Weekend update

Saturday morning Peter woke up with a rash on his left cheek (that is, the cheek on his face, as opposed to the other cheeks that you normally would think would get a rash when you’re 8 weeks old). It looked like the end-stage of a bad sun burn – peeling skin and dampness – but he doesn’t get much direct sun and why would it be isolated to that one space? His mom called the pediatrician (who just happened to have Saturday morning office hours this week) and Peter was asked to come in to be inspected. So off we go, flying out of the house with baby in tow.

Now, the rash didn’t seem to be bothering Peter at all. You could poke him in the cheek and there would be no reaction other than a normal head wobble. So in addition to the isolated area of the rash, there was nothing else that would lead us to believe that it was a sunburn. Peter’s mom was concerned that a lotion she had applied to him after bathing him may have caused it, but we couldn’t really tell. When his doctor checked him out he said that it was most likely a reaction to some chemical he would have had rubbed up against his cheek. A common culprit is fabric softener (of the dryer sheet kind, not the kind you add in the wash); you could also get a reaction like that if someone in make-up got some of it on him. Peter hadn’t been around anyone in make-up for a while, so it likely wasn’t that, and we do use Bounce sheets. But we use the no-smell, no-dye, no-whatever kind of sheets, so that’s ok, right? Nope, it’s still got some chemical in it, otherwise I suppose we could just toss a paper towel in the dryer and save money. So from now on we get to go with un-softened clothes, and I’ll be showing up to work every day with a sock stuck on the back of my shirt.

Peter got a prescription for a hydrocortisone ointment, and after a day and a half of applications his cheek is pretty much back to normal.

This morning when I was getting ready for work Peter was cooing and giggling away while his diaper and outfits were changed. It was very, very cute, and it made it hard for me to leave for the office. But he did fall back asleep, which is entertaining to a certain degree, but it’s not as action-packed as conversing with him…