carter broke out in hives tonight. only around his mouth, but they were unmistakable. problem is, his dinner consisted of about 14 different items. however, my suspicion is that it was the swiss cheese.

we went through the toys, and broke out some that were put away earlier because carter was too small, and both kids were very occupied all day. carter thought the remote control cars were fantastic, so that was fun. (and also provides evidence that i do actually have plastic-moving-whirring-shiny-noisy toys and am not the wooden toy snob that my birthday present buying habits have suggested).

it rained all day again today.

i am reading 'evidence of harm,' a book about the thimerosal (mercury based preservative) that was in vaccines until a few years ago. it is incredibly engaging and very disturbing. my head is spinning, since the book (which is undoubtedly anti-thimerosal) presents the science on both sides, as well as a detailed history of the legal issues surrounding it. it is not a cheery book. as someone that has worked in drug safety, i find it very frustrating that the safety of this product flew so low under the radar of everyone that is charged with evaluating these products. of course, the book suggests that it was deliberately ignored, but that is another story. irrespective of whether or not it causes autism, the amount of mercury kids received was outrageous. that is not in question. and kids outside of this country are still getting loaded up with it.

oh. i see i have my soapbox out. i will stop now, especially since i am only halfway through.

ava refers to my cell phone as my 'celophone.'