The Sattler Scoop: Long Overdue Introduction

After several pretty quiet weeks, this past one was pretty busy. The most exciting part was that Casey finally got to meet her cousins. Considering today is her 9 month birthday it was certainly a long overdue introduction! We got the green light from our Pulminologist that we could start venturing out as long as we "used our best judgement and avoided overly crowded places," so when we found out my nieces and nephew were coming in town at the last minute this weekend, we figured it was time the cousins were introduced. The girls were so excited and begged to hold her again and again, and our nephew was giving us minute to minute updates on what "dat baby" was doing. All three cousins were quick to check on her while she napped, bring her lots of toys to explore and supply her with her paci any time it managed to get separated from her. They were too cute! Casey also got to meet several other family members for the first time, including her Uncle Joe. She has become quite fascinated with facial features, and his were no exception (if only I had thought to grab my camera!). Earlier in the week, Casey also accompanied me to a get together with some of my co-workers, who were excited to actually meet her in person after only seeing pictures for so long.

And because that wasn't enough excitement for one week, we also had to make an unexpected visit to the Pediatrician's office. We noticed last Saturday that Casey had what appeared to be little mosquito bites on her leg, and initially we weren't too worried. When they disappeared and then reappeared several times on her legs and arms over the next 24 hours, we started to get more concerned. After ~~scaring the crap out of ourselves via google~~ researching on the Internet, we became worried that her symptoms might be an allergic reaction. We discontinued baby food just in case, but we were mostly alarmed that she might be reacting to our cat and dogs. I wasn't able to get her in for an appointment for a blood test until Thursday, so after a few sleepless nights wondering how in the world I was going to part with my precious fur babies, the verdict was...Eczema. Whew! Our Pediatrician immediately dismissed the idea that she would just be starting to react to the animals after several months, he felt there was no need for a blood test, and we were sent home with a recommendation for a specific lotion to slather on her several times a day. Crisis averted! We haven't seen any more occurrences of the bumps for the last couple of days, and we are crossing our fingers that they won't come back!

Here are all the pictures from the week and from the cousin meet and greet: