And the culprit is...dairy

At Ava's one year check up, she weighed in at a little over 16 pounds. I was quite dismayed that she was not even on the growth chart in terms of weight. She is still at the 75th percentile for height, though. Ava is always very traumatized at the doctor's office, and cries as soon as the nurse or doctor gets near her. Needless to say, the MMR shots she got made her scream bloody murder. Only a little frog toy that the nurse gave her calmed her down. I decided after the appointment that it was time to fatten Ava up. Her skin had miraculously cleared up a week ago. I thought we could say good bye to eczema for good and decided I could start stuffing my face to my heart's desire. I went crazy at the Greek festival during the weekend. I ate cheese, walnuts, almonds, probably some butter and her skin is still looking fab. Here are a few pics from the Greek festival:

Ava had a piece of bread in each hand while we were having dinner

Her feet are always on the table, without fail

The Greeks got it right with this cookie..the amytholota or something like that. Every year I have to stock up on the cookies during festival. The festival was a mad house this year. Way too many people in my way when I was trying to buy my baklava and other delights.





Back to Ava's story...I always get sidetracked when I think about food. So I had already set up an appointment with an allergist a month prior. I almost cancelled the appointment because I thought Ava probably didn't have food allergies after all. The day before the allergist appointment, I bought a whole pack of yogurt. I fed Ava a spoonful and she expressed her distaste immediately. I kept shoving spoonfuls into her mouth, determined to get some bovine goodness into her, despite her protests. All of a sudden, she started getting hives all over her face and neck. I just nursed her to sleep and when she woke up 45 minutes later, she was fine. I didn't give her any Benadryl, for fear of messing up the chance of getting tested at the allergist. The next day, at the allergist, she was pricked with the usual suspects and out of all the food types they tested, it only showed she was allergic to milk. She's also allergic to mold and dust mites. I guess I should start dusting, or cleaning in general for that matter. The skin prick test wasn't too horrible for her. The nurse was trying to prick her really quickly and may have jabbed her a bit too hard at a few spots. I can't believe I may have to jab Ava with one of those crazy Epipens if she ever has an allergic reaction again. And give her Benadryl, then call 911. I told the allergist that this seemed like an extreme measure if she just had hives for a few minutes. His reply was, "This is not the gospel according to me. Any other doctor would tell you the same blessed thing." Alright, 'nuff said. Any answer with the words "gospel" and "blessed" needs to be heeded most seriously. I'm not going to gamble with Ava's life here...