The Incredible, (In)Edible Egg

In my quest to find finger foods that Gwendoline will actually eat, I decided to try scrambled eggs. There is a lot of conflicting information out there about feeding eggs to babies. Some sources say to wait until the baby is one year old; other sources says eggs- both the yolk and the white- make a great first food for 4-6 month olds. (More info from a reputable source here, if you're interested.) So with Gwendoline being three days shy of 9 months old and no family history of food allergies, I gave her scrambled eggs for breakfast yesterday. She broke out in a rash on her face, chest, and stomach within a few minutes, so I called her pediatrician. The triage nurse told me to give her Benedryl if she seemed itchy (she didn't) and watch for any respiratory distress (she didn't have any). Her pediatrician called me back later in the afternoon and said we should probably go ahead and have her tested for food allergies, specifically egg, just to be safe. Apparently an egg allergy can be pretty serious, so he's taking her little rash very seriously. We even have an EpiPen in the diaper bag now, just in case.

I took her to the lab for the test this afternoon. I was pretty nervous and scared since the food allergy test requires a draw blood from her arm just like an adult. Her arms and veins are so tiny! And she's so wiggly! It just seems like needles should not enter that equation. But as I was signing in at the front desk, the door bell jingled behind us. Guess who it was!? DADDY to the rescue! Jeph surprised us at the lab after deciding to take an extended lunch break to hold his baby girl's (and nervous wife's) hand. What a treat and relief! Gwendoline handled the blood draw like a champion- she didn't cry or even flinch! She even stared at the needle action for a while. Since her veins are so tiny, it took a minute to fill the big vial, so she did get a little annoyed with having to sit still for that long. Jeph and I couldn't believe she didn't seem bothered by having blood drawn. What a blessing! We should have the test results back in about a week, just in time for her 9 month wellness check. Though this is not an ideal scenario, it will be nice to know which food(s), if any, she's allergic to, rather than relying on trial and error. There's the silver lining! I'll update the blog with the test results in a week or so.

My brave girl and her Garfield band-aid.

Enjoying a beautiful spring day!

Someone found the monitor camera...

Teeth

Gwendoline has teeth! Three of them have popped up over the last two weeks. The front two bottom teeth appeared about a week apart, and one top tooth is poking through as of this morning. Fortunately, teething hasn't been too rough up to this point. The night before each new tooth appeared was rough, but the days have been relatively fuss-free. I've heard that those first front teeth are the easiest and most painless, so I fully expect to have some fussy days coming up soon. Poor baby girl. Growing up sure is tough!

By now, Gwendoline has mastered crawling. She is so fast! One of my favorite things to do is crawl around on the floor behind her, following her down the hall, through the kitchen, or wherever else she's going. It's getting harder for me to keep up! Her favorite trick by far is pulling up on EVERYTHING. I can't keep her bootie on the ground anymore. Even when she's "resting," she likes to be standing and leaning against something. I even caught her climbing on her walker yesterday. Dog food and water bowls continue to be her favorites, drawing her in like a moth to a flame. I pick them up off the floor anytime she's near, but sometimes she is sneaky and I'm not fast enough. She can cover herself in their water and throw crunchy pieces around the kitchen in the blink of an eye, laughing all the while. While it's becoming a challenge to stay one step ahead of her, I give thanks to God for the joyful and sweet blessing that Gwendoline is to our family. My heart simply bursts with joy on the daily.

The Lord has done great things for us, 

and we are filled with joy.  -Ps. 126:3

One day's worth of standing and climbing

Two-thirds of Gwendoline's teeth

Dog water swimming pool

8 months old!