Hand, foot, and mouth disease

I've learned all I ever wanted to know and more about hand, foot, and mouth disease over the last couple weeks (NOT to be confused with foot and mouth disease, or hoof and mouth disease). Last Tuesday evening, Charlotte had a mild fever and passed out for about an hour. A couple days later, she developed nasty-looking bumps and blisters all over her legs, feet, and hands. They don't show up real well in this picture, but you can see a few on her hands and wrists.

I took her to the doctor, thinking somehow she was having an allergic reaction or maybe had gotten into poison ivy. Turns out she acually had hand, foot, and mouth disease (aka the Coxsackie virus). It's very common, especially in young kids, and several kids in the area have come down with it recently. Since none of the rest of us had developed any symptoms, we must have had it at some point in our lives and just never known (not everyone gets a bad case of the blisters like Charlotte). 

Can you find the baby in this picture?

We thought Jack had also been exposed in the past, since almost a week went by without him developing symptoms. But sure enough, he came down with it too; though the virus manifested itself very differently in him. He barely had any bumps or blisters. Just a couple on his feet, and if I hadn't been looking for them, I probably would have never noticed them. Unfortunately the fever hit him pretty hard. He had temperature spikes that were quite high, and it lasted for over 2 days. This was the day the fever started.

Poor baby!

Looking a little ticked off for mom taking pictures when he's not feeling well :)

The kids are doing much better now. On the bright side, at least we've gotten through it safely and shouldn't have to worry about them catching it in the future!