Ben in BW, originally uploaded by Yano.

croup (kroop): A pathological condition of the larynx, especially in infants and children, that is characterized by respiratory difficulty and a hoarse, brassy cough.

Ben was supposed to leave on vacation this morning with Dave and his parents - I, of course, would get left behind because of work, of course. Whether it was the dramatic change in weather or maybe my “please don’t take my baby away” vibes, he started coughing yesterday.

It got a little more dramatic once he went to sleep. He started coughing and the sound was a little scary. The only way I could describe it was it sounded like an angry duck. Donald Duck after getting cut off on the highway kinda angry. Ben would wake up and start whimpering, only to fall into another spell of angry-duck-coughing.

Ironically, we got a call from the doctor’s office confirming an appointment for today, which I had no recollection of making. Considering Dave was on vacation and today is Ben’s 21 month birthday, I could very well have scheduled something. So Dave decided to call off their trip and stay at home for his vacation, and we went to the doctor’s office.

Turns out, there was a glitch in their phone/scheduling system, so a TON of people got a call that there was an appointment for today. We were the only fools who actually came into the doctor’s office. Ben’s at the age now where he KNOWS that he’s the in the place of pain and prickly needles, so he freaked once he saw the doctor. No shots were done, but he was still pretty hysterical when she checked his lungs, mouth and ears.

She told us it was probably a mild form of croup, and the best thing we could do is let it run it’s course. Ben didn’t lose his appetite and he wasn’t moody, so there was nothing to worry about.

So my poor little boy has the croup, or as I like to call it, “Angry Duck Syndrome”.

Posted up this picture of him, because I like it a lot. One of my favorites from our little photoshoot at Santa Monica beach. I’ll post up the original sometime and tell you more about it some other time.

Tags: Photography, Motherhood, Ben //