Papaya Mom

And off we went to take Papaya on her first trip up a Mountain. We were ready to show her the love of the great outdoors, hiking and camping, oops, no camping just yet. On the drive down we stopped for lunch and Papaya learned the joy of wearing sunglasses rather than just snatching them from Dad’s face.

Our first stop was Merrill Lake just south of the Volcano where we met some fly fishers and battled bugs. We had planned for a hike along a marsh with views of the mountain but the bugs at our “rest stop” at the lake helped us to reconsider going near a marsh. The fishermen were exicted about “the hatch” which we thought at first meant the salmon hatchery had just released the salmon which made these guys sort of silly fishermen. Then one explained that this fly larve that spends the winter on the lake floor was floating to the top and hatching (ew) and this got the fish very excited to eat them since these flies were as big as butterflies (double ew). Adventure Dad and I smiled with the “of course” look as we realized these guys were not just fishing a stocked lake as we had assumed. Papaya liked the lake and the views but Dad did not want to touch her feet to the warm water, “there are bugs in there!”



We stopped at the way back to our hotel for dinner in Cougar, WA. There was only one restaurant/bar and it was interesting. The booths were all of crushed red velvet and the social variety was interesting. We sat near the cashier and overheard a conversation about a new dressing that tasted funny, “is it ranch AND honey mustard?” I was also amused that this place, the back half of which was a bar, hosted the town’s only AA meeting two nights per week. Um, if the meeting is booring just grab yourself a drink and everyone will pay attention to you?

The next morning we were up early, as is normal for parents of small babies. We got up to Johnston Ridge Observatory an hour before it opened and took the chance to take a hike along the rim trail. Papaya went into the Bijorn and down the hill we hiked. Unlike my last visit to the Mountain, there was NO wind so the hike was a bit hot but the views of the volcano were great. The “new” humpback dome was letting off steam in a slow trickle which freaked Adventure Dad out, but having seen it every night on the news for months I figured we were okay. We were.

Last we took Papaya to a lake created by the blast, Coldwater Lake. We had planned to hike the Hummoks Loop but when we arrived at the almost-empty parking lot there was a “Washington State Corrections Work Team” Van, empty, and we decided not to be the first hikers they met out on the trail. So, we went on to where there had been a river pre-blast, but now there is a lake. We walked along a boardwalk and looked at flowers and bugs and water and views of the mountain. By the time we re-loaded the car around noon Papaya was exhausted by all this and decided to fall asleep. We used the chance to get down the mountain and towards Seattle where we were scheduled to pick up friends from the airport that afternoon.

It was a great trip, not as much hiking as pre-baby, but fun nonetheless.

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So he came home, and Papaya is a bit confused. It was warned against, but my heart just broke for Adventure Dad the first time she looked at him with fear and cried. I hear that other babies her age are having a slow time adjusting to their Dads too…but I guess I had just hoped….

So, they are both re-learning each other. He can no longer “play” with her by reading a book while she rolls around near him. She expects more interaction and can roll/crawl her way into a lot more trouble if no one is watching. She’s learning that he is fun and loves her, not just some stranger who keeps spending the night.

Part of me wonders what she thinks. Her internal dialouge must be funny. In the morning she nurses and when she realizes he is there she gives him a look like “dude, does my Mom know you are here?” then looks back to me with the “hey, why is he still here in our house?” look. In a few days she’ll be used to him again and get messy if he’s late or not around when she expects him to be.

We are going to work soon on getting a basic schedule…adding a bottle…then after our NY trip adding in naps in her crib and eventually transition her to the crib for the first part of the night. It should be an interesting couple of months.

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I guess it was inevitable, she’s related to the Warners and a few Petzoldts who display the wonderful allergy-prone ways of good German blood.

I fed her oatmeal, you know that bland stuff that adults pour sugar over to make it edible? Oatmeal! Within a few hours she was flushed, then a spotted flat rash across her whole torso, then the itching set in. She tried to sleep but would make a whining noise, roll over and begin scratching through her nightgown. So tired though, she chose not to open her eyes.

So, I called my Mom. Not home. Called my Aunt the nurse. Not home. Finally galled the Dr’s office and got the 24 hour nurses at Children’s Hospital in Seattle who talked me throuh. I was told if she began any signs of breathing trouble to give her benadryl and call 911…SCARY!

So, 1% hydrocortisone cream on the chest and she was asleep in minutes, it was the middle of the night of course. By morning the rash was gone and she is happy. I’ll be talking to her Dr. on Wednesday at her six-month checkup.

From my research:
Allergy testing is useless until 2 years old, and prone to false positives after that.
Oatmeal is one of the most non-allergenic foods out there.
This MAY be a gluten allergy, I pray not.
I need to keep doing one food at a time so we can spot any other troublemakers.
I may need to keep one of those bee-sting type shots around in case she has a more serious reaction to another food.

And I’ve determined that I need to put all her medications together in a kit so I can find them in th emiddle of the night when she’s crying.

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