Smooth as a Baby's Bottom

I am not quite sure where this saying came from since I don't think a baby with diaper rash has all that smooth of a bottom, nor were they considering baby acne.

Luckily we have so far avoided diaper rash, but I assume there is a good possibility of him getting it at least once or twice over the next 3 years (average time before a boy is potty trained). So in this sense James' bottom is quite smooth, but what isn't is his face and his trunk! He is covered in acne - if I didn't know this was normal I would've thought he had measles or something awful. His trunk and arms just recently had a bad rash of acne that cleared up pretty quickly, but his face has had a continuous stream of acne breakouts. His cheeks cover up with acne and just when they start going away there is a new batch cropping up right on top and around the old spots and thus continuing the cycle of non-smooth skin on his cheeks.

He also has a bit of a contact rash right between his eyes and on the bridge of his cute nose that made him look (at its worst) almost like a Klingon! Luckily that is clearing up rather quickly. No alien life-form looking baby's in this house.

I would say that I am rather proud of myself for not picking at the acne, being a serious picker at any skin flaws on myself. Apparently the acne doesn't bother a baby and rarely is it pus-filled, so I have restrained myself from scratching at it and allowing it to come and go as it pleases. It is supposedly due to the constant flux in hormones and should dissipate by 8 weeks. I will definitely be watching at that 8 week mark for it to really reduce and go away for good.

For the uninitiated, here is a picture of some facial and trunk acne: