2013 Scare #1

So it was January 1, 2013…first day of the new year and Paul Evan gave us a scare.  Mama and Dada went out on a movie date with Tita Sarah and came home to a very puffy faced baby boy.  At first I didn’t see the swollen ness.  Grandma was rocking him and said he had been complaining of itchiness.  I immediately thought of his eczema.  But it was on his neck…hadn’t seen that one before.  Butthen as we put him towards the light, we noticed bumps.  Great…it’s hives.  Dada came to the rescue with some Allegra.  (yea…he’s fast!)  and then my baby boy starting talking to me about the itchiness and how Preston put a cracker to his lips.

One thing about my baby boys is that they looooove cheese crackers.  We’ve kinda made it a routine to always have a snack for them when we pick them up from daycare.  They have a snack at 3 and by the time we get them, they are thirsty and very hungry.  Sometimes when we forget to bring a snack, we have to stop at a gas station to pick up something.  Dada was the first to introduce them to cheese crackers.  Ever since, they look forward to Mama and Dada coming to pick them up from daycare.  I love that feeling.  Paul Evan is super excited to see us but more so because we have cheese crackers. 

So we bought a monster size box and left it in the pantry.  The box we bought is actually a combo of all types of crackers and cookies – lemon o’s, chocolate crème, cheese crackers…and…peanut butter.  Yup.  The cracker he was telling us Preston offered him (by putting it up to his lip) was a peanut butter cheese cracker.  My baby had a swollen face and hives and itchiness because of peanut butter cheese crackers.  It’s scary to think that just by contact- not necessary ingesting; the peanut butter affected him that badly. 

Paul later came to me with an opened package of peanut butter cheese crackers.  The package had the smallest hole on one end.  This is how I picture the scenario:

Preston goes into the pantry, grabs a package of whatever he could first grab his hands on.  Tries to bite open the package but couldn’t.  Then, goes to big brother and asks him to open it by poking him in his face.

I’m convinced.  There is no better explanation than that.

So in 2012 we had 1 allergy scare with eggs.  Paul Evan was helping Grandma make pancakes and it was not the "complete pancake mix".  Interestinly enough, Paul Evan did not even break the eggs...so it's still a mystery as to how he came into contact with a raw egg.

Paul Evan knows what he's allergic to and watches out for himself.  He knows eggs and peanut butter are no no's and even says, "I'm allergic to that.", or "I can't eat that right Mama?  It has egg."  Now that I think about it, earlier that day I offered him potato salad, which contains egg!  Bad Mama!  Paul Evan (smart boy) says, "That has egg.  I can't eat that."  Good one!  I said, "Whooops...I'm sorry baby" and went on to serving myself.

Mama and Dada just need to be more careful this year.  Hopefully this will be the one and only 2013 scare.