Yikes!

Check out my little man. I guess I now know why he hasn't felt well all week. He broke out in this horrible rash this morning and within hours it had spread all over his entire body. I took him to the pediatrician and she said it was Fifth Disease(Parvovirus) and just has to run its course with the aid of Advil and Benedryl. He has slept most of the day and in between naps has put together Legos.

Most of you already know, but I am going to post an update for the ones that don't-- Dad is doing fine, but is still in a terrible amount of pain. He fell off the tractor last week (the large International, not the small yard tractor) trying to tuck the muffler so he could get up under the garage or carport or something. It could have been much worse, so he is lucky to only walk away with a broken arm/hand/wrist--he has several breaks and lots of little bone fragments. He has bad swelling right now so they have a soft support brace on it until they can see what will "shift" back into place when the swelling goes down and what will require surgery/pins. The day he fell, he was using the tractor to spread ground asphalt (gravel) along the drive. Once Mom got to him and they were heading to urgent care, my Dad (grimacing in pain) calls my brother and stammers out... "Son, I have fallen....from the tractor....I've broken my arm and hand and maybe a rib..... I ... need...you....to..." (and at this point Jimmy is already out the door and heading to the car because he knows he will be meeting them at the hospital.) But Dad doesn't ask him to meet at the hospital as expected. Dad continues with "....I need...you...to...go... spread that gravel for me." Geez...

But don't worry about Dad, we're taking good care of him, his bandaged arm and his swollen, fat little sausage fingers. Being the loving family we are, Mom is about to amputate the arm for him. If he doesn't stop complaining she might start with his good arm. My brother, the logical one, has offered to bring the pressure washer in the bathroom to create a "redneck bidet." He's helpful like that.