Cashews

We had a scare yesterday (July 23, 2015) when we found out Ruby is allergic to cashews!  We spent all day having fun at Centennial Center Park with my mom, Ivaras, and Greta.  The kids had fun playing and then right before we left my mom shared some cashews with Ruby and me.  Ruby ate one and told me, "I like it." Then ate another one and nearly threw up.  She was trying to spit it out I think.  The thought crosssed my mind that maybe she is allergic.  A couple of weeks ago she ate a pistachio and was trying to spit it out too.  Then she seemed okay and was breathing fine and everything.  The kids and I got into the van to drive home.  There are several ways to get home and I was trying to decide which way may be fastest.  My GPS told me another way was one minute faster and that's the way I drove to the park, but I decided I would take 225 instead.  I'm so glad I did because that way I was close to the Children's Hospital.  We were driving down the freeway and I was watching Ruby in the mirror.  She was rubbing her eyes and I knew she was tired from missing her nap.  She fell asleep for a few minutes and then all of the sudden she started throwing up a lot!  Eli started crying and Diego was a little upset too.  I was trying to reassure Ruby that she would be okay.  I asked Eli to get a towel from the back of the car and I put it on Ruby to try to cover up the throw up.  There was throw up all over.  I first thought to pull over and call 911, but then I was so close to the hospital I thought I should just drive there quickly.  I excited Colfax and then called 911 while I was still driving.  I told them I was on my way to Children's and asked if someone could meet me by the door.  I pulled up and a minute later there was a nurse ready for us.  I got Ruby out of the seat and she just looked so sick!  Her eyes were swollen and red and throw up all over.  The nurse got a wagon and I put her in it.  The boys stayed with Ruby and the nurse while I parked the car and checked in.  It didn't take long.  The nurse took her vitals and changed her into a hospital gown.  Then the doctor came in and asked questions and told me they were going to give her medicine.  They gave her epinephrine and a couple of other meds through an IV.  She started looking better and feeling a little better too.  The boys were pretty interested in all the things going on with all the doctors and students in the room.  Cesar arrived and took the boys home, but before they left they cleaned all the throw up in the car and on the Ruby's car seat.  I stayed with Ruby for 6 hours while they could monitor her and make sure she didn't have any other reactions.  She was fine and we finally got the leave and go home around 11 p.m.  I kept thinking Ruby would fall asleep on the hospital bed, but she didn't until 10 minutes before we left!  The whole night she was pretty annoyed with the IV in her arm and the monitors she was hooked up to, but she did pretty well considering.



About a month later, I took Ruby to the allergist and they gave her a scratch test on her back testing for other nut allergies.  She is highly allergic to cashews (obviously) and pistachios. She is also allergic to almonds and walnuts.  She is not allergic to coconut.  She did great with the test and only cried for a minute while they were poking her and then again a little bit when they took blood.  I now carry around an epi-pen just in case she ever has another bad allergic reaction.

Cirque du Soleil

Cesar and I had a great time last night!  We went to Cirque du Soleil.  The show was called Kurios and it was very entertaining.  I got discounted tickets, so only paid $20 each.

 After the show, we took the light rail to Union Station.  It has been newly remodeled and vamped up.  I was pretty impressed.  You can take lightrail, bus, shuttle bus, and train from there.  There are a lot of restaurants and a lot of people hanging out.  Cesar and I ate a burger place outside on their patio.  It was perfect weather.  The Union Station first opened in 1881 and parts have been burned down and flooded a couple of times.

July 4th weekend

We had a good Independence Day.
We started it off with a breakfast at church.  We ate pancakes and scrambled eggs.  
Then Cesar set up his new TV.  He has been wanting a TV for downstairs ever since we moved in.  He finally got it for his birthday.

 Sandra came over and she cleaned the kitchen for us!  I'm so grateful because it was so dirty.  It was very nice of her.
We went to dinner at a BBQ restaurant.  It was good and fun. Ruby and Sandra were having fun dancing while waiting for our table.

After dinner we watched a movie downstairs on the new TV.  Then the boys and I walked over to the Central Park hill and watched fireworks.  It was fun.  I've always liked fireworks.
















Sunday we had Cesar's sister and her family over for dinner. They live in Englewood, but we don't see them very often.  We all had a good time.  Here are all the cousins eating outside.

Toy Exhibit

We went to the Colorado History Center today with a family pass I checkout from the library.  They had a new toy exhibit that we explored.  It was fun and especially nice to be there as a family.  I had some memories of toys that I used to play with when I was young. 

 

 

Ruby's tutus

Ruby loves wearing dresses, skirts, and tutus.  If I put pants or shorts on her sometimes she takes them off and puts her tutu on- even if its in the dirty hamper.  She is pretty persistent sometimes.  Here are some cute pictures of her:

 This is at kidwatch at the rec center.  For a few weeks, everytime I would come get her after exercising she would be wearing this tutu that they have in the dress up clothes.  She never wanted to take it off either.

 This is one of her favorite skirts that is now getting a little small.  She gets it out of the dirty clothes a lot!

 She wears her tutu even to the park.  My friend Noemi and her daughter Ava came to visit for a day.  They live in Texas. The girls are only 2 weeks apart.

This is Ruby playing with our neighbor.

911 call

Today I called 911 because I thought Eli was choking.  We were in the family room together and I noticed that he was chewing on our toy vacuum.  I told him to get it out of his mouth and then walked into my room.  I called my mom and Ruby was talking to her on FaceTime and then Eli walked in my room for a second and was holding his mouth and neck like he was going to throw up.  We went to the bathroom together and he spit some stuff up in the toilet.  He was still breathing, but I thought that he had probably swallowed a piece of plastic from the vacuum.  I tried to give him the Heimlich maneuver, but nothing came out.  I was really scared that he was going to stop breathing and that there was something that needed to come out.  I hung up with my mom and called 911.  They told me to not hit him on the back and just stay on the phone until the EMT came.  Eli was continuing to throw up some and coughing and gagging.  I directed Diego to go downstairs and open the door for the EMTs.  He did and they got here quickly.  I screamed for them to come upstairs.  They checked Eli out a little and didn't think anything was obstructing his airway.  They asked him some questions and then asked him to go downstairs.  We waited a few more minutes for the ambulance to arrive.  The firemen left and then the paramedics took over.  He listened to his breathing, took his pulse, and just looked him over.  Everything was normal. 
We figured Eli had just inhaled some dust and dirt from the toy.  Poor guy.  I was pretty freaked out and I think he was too.  I asked Diego if he had gotten scared and he said no and Ruby barely even noticed anything.
I'm so thankful for 911, EMT's, ambulances and paramedics!   

1st grade and preschool

The boys finished another school year!  I'm proud of both of them for their hard work.  Eli did great in Spanish immersion and learned a lot of Spanish!  I'm happy for him, and hope that he can learn more and not forget what he already knows.  He won't be going back to the language school next year.  Cesar has had some great conversations in Spanish with him lately and is impressed by how well he can converse.

Eli at field day

Crazy hair day

 

Bowling at field day

science project

 

In May Eli had a big Spanish Heritage program at school.  They practiced for months; he was actually glad when it was over so they wouldn't have to practice anymore. :)  He did a great job dancing like a mariachi!

 

Diego enjoyed his half day preschool in Ms. Atlanta's class at Swigert.  He is very smart and reads some already.  He is also good at math and is well-behaved at school.  He complained sometimes about going to school, but always had a good time once he got there.  He is excited to be in Kindergarten next school year!

The made apple pie one day at school.

science experiment

graduation day

Ms. Atlanta and Ms. Emily