The Itch Monster

From olden times and days of yore,
From countries far and wide,
He sneaks, he prowls, he plots galore,
On how to get inside.

He has no arms,
He has no legs,
He even has no head.
And yet this limbless, headless beast,
Fills parent's minds with dread.

His target, young, unblemished ones.
His plan, to settle in.
He kindly shows that he is here,
With sores across your skin.

Your chest, your knees,
Behind your ears,
And just above your eyes,
The spots arrive in waves and waves,
Announcing he's arrived.

You ooze, you scratch, you itch galore,
The tears leak from your eyes,
You cry, you scab, you itch some more,
That's when you realize...

Eventually he'll move along,
Hold tight my little Fox,
For you survived the Itch Monster,
We call the Chicken Pox.

-For my Son

The Big Boy Update: Soothing baths.  He is getting more than one bath a day now to help soothe his skin.  I am so impressed with how he's toughing through this.  His nose seems even worse today.  He's been on the antibiotic for less than a day, so tomorrow maybe there will be more visual difference, but this morning one nostril was so filled with dried congestion that it was completely closed over at the entrance.  I've had some big boogers in my time, but this is beyond impressive.  And sad too, for it must be uncomfortable to him.  Even with all this going on though, he slept through the night.  He is my good boy.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  Eh?  It's a good thing this blog is written, because I'm not sure I could hear you after last night's screaming session.  The strange thing is, she was fine on all counts from what we could tell.  Then she suddenly woke up and acted startled.  She has this startled/scared cry that's fairly easy to soothe.  But this time it didn't stop.  When I hold her and she's screaming as loud as she can, I've got her head right by my ear.  And she's got a high-pitched, crazy scream when she's really mad.  Hence my near-deaf experience.  Some Benadryl and Tylenol and my husband doing this magic baby jiggle eventually calmed her down.  She had other issues through the night, and we're not sure it's Chicken Pox related as much as bad intestinal cramps from the squash she had for the first time earlier in the evening.  At 6AM, we fed her and she calmed down completely.  Other than that and some added spots, her fever and overall presentation of Chicken Pox is much less severe than my son.

Right-size Countdown:  6.3 pounds to go