Update

Shane is doing fine today. He got more Benedryl before bed and slept fine all night. One of his eyes is still swollen and red, but it is a lot better than yesterday. I am back to giving him the standard 3 baby foods that he has eaten without incident for the last month... bananas, mixed grain and apples, and squash.

After reading the ingredient list on the mixed grain baby food today (which he eats without any problems) and comparing it to the box of oatmeal, there is only one ingredient in the oatmeal that could have caused the reaction... malt flour.

Malt flour is germinated barley or wheat, in dried form. He could be allergic to wheat gluten the protein found in wheat that is often a problem in people with Celiac's disease. But the published information on wheat allergies indicates that the reactions are typically eczema and asthma and only rarely anaphylaxis reactions like Shane had.

So I'm back to thinking that maybe milk was the issue. It's hard to say though. I am planning to call the pediatrician on Monday and see if we can get Shane in for some allergy testing. I am concerned that if he is that severely allergic to wheat or milk, he may be allergic to other foods as well. I don't want to find out the hard way since each subsequent reaction is supposed to be worse than the last.

In other news the big boys got the H1N1 flu mist today. It was painless and quick and I really appreciated how organized they were at the pediatrician's office. We were in and out in less than 10 minutes!

Even so Jonah cried for 15 minutes just for fun. Starting approximately 10 minutes before the mist and 5 minutes after the mist with a siren-like wail for effect. Maybe that is why the nurses got us out of the office so quickly. In any case the kids didn't have time to cover themselves in other people's germs like they usually do when they go to the doctor's office so we were happy!