First trip to the ER :(

I am going to post some pics from our trip to PA two weekends ago soon, but before I do that, I wanted to post our most recent happenings with Caleb.  This Sunday we gave Caleb peanut butter for the first time (with the pediatrician's consent to try it of course) and he had a pretty severe allergic reaction to it.  His eyes swelled up, he got hives on his cheeks and even one in his eye, and he had blotchiness around his mouth.  It was so sad!  So we called the doctor as this reaction was progressing and they told us to head to the ER.  Once we got there Caleb was administered benadryl and was monitored for a few hours, and the swelling and such went down.  No worries, he if fine now, but our next step is to see an allergist to determine what level of peanut allergy this is (as well as to see if he has any other allergies to tree nuts, etc.)  But it was definitely an eventful day!  We are so thankful that he was ok and that the reaction didn't spread to his throat (he never had trouble breathing and they checked his lungs at the hospital and confirmed that there was no respiratory reaction...praise God)!  We are also really thankful that now we know that Caleb has this allergy so we can be prepared and prevent future reactions, and that this reaction happened when we were ready for the possibility of it.  God is so good to us protecting our little man!

Here is Caleb's arm band from the hospital above.

We also have to carry an Epi Pen Jr. now!

Caleb says, "Bad peanuts!"

After we got home we were all exhausted, especially Caleb from the medicine.  Here are the boys taking a snooze.

Monday, Jason took the day off and we kept Caleb inside to monitor him as he continued the benadryl doses he needed to take up until 3pm yesterday to ensure another reaction didn't flare up.  He stayed in pj's all day!

And as I said, he is doing much better now.  I took this picture this morning on our way out to a 1st birthday party for one of Caleb's friends.  He's back to his normal little self!

Fingers and Forks

I thought I would post a few shots of Caleb eating some rigatoni recently. It was pretty cute, he would slide the pasta onto his finger and only then eat it. He kind of reminds me of what I think Uncle Matt would have looked like as a kid eating pasta from the stories I've heard. Haha!

Here's a fun video of Caleb using a fork to eat. It's not the most thrilling stuff, but fun for the grandparents to see anyway!

After those messy shots, I feel compelled to post something cute and clean. Here are my boys looking sweet together!

Hanging out with Grammy and Pops

Grammy and Pops came to visit last weekend and Caleb was so excited! They brought him some fun new surprises, but they also brought him the horse they got him at Christmas time that we couldn't fit in the car on the way home. He has definitely enjoyed reuniting with his horse! We also did some fun sightseeing while they were in town. Check out the pics below!

This was actually a present for Caleb from Val's Aunt Sue and Uncle Roge. They are stacking blocks and he cannot get enough of them now. He was learning how to stack them here with Pops.

Then he got a special dog, "Li'l Snoopy" from Grammy and Pops.

On the second day they were here, we spent the day checking out York and Kittery, Maine. In York, we drove around the coast area and saw the beautiful beaches, and then drove out to the Nubble Lighthouse. It was a gorgeous day, and seeing the beaches made me super excited for the summer!

Here are a couple of views of the lighthouse. It is actually only accessible by sea craft, the picture with Pops below is the closest people can get. After that, we went to the outlets in Kittery (which is what Kittery is known for) and had a good time shopping.

On the last day of their visit, we went into Boston. Before we left, Grammy and Caleb played for a bit on his horse and with his talking Elmo below (another gift from Aunt Sue and Uncle Roge).

Then, Jason and Pops went to the Larz Anderson Auto Museum in the morning. Pop's favorite car was the yellow ferrari, and Jason's favorite was the formula 1 racing car (driven by Michael Shumacher). That's about all I know about it, so I'll just let you all enjoy the pics.

Grammy, Val and Caleb then met up with the guys for lunch, and then we all went to the Sam Adams Museum in Boston. Here are the boys walking to the entrance.

Finally, one last good-bye picture before Grammy and Pops had to leave (they left right after the tour...don't worry...Grammy started out driving since Pops sampled some Sam Adams at the end)! :)

What a great visit it was!

