East Coast has some crazy weather.....

"Mom, this is why stand-by can be awesome - we get the whole row.... let's only fly like this from now on, k?"

Tuesday, March 4th, Brock and I headed back to the East Coast. The flights there were awesome - wide open planes and I did not fret once about not getting to our final destination (flying stand-by). Brock was such a good traveler and was able to get some naps in too!

Our layover was in Chicago and after doing a little research beforehand, found an awesome (to be determined...and we'll get to that later) children's museum/play area in Terminal 1 for Brock. He loved walking/crawling all around, pressing the buttons, but especially watching the big kids.

Finally we were in Raleigh and Brock was free to explore Grandma's house and Papa's condo with his new found skill!

He had some fun with Papa's guitar after Papa sang him a song. Brock was mesmerized by the strumming and the singing. I think he enjoyed it. :) 

All he wanted to do was climb and show off his walking! 

Up to this point, it was COLD. As in, colder than home in Seattle! Temperatures in the 30's and 40's during the day.... brr.... 

But then, in typical North Carolina fashion, Saturday it warmed up to 68! (With Sunday and Monday following in the low 70's!) It was so nice, we were able to meet some friends at a park! 

Brock and Jude (Shaunis' son - 16 months)

Will, Beck, Brock

My brother Brian and his new fiancee were in town, but typical to me - I didn't get a picture until it was time to say goodbye. Apparently it's a theme for pictures of Brock and Brian.

And then.... and then the ugly happened.... At this point we thought he had a bad case of eczema. Brock had some shrimp for the first time Friday night, along with some other various new exposures. We thought he was having an allergic reaction, which caused the bad eczema. He does get some good eczema patches at home. We loaded him up with creams and lotions and aquaphor and benadryl at night and nothing was really helping.

It was all over Brock's body and face. We still thought it was eczema, so I was excited to see Jessica on Monday for lunch to ask her advice on what next to try. She did give me some very good tips... and we did talk about other things besides Brock's rash. :)

American Tobacco District in Durham - BEAUTIFUL DAY!

 But all this while, we are out visiting friends and family with the thought it was still eczema.

You can see the rash and bumps on Brock's face, arms and hands

It's not until we fly home and go to our pediatrician that we find out Brock has hand, foot & mouth disease... a contagious virus that causes a rash in the above mentioned areas - atypical to show up on arms and legs too. Good job Brock, you get a gold star for going above and beyond! Brock really didn't seem "sick" besides the rash, so it didn't seem to affect the visit with Grandma except just being a nuisance.

Brock is not in daycare and we really haven't been out with other children.... so I'm blaming that stupid play area in the Chicago Airport for this! With all of the children flying in and out of that airport, I'm sure that area is a cesspool of diseases! I don't know if we'll be visiting that spot again (of course, I took Brock there on the layover back home.... so I passed on the crap to some other kid.... and the cycle continues). Moral of the story - TODDLERS ARE DIRTY!