The rest of the month

Things are starting to get back to normal in the Pauley household this week. Both kids are better healthwise and I'm missing Canyon but it's not the piercing heartbreak of last week. Will's "bumps" have disappeared and other than a cold, he's the picture of health. Oh wait, did I mention that he had croup over the weekend? He did and the accompanying seal bark of a cough that ensures that no one in the house gets more than thirty minutes of sleep at a time. On the bright side, we are probably about halfway to meeting our health insurance deductible for the year.

Because of the hives and the coughing and general malaise, we took Will to an allergy doctor yesterday. The doctor recommended a scratch test to try to determine what substances Will may be reacting to. For the scratch test, the doctor draws a grid on your back and pricks you with about 30 substances and then measures the size of the reaction on your skin. Let me paint you a picture of how the process went for Will and file this one under "reasons why he will hate me when he's older." The nurse comes in to test Will for the presence of too many antihistamines since he'd been on Benadryl the week earlier. That test involved a needle poke of the control on his back and one of the whatever it is to test for antihistamines. Will kind of giggled and said "that hurts a little bit!" We wait about five minutes and then the nurse and doctor come back in with a tray of little needles. Will takes one look at that set-up and starts hollering. Loudly. It takes two nurses, the doctor and me to hold him still long enough to get the test administered. For the record, 'holding him still' basically involved us preventing him from kicking us in the face, leaping off the table, grabbing my car keys and running out of the office. He was bucking and kicking and there was spit flying everywhere. It was how I imagine capturing a wild horse must be. I think there might have even been some biting and I definitely lost a button on my sweater. The test only takes about two minutes so mercifully it was over with quickly. Afterwards, Will's crying and snorting on my lap and in a quiet voice he asks me to sing the Cowboy Song. So now you can also picture me rocking a 44 pound almost-four-year-old back and forth and singing "Home on the Range" in my less than stellar alto. Things a mom will do...

So the tests came back negative for food and drink and he just showed a slight sensitivity to some weeds, dust and mold. We go back in a few months for a follow-up but right now it appears that the Great Hive Attack of 2011 was just caused by the same virus that also brought along its traveling buddy, Croup. So nice of them to make a stop in Cheyenne.

Lest we forget the other member of the Bronco Baby Blog, Reina's doing well. She's been a little grumpy and we think she must be getting her two-year molars in, or she's jumping ahead to the teenage years. Her vocab continues to increase and tonight when I asked her if she was sleepy she said "No, I sleep with Mommy." Clear as day, she makes her opinions known.

A few weekends ago, we attended a birthday party at a local museum. The museum has a great kids room that feature a lot of hands-on activities related to the Old West. These pictures are from my camera phone so I apologize for the blurriness but you get the idea. Both kids love to pretend to cook by a campfire and eat said meal at a camp table. They could have played this game for hours.

Except for a few little girls in cowboy boots, Will was the only one in costume. He insisted on wearing his vest that was handmade by Grandma Hansen at Christmas and his stupid Styrofoam hat from his Woody costume. He was a perfectly nice felt cowboy hat that I bought him this summer but apparently he realizes that it's not licensed by Pixar and therefore not appropriate for him. I never dreamed that little boys would be so concerned about their apparel but I am very aware of that fact now.