What Does It Take To Cure a "Nappy" Rash?

It's been 61 days since Ryan's surgery. As you all know, the most difficult part of the healing process has been trying to get his diaper "rash" to heal. I'd like to go out on a limb here and say that we've tried it all!!

To start, we haven't been using baby wipes - only water. If we don't have him in the kitchen sink, then we use a hospital supplied squirt bottle. We have 100% cotton diapers that we use to dry his bottom off.

From ointments to powders to fungus medications and burn cream - to cooking staples (corn starch and olive oil) to bag balm (for Cow udders) to Maalox to Australian remedies (Jeff's long-time friend John sent us 3 different things from Australia! I was surprised that you could send diaper rash cream from one country to another) We've had so many people provide us with their miracle cures - all which have failed us.

I am happy to report that Ryan is nearly healed. It was none of the rash or fungal treatments... it was an incontinence treatment - - Ilex Paste - - that was recommended to us by a nurse at CHLA. (This stuff rules - why didn't they give it to us in the first place?!!) We've been using it almost a week now and the rash is almost all gone!

We have quite the supply - the picture only shows a sampling of what we've used... we buy everything in triplicate! We know that in the 2 years Ryan will be in diapers - - we should never have a shortage of diaper creams. (And if you ever need advice - - I'm your go-to gal!)

With all of the sink baths Ryan gets, he is surely the cleanest kid around. Lucky for him (and us) he really does enjoy his bath!

Ryan Eats...And Eats...And Eats

It's hard to believe that just a few weeks ago we introduced Ryan to solid food. I remember thinking then how trying it was to get him to eat off of a spoon. Flash forward to today. Ryan can chow down 2-3 jars of baby food per sitting. Just this week we started giving him graham crackers (thanks "Aunt" Michelle). In 3 short days he has gone from not being able to coordinate the cracker to his mouth to being able to pick up small pieces and hand them off from one hand to the other hand to his mouth. He is even beginning to make chewing motions once the food is in his mouth.

This week Ryan was weighed at 19lbs 1 oz. He's definitely a growing baby!

I imagine now that his two top teeth are coming in, Ryan will be wanting to eat more finger foods.

Sadie's 2009

I didn't quite understand the Sadie's approach. As I remember it, Sadie Hawkins was the unconventional approach where girls would ask the guys to the dance, pay for dinner, dance tickets, etc. You dress up like a bunch of Farmers (overalls, plaid shirts, etc) and you go to the school for the chaperoned dance.

Like most dances I've been witness to over Dylan's high school years. The rules have changed. Asking someone to the dance is quite the ordeal. Dylan told me this year he got asked to Sadie's and showed me a picture on his phone where "Sadies ?" was spelled out, in flower petals - I think, on someones kitchen floor. He accepted. I'm thinking, "Great!" a dance I finally don't have to pay for!



Well, then the plot thickens.

The kids aren't really going to the dance (that's lame). They're going to Knott's Berry Farm. So I argued that they weren't "really" going to Sadie's - so why go through all the the drama? Then it turns out that Dylan is paying his half, the girl is paying her half.. it all just starts to fall apart in my mind from what I ever believed Sadie's to be. Not to mention, the whole farmer theme doesn't even exist anymore. The kids just buy matching T-Shirts (which I guess is better, because who want's to buy a stupid flannel shirt and overalls anyways?)




So long story short... 3 weeks pass and TODAY was the day. 4:30p. Meet at so-in-so's house for photo's and get them all on their way. I was just meeting the kids at the designated home to take some pictures. I arrived - but Dylan was not yet there. So I called him and he let's me know that his date is "Missing in Action". The group was going over to her house (I don't know her name) and was going to see if she was there. As it turns out, his date "forgot" today was Sadie's. Oh, brother. She did eventually show up.




Originally the kids weren't ever going to make an appearance at the school, but I guess they decided that they would go for pictures before heading out to Knott's. Since the park closes at 10p, I can't even imagine that they had more than just a couple hours there. It's all kind of a mess.




Oh the drama of High School. To think that such memories are the ones that we hold on to for the rest of our lives.

Spring Forward

For some reason it just donned on me that it is March. It wasn't until I got the work email reminding me to set the clocks forward tonight that I realized we are 3 months into 2009, Ryan is nearly 7 months old, we've been in our house for 2 years, Dylan is going to be 17 in 2 months.... it all just flies by so quickly. Is it me - or does time go by faster with each passing year?

Just a couple weeks ago, Ryan started sitting with a little assistance - - now he can go a long while balancing on his own. Just last week his two bottom teeth came through. (see photos... below the carrots stuck to his nose are 2 darling little teeth) He rolls over from front to back and back to front. I know it will be any day now he will figure out how to crawl - - and then we're all in trouble!

We think Ryan got Roseola. He ran a high fever (103.3) and then just a couple days later had blotches all over his skin. I didn't even know what it was until after it had passed. Ryan and I both suffered from a cold over the past couple of weeks. I think we're both almost over it.

We almost got Ryan's diaper rash cleared - - and now I swear it's worse than ever. We've tried every diaper cream (Triple Paste is my favorite so far), fungus medication, yeast medication, olive oil.. you name it. His pediatrician is now treating it like a burn. I am applying a prescription burn cream to his bottom to see if it helps. While I've been using it two days now... I think I have seen the most improvement by introducing Corn Starch. I've been on booty duty all day today making sure that he is clean and dry so that he doesn't get any worse. I know that Ryan will be the happiest when it is all clear... but selfishly, I look forward to having a little more freedom. Maybe one of these day's I'll actually get around to some chores around here. For now, not much is getting done with all of the hands-on care and attention.

Dylan joined an indoor soccer league. His first game was today. He's playing Forward on a co-ed team. He's never played soccer before but seems to be doing pretty good. I'm completely lost watching the game because I don't know what the rules are. I'm so used to him playing football, that I somewhat expect for him to take out one of the players. That's something I'm going to have to get used to: Soccer is not a full contact sport. I just hope Dylan remembers that too!
- Dylan's team won.