Cradle cap?

Cooper has developed a small amount of yucky dandruffy stuff. I think he may be getting a mild case of cradle cap, which is when the baby's scalp overproduces oils and skin cells and makes yucky looking dandruff.

Gross! I think the treatment is to gentle scrub it off. No big deal, really. This is on top of his mild, but persistent, face and chest based baby acne.

Luckily, none of this shows up in photos (OK, a little, but not too much and good lighting typically eliminates the issue) and I know that pretty much only Matt and I notice both the zits and the flakes. In contrast, our friend's baby Owen has a "stork kiss" (bright red baby birthmark that will like fade to nothing with time) on his eyelid that extends up onto the bridge of his nose. It looks a little like a healing black eye. That is a much harder skin mark to reconcile- "Who punched your baby?"

Yikes! Although I bet no one says that. Or at least I hope so.

My sister's baby had a stork kiss on the nape of her neck. Much less visible! And my father has a pigmented/capillary birthmark on the back of his head, hidden by his thick hair, that looks similar but of course is invisible to everyone. And my sister herself has a really cool birthmark on the back of her knee. Matt and I have nothin'.

Still, I'm slightly surprised that my little guy has no birthmarks at all. Although he does have one small freckle on his scalp- cute!

OH and I win the bad mommy award of the week. I took Cooper for a long walk WITH THE SUNSHADE completely shading him, and long sleeves, and a cap, but he STILL got a very mild sunburn on his forehead. Gotta get out the summer hats. Mild sunburns are still unacceptable.