Our "Mitey" Kid

All right, poor Drew has been getting more and more of these welty/drainy/hivey bumps on his body...despite him being on meds. His culture came back negative for staph, strep or MRSA...ruling out impetigo. We brought him in today...all the way to Savage (the only pedi with an opening) and the first thing she says "These are from Chiggers". DUH. We have never felt so happy with such a creepy crawler diagnosis...not another infection, not a weirdo immune thing. Super. I'll take Chiggers. His daycare provider had them a month or two ago from weeding in her garden. It did not occur to either of us that that is what it could be. That explains why one other boy had a similar lesion on his head. Drew is likely just more susceptible to getting a extreme reaction just because he is so fair and already has eczema, well, some people are just more sensitive to those things. After reading what Chiggers are and do, I got an extreme case of the heebie jeebies. At least it isn't cause by germs or other grossness, just by a bug we can't really see too well.

A little light reading about Chiggers: Probably no creature on earth can cause as much torment for its size than the tiny chigger. Tiny six-legged chigger larvae (Larvae...YES...Larvae G-R-O-S-S) attack campers, picnickers, hikers, bird watchers, berry pickers, fishermen, soldiers, (and little boys named Drew) and homeowners in low, damp areas where vegetation is rank such as woodlands, berry patches, orchards, along lakes and streams, and even in drier places where vegetation is low such as lawns, golf courses, and parks. They are most numerous in early summer when grass, weeds and other vegetation are heaviest. Chiggers do not burrow into the skin, but insert their mouthparts in a skin pore or hair follicle. Their bites produce small, reddish welts on the skin accompanied by intense itching as irritating as acute cases of poison ivory or poison sumac. These symptoms often are the only way of learning that an outdoor area is infested since chiggers are so small that most cannot be seen without a magn ifying glass. Chiggers feed on a wide variety of snakes, turtles, birds, and small mammals as well as humans.
Here is the funny part about how to determine where in your yard they are: Treating known chigger trouble spots is quicker and less expensive than treating an entire area. Place six-inch squares of black cardboard on edge in the grass and observe for a few minutes. Any small, yellowish or pinkish chiggers present will climb rapidly to the top of the square and congregate there. (They congregate, what do you think they discuss?)

Well, enough about them...

Its been a cloudy day. We went to the Duk Duk Daze by our house and did some people watching (carnies can be entertainment). They had firefighters there and were letting kids spray there fire hoses- so that was entertaining as well. Tonight they have fireworks, which we can see from our house. We've been trying to get things done for our big trip out East...lots of packing and thinking of how to keep a toddler content on the plane ride.

I brought this rocking horse my Grandpa made in from the garage. I figured Drew is big enough not to lick the paint (I am sure its full of lead). He loves it.