Charlotte was stung by a wasp

Charlotte has discovered how to pull both pull-toys at the same time, without them toppling over. Later in the morning, she discovered that she can multi-task by putting the string of one pull-toy in her mouth to free up both hands to pull two additional toys. She had daddy in stitches.


Charlotte seemed to be in a bit of a whiny mood today—-I think her teeth may be causing her some grief. Today, we discovered that she has started to cut the fourth molar on her bottom right side. Charlotte went down for her nap just before 11 am-—another lesson learnt last week: if you push past her three hour limit, then she is beyond tired and doesn’t have her usual nap, which disrupts the rest of the day.

Today, Charlotte spent a lot of time pinching mommy, not daddy, and grinding her front teeth. I’m not sure if she’s looking for a reaction from me or just experimenting. She has been pinching for a few days now, but today was the worst. Right from the moment she awoke this morning, Charlotte whined to be picked up by both mommy and daddy; however, when mommy picked her up, she would pinch and pull at mommy’s necklace. Not sure what’s going on. If it’s a phase, I hope she gets through it quickly.

After lunch, we had a nice bath and got ready to go out. While mommy was putting away some things in Charlotte’s room, Charlotte lost her footing and fell head-first into the edge of the change table—-a big goose egg arose on her forehead immediately. Poor little thing!

Later in the afternoon, we went to visit some friends and their little girl who will be 4 months old later this week. We had hoped to see her before we left for China, but there was just so much going on in our lives and then when we returned, life just seemed to take a shape and pace of its own. When we arrived at our friends’ house, we parked across the street. When Dave got halfway across the street carrying Charlotte, she let out this blood-curdling scream. When Dave looked at Charlotte, he discovered a wasp sitting on her right-hand thumb—-he swatted it away, but it was too late—-she had been stung. Her thumb swelled up and turned red within moments and there was no consoling Charlotte. We immediately put ice on it, but Charlotte didn’t want any part of that. Upon close examination, we could not find the stinger to pull out. Our friends put us in touch with a children’s medical hotline—-the nurse suggested taking her to a walk-in clinic or the hospital, as we are uncertain whether Charlotte has an allergies. It was now close to 4 pm and I knew the walk-in clinic would not be open until 5 pm. We decided to call Charlotte’s pediatrician to see if she would take us as a walk-in. Unfortunately, our pediatrician was not in the office; however, her receptionist was able to provide some information—-she suggested watching Charlotte and gave me a list of the things to watch for to determine if a trip to the hospital emergency is required.

On the way home, Charlotte fell asleep. I thought Charlotte’s cheeks looked a bit swollen and reddened more than usual; I also noticed a couple of red spots and an elongated elevated spot, which I think the receptionist described as hives—-one of the signs to look for that meant an immediate trip to the doctor. So, we decided to sit in the parking lot of the pediatric walk-in clinic to wait for the doctor to arrive. During this time, Charlotte awoke, with smiles and high fives. We watched her very closely to see what she would do once she touched her thumb. Her thumb was still quite red and swollen, but Charlotte didn’t seem to be fixated on it like she was before she fell asleep.

We decided to pick up some dinner at the Real Canadian Superstore and pay a visit to the pharmacist. He recommended children’s Benadryl, as did the hotline nurse. He reassured us that the amount of swelling in her hand and thumb was to be expected and was not likely an allergic reaction.

Charlotte ate well at dinner, enjoying milk from mommy’s glass—-she reminds me of a cat lapping milk from a bowl, but vertically. After dinner, we took Charlotte for a walk around the block in her pink car—-she honked the horn for almost the whole trip.

Given the events of the day, Charlotte was in relatively good spirits for the rest of the evening, enjoying some play time with daddy before heading to bed. Charlotte was full of jiggles as mommy got her ready for bed and was trying to see all her beautiful teeth cutting through the surfaces. Charlotte waved and winked many times as mommy and daddy watched over her lying in her crib, saying good night to our little princess. I often wonder what goes through Charlotte’s mind as she watches us watch her.