Bad genes

I can completely objectively say that Oscar is the cutest baby in the whole world.

But I don't think Oscar will ever have perfect skin. Let's recap on Oscar's skin woes:

Firstly, as a newborn, he was remarkably tanned, i.e. jaundiced. At just a week old, he had to go back into hospital for phototherapy. He looked so small and vulnerable, crouched under these special lights with a big blindfold covering half his face:

Secondly, there was his pretty severe case of cradle cap, leading to an almost reptilian-looking scalp. It was strangely addictive gently peeling off the scabby flakes. (Actually, you're not supposed to do this, but I promise I only peeled off what was coming off anyway!) The cradle cap went hand in hand with eczema on his face and chest.

Thirdly, his skin is very dry. This is bearable in humid Thailand, but when we went back home, poor Oscar's skin became very wrinkled and chapped, no matter how much aqueous cream was slathered on.

And now this: for a few weeks now, a few bumpy pimples have appeared on the back of Oscar's lower legs. Yesterday, hundreds of them erupted on his right upper arm. As far as I can tell, they don't itch, they don't hurt, Oscar couldn't give two hoots about them. I took him to the doc who said it was a 'non-itchy form of eczema', i.e. best apply steroid cream.

Having every respect for the medical profession, I didn't tell him that I disagreed with his prognosis, but politely declined the cream. Because actually, I'd already done a little research. I think Oscar suffers from something called keratosis pilaris (KP) - where keratin production goes into overdrive.

Why do I think it's KP? Because the symptoms match and I think Matt has it a little and it's an inherited condition. Actually, it's me who has KP pretty badly. Unfortunately there is no miracle cure, so cross fingers it'll clear up as Oscar grows up. I feel sorry for passing on these bad genes!

Look away now if you're squeamish - it's not a pretty sight!

At the end of the day, Oscar is a healthy, robust, bubbly little boy so after such a long post, I'm not going to make a big deal about this. Oscar is still the cutest baby in the world.