Thursday, May 14, 2009

Two Boys in a Tub

It may not seem like it, but these pictures capture a truly historic moment in the boys' lives.
Until now...
Jack and Matteas...
...had never been in the bath together. When Jack was 18 months old he developed a highly contagious rash(warts, actually). Molluscum contagiosum, for the curious. They're not a super big deal, but the warts spread easily on contact and can therefore be a drag for a kid in diapers, where a lot of skin touches a lot of other skin. I had the same warts as a kid on the back of my arm and still have scars, and I watched the doctor burn off about a dozen warts on my little brother when they started spreading to his, uh, diaper area. There is no cure, and you can have the warts burned off(grapefruit seed extract also works, but it's very irritating to the surrounding skin so we quit using it) or simply wait for the body to kill the virus. Jack's spread to his left armpit, and he had a patch of skin about the size of a grapefruit that was red, flaking and raw. It was getting so bad that I decided I was going to call a dermatologist, but when I checked the next day the last of his warts had exploded, which is the death rattle for molluscum. After that, his skin started healing rapidly and he has been wart-free for some time now. Since the warts can be quite itchy, we decided not to let the boys bathe together(which is how they're usually spread to siblings) until Jack's warts were gone. It took 2 1/2 years. I was about to give up because I figured there was no way I could keep them from swimming together this summer, especially now that Matteas is too big for his dish pan. I actually spent quite a bit of time praying about it, because I wanted to prevent any suffering I could for Matteas without having the boys miss out on doing normal stuff together or making Jack feel like a leper. I know warts are not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but I'm really happy to be done with them. I heard somebody say once that one way God shows us He loves us is by letting us know that He cares about the details.

1 comment:

Kayleen said...

Cool beans. I also love the pink bathtub :) I think we had one just like it in the house we grew up in...or was it green...I can't quite rememeber but I have fond memories of bath time in general