“I hope you don’t ever have to see this again, but this is blah blah blah, which I think was caused by a reaction to cephalosporins and I don’t think it is HSP because her hands and feet were swollen, yadda yadda. While I felt she was very sympathetic to our cause, I also felt like she was kind of excited to show off her patient with the strange marks on her body. I thought to myself, “why did I pay that $20 co-pay if this is the most exciting thing they have seen all week?”

Belén had quite a bit to say after her bath last night. She is also getting even more ticklish. I will still contend that nothing in this world beats baby giggles. Andy and I were talking that we will miss them so much when she no longer giggles like this!

I love watching the delight that all four of the grandparents (and aunties too) have at their interactions with Little B. Belén is equally delighted with them. A sure fire way to make Belén smile is to say “Hi Belén” using my mom’s high-pitched, baby voice…kind of like, “Huh-EYE BAAAY-LYNN.” While it may sound grinding to the adult ear, B eats it up. It also helps that Belén has all of them more-or-less wrapped around her fingers…but within reason, of course.

Today is Belén’s ten-month birthday. I cannot believe she is only two months away from being a year old. Time certainly does fly when you are having fun.

A similar pattern exists on the other leg and on her arms and even a slight bit on her ear. The doctor immediately took a look and also pointed out that B’s feet and hands were swollen. THE URGE TO SOAR WITH THE EAGLE IS SO OVERPOWERING.

Even though she seemed quite a bit better, her fever was still there so I did end up giving her more Tylenol. Strangely enough a little while afterwards she started acting much more fussy and when I put her down for her nap she was SCREAMING in a piercing fashion!

My friends in Mexico are recommending that we explore various hot/cold remedies. A coworker in Brazil said to try garlic, tea and citrus. I am not sure how the baby will react to any of these things, but I am close to giving up on modern medicine.

Throughout the ordeal, Little B has been a great sport. It is quite clear she is not feeling well as her eyes do not sparkle like they normally do, her wiggliness has subsided, her appetite is diminished and she does not seem her normal happy-go-lucky self. We really hope the drugs kick in and she is back to her normal self soon. I am sure this is one of many ear infections, but if we had it our way, it would be the only one as it is so hard to watch our little girl suffer.

While all of you are puckering up to your special loved one this Valentine’s Day, Belén would like to point out that puckering is as natural as sunshine.

In fact, puckering is a perfectly instinctual response to banana, peach, raspberry baby food, which is, indeed, is pucker-worthy.

Loving the swings!