2/17/2024

The Callum Chronicle #109

Filed under: — Aprille @ 9:35 pm

My dear Callum,

As usual, this month has been full of moments of laughter. You say the funniest things, and you’re so smart and perceptive. One of the very best times of the day for me each night is our bedtime routine, when we read from a book, say our goodnights, do a couple of puzzles on my phone, and fall asleep. I don’t always fall asleep next to you, but I often do, and it’s always a snuggly and cozy time.

You are absolutely capable of reading on your own; in fact, you’ve gotten hooked on a book series and are anxiously awaiting the latest installment. You still let me read to you, though, and I really enjoy it. Right now, we’re reading The Candy Smash by Jacqueline Davies. It’s part a series, and the one of the main characters has a consistent problem (maybe due to neurodivergence?) understanding other people’s emotions and motivations. That’s not an area where you struggle; you often palm your face in frustration with Jessie’s insensitivity and bluntness. It’s given us good opportunities to discuss how she could make better choices in human interactions.

Like the rest of us, you’re getting excited for our upcoming Spring Break trip to the Florida Keys. You and Tobin have started marking off the days on the calendar Skitter gave you. Right now the aspect you’re most looking forward to is mozzarella sticks. We don’t do a lot of in-restaurant dining these days, out of an abundance of caution for your health, and mozzarella sticks don’t seem like they’d do well as take-out. But there are many restaurants down in the Keys that are open air, including one that has both mozzarella sticks and mini-golf. It will be fun to order freshly-fried delights and do a little putt-putting in a tropical environment. We’ve been to this Key enough times that we have old favorite places to go as well as new things we want to try.

You’ve been taking swimming lessons, and you’re making big improvements. On our last trip, you only wanted to swim using a pool noodle. I hope this time you’re more confident and able to have a little more freedom. You told me that it’s your goal to do a cannonball into the pool at the same time as your siblings, and I really hope the three of you can make that happen. I’m getting pumped about the fun that awaits us.

We have an appointment with your GI specialist in a couple of weeks, but it seems like your health is going well. I’m doing my best to keep pushing food into you, since weight gain has been a challenge for you. It’s also been a challenge for your older sibling Artemis, who doesn’t have any GI disease, so I’m not sure I’m going to be very successful in that area. You may just be a skinny person by nature. Still, I rarely say no to snacks, and I try to offer you a lot of tasty and nutritious food. You’re a pretty good eater, though I wish you’d eat more vegetables.

Unfortunately, due to scheduling constraints we can’t avoid, we have to do a Humira shot while we’re on vacation. A friend of our who has diabetes has given us some good tips about traveling with syringes, and we’re going to be getting a special insulated container to hopefully keep it cool throughout our travels. My worst worry is that we’ll accidentally leave it in the hotel refrigerator in our scramble to get out for our 7:10 a.m. flight, but surely I can do something to make it obvious that we need to empty the mini-fridge.

School seems to be going well. We’ll have conferences in a couple of weeks, but I haven’t heard anything that makes me concerned. You seem to have friends, you’re doing well in all the academic areas, and you really like your ELP class. Your wonderful ELP teacher is retiring after this school year, so I hope the next one is just as good. You went to a Valentine’s Day party at your friend Norah’s house last weekend, and you were really excited about that. You have a birthday party for your friend Connor coming up too.

You’re also excited about this summer’s adventures, including your first time going to Filmscene Animation. That’s something Artemis has done many times and Tobin did once, so you’re ready to take up the challenge. We go to movies at Filmscene pretty often, and it will feel like a pretty big deal to take you to camp there, just like the big kids. Whether I want to admit it or not, you’re becoming a big kid. You’re creative and capable, and I can’t wait to see what you do.

Your current favorites: your cozy sweatshirt-blanket garment, playing Gorilla Tag on the Oculus with your friend Griffin, playing with your friends at school, basketball, the big cat pillow Suzy and Joe gave you, ice cream, chicken wings, and being snuggly.

