Crazy Trip to the Library

The girls and I often go to the library for the local story hour and to grab piles of new books. Erin and I were looking at the science books in the Children's section and found this:

What a useful book for kids! It contains all the relevant information they would want including chemistry:

Cultural and historical information:

And botany! 

Yup, we totally scored at the library. 

Drew and Marta get Married

Last weekend, McMillers drove all night to get to PDX to attend the wedding of Marta and Drew.

Somehow, we got no actual pictures of the bride and groom.

But, there were plenty of pictures of the kids. And there were a LOT of kids.

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

Congrats to Marta and Drew!!  Thanks for having us. 

Robin update: home!

Robin is home! She got discharged around 2:30pm today.



Magic occurred overnight: the lesions are much much lighter, she is eating well, drinking at least some, is comfortable to the point of minimal medication.  As you can see from the photo, she was her normal playful self when Erin and I got to the hospital this morning.

She will probably still have a fever, and will still have the rash for a long time, but hopefully the itchiness will continue to ease.

Everyone is happy to be home.

Robin update: disturbing photos

Here's how things looked Friday morning.


Notice the weird lesions in her skin folds:


Here's how she looked by the afternoon. Notice how the lesions had grown and darkened.


You can see some of the lesions on her side have started to coalesce.




I left the camera with Ashleigh at the hospital tonight, so you can't see her current state, but those target lesions have grown and spread, now her entire torso has coalesced so that there's just giant areas of lesions covering her entire trunk, and most of her arms and legs. She's miserable. She feels like shit, she's swollen, she itches and itches, and she's had a low fever now for three days.

Although there's lesions on her eyelids, still nothing in her eye (for some reason having lesions on your eyelids is fine (?!)), and nothing in her mouth or privates or other mucous membranes. But keep your fingers crossed -- moving to mucous membranes is apparently even more serious business.

Robin Rash Update

Part III, and hopefully the last, in this rash-related blogfest.

Robin is currently admitted to Children's hospital.  Yesterday, after a frantic late-afternoon trip to her pediatrician, the allergist, one ER (we were sent to the wrong one) and a second ER, Robin was transferred here last night.  There was some concern the rash, now covering nearly her entire trunk, arms, legs to her knees, neck, parts of her face, around her eyes, might also enter the mucous membranes, which would be so bad we won't even talk about it.

She's feverish, itchy, and looks like a textbook case of Erythema multiforme.  So textbook, the attending doc last night in the ER wanted to take pictures to show residents.  We signed a waiver and everything.

We'll be here one more night and will likely be going home tomorrow morning.  They're not super concerned about the rash going in the wrong place, they're mostly concerned with making sure she starts eating/drinking again, and is more comfortable.  In other news, Erin got to have her first sleep-over at a friend's house last night and got to play all day with Grandma and Grandpa.

The verdict

Robin has a penicillin allergy.  Her entire body from head to knee is covered in red hives, some just a blush of pink, some a deep, angry crimson and threatening to burst.  She may shed skin.  She has a fever ranging between 99 and 101.  She itches all over.  She's barely eaten, nurses like mad (good thing since she's not showing any signs of dehydration), and refuses all but the merest sips of water or juice.  Yet her spirit is, as ever, irrepressible, exuberant, curious.  And extra cuddly.  She's also doped out; Benadryl and ibuprofen are her current two new friends.

Too young for pimples. . .

. . .but hives?  Or contact dermatitis?

She woke up with some red on her neck and was scratching the bejesus behind her ears. She's on antibiotics for an ear infection (day 6 of 10) and it's her second round in the last two weeks. I also put some very old sunscreen on her face and neck two days ago. Called the doctor, they said if it was antibiotics it would be more wide-spread. By this afternoon/evening, her arm pits were covered, with some red areas looking raised. She also had scattered spots on her trunk, her arms, and two bands on her legs, right at mid-thigh level. I gave her some antihistamines so she would stop pulling off her skin, so she wasn't itchy anymore, but the bumps!!!

Poor kiddo.  At least she got to watch Elmo (maybe her second time ever) and eat a Nilla Wafer. OK, two wafers.

It's official....

.... she's walking.



Robin actually made the switch from crawling to walking over the course of last week.  As with Erin, it was astounding to watch the waves of excitement and understanding wash over Robin's consciousness, "I am human.  I walk upright!"

Welcome to the tribe, little one.