No fun

For the third time in her life, Sophie got her blood drawn :( It was time for an updated allergy profile and the only way to get an accurate picture of that was to do a blood test. She had one done when she was 7 months old and then again about six months ago, neither of which were pleasant experiences, of course. Having your blood drawn is no fun, whether you're two or twenty... But according to Jude, Sophie was really brave this time. We had talked to her about it beforehand, telling her that she was going to see the doctor's and that she might get a little boo-boo. Apparently, she gamely offered her arm to the nurse when asked, didn't fuss when they prepped it for the syringe (swabbing, tying the rubber tubing, finding the vein, etc...), and really only cried when the needle poked skin. That didn't last long either and as a treat, Jude got her an entire bottle of orange juice just for her alone that he bedazzled with stickers the nurses had given her :)

We won't know the test results for a while, but we're hopeful that we'll see lower allergy indices. Her milk allergy index has been falling steadily since she was an infant which means she might eventually outgrow it altogether. Her egg allergy index was still fairly high the last time we checked though, and if it hasn't gone down now that she's almost two, it might be something she will have to live with for a while :( So far, it hasn't been too difficult keeping her diet dairy-free- she's never had dairy or egg and so she never asks for them (except for cheese, which I suspect she sees her friends in school eating, so it's something of a curiosity for her). She gets vegan baked goods (zucchini cake and cookies) once in a while, and Jude and I eat dairy-free whenever we can so she doesn't get exposed to it much at home. But still, we would like Sophie to eventually have as broad a palate as possible, and not being able to eat dairy or egg means there are so many things she may not get to enjoy (a classic thin-crust pizza, any Indian dishes made with ghee, all pastries, basically, and Grandma's delectable hae cho-- prawn rolls-- all come to mind...)

The upside-- for the day at least-- was that she got to bask in a Madeline moment when she went back to school after her allergy appointment brandishing a "scar"-- really, it was just a dot that has already healed-- she could show off to her friends ;) As her teachers wrote in her daily report:

Sophie had a terrific day. She showed off her "boo-boo" to her friends a little (and some of them were very envious), then let me remove the gauze to put sunscreen on. We did some water play and Sophie was in heaven! There was a big pool of water in the sand box and Sophie sat in it the WHOLE time. Smart girl!