Tonight was Elliot's turn to be center of attention. He threw up a couple hours after his nap, slowly recovered then began breaking out into hives! We thought he threw up because he guzzled a bunch of orange juice from a friend's sippy cup then had some milk. Around this time his skin began to turn bright red on his tummy, neck, armpits, near his genitals and parts of his back. I didn't pay attention to the redness right away, I just redressed him and sent him off to play since he seemed normal again.

Over the course of an hour, within those "red zones", he developed raised bumps ranging in size from tiny specks to wide plateaus. They weren't brown at all and they itched fiercely. I gave him a tiny amount of Children's Benadryl (.625mL) before dinner hoping that would help. But I think I was too late treating it. Elliot was scratching so hard he tore his skin on his tummy in a couple spots using his sharp nails. I abandoned dinner (his and mine) and took him straight to the bath. I put oatmeal in the tub and even rubbed some of it directly on his tummy where he was scratching most. It took several minutes in the tub for the itching to subside and within ten minutes or so the hives retreated.

We're not sure what caused his hives. It's the second time we've seen him break out like this and not in response to an immediate stimulus, usually an hour or more delayed. Rusty said he fed the following to Elliot after his nap: a cashew, some banana chips, sesame crackers with spreadable cheese, some solid cheddar, and a few Teddy grahams. We're guessing right now that he's allergic to peanuts. (The banana chips are processed near peanuts.) I'll test this theory later this week being prepared with Benadryl and an oatmeal bath at the very first sign of reaction. If he is allergic to nuts I'll seek our good ol' acupuncturist Steve Homoky to alleviate the allergy.

The nuts Elliot has had without incident: pine nuts, walnuts, pecans. The jury is still out on peanuts & cashews.

On the bright side he gobbled up every single pea left over from dinner, ate a whole banana and was treated to some strawberry ice-cream before bed.

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