Warm Adventures: April Apoxalypse

So on April 1st (no joke) I notice a bit of a rash forming around one of Miles legs during bath time. In the morning he is pretty much covered with hives and had a very uncomfortable evening of sleep. His pediatrician as well as the local pharmacy assumed it was chicken pox and gave us the normal concoction - lotion and anti inflammatory medication. (They don't vaccinate here until 12 years of age.) The next day it was obvious it wasn't the chicken pox and my online research as well as friends advice led me to assume he was having an allergic reaction to the antibiotics he was taking for an ear infection. We luckily had a standing appointment (for said ear infection) the following day although when he awoke that morning we almost rushed him to the hospital as he was so swollen and was having a hard time even walking. Anyway long story short, yes allergic reaction and luckily some steroids brought it down quite quickly. Although it did make him a bit grumpy for a few days - we called him "The Hulk" for a week. To make matters worse this all happened only a few days before we were to leave on our Lisbon trip and there was concern he wouldn't be able to travel. Luckily we were able to see the doctor the day we left and he gave us the all clear, as Miles was reacting well to the steroids.

Goofy kids in Zurich pre and post chic pox

Enjoying life before the pox

Bill Murray anyone?

So whew everyone stayed healthy (for the most part) during our Lisbon trip. That Monday, the kids were still on spring break so we had a fun afternoon of picnicking and visiting friends. Monday night my friend "B" texted me to say that "A" had chicken pox. Now keep in mind we had just spent a week with them in Lisbon as well as spent most of that Monday together. On Tuesday, I took the kids over to the chicken pox house and let the kids play in close contact. Now some might find this a bit strange but I selfishly wanted my kids to get it over with and preferably at the same time. We have had several scares since we've moved here and contact with kids who had it enough to almost ruin vacations and plans. Since we didn't have any big plans or trips for the rest of the month, I said "bring it on!" And so it did approximately 12 days later. In the meantime, the kids were healthy and the weather was beautiful so we enjoyed it like normal people. Playdates to Murimoos, day trips to Zurich, lots of playground time. We even celebrated "B's" birthday party, the day before the kids started showing signs. One Saturday evening Miles started showing signs and by Monday was covered and I mean covered head to toe and all parts in between. Ali started showing signs a day or two later but was never covered. Whereas Miles had hundreds, Ali had a few dozen. The ironic thing was Ali was definitely a bit more whiny than Miles. They both did amazingly well, as I had envisioned these two sick children whining and scratching all day and not sleeping all night. It was nothing like that. They were both pretty normal with Miles only a bit uncomfortable the first night and Ali restless for several nights after. Really the worst part of it was being stuck inside with two kids for 8 or 9 days. And Erik being gone for the first few days of it. Luckily the weather cooperated with our house arrest as it literally rained for the entire week we were inside. And since many of my friends and their kids had already had it, we were able to have playdates at our place a couple of times that week. But I will say after a week of being inside everyone was going a bit stir crazy. Both kids watched quite a bit more TV than is normally allowed on any given week. With "Frozen" being the movie of choice around here. But all in all it really wasn't that bad. The kids still have some signs of it, especially on their heads for some reason, but if you looked at them right now you couldn't tell. So we survived the month of pox and allergic reactions and lived to blog about it.

We are now experiencing better weather and are off to celebrate Miles 2nd birthday with a Swiss style BBQ at our friends home. The weather is beautiful and my parents have arrived from North Carolina for six weeks. We are looking forward to the next few weeks of visiting and warm weather. As always we miss and love you. Keep in touch and come visit soon.