Itchy Puffy Joseph

Little Joseph has been having some allergic reactions of late. His skin, mostly on his tummy, breaks out into big puffy red hives. Sometimes it is gone within an hour or so, sometimes it lasts most of the day. I called the Dr to find out what we could do for him. She said due to the previous diagnosis of eczema in our family that it is probably just that. We put cream on it and that seemed to help. We got a special soap for the laundry thinking he was sensitive to the kind we were using. But on Wednesday Joseph had a tub of yogurt and within a few minutes he was covered with hives, this time on his arms, back, neck, chin and thighs as well as his tummy. Hmmm...his worst reaction yet. So we took him off of dairy products to see if that would help. By morning he was fine. Lots of foods have milk products in them, and a couple of times I have accidentally let him eat one of those foods. He has had smaller reactions to them. So we think Joseph may have developed an allergy to dairy. I'll be taking in to see an allergist soon to find out for sure. This is a sad thing for Joseph as he LOVES milk and all its food cousins! We got him some Vanilla and Chocolate soy milk and he seems to be ok with that. I tried it and thought it was kinda yucky. If anyone has any specific brands of soy milk that is tasty, let me know! My friend Dawn has two kids with food allergies and is an expert on these things, so hopefully I will get some great tips from her!

Joseph loves preschool. It is so fun to pick him up and see him interacting with the teenage girls and the other kids in his class. He gets to play on the playground, ride the tricycles down the sidewalk by their classroom, paint, color, play with playdough, watch the birdies, or the fish, etc, etc. I have been very impressed with the preschool and am glad Joseph is able to experience it and have such fun.

I have some photos to post, but it will have to wait until I find the camera. Having a cute little tiny camera is great for taking to the park, zoo, etc. However I always seem to be misplacing it!