A Rough Weekend

It has been one crazy whirlwind around the Cook house this weekend. Justin worked at the EMS until 8 Friday night so I went up to the lake to hang out with his family for a bit. Wyatt absolutely loved every minute of it.

   

Saturday, Justin was helping our brother-in-law Michael change out the clutch on his truck and I had big plans of making a fancy dinner complete with baked banana pudding (GAG) that was on Justin’s wish list for some time. Wyatt was on the couch napping when he popped up, wide awake and toddled into the kitchen,grabbed on my leg, asked “More!” and made his baby sign language. This is as close to snack, juice, etc. we have gotten, so I poured him up some milk and sat on the ottoman with him with a banana for him to snack on. All of the sudden, he started itching and getting red marks on his face. He has had mild reactions to whole grains before so I whipped out the prescription allergy medicine the pediatrician prescribed and gave him a quick dose and snapped a picture. I like to document his reactions in case we need to ever see an allergist.

Alarmingly, I noticed he was rapidly getting worse. I panicked, threw on some flip flops, and loaded Wyatt into the car for a trip to the EMS. His eyes were almost swollen shut and I was afraid he might have a similar problem with his airway if he got worse. I called Justin on my way and by the time I got to the EMS (less than a mile away), they had the ambulance cranked up and pulled out of the station waiting for us. That is the beauty of a small town and great paramedics like we have in Turner County. It turns out the paramedics on duty were Justin’s old partners as well as the ones that picked him up when he shot his finger.

After grabbing Wyatt up and checking him out, they determined he was in no immediate danger, but still needed to be seen by the ER to be sure. Justin had arrived by that time, so we decided to make the drive on our own.

 

By the time we got to the ER, Wyatt still looked pretty terrible, but he didn’t seem to be any worse for the wear. He was into EVERYTHING. Justin whipped out his iPhone for a little Mickey Mouse Clubhouse to keep him entertained.

 

We got some steroids and he was on a Benadryl regimen for 24 hours to suppress another episode.As of now, we still don’t know what caused his reaction. Because he didn’t have hives or swelling on his whole body, we believe it must have been a contact allergy. It could have been something on the banana peel like a pesticide. We might not ever know for sure. We are keeping him away from bananas for the time being, which is hard since they are one of his favorite snacks. We have a visit with the pediatrician tomorrow to see what we can find out. Hopefully he won’t have to get one of those awful allergy scratch tests.

He was 100% back to normal yesterday, eating sand from the playground and running around like crazy. Thank goodness!

             

Labor Day weekend fun

Labor Day weekend was jam-packed for the Cook family! We got up bright and early to go to an estate sale in a neighboring town. It was actually a company that bought an estate, took out all the good stuff and was basically hosting a yard sale of the remnants. It was a bit of a let down, but Wyatt did find this old driving simulator from the 70s pretty fun to hang out on. We also saw this old garden shed behind a business on the way home. I am definitely keeping this design in mind for the new house. I want to recreate something similar for a greenhouse.

   

After the estate sale, we went to our friends Katy and Mitch’s daughter Sadie’s fourth birthday party. They made a pit stop back in our hometown on their way to Disney World and had a little birthday gathering. Sadie asked for money to spend at Disney, so I taped twenty $1 bills together and made a cute dispenser. She had so much fun wrapping it around her like a sash. Their son Eli is two months younger than Wyatt and the three of them have so much fun together. I wish they live closer!

  

We headed to my parents’ house for a pre-Labor Day cookout, but I forgot my waterproof phone case, so I only have one photo from my mama that she snapped of Wyatt catching some big air.

Justin worked on Sunday so Wyatt and I visited him at the fire department. Wyatt already yells, “TRUCK!” when we pull into the parking lot and he gets so excited to “drive.”

    

Monday, we had a cookout at Justin’s parents house. I actually remembered my phone case this time so I was able to get some fun shots of the pool. My SIL and BIL, Michael and Amanda, got two pygmy goats (Dixie and Blue) and Wyatt had a ball checking them out, too.

   

(Wyatt got to rock the lion temporary tattoo he got as a party favor from Sadie’s birthday.)

He is a daredevil and jumps right into the pool. I’m glad we have a water baby, but we have to be extra careful when he’s around the pool because he isn’t afraid of it at all.

 

August happenings

August has been a tremendously busy month for our family and it doesn’t look like September or October show any signs of slowing down either. I have had to be in Atlanta three times in the past month on overnight trips for work. Justin and I are so thankful to have great families that take care of Wyatt when we’re not able to be around.

I always said that the best parenting tool I could have ever gotten was my iPhone. It has been my lifesaver and connection to breastfeeding forums when I was up at 3:00 a.m. feedings, my on-demand pediatrician if I had simple “Is this normal?” questions, my go-to camera, and most recently, my connection to Wyatt at night when I’m away. It is so wonderful to Face Time him when I’m not able to kiss him and tuck him in at night. It makes being away from home just a tiny bit easier to handle.

       

Speaking of grandparents, I’m so glad I can see these pictures of all the fun he is having at Grandma and Pa’s or Mimi and Pop’s. He really seems like the most loved baby in the whole world.

I’m starting to get artwork from day care and our fridge is filling up fast. I never thought I’d be so happy to have to dig under piles of papers to see my calendar!

Also, I mentioned before that I started classes for my graduate program a few weeks ago. I am a distance learner, which means I am in class virtually over the internet. I can raise my hand and even speak and show video from my location when I address the professor or the class. Bonus points for distance learning? Class in my pjs in bed! We don’t have an extra room where I can set up for class without Wyatt coming in, so I squirrel myself away in our room while Justin plays with him and gets him ready for bed. I can even throw up an away sign when it comes time to kiss him good night and tuck him into bed.