Watching the Rain

As she was recovering from Sunday's exciting morning, Gianna and I watched the rain from our front porch.

Hooray for rain!

She sported her lovely hospital anklet... 

....and her still-puffy eye.

This is more the reduced puff.

Thank heavens, nothing seemed to bother her or slow her down.

Same ol' happy toddler.

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On Monday morning it was looking much better.  Swelling slowly reducing:

One might expect the Benadryl would sedate my sweet girl like it does most people.

As luck would have it, Benadryl apparently has the opposite affect on Gianna.  Along with the Benadryl, I'm sure the steroids she's taking create quite a Hyperactivity Cocktail.

Case in point....

Oh what fun!

That was just the benign hyperactivity.  She saved the crazy LOUD stuff for later.

(Only 3 more days of the meds - heaven help us.)

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After lunch, she asked for a popsicle. I obliged.

(They're my tasty homemade pear popsicles from the pears off our trees!)

They were the quietest 15 minutes of my day.

E.R. (not the tv show)

This was taken yesterday morning just before Iain took Gianna to Sam Houston.

He told me when they returned that that the mosquitoes were bad, so they cut their trip short.  We noticed several bites on her.  They were red and swollen.  We suspected that she's allergic to mosquito bites.  She's only gotten a few over the last two years (which is pretty amazing in SW Louisiana) but they've all been red and swollen.

Amazing what a tiny little mosquito can do.

One tiny little mosquito, bit our tiny little girl on her tiny little face and left her with a not-so-tiny little bite.  As yesterday went on, it seems to get more swollen.  Last night at about 2:00am, I happened to go into Gianna's room to check on her (which I almost NEVER do because she is an extremely light sleeper.)  Sure enough, she popped her little head up saying, "Hi Mommy!"  I picked her up and rocked her for a minute before I got a glimpse of her left eye. I turned the light on and was surprised by how swollen it had become. 

I brought her into our bedroom to show Iain.  We gave her some Benadryl and after a hilarious little slumber party, put her back to bed in her room.  I went it in to get her this morning at 7am...and her eye had complete swollen shut. UGH!

My poor little prize fighter.

We called Iain's brother who's a pediatrician in FL, but he wasn't available, so decided to just bring her to the E.R.

We may have well taken her to Disney Land. 

 Everything is an adventure for her.

She was an entertaining little patient for the staff...asking them to listen to her heart and look in her ears.

Checking her heart rate.

Playing with their equipment.

The doctor came in (same doc that saw Iain during his "episode" earlier in the year who told me, "Hmm....that's puzzling. I'm going to go ahead and release him but if you can't wake him up again...just bring him in.")

This time he said,

"Oh wow. Yeah....well I guess she's allergic to mosquito bites."

I can't wait to find out just how much we'll be paying for that diagnosis.

"Not much you can do about that, except avoid getting bit."

Oh, okay Doctor. That ought to be a real cinch in Louisiana.

He suggested Benadryl - which we'd been using with no success.

He gave her a steroid med. and a script so we're awaiting promising results, but so far, 3 hours later - it still looks pretty bad.  She still looks cute though.  The nurse said not many people could pull that look off - but she made it work for her. :)

Oh, and while we were waiting for the doctor to come in, Iain's phone alerted him to an email from our insurance company that a claim had been made for Gianna.  The doctor hadn't even SEEN her yet.  How funny is that?  They're on the ball in the billing department!

I'm so glad that my sweet girl's first visit to the E.R. was minor, positive and drama-free. I just keep on thinking of parents who live in the E.R. and hospital for heart-wrenching illnesses and injuries.  I'm am counting our blessings for our healthy child.

Does anyone have any good suggestions for bug repellent for kids that is deet-free and doesn't smell like they're wearing bug repellent?  Does Avon's Skin So Soft still work in that regard?

Gianna and the Bug Man

He comes once every three months - that's four times a year.  She knows him. She anticipates his arrival. She talks about him for days after he comes. She follows him, shows him toys and books, says his name dozens of times.  Who is he?

He's the Bug Man.

Our exterminator.....Cory.

He's precious with her.  Always attentative. Always sweet.  We're grateful to our "Bug Man" for keeping our household pest-free, but even moreso for being so great with our little girl. :)

Ordinary Days...

Some days in Lewis Land are ordinary (most, actually.) These ordinary days can sometimes be monotonous, frustrating and L-O-O-O-N-G.  But even those ordinary days are punctuated with wonderful moments that I want to remember.  Here are a few of those moments that make these ordinary days just so darn good...

The other day, Gianna was playing and singing.  We heard her singing "The Farmer in the Dell" and chuckled when she sang the second verse which is usually "The farmer takes a wife..."

Her version:  "The famer takes a shower...." 

Smart girl.

Gianna was contorting her body in order to more intently inspect her elbow.  She gasped.  "Mommy! Anovver belly button!"   I laughed.  "It DOES look like a belly button, Gianna, but it's called a dimple. Did you know you have dimples in your cheeks too?"  Her curiosity was piqued.  I brought her to the mirror and pointed to her cheeks. "Now smile, Gianna."  She did. She saw. She giggled.  Over and over and over.

The other night, I made quesadillas for supper.  Later on Iain put Gianna the bed and came back laughing.  He told me he asked Gianna for a kiss.  She gave him one....and proudly proclaimed it a "Kiss-a-dilla."

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One day I'm going to miss these ordinary days.

Hmmmm....

This is how I found Gianna's dollhouse family this morning.

Looks like someone's having fun in Lewis Land.

(The dad  cracks me up!)