If you thought Poison Ivy was bad....

It's got nothing on this plant: Giant Hogweed

We noticed a some redness on Matthias' leg on Wednesday - we assumed one of the kids at daycare had scratched him, or he'd scratched himself on something. He's not exactly the most graceful 3 year old out there.

Yesterday I noticed a blister on his right foot - it almost looked like poison ivy, but there isn't any in Denmark.

Today when we got him home from daycare and went to change his diaper, we saw this on his leg:

Lovely, isn't it?

Those blisters are actually burns from the chemical reaction of the sap from the plant and his skin.

Hopefully - HOPEFULLY those few blisters will be the extent of what he has to suffer through.

We gave him a bath both Wednesday and Thursday, so there IS a chance we removed the rest of the sap.

The bad part? Those blisters are going to turn black as the skin dies from exposure to the sap. He'll most likely have scars there that are miscolored - and they can last for years.

Apparently, at some point Wednesday when the kids at daycare went out for their walk, Matthias managed to come into contact with the Hogweed plant (which is called Bjørneklø in Danish, or literally translated Bear Claws) - and you better believe that I'll be talking to the daycare on Monday about it. I'm three shades of pissed off and none of them are feeling particularly polite.

Matthias will have to wear long pants now for the rest of the summer, or something that will cover his left calf, since it will remain light sensitive for months (even years) and overexposure can result in more blisters and burns - and therefore scarring.