Soccer and Shingles

This week has been all about Ben-my little man who is growing up way too fast. He is such a sweetie and he is always the child I feel the most guilt about. He gets overshadowed so easily between the hustle and bustle of two older and busier siblings and the extreme neediness of one younger and very demanding little one. He is such a laid back, go with the flow kind of kid, which makes it even easier to put off him and his needs. I have been thinking a lot about this lately and know that it's something I need to remedy. I know that I'm going to have to bite the bullet and sit on the floor playing Star Wars or Power Rangers or whatever it is that will make him feel important. I have a lot of ideas of what I can do to help him and mostly just be there for them--I just hope I can make myself find the energy and desire to act on those ideas because I know that my little man just needs it.

With that said, I'll move on to the real reason for this post--Ben's news. My poor little boy has shingles. He has been whining and complaining since Saturday that his leg hurt. Craig and I kept telling him that he was imagining it and that he needed to buck up and get over it. Well when he woke up on Monday morning and I noticed his leg was breaking out in a rash, I knew that it would end up being shingles. (And might I mention that I knew that since his big sister dealt with the same problem when she was little.) Well I took him in to the doctor--and I was right--he was diagnosed with shingles and I felt bad about not doing anything about it before Monday. It really is a weird virus that rarely affects little kids and so once again, I surprised the medical staff at our doctors office. We had to have multiple people look at him to make the diagnosis but at least there is a diagnosis and we now have medication to treat it. To top that off, he also had to get a wart burned off and two mole-like bumps frozen off his back. Let's just say, he was kind of put through the ringer and so we went out for a treat--I mean 2 treats--at dad's work after that doctors visit. And thankfully I don't have too much going on this week, so I have been able to let him take it easy and just kick back and relax since our doctor's visit. However, tonight we had to quit the whole laid back relaxing thing because it was his first soccer game and since his dad happens to be the coach, there was no way we could just skip it. That and he has been so excited for this game that there was no way he would have missed it for anything. He has been dying to put on his uniform and get out on those soccer fields to PLAY. And who can blame him, he has been going there for his entire life as a spectator and has been asking me since he was 2 when it was his turn to play. He was so cute out there on that field. I loved watching him. I know his leg hurt, but he didn't complain at all, which I think is quite a feat because he was limping the entire time as well. Despite that, his face either had a giant smile on it or was wrinkled in total concentration and I could have sat and watched him all day long. He is such a natural athlete and he really was in his element. I'm so excited that he finally gets to be a part of an organized team and play an organized sport. He really was in heaven and he was cuter than I can ever explain. The only downside to the game was that I forgot my camera--I could kick myself for not taking a picture, but I will get one soon.

Lastly all I have to say is that I love that kid and I just want to be the best mom I can for him!