Croup Croup ba-Doop

The Croup! Or is it just Croup? For those non-parents it's the kiddie form of laryngitis but with a fever and congestion. And since the larynx is swelled up, you can't execute a productive cough to get the phlegm (such a strange and wonderful spelling) out. The end result is usually difficulty breathing, a barking cough, and if you're really unfortunate your lips will turn blue from the lack of oxygen. Sometimes, the phlegm can come out of your nose after a good sneeze and you end up looking like a Garbage Pail Kid:
Doctors don't take chances with this kind of thing. So they asked us to take Alina to the emergency room because of her Stridor (labored) breathing to suck on some cool, medicated steam - A Nebulizer (more cool words)! Then they sent her home and said to come back if the breathing issues came back. Well, it did. And they kept her overnight this time and gave her some kind of steroid to open her throat more. I don't know what the side effects of that is, but by the time I got to Schneider's Children's Hospital, Alina was standing on her head, looking back between her legs saying "Hi! Hi! Hi! Hi!" talking to the Pooh characters stitched into her bedding. They kept her in this elevated crib made of metal so she looked like a carnival sideshow attraction - The Incredible Barking Baby. Alina's roommate had surgery on her shins and had a mother who watched TV all night long and continually asked for fruit punch. Anyway, doctors were saying Croup is the worst on day one and two and that it would be easier after that. So she's almost back to normal now.

Somewhere through all of this she learned how to say "Cracker". Her 2nd official word. The first was "Hot" because, you know, it comes up a lot. Is that food/bottle/bathtub hot? Don't touch that, it's hot! So for the last month or so, she has informed us when things are indeed Hot. But the interesting one came this weekend when she put her hand to her feverish head and said, "I .... hot." Oooooh, first person narrative. And also terribly cute and heartbreaking at the same time. So yeah, now Cracker. She was pointing to the cabinet where we keep them and kept repeating it over and over. Katrina wasn't facing her and was thinking she heard cracker but didn't know she was actually requesting one until she turned around and saw where Alina was pointing. "OH MY GOD, I'm sorry Alina, did you want a cracker??" Katrina then felt guilty because she didn't respond quickly enough. MOM, I'm saying a word over here. Can a baby getta snack?!