Technically, it is no longer winter. CF is not an illness that abides by such technicalities, however. So, of course, one more cold is winding its way through our house right now. Lemon succumbed first, then Papa Bear. Lime appears to have a mild "fluffy nose," but is in good spirits otherwise. Poor Lemon is coughing his little heart out. We've gone up on our daily vest treatments and down on our overnight feeds, and so far we may be hanging on.
Lemon was totally exhausted this evening, and of course prefers to sleep with his head buried in a pillow, just the thing when you have a cold. There's no way to convince him to go to sleep propped up, so he was very sad and coughing/crying alternately, but once I held him propped up in my lap and got him to sleep, I stealthy rearranged his pillows and got him into the propped-up sleeping position without waking him. All is peaceful now, although I'm sure I'll have to go in and re-prop later on. Related--technologies for keeping sleeping 4-year-olds propped up? Anyone?
Other than this new cold, we've had a good week, capped by a really fun visit with Uncle Jared. Both kids are finally old enough not to be intimidated by the height and the beard, so they had a great time playing and demonstrating all the new skills they've acquired since they last saw him.
We got our first official piece of mail this week from the local elementary school where Lemon will be starting kindergarten in the fall. And, even with just that one piece of mail, so many questions. It was an invitation to an orientation at the school, where we are to drop the kids off, let them play and have a snack, and then pick them up. But. Who will do his enzymes at snack time? Are there other kids with CF in our school district? Among his future classmates? Surprise, he has a G-tube, hopefully it won't choose to fall out while he's there...The invitation included a little survey to fill out about your kid, with a question at the bottom followed by a single blank line: "Is there anything else we should know about your child before we meet them?" I used the single blank line to write two ominous little words: "See reverse." I imagine I'll be getting a phone call at some point.
