Please Do Not Feed The Animal

I know I can get boring. But Please read this one to the end. For me? No? For Little One then? Aww, thanks. She knew you would. Look out. This may come as a shock. I'm a bit of a....worrier. Hard to believe, but true. Which is why, when I take Little One to the doctor, I usually expect to hear something along the lines of, "well it was a good idea to ask, Mrs. C, but there's no need to worry too much." And then I feel better, and I can find something else to worry about.
I certainly don't expect to hear, "I don't thing you quite realize how serious this is." But yesterday, that is what Dr. Allergy said to me. And he also asked me to impress upon the members of Little One's fan club that "this is not a joke."
So, since Little One and I will be traveling to see some of you soon, I'm going to get all serious for a minute here and make sure everyone knows that this:


is not a joke.
Little One is allergic to Milk, Eggs, Peanuts, and Soy. She is VERY allergic to Milk, Eggs, Peanuts, and Soy. So allergic that She is going to be a bit of a minor medical celebrity, written up and used for medical school classes. She's even special-er than we thought!
So far we have not had any life-threatening reactions, but Dr. Allergy was sure to repeat often to me that "past reactions are not predictive of future reactions", and that he considers Little One to be a "very high risk for anaphalactic shock". Yikes.
Apparently what happens is that each time Little One is exposed to something She's allergic to, She becomes a little bit more sensitive to it. So each time She comes into contact with Milk, Eggs, Peanuts, and Soy, She gets a little more and a little more allergic to it, until at some point-we have no way of knowing when- She will become just allergic enough that the next exposure can cause Her to stop breathing. Yikes. Which is why it's very important to try to keep Her away from Milk, Eggs, Peanuts, and Soy. Always.
I don't want to scare you fan clubbers away from Little One. Please please play with Little One and give Her hugs and snuggles! Her feelings will be so hurt if you don't because She loves you like a fat kid loves milk, egg, peanut, and soy-free cake. Just please be sure that you:

*Don't feed Her anything. Unless it is a raw fruit or vegetable, or came out of Her diaper bag.
For some reason friends and strangers alike have a particular fondness of offering cookies. Please no. Store-bought cookies typically contain ALL of the no-no foods, and it's surprising how many processed foods do.

*Wash your hands. Little One has a magical X-Men type power, which is that She works like a hygiene detector. If you don't wash up after eating your cheeseburger, Little One will tell on you by displaying red welts wherever you touch Her.

*Beware the wiggle-and-grab! We are victims ourselves, as you may recall from our ice-cream story back there. Little One is pretty good at spying your alfredo while She sits on your lap at dinner, and suddenly contorting in such a way as to get Her fingers in your plate. (And Her alfredo-y hands all over your nice outfit, if you need extra incentive).

*If you notice any little red spots popping up on Little One, or any part of Her begins to swell up, or She begins crying and clawing at Herself, call or find me or J right away.

*If She starts breathing funny, call 911 and then call or find me or J right away.


Phew. How's that for a post that is not any fun? Sorry. Little One doesn't know what all the fuss is about. She just wants to hang out with you and have fun. So please do. Just let's not invite Milk, Eggs, Peanuts, and Soy to the playdate. And don't worry, Peanut Gallery. She's not allergic to You, despite your name.