Chickenpox Outbreak

It was announced on our news this morning that there's a chickenpox outbreak at one of the nearby schools, and everyone is being urged to have their kids vaccinated immediately if they haven't already done so. That's the 2nd series vaccination, given when they're about 4 years old. The one given at 12 months old gives them about 90% protection, while adding the 2nd one ups that to 99%. I like those odds.

Braeden's had a little head cold which I think he picked up at his gym class last week. Two of the other little ones were sniffling and sneezing, and while they strongly suggest you keep your child home if he/she is ill, some people appear to be oblivious to the fact that it's so easy to spread germs in a setting like that, no matter how clean they keep the gym area. Everyone's still climbing on all the equipment, drooling on everything, hands in their mouths. Braeden's just got the nasal thing going on, and it's starting to clear up now. It hasn't affected his activity level, or his appetite, or his sleep schedule. DH and I caught the dang thing over the weekend - blech.

We've got Braeden's Halloween costume. He's going to be a pumpkin this year. We didn't want anything fancy, and being 13 months old by then, I don't think he'll mind. It's a 2-piece outfit, nice and warm, with a hood. While our weather here definitely doesn't get cold, it's chilly at night, and we'll be out in the courtyard to greet the trick or treaters for a couple of hours, so I want Braeden to be comfortable. DH probably won't make it home from work in time for me to take Braeden to our nearest neighbors and pass out treats too, but again, I don't think Braeden will mind. I think he'll enjoy seeing the kids in costume, and he won't be eating any candy anyway.

He's still working on this walking thing, preferring to speed crawl rather than walk. I put his shoes on him inside the house this morning so he could try walking while wearing the shoes, since he hasn't been out much with his cold, and he did very well holding onto his truck and/or car as he took off around the living room. After about 15 minutes I took them off. I certainly don't want him learning to walk wearing them, but do want him to be comfortable walking while he's got them on for our outside trips.