You’re a sweet, kind, smart little guy. I’m so lucky to be your mom.

Love,

Mom

 

1/14/2024

The Callum Chronicle #108

Filed under: — Aprille @ 9:30 pm

Happy 9th birthday, my sweetheart!

You are such a kind, loving kid. Every day, you tell me something sweet and appreciative, like, “Thank you for making dinner for us every night” or congratulating me on my efforts on a video game, even when I fail. When I tuck you in at night, you tell me you’ll miss me. You’re doing great in school, and you even got to celebrate on your true birthday with your class. The school district has stricter rules about snacks than they used to, so no cookies or cupcakes, but you were excited to share popcorn and juice pouches with your classmates.

As a matter of fact, you only had school two days that week. We had a huge snowstorm followed by a big snowstorm, and now we’re deep into sub-zero temperatures. It’s been almost like an extra-long winter break, punctuated by two school days. Monday and Thursday are your favorite school days anyway, because they’re the days you have ELP, so you got lucky by having those as your only school days of the week.

Your interest in recreational reading has really jumped lately. You’ve been wanting to read long, complicated books on your own. Sometimes you even choose to read to yourself at bedtime rather than have me read to you. You got a book for Christmas, The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate, and you got through it so quickly that you were ready for the sequel several days before your birthday. There’s no way you’re going to be able to wait until the next holiday for the third book in the series, so I guess we’ll be getting it as a “just because” kind of gift. I can’t say no to a kid who really wants to read a good, challenging book.

When I do read aloud to you at bedtime, you often make astute observations. We may have finally exhausted the Humphrey series (thank goodness–they’re nice books, but I think we’ve been through the entire series twice now, and I’m ready to move on). Lately we’ve been reading The Lemonade War by Jacqueline Davies, and you quickly picked up on the way the author alternates between the perspectives of the two main characters. There’s also a lot of math in the book, and you’ve been anticipating the answers to the problems posed before the text addresses them.

You’re getting more independent, though. You love to pour your own beverages, even when the pitcher is really full. We haven’t had any serious disasters yet, so I guess you’re getting the hang of it. Your dad doesn’t like it, but you’ve proven more than once that an entire can of soda will fit into your favorite wine glass.

Health-wise, you seem to be doing well. The recent inclement weather has caused a delay in getting some of your supplements, but all your levels were good at your last appointment, so you’re probably not going get too thrown off track by missing a couple of days of Flintstones multivitamins. We’re fine on your supply of Humira, and you’ve been doing a wonderful job handling getting your shots. We have a whole routine worked out: you ice your leg in the spot where your dad is going to give you the shot, then you pinch yourself on the other leg as a distraction. There’s a TikTok video of funny dogs that you like, so as soon as your dad puts the needle in, I push play and you watch the dogs. The last couple of times, Tobin has asked to watch. I think he’s impressed by your bravery. It’s easy for us to think of you as the baby and treat you as such, so it’s good for you to be in a position to show off how mature you are.

We had a fun holiday season, a nice mix of busy and relaxed. We saw lots of different family members (though Uncle Mark’s cats didn’t show up enough for your liking), played games, ate a lot of treats, and watched a few movies. We went to the movie theater to see Wonka, and you really liked the recliner-style seats at the movie theater in Ames. You’re a good traveler, and I never feel like I have to worry about how you’ll handle road trips. You’re getting very excited for our spring break trip to the Keys. You and Tobin have agreed that you like the whole process, from staying in an airport hotel the night before to walking around the airport to flying to picking up the rental car to driving down to the Keys. It’s a process, and sometimes it’s a frustrating one, so I’m glad you’re going into it with a good attitude.

Your current favorites: steak frites, chicken wings, lemon poppyseed muffins, ribs, reading, YouTube, not wearing a shirt, dancing, cuddling at bedtime, and playing with your school friends. You’ve had a couple of playdates with a classmate who lives right down the street from us, so I hope you can continue to connect with him. You’re fun and have a lot to offer.

