Sick Day

Do you remember sick days when you were a kid? I mean the days you couldn't go to school and you had to go to the doctor or simply stay home all day? I remember dragging my Barbie dolls into my dad's room and sitting at his feet while he worked on the computer. I remember going to my mom's office and playing with wind-up toys underneath her desk while she worked. I remember sitting in the doctor's office waiting room petrified of getting a shot and then crying when the doctor looked at my parents and said "Lauren's going to need to get a S-H-O-T".

Today has been one of those sick days for us. As I was leaving my doctor's appointment this morning I received a phone call from the director at Tyler's daycare. She informed me that Tyler must have been bit by something while playing in the water today during swim day and he was broken out in some sort of rash from head to toe. When I got to the daycare I found my child bright red from head to toe. He looked like he had a severe sunburn. He had white and red whelps all over his body and his feet were so swollen that he wouldn't walk on them. He immediately wanted me to pick him up (in his damp bathing suit and all!) so of course, I did. He laid his head on my shoulder while I talked to the director and carried him to the car. Definitely not the typical behavior of my three and a half year old rambunctious little boy! We went to the doctor and found out that Tyler was broken out in hives. He called in some medicine and told us to keep giving him Benadryl for the next two days until the hives go away.

I asked Tyler several times what had happened and he wouldn't answer. Maybe he just didn't feel well and was tired of talking about it. After nap when I asked him again, he finally told me the story. While playing in the pool a ball rolled into the grass in a pile of dirt (AKA an ant bed). He told me he didn't step in the ant bed when he went to get the ball but he looked down and had bugs on his feet. So, in typical 3-year-old fashion I guess, he ran to the pool and put his feet back in the water to get the bugs off. Never once did he scream or tell his teachers there were bugs on his feet until they were back in the classroom. By that time, his feet were so swollen that the ant bites couldn't be seen. Only after nap today, around 5:00, when his swollen feet were a little better were we able to see the ant bites. I have never seen so many ant bites on one person in my life! I can't believe Tyler did not scream or yell when he was bit so many times. He was too consumed with playing to pay attention to the "bugs" on his feet! Ah, to be three years old again without a care in the world...

Update: Tonight his feet are still swollen and he's still broken out in hives but not nearly as bad as this morning. Hopefully he will recover soon and we will be able to go to Atlanta on Wednesday to see a Braves baseball game as we've been planning to do for several weeks. Keep us in your prayers!