Sunday, December 12, 2010

Swollen

It was a scary Sunday evening at the Balas house. And we're still scratching our heads trying to figure it out. I was out Christmas shopping most of the day and Phil took the kids to Costco. They had a few samples there and enjoyed themselves. Phil took them to Kelly's for lunch, which neither of them really ate, preferring to run like banshees and generally frustrate their father.

So after that episode, Phil put his foot down and said no snacks until dinner ... which turned out to be quite a difficult thing since both, mostly Pip, whined all afternoon about how hungry he was. Finally 6pm rolled around and we served Kirkland brand Mac N Cheese and Orchard Select jarred peaches. Pip took a few bites of the mac and ate most of his peaches -- but we noticed he was scratching his face and had broken out in little red bumps on his cheek. Despite telling us he was STARVING all afternoon, he said he didn't want to eat anymore. We were baffled.

Over the next hour his face scratching got worse so I gave him half a tsp of Children's Benadryl and put him to bed. We watched him throughout the night and around 10:30 I got concerned. His face was very puffy and getting worse. I called our pedi's triage line and they advised to take him to the hospital. Luckily Winchester saw us right away -- we never even sat in the waiting area. He breathing was not effected and is oxygen levels were fine, but his face told another story. We were sent home on 4 hour double doses of benadryl and told to sleep with him so we could keep a close eye on him.

Poor Pip was very cranky about being woken and dragged to the hospital, but was a champ the whole time. He submitted to all their tests with a good disposition, wondering why they didn't give him a toy when it was all over. I broke down and got him Oreo cookies from the vending machine and juice when we got home.

Here's a picture of our little man at 12:30 am that night ...



The swelling got worse during the night ... to the point where he woke up crying at 4:00 am because his eyes were swollen shut and he couldn't open them. :( The next morning we were at the pedi first thing and got an oral steroid to take along with the double benadryl doses. That seemed to make a little progress and by the end of the day he was acting, although still not looking, like his normal self. He actually wanted to go to the field so I trekked over there with him and Vivie and played duck duck goose and Santa search for over an hour.

It took probably 3 days to fully subside and then his face was so chapped it looked almost like he had a beard! Poor thing. No one has any idea what could have caused this since he has eaten tons of man n cheese all his life and peaches are a favorite. We're going to an allergist Jan 3rd for testing and maybe we'll get some answers!
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Saturday, December 11, 2010

Ella's Dance Party!

Ella turned 4 this week and we went to her Dance Party! It took a while for the kids to warm up and then, true to form, no one wanted to leave by the end. They started with the dancing, though, and that took some convincing. Not even the chicken dance had them excited at first!

Here Pip works on Vivie:


And Liam and Pip look on:


Then they brought out some streamer wands ... and that did it!
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Saturday, December 4, 2010

Polar Express

This year we got tickets for the Polar Express. There are lots of them around here leaving from various train stations. This one left from Melrose so we got tickets and didn't have to drive far. Vivie was down for a nap (but not sleeping) before we left so we cut it a bit close. We made record time from the apartment to the car to the station ... I think total of 10 minutes! As we parked we heard the Ding! Ding! of the train approaching. Phil and I knew we had 15 minutes to board but Pip was convinced we'd miss it and of course freaked out. We hustled over and found our friends, the Velez family, right beside our car.

It was lots of fun! We got candy canes, bells, milk, and cookies and met Santa and lots of other characters.





Here Pip tells Santa he wants a boat fighter for Christmas (anyone know what that is??)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2nKv03VqyQ
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Wednesday, December 1, 2010

I got a reindeer on my shirt!

This is the Reindeer Shirt dance. No other shirts seem to bring it on.

Apple Face!

I think Pip has come up with an idea we should submit to Family Fun magazine. He worked very hard this morning cutting out a circle on a red piece of construction paper (and then taping the line where the scissors had to cut through to start the circle). Then he cut out green leaves and taped them on too. I contributed nothing but moral support to this one ... creativity in action!

Here it is, the Apple Face!!!

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Third Time's a Charm

Apparently the third time's a charm!

Pip's first visit to the dentist did not go so well. Pip refused to get in the chair and would barely enter the room. He crouched behind Phil's legs in the doorway of the exam room in fright. We tried all our tactics but after about 15 minutes, I think all we got was a wimpering tooth count from betwixt Phil's knees.

The second time was better, he went in the room and even onto the chair ... but on Phil's lap ONLY.

Today was his third visit and he was a changed man!!! He was excited all morning and went right in and straight up onto the chair. Here he is smiling before it started. He got the full visit -- all 22 teeth polished and "flourided"!!! What a proud little boy came bounding down the hall to our apartment this morning to tell me the news. He even put on a little acting show when he opened the door, telling me it didn't go so well at the dentist before breaking out in a huge smile and saying ... 'Just kidding! It went great!"

What a big boy!



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Friday, November 26, 2010

Spotted Hill Farm

One more day till Suzanna! We took a little trip to Spotted Hill farm to see some animals and check out their barn sale. I got some very nice goat's milk soaps.

There were lots of goats, two pigs, a horse, and some turkeys.



The best part was Pip learning how to talk turkey. Apparently it's not just a saying.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gI8eLKyE7Zo

Later, Pip and Viv engage in a lively game of clean-up
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBFzV8UqCkw
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