I love you so much, my big kid. It’s hard to believe that I’ve only known you nine years, and yet I can’t believe you’re most of a decade old. You’re one of the great joys of my heart, and I’m so, so grateful to have you.

Love,

Mom

12/17/2023

The Callum Chronicle #107

Filed under: — Aprille @ 6:37 pm

Dear Callum,

I’m thrilled to say that you’ve been a healthy, energetic little guy lately. Your dad and I have both noticed that you’ve been full of pep, dancing all around the house and skipping and running home from school. You often ask to go out and ride your bike or Tobin’s skateboard, and you’re doing well on both. I don’t think you’ve attempted any ollies yet, but maybe Tobin can coach you on those this summer.

We had a GI specialist appointment for you last week, and your doctor was mildly concerned about some elevated calprotectin numbers you had on a recent test. That’s a measure of intestinal inflammation. Normal for a typical person is a level under 50. Before you started treatment for Crohn’s, your level was 1600. It had gone done to 108, which your doctor said was acceptable for a Crohn’s patient. We had labs done before your last appointment, and the good news was that your nutrition levels are looking great. You had previously been deficient in vitamin D and iron, and those levels are back in the normal range after adding supplements. Your doctor also pointed out some other nutritional and inflammatory markers, and she said those were all good too. The bad news was that your calprotectin was at 450. She wasn’t sure what was causing that, though it’s possible you had some blood draining into your digestive system either from your mouth or your nose. You’ve had a cold lately, which could have led to a nosebleed down your throat, and you’ve also had some gum tenderness. She had us repeat the calprotectin test, and it came back at only 38. That’s excellent, a good level even for a person without IBD. That means that your elevated levels must have been caused by something else that is now resolved. It also means that your treatment protocol is working. We don’t have to add any new drugs or send you for another colonoscopy. You probably will be getting an MRI at some point in the next couple of months, but that’s expected for all Crohn’s patients, and your doctor said there’s no big rush.

Even though worrying is a hobby of mine, I found it hard to be too het up even before we got your follow-up test results. You just seem to be doing so well, it was hard to imagine you were having internal problems. Your energy has been great, you haven’t had any GI pain or diarrhea, and your appetite has been good. Also, as I mentioned to your doctor, even your fingernails seem to be growing faster lately. She said that’s an indicator of good general health and nutrition. You’re still not gaining weight like she wants you to, so we’re giving you as many snacks as you want along with your regular meals. You are a fan of treats as well as a good helper in making them.

We got our Christmas tree not long after Thanksgiving. We had a slightly unsatisfying experience, as we didn’t get as good a look at the tree as we would have liked before we committed to it. Once we got it home, it looked kind of scrawny and deformed. You love to name our Christmas trees, and you accepted my suggestion of the name Olive Oyl. I’m sure you have no idea about the cultural context for that name, but trust me, she emulates the boniness and lumpiness of our tree. Fortunately I was able to buy some artificial greenery to fill in the meager areas, and now it looks pretty good. We had a good time festooning it with all our old favorite decorations, including the ornaments you and your siblings made at the Corning Museum of Glass over the summer. You’ve been relishing opening a little door on your Advent calendar each day, and you’re getting into the holiday spirit well.

It’s been unseasonably warm (climate change is real), so we haven’t had much of the fresh early winter snow we usually see. That has meant more outdoor time for you, which is good not only for your biking and skateboarding interests, but also for inspecting bugs. You and a couple of your school friends like to gather bugs at recess, and I’m pretty sure you follow your teacher’s rule of not bringing them inside. If we happen upon a box elder bug on the way home from school, you always want to sit outside and let it crawl on you for a while.  You’re kind and gentle to living things, from insects to cats. We don’t have many stray cats around our neighborhood, thank goodness, so I guess you’ll have to be the local bug guy.