Random Stuff to Share

I thought I would post some other cute pictures of things Caleb has been up to lately since I am finally caught up picture wise. Since there has still been snow here in MA on and off, we have mostly been in-doors, but we have taken him out a few times in the snow. Also, it has given us the chance to go to fun places like Bonkers (an indoor play place for kids that I mentioned in the last post), Gymboree gym classes, and even make silly obstacle courses at home. We definitely can't wait for Spring, but the winter hasn't been so bad after all.

I thought I should start of the pictures with the one of him pointing at the giraffe at Bonkers that I mentioned in the MN post. I know you can't really see the statue, but it's on the left through the gate. Once we get there, he always takes a few minutes to point it out to me before he goes and plays!

Looking through the bubble.

King of the foam ramp!

Just chillin' with his friend Owen above.

Another friend Reese after going down the slide.

What a smile from Kaelyn!

Navigating through the foam mountain.

I just thought this was precious...Caleb is looking through the exit gate at the big kids play area. I imagine he's thinking, "One day, I will conquer that!"

Here are just a couple of silly shots of the obstacle course we built one family fun night. Caleb liked going through the tunnel!

And last but not least, here are the pictures from his first time playing in the snow a few weeks ago! It was still snowing when we went outside, so we didn't take too many pictures, but you get the idea. I can't believe spring is already next Friday!

Our Trip to Minnesota

I am really behind in posting, mostly because I just now had the chance to go through the pictures from our trip.  We visited Jason's family in MN in mid February for about a week, and we had a wonderful time.  We did so many fun things (most of which we didn't catch on camera), but a few we did, so here are some pics below of our time visiting.

This was a few days into the trip (when we finally started taking pictures), when we went over to visit Auntie Vienna's new house with Don and Betty (Grandpa and Nana).  What a cute pic of mom and daughter (Auntie Vienna and Nana with Caleb) this was!

Along with a new house, Vienna also got a new cat, Dodge.  Caleb was very fascinated by him and was searching in all the rooms to try to find him during our visit.

That same day we went to the St. Paul Como Conservatory and Zoo.  It was such a breath of fresh air, literally, to be in a tropical climate in the middle of winter, surrounded by beautiful flowers, plants and trees.  Above was a tree from the Palm Dome, one of the rooms in the conservatory.  We also went into the Fern Room, the Tropical Encounters area, the North Garden, and the Sunken Garden (which was my personal favorite).

Inside the Sunken Garden, Caleb enjoyed checking out the exotic flowers with Daddy.

Here are two different views of the garden (above and below).  Doesn't this just get you excited for spring? 

Here's Grandpa taking Caleb for ride (can you tell that Caleb had a great time here)? :)

 Beautiful flowers in the North Garden.

Finally, here's Caleb and Grandpa checking out the goldfish in the mini pond in the middle of the garden.  I know you can't see the pond or the fish, I just thought this was a sweet picture!

Then it was onto the zoo.  This was Caleb's first time visiting a zoo, so of course we took a TON of pictures.  Here are two of my favorites.  Above in the Gorilla area, we caught a pic of this gorilla's fierce roar.  Ok, ok...so the truth is it was actually a yawn, but it does look pretty scary right?

Caleb is a big fan of giraffes.  We attend play dates at a place called Bonkers here at home, where there is a huge giraffe statue amongst all of the climbing areas and slides, and he is constantly pointing at it and making sure that he shows it to me.  So it was really fun to show him the real thing!

Back at Grandpa and Nana's on different evenings, we got to hang out with Uncle Tyrone and Uncle Shea and catch up with them over dinner.  Tyrone is studying his way through law school, and Shea is looking into teaching english as a second language in Japan starting this upcoming May (he is currently instructing in the States).  Here's Uncle Tyrone and Caleb!

Here's Caleb and Uncle Shea on another night above.

I just thought this was a cute shot.  Jason was playing some piano during some down time that we had, and Caleb decided to join in.

These are pictures from the last day of the trip, even though we had spent time with Lora (Grandma) before that as well.  These were just some of my favorites!  A little group shot above.

A great three generations pic!

And finally, Caleb and Grandma doing some flash cards and just hanging out at her house.  We really enjoyed spending time with everyone.  The only family member we missed was Uncle Andrew, so here's a little shout out...we love you Andrew!  We can't wait until you come home!