Why We Shouldn't Live in Texas

We have discovered a big reason why we should not live in Texas...fire ants. No one likes the itchy bites, but apparently Caleb is extremely allergic and puffs up like a balloon wherever he is bit. We've had two incidents thus far. First time he managed to get a bite on his upper left thigh. It got so swollen and infected that Caleb limped around for a few days, and one day I had to carry him around like an invalid as he wouldn't put any weight on his leg. Stupidly, Matt and I decided to treat it ourselves with some Benadryl, Neosporin, and eventually by relieving the pressure (i.e. popping it). This all worked, but it took upwards of a week for it to get better, and in the meantime we had miserable days and nights.

After playing in the park last week, Caleb somehow ended up with 3 ant bites on his hand. I immediately treated them with Hydrocortisone cream all day, but by the next morning his hand was swollen to twice the size it normally is. Again he coddled it and would not use his right hand for anything. Learning from the last experience, I scheduled a doctor's appointment right away rather than have another week plus of misery. In addition to Benadryl, he was prescribed an oral medication and an ointment. The swelling went down in two days, and it all healed much more quickly this time. Before we started his medicine, his ant bites turned into huge blisters about the size of a Skittle. The picture below was taken after the medication started and the swelling had already begun to recede. If only I would have thought to take a picture the previous day to really show just how poofy Caleb's hand got! Caleb was very protective of his hand and wouldn't let me take pictures of it, so this is the one picture I got, and it is very blurry. Poor kid! Maybe he won't be as allergic as he gets older...?