Hives on his arm, splotchyness around his mouth

Today Owen was playing with a puzzle at the kitchen table. He started itching his left forearm. There were about 30 hives. Then some hives appeared on his right forearm. And then I noticed red splotches around his mouth. I gave him a teaspoon of benadryl, and the hives resolved in 20 minutes.

I don't know what happened. He was not eating. Maybe I didn't clean the table good enough before he played. I just don't know.

Bald Spot

I cut Owen's hair 5 weeks ago, and there was a quarter size bald spot on the back of his head. I thought I made a mistake with the trimmer, and gave him a bald spot. Well, the bald spot hasn't improved at all. It is still just as bald. There is some hairs, but it is mostly bald. I am starting to wonder if I should see a dermatologist to see if something else is going on.

The bald spot is 2 cm by 2.5 cm.

Messy Face and Neck

Owen has had a red, irritated face and neck for the past 3-4 days. When the irritation began, I stopped ketchup (which was a dime size amount once a day). I give Benadryl once a day. There seems to be a minor improvement with Benadryl, but not significant.

Today when Doug dropped Owen off at day care, he had one large hive on his cheek. Doug gave him Benadryl. The hive improved, but the red irritation on his face continued.

The only thing Owen ate this morning before day care was chocolate soy milk.

The only new food that Owen has eaten is Dum Dum lollipops and jelly beans. The ingredients labels don't list any of his allergens.

I don't really know what is going on.

Garlic Update

Owen received increased increments of ketchup. It started with a jelly bean size, then a dime size, then a nickel size. There was some increased redness on his face, especially under his eyes. Then he accidentally ate 1 tablespoons of ketchup. It seemed that the redness on his face spiked at that time.

We decided to temporarily stop the garlic trial at that time. There were too many variables in the equation, and we were not positive that the redness was from the garlic. At the time, we were at the beach. Owen was exposed to sunblock, sun, and sand, which could have contributed to the redness. It seemed like his skin improved when we stopped the ketchup (even though he was still exposed to sun, sunblock, sand, etc).

Once we returned from vacation, we started eating ketchup again. I give him penny sized amounts, and he seems to be tolerating it. I gave him a dime sized piece of chicken nugget, and there was no reaction.

So we are still in the midst of a garlic trial. I am taking it extremely slow, because I want it to work so badly.

And by the way, he LOVES garlic. He want it on everything- hot dogs, hamburger, chicken, mandarin oranges, anything!