More fun at the ER

Emma got her 4 year shots last week. I call them her "Kindergarden shots" because I told her she needed them in order to go to Kindergarden, which is true. I know, I'm messed up, as Emma HATES shots. She about through a fit in January when she got her flu shot. Well, she still through a fit this time, and she had to get 3 shots, 2 in one leg, one in the other. She got over it pretty fast, although she did say her leg hurt the rest of the day. She was dragging it behind her like a paralyzed appendage. Other than that, I thought everything was ok. The next morning, however, there was about a 3 inch diameter red splotch surrounding the injection site. It was the leg her got 2 shots in. I called the nurse, who said it was probably a reaction to the tetanus shot, as some kids have with the 5th and final shot. She said to call back if it got worse. So, I watched it over the course of the day and it seemed to be fine. Emma went to school, and she had a field trip to a local elementary school to check out their Kindergarden. She was exhausted when she got home and actually fell asleep at the table. She took a 2 1/2 hour nap (after I put her in bed). She woke up and seemed fine. When I was getting her ready for bed at about 9pm, I noticed that the red area on her leg had grown to about 6-7 inches in diameter, was swollen & extremely warm. Her poor thigh looked about 50% bigger than her other one. I called the doc on call (her actual pediatrician) and he said, it was probably nothing, but to take her to the ER. So, off we went. Jeff stayed home with Sarah, as he had to study for a test. So we get to the ER and thankfully the wait wasn't that long. They gave her some Benadryl (just in case it was an allergic reaction) and some antibiotics (just in case it was an infection). They also took some blood, via a finger prick (which I convinced Emma was easier than a needle, although it still made her freak out), to check her blood count. They decided it was cellulitis, which is an infection of the tissue under the skin. They figured she must have gotten bacteria in the injection site & that's what caused it. They put her on more antibiotics and sent us home. Now, 5 days later, it's MUCH better. The area is still pretty visible, but it's no longer red or warm or swollen. It just looks like a hige faint bruise, a light brown color. She doesn't know why she still has to take the medicine, if she's all better.
Emma got invited to her first school-friend birthday party!! A schoolmate, named Sarah, invited Emma to her birthday party on the 11th. She was SO excited! It's at McDonald's, so I know Emma's going to have a great time. She says she wants to get Sarah color markers for her birthday. I'm trying to at least get her to change her mind to crayons, which will probably leave a better impression (pardon the pun) on her parents. While Sarah seems a very mature & leveled header almost-5-year old, I don't even like letting Emma use markers without supervision, and I don't want to be the cause of headaches for Sarah's parents.
Our little Sarah has been making some serious milestones in the gross motor catagory. In the past few weeks she has learned to sit up from a lying down position and is army crawling. She still uses rolling as her primary means of transportation, but army crawling is a close second. She is also working very hard on getting on her hands & knees. She's getting into EVERYTHING! Anything she sees she puts in her mouth. Jeff caught her with half a pistachio and a piece of plastic the other day. Doesn't say much about how frequently I vaccum, does it?
I don't remember Emma putting me through this much stress about her choking on everything. Maybe it's because she was my first, and I was on her like a hawk, making sure she didn't get into everything. Sarah's just stressing me out about all this. She'll eat paper, carpet fibers, and recently, My Little Pony hair. Yay.