Z is for "Zach," "Zoë," "Zienna" . . . and "zits"

You'll have to accept my apologies for the lack of new Baby Z pictures over the past couple of weeks. Yes, we were quite busy, as we entered the "mortgage" phase of our home purchase (Yippee.). And yes, we encountered fairly major computer problems that sidelined me for a couple of days and, for a time, appeared to have destroyed a week's worth of pictures. But neither of those is the reason for the lack of photos. The reason is much simpler: It's zits.

No, Zach hasn't entered puberty early. Nor has Zoë suddenly suffered more than her occasional blemish. Surprisingly, the kid with the problematic papulae is Zienna. And that's why, in her best interest, you'll be seeing very few pictures from the fifth and sixth weeks of her life.

At birth, Zienna had, as many babies do, a few whiteheads scattered across her sweet face. I paid them little mind, assuming they'd clear up quickly, just as they had when Zach and Zoë were born with them. But as the weeks passed, red bumps joined the white ones, and then the mass of them began spreading to her chin, her neck, and even her ears. By last week, my sweet little girl's face resembled haphazardly-formed sandpaper.

Initially, I kept snapping pictures of Zienna in spite of the temporary challenge to her appearance. But I had to admit that these were pictures of a face that "only a mother (or father) could love." So I put the camera away, as visions of nightmare-inducing baby pictures in Zienna's senior yearbook filled my mind. In turn, that made me feel a bit guilty, but at least I knew my heart was in the right place.

When you see the pictures from the prior week, located here (from the batch that was nearly lost), you'll notice that Zienna's skin and hair were already taking on a rather oily sheen. Since birth, she'd had that staple of daytime-TV advertising, "combination skin"—part dry, part oily. But last week, oily won out. And as it did, so did baby acne, big-time.

According to online parenting resources, baby acne is very common and is defined as "a red pimply rash...(which) may break out on your baby's face during the third or fourth week of life. This rash seems to bother parents more than the baby. Usually no treatment is necessary other than gentle washing with a mild soap and water. It is caused by the stimulation of the baby's oil glands due to the increased hormones passed from the mother to baby at birth."

Knowing we—and Zienna—are not alone in our plight is only somewhat comforting. Yes, it will pass, but that doesn't take away the fear that strangers will see her face and either gasp in horror or assume that she's an escapee from a leper colony. But, I supposed that's what blankets were invented for.

In the end, I guess there's a bright side to all of this, as I've been showering Zienna with over-compensatory kisses—all over her face, including her rough cheeks—to prove this hasn't affected my feelings for her one bit. And, through the eyes of love, she is of course as beautiful as ever.

Still, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't looking forward to the day when the word "acne" was a thing of the past around our house. Then again, with one kid rocketing toward puberty and two others following behind him, I supposed that's not going to happen for quite a long time!