We're very lucky.
Jack is the sort of child
we all assume we'll have
when we decide to have children,
and the sort of child
less experienced parents
congratulate themselves for.January and February 2004
March and April 2004
May and June 2004
July and August 2004
September and October 2004
November and December 2004
Blogs we read:
Thursday, Jun. 17, 2004 - Mamma
Summer Fun
Jack's current favorite!
Dancing with Degas
by Julie Merberg
Last night, Jack and I went to a chicken pox party.
Does that strike you as strange? It sure did sound bizarre to Rod.
Here's the reasoning. In 1995 (or so) a vaccine against chickenpox was licensed. Since that time, the incidence of childhood chickenpox has been falling. But while the effectiveness of the vaccine is around 91% at one year after innoculation, it has dropped to about 82% at five years after innoculation.
Now, chicken pox is usually no big deal in the very young, as long as they're otherwise in good health and don't have compromised immune systems. But as they get older, they get more and more dangerous, so that chickenpox in adulthood is fatal (from pneumonia and menengitis complications) a significant percentage of the time.
If the effectiveness is lowered over the first five years, I am (as are many other parents) concerned that the vaccination may protect Jack from getting chicken pox right through the period when it could be not much more than an itchy nuisance, only to leave him vulnerable just when it gets dangerous. I'd much rather he had "natural immunity", which seems to last longer, as long as he can get it as a baby.
So, when my friend Claire sent a note saying that her little guy, Jude, had been diagnosed with a mild case of chicken pox and invited us to a chicken pox party, I jumped right on it. (Hey! Not only a change to share the viral "wealth" -- but also a chance to hang out with Claire! ) Cool!
Anyway, the other Moms who were interested were all eager to expose their kids sooner rather than risking Jude's case being resolved before the day of the party -- so Jack and I turned out to be the only ones who made it on party day!
Nonetheless, we had a great time! We wore party hats that Jude had designed and decorated for us, and we shared crackers, sippy cups, and toys and just generally had a wonderful time!
We had so much fun that we ended up staying far later han we had planned -- but that worked out fine, since Claire had made a delicious dinner to share with us! All we had to do was go home and put on our pajamas before we nursed down to sleep.
(Well, actually, Mamma had to work hard to stay awake, since there was still the small matter of picking Dad up from work at 11pm.)
Now we get to wait and see if Jack will come down with the pox, but even if he doesn't (Jude's case was very mild and he only had a few uncrusted spots left) we had a *wonderful time! We can hardly wait to get together with Claire and Jude again for swimming, once this little viral interlude is over!
I will probably take every opportunity to expose Jack over the next few years to keep his immunity strong. The odds of his coming into contact with the virus in the normal coure of events is falling all the time.
In the News
Study Links Breastfeeding to Lower Stress, Anxiety Levels in Adulthood
SIDS, The Family Bed, & The U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission
Highly Recommended
Reading Your Baby's Body Language
I was expecting my third child when I ordered this -- largely because it has been 21 years since I'd had a baby. But you know, I learned more from this tape about what Jack was trying to tell me than I had learned through hit or miss raising of my other two children combined. Whether for your first or your fourth, I recommend this tape!
