Well, I have now spent the last two hours doing as much research as possible on food allergies - specifically peanuts. Went to dinner tonight, Billy, my mom, and me, at Olive Garden. Ordered Billy the ravioli, and mom and I each got a pasta dish. As we waited on food, Billy gnawed on a bread stick and we ate our salad. When the food got there, we got cheese on our dishes and mom offered Billy some of her shredded cheese (he is a CHEESE MANIAC) while he waited impatiently for me to get his food ready. Shortly after this, three hives appeared on his chin and the skin over his mouth. My mom noticed it first. I wiped his face and hands and we continued our meal, thinking he looked better. After a bite of the ravioli, more hives appeared, all around his mouth. Panicked, I dug in the diaper bag to find the Benadryl, which I found quickly, and the medicine dropper - which took a minute. I gave him the Benadryl, and within minutes his hives were going away.
I asked the server if any of the food was prepared with nuts, and he gave me a blank look. Then he said, "I don't believe so". I have since emailed Olive Garden (they really don't have any info on their website available as to allergens), hopefully I'll get a response. We assumed it had something to do with the cheese grater or the block of cheese, because that seemed to be the thing that kicked off the hives. Somehow, I think something came in contact with peanuts (or, since it is an Italian place, I'm thinking pine nuts), or he's allergic to something else now, too.
Fortunately, there are a ton of moms of food allergic kids in cyberspace, and I've been reading many of their stories tonight. I'm also going to visit Amazon and purchase a couple of books, and it looks like I might be baking his birthday cake from now on (too many scary stories of bakery incidents). After this event, I'm going to have to be much more vigilant, and make sure EVERYONE who takes care of Billy knows to read EVERY label. Probably ought to make sure there is always Benadryl ready for him, too. I guess I'll need to attach the medicine dropper to the bottle in the bag, because seriously, I was panicked trying to find it.
You know, just when you think you're getting the hang of this parenting thing, here comes a curveball, and it's back to square one. Oh well - off to research more ways to keep him safe around peanuts....
swimming at Lala and Grandpa's "other" house in Temple. 
Playing in the foam pit!
Front Roll! This is his favorite move. If you say front roll, he bends over and waits for you to flip him!
More fun with Lala (my mom) this time.....
Chocolate pudding - and his "surprised" face. If you ask him if he's surprised, this is the face he makes. 
Swim lessons. Billy HATES having to float on his back. He'll finally do it about halfway down, but he screams the whole time.
1, 2, 3......
Dunk! Finally got him to submerge without drinking half the pool on the second to last day!
