Reuben has chicken spots and a birthday (in that order)

We were a bit worried when, four days before his birthday, Reuben went spotty on us.  Did we need to postpone celebrations or cancel the party?
Nah.  The boy is made of sterner stuff and has powerful antibodies floating round his system.  The virus only managed to bring forth 23 spots which apparently were never itchy and appeared in some unexpected places ('Look!  I've got one on my willy!').  It did mean that Reuben couldn't go to day care on 2 days when I was teaching in the morning - fortunately, Dave was not busy at work, so Reuben got to spend 90 minutes playing in the park next to the hospital and eating ice cream while I was imparting the mysteries of separable German verbs or some such at the university.  Spot the fake sad face in the photo below...  And if you get the magnifying glass out, you might just detect the odd spot or two.

Chicken spots aren't that bad, despite appearances!

By Reuben's birthday on the Thursday the spots were on the way out.  He got some cool presents and was very good at letting Tilly join in opening them.  Thank you very much to friends and relatives in the UK who rose to the challenge of finding presents that don't cost a bomb to post but still have child-appeal!

We had birthday cake at tea time, of course, which Tilly seems to have particularly enjoyed...

after which Batman and his caped assistant went for a spin in their car.

Fortunately, they were back by Saturday, which was party day. 

And more cake, naturally, to finish things off.

As it's now two weeks since Reuben went spotty, Tilly has today dutifully produced her own small crop.  This was much to her delight, because if Reuben had it, it must be good, and as soon as we told her she started dancing around ('I've got chicken spots, I've got chicken spots') and is very much looking forward to playing in the park by the hospital with Dave tomorrow morning and eating ice cream no doubt, this time while I unveil the mysteries of the perfect tense to my students.