Atopic Dermatitis

...that is the official diagnosis from the dermatologist we saw Thursday.  He never even named it eczema. By the way, I was quite impressed that our appointment was at 3:45p and we were home by 4:25p. We saw Dr. Singh and I would definitely go back to him. Bobby had gone to him before and liked him, and I see why. Basically, atopic dermatitis is a generic term for inflammation of the skin that didn't fall into a specific category for skin problems. I've heard this term before, but I'm not sure if it was when I had some skin problems back in middle school/high school?! Very high possibility. So, here is a list of his recommendations for Natalie:

1. Desonide steroid cream...Natalie has been prescribed this a few times and each time we get it, the pharmacist always tells Bobby that we can't use it more than 10 days because of it's side effects. However, when I mentioned this to the doctor, he said "They didn't go to medical school."  Valid point...I think/hope!  So, he said as long as she is having irritations, to apply the cream only once to the skin creases like elbows and knees, otherwise apply twice to all other areas.

2. Use Aveeno lotion...just the plain Aveeno lotion, daily when skin is moist, aka after a bath

3. Use Cetaphil body wash (gave me samples) and if I don't care for that, use Dove.

4. Use All laundry detergent

5. Take 1/4 tsp of Zyrtec during typical allergy season...Spring to Fall. Not sure how I feel about this one since we've been there, done that. He also said we could use Claritin or Allegre.

6. Wear loose fitting light-colored cotton clothing (lighter colors have less dye)

7. Lukewarm baths for 5-10 minutes max.

So, I guess we'll see!

Yesterday, while I was mowing and the girls were on the swingset, then Bobby came home shortly, I found 2 toads. The girls were all about them!  However, Natalie didn't want to touch the toad...every time Bobby would try and put it in her palm, she would squeal and run away. Aubrey, on the other hand, needed to be controlled so she didn't either squeeze the frog to death or pull it's legs off...haha!  I find it funny that Natalie is all about getting dirty, but when it came to the toad she acted like a little diva :)  I like that her personality has a good mix of "princess-like" and "tomboy-like" qualities!

I get this look...OFTEN!