called Toddler Diarrhea (who even knew that existed? - potty training won't be fun).  The doctor had Kaleb hug me and exposed his back for the scratch tests, Kaleb sat as good as gold and though he whimpered when scratched he didn't actually react until the hives started to boil up. The peanut being his worst offender, with all other nuts a close second. A normal reaction to peanuts is a 4 mm hive, Kaleb's measured 35 mm in diameter. Eggs, his second biggest allergy next to nuts was 5 mm. None of this information was new but we learned a great deal about caring for his lungs and his asthmatic symptoms, things we should have known before hand but didn't. I am not really writing this Blog for any other reason that to let you know about my not so happy heart day. The drive home was exceedingly long due to DVP traffic, and Kaleb who was wearing a hot winter coat and pressed up against all these huge hives was pretty miserable. He wasn't to be satisfied with anything, not even a special cookie I brought to cheer him up. Then, when we got home and I was taking off his coat he looked up at me, his eyes still full of tears and he threw his arms around me and said what sounded very close to a jumbled 'I love you', I got about four more good long hugs out him in that moment and once my heart that had melted on the floor slowly reformed I realized that though being two can be a pain for those around a two year old, it's also a real joy, a real pleasure to have the love of that same two year old. He has his moments, but he's still my sweet little Kaleb.

My not so happy heart day, ended up on a happier note after that.