Your reading skills have really taken off lately. You’ve read some thick chapter books, including one by an author you got to meet in person through the school district’s Visiting Author program. You do love using technological devices, but it only takes a little prodding for you to put the iPad down and pick up your book. You’ve even chosen to have ten extra silent reading minutes at bedtime instead of having me read to you a few times lately. You still like your bedtime cuddles, so I just lie there next to you while you read. Then we continue the ritual with a multi-stage series of goodnights to you and your stuffed animals (I make you choose two, since I would really like you to get to bed before midnight), a couple of games of Wordscapes and Best Fiends on my phone, and going to sleep. You always ask me to tell you before I leave to go to my own bed. I’m glad to do it, thought often enough I fall asleep for a while in your bed that you’re also asleep by the time I leave. You don’t need me to stay with you until you fall asleep anymore, but it’s awfully cozy in there with you, and sometimes it just happens.

Your current favorites: playing board games, including Sorry and Trouble that you got as a gift at the doctor’s office the other day; cookies and cream ice cream; our “lemons into lemonade” trips to Trader Joe’s after you have to get blood work done at the nearby medical lab; playing online games with your school friends; your ELP class at school, particularly the fourth graders in the class; reading; dancing; and lifting weights. You flex your tiny biceps at me and ask if they’ve improved. I always tell you yes. Maybe I shouldn’t blow smoke up your butt, but you’re so darn cute.

I love you, my dear Callum. Have a wonderful last month of being eight.

Love,

Mom

11/16/2023

The Callum Chronicle #106

Filed under: — Aprille @ 8:54 pm

Dear Callum,

As we move into the darker days of fall, you are a bright spot. You are sweet and affectionate, and you always have something funny and interesting to say.

We had conferences with both your regular classroom teacher, your student teacher, and your ELP teacher over the last week. You’re doing great, going above and beyond academically and doing well socially also. You have some good friends, especially Griffin and Josie, and you have even gotten to know some fourth graders through soccer and ELP. Your ELP teacher said you have a true love of learning, and she enjoys watching how excited you get when you learn something interesting. That doesn’t surprise me; you’ve been enjoying a lot of nonfiction lately at bedtime. Lately we’ve been reading a book about animals, including some very exotic ones. Last night I kind of blew it by telling you how to pronounce axolotl before asking if you already knew how. Spoiler: you knew, and you were mad at me for stealing your thunder. I don’t know where you learned about axolotls, but they’re very interesting animals, and it was fun to read about them with you.

You dived right into the Halloween festivities. I was planning on having you draw a design on your pumpkin and I would carve it, but you insisted on wielding the knife yourself. Sometimes it’s hard to remember that you’re not a baby, that you’re a smart and capable kid who is able to do a lot of things. I was talking to your dad about this: with each of the older kids, there was always an actual baby around during their little-kid time. It behooved us to encourage their independence, because babies take so much time and energy that having the bigger kids take care of themselves more helped the general family dynamic. With you, there’s no baby who needs our energy, so we don’t have an impetus to push you toward more independence. You are serving as that impetus. You’re pushing boundaries more and working on your skills, and your dad and I have to remind ourselves that it’s good for you to grow. Sometimes that means making mistakes and messes, but there’s not much we can’t clean up. Luckily, the knife stayed mostly in the jack-o-lantern, and we didn’t have to clean up any blood.

For trick-or-treating, you went with a big group that was mostly Tobin’s friends. Your good friend Griffin is the little brother of one of Tobin’s friends, so it worked out well for you to start off with the whole gang. The bigger kids broke off and took their own trick-or-treating path, and you and Griffin (accompanied by a couple of parents) hit the neighborhood. It was a chilly night, pretty much the coldest night we’ve had so far in this warm fall. You had to put extra layers under your costume, and I think your hands still got cold, but overall it was a success. You chose to be Link from the Legend of Zelda video game series, and I had a fun time putting your costume together. You were happy with how it turned out, and you got a whole lot of candy. I don’t think you’ve even finished it yet, weeks later.

Health-wise, things seem to be going pretty well. One thing I’ve noticed is that your energy has been very high. This year, you run and jump and dance all the way home from school almost every day. This is new; last year I don’t remember you doing anything besides a mