About Rachel

Rachel gets eczema very badly on her for arms and on the back of her knees. I asked her pediatrician about this, after she still had it for 7 months. I was worried that it was the result of allergies to cats or milk or something. The doctor said that 90% of kids with this kind of rash do not have allergies. Since no one else in our immediate family has food allergies we decided to not test her at this time. The doctor told me to put thick globs of ucerin on the spots. I started to do that, and when I remembered to do so consistently her rash cleared up a lot. When I was not consistent about it, she would break out with a fresh rash.

Rachel has been really whiny since about a month before she turned 2. We thought it was the new baby or just being two. But it can be very frustrating to have a day when a child whines at you throughout the entire day. Ruth kept praying that the babies would not make things so hard for me. In the temple, last month, John prayed about what to do with Rachel's whining. He felt like we should be consistent about putting the cream on her rash. Since then John and I have been diligent in treating Rachel's rash, and she has not been fussy. She has also not been getting into things and destroying things so much. We are very thankful for a Heavenly Father who is willing to instruct us so specifically on how to care for our children.

Rachel can talk in complete sentences and her words are much clearer now. This makes life a lot easier for both Rachel and I. But it also means we get to enjoy some of the funny and ridiculous notions of a two year old. If anyone calls Rachel a girl, monkey, monster, princess, baby, etc., she immediately says, "I am not... I am Rae Rae." The fact that she calls herself Rae Rae is rather cute, because when she was born, I said that we were not going to shorten her name to "Rae." But Adam, who is only 17months older than Rachel called her Rae Rae from her birth. It kind of just stuck and now that is what she calls herself. However, she doesn't correct you if you call her Rachel.

About two weeks ago, Rachel was very messy!!!! She took two and often three baths each day. When she was finished eating she would squish her food together and paint the tray of her high chair. The last two weeks, that has changed drastically. Rachel has suddenly become a much neater eater. And now she gets upset if her clothes have food or water on them. Yesterday we had a lot of rain and Rachel would go out for a bit, and then come in and change her clothes. She has done the same thing today if she gets water on her shirt sleeves when she washes her hands. Last night at dinner I heard Rachel quietly saying, "Shoot, shoot, shoot, I got it on me." I think she will be graduating to the table with the family soon.