Part One:

I decided that pancakes would be a good medium for trying out eggs, as it only calls for the one egg and it's a crowd favorite in the Blogger house. So, we all sat down at the table and I ceremoniously plunked a pancake on Caroline's plate and sat back to watch the fireworks. I'm not really sure what I was expecting, though scenes from the Harry Potter movie where Harry accidentally blows up the Dursley aunt did flit through my mind. However, as with so many events involving toddlers, nothing went according to plan.

I'm going to deviate from the story here to give you some background information that will help explain what happened next. Last week I went on a Betty Crocker-esque tear wherein I baked two pear pies, a pear crisp and made pear butter. All of this was a result of an enormous (and enormously appreciated) box of pears sent by our beloved Blogger grandma after Christmas. The pears had started to rapidly ripen all at the same time, so I frantically made all manner of pear related treats.

Meanwhile, back at the breakfast table, I had pulled out the aforementioned tub of fresh pear butter for Mr. Blogger's pancakes as a special treat. Caroline saw the tupperware tub and zeroed in, demanding that I put pear butter on her pancake. Keep in mind, please, that she has never encountered any kind of fruit butter in her life and had no way of knowing what the heck the brown mushy substance was. It is a complete mystery to me how she could look at that stuff and know (a)it would taste good and (b)it should go on pancakes. Nevertheless, I scooped some onto her plate thinking that she would take one look at it and reject it in favor of well known and loved pancakes. Not so. For the next 30 minutes Caroline successfully avoided every one of my attempts to persuade, cajole and bribe her into taking a bite of pancake. She scraped pear butter off the top of the pancake, she flung pancake off her fork when I speared it for her, she lifted and moved the pancake off a pile of pear butter concealed underneath it. In short, she did not ingest even the tiniest amount of egg-containing pancake. Hrmph. So, we did what any self-respecting parents of toddlers would do. We gave in gracefully and decamped to reconsider our plan of attack.

Part Two

While Caroline was napping after the crash following the inevitable sugar high from massive amounts of pear butter, I was back in the kitchen considering more single egg recipes. In the end, I decided to make a half batch of chocolate chip cookies using only one egg. What toddler will say no to a cookie?? Not mine, anyway. Unless, maybe there's pear butter around...

Post nap, Caroline always has her afternoon snack so today I told her she was getting a treat! Cookie! Her brow furrowed and her head cocked. Hmm, maybe all my work up to this point to not have her addicted to sweets was backfiring - she doesn't recognize the word. So, I pick up a cookie and show it to her. Her face lights up and she reaches out her hand and says, "Cracker?!" Close enough. She grabs her treat and proceeds to savor the cookie over the span of about 10 minutes, at the end of which she has transferred melted chocolate to her face, her hands, her chair, my shirt and the blogdog. Whatever. She ate the cookie, that's the important part.

The Results:

After about 10 minutes, I notice that she is breaking out around her mouth. They aren't necessarily full-blown hives, but they are definitely red and slightly raised. I took some pictures to document - I apologize for the quality, but she wasn't in the mood to stand still to get a good shot so these are taken on the fly. The welts (for lack of a better term) lasted for about 20 to 45 minutes and eventually faded entirely. At bathtime I also noticed some rash-like spots on her upper back that may or may not be related. I went ahead and gave her a dose of Benedryl at bedtime to help block any potential secondary reactions, as I have read that allergic reactions can manifest up to 24 hours after exposure and I didn't want to worry about it in the middle of the night.

Next Steps:

I will be calling Dr. Ruff Monday morning when his office opens to report the results of our little science experiment and see what he has to say and what he advises for our next step. I haven't quite worked up the intestinal fortitude to try out peanut butter yet, but we will definitely keep you posted on those deveopments.

Until then, my friends, be safe, have fun and keep popping those bubbles!