Good morning!

John, waking up from his morning nap yesterday. I usually get a big grin and a wiggle when I go to collect him.

We have snow today! When John wakes up from his nap, we're going to head to the backyard to check it out hands-on. I held him up to the window to have a look this morning and he seemed pretty captivated. It's not so exciting for Mike, who has to work in it, though. As much as I miss my job, I'm so glad to not be forced into the winter commute. I feel really bad for him.

The rash lives on. I'm getting a little worried. I've been looking online to see what I should be doing. All the sites said to assume it's infected and treat it as such after 72 hours - it's been two weeks. I used some yeast cream, and it actually seemed to make it flare up again. I think he's getting a white film inside his mouth as well, but I'll take a closer look under a brighter light the next time he wakes up - is that what thrush looks like? I just don't know. They also said to go to the doctor if there's no improvement after three days, or if it's raw. It is improving, but it was very, very raw at its worst, so I don't know if that applies to me. At the same time, I saw some photos of diaper rash online, and that's TOTALLY not what John has - these poor babies had these very painful looking little red spots, or big blobs of bright red skin. It was grissly. This is just a little ring of red between his cheeks. The only other rash he's had was at a week old, when the fold between his leg and tummy turned red. It went away on its own the next day. I saw no pictures that were similar to what he has now, but I found several descriptions that were. One place I saw said it's a form of diaper rash that's a normal part of starting solids for breastfed babies, because the pH of their poop is no longer ideal. Another said it's caused by food allergies. Another said it's from the friction between his cheeks. I guess I'll call the nurse and see what she thinks. She'll probably get the doc to call. He'll say to come in, and when I get there he'll wonder why I wasted his time, because it's nothing.