Fifty-Three Months

Dear Peeper:
You were fifty-three months old a few days ago; one month shy of four-and-a-half, but I'm already starting to refer to you that way.

We've made a lot of progress on your cough over the past month. Right after we got home from Texas, you were tested for allergies, and turned out to have none! I was really surprised at that, given that Mommy and I  are both allergic to outside stuff (she takes Sudafed daily), so I figured that when we all "get sick" at once, we were just reacting to the same stuff in the air. Guess not. I guess we're actually sick.

I am, by the way, taking total credit for my goody milk protecting you from Mommy's allergy genes.

So, after ruling out allergies, that doctor said that he still thinks it's cough-variant asthma, and that you need a maintenance inhaler, not a rescue inhaler just when you're coughing. So, we started on Flovent, two puffs each morning and evening.

And your cough pretty much disappeared within a few days!

And then  you got really, really cranky. You've told me almost every day, "I'm cranky!" and boy, are you.

You argue with us, and collapse into tears at the smallest disappointment and just are not being your usual easy-going kid, at all.

We were thinking "What the hell is going on? Is this some four-and-a-half thing that nobody warned us about?" and then Mommy said, "I wonder if the inhaler could be making her act this way.

So, I google it and asked some pharmacist friends, and it seems that this sort of thing is a not-uncommon side effect of Flovent, as it's a steriod.

By that point, I'd already gotten really bad about getting the morning dose in you, so I just declared that we weren't doing it anymore, and last night I just gave you one puff, and nothing tonight. We go back to the asthma doctor on Tuesday, and we'll see how your behavior - and your cough - is between now and then.

In other news this month, we found out that you've been accepted to the Montessori Academy for next year, but we've not told you yet (we haven't actually told you that we were applying, either) because we're waiting to find out whether we are getting financial aid to pay for it. Fingers crossed!

And, this month's greatest hits:

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You told me your panda "Has bad breath . . . like Teddy."
I figured out you meant he has asthma, like young Teddy Roosevelt.

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In a public restroom, you coughed while you were on the potty.
You said, "Oh! When I cough it makes my pee-pee come out faster!"
I said, "Yeah, Mama has that problem, too."
From a couple of stalls over, a woman's voice says, "Most mamas have that problem."

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You found one of your president flash cards that had been missed when we put them away. You told me that we needed to put it with the others, then she leaned over real close to it and said, "John Quincy Adams, we'll find your father. I know we will!"

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And if Facebook weren't hiding most of the past month from me, I'd have a lot more to share. Grrrr.

Happy almost-Easter, little bunny!

I love you!


Love,
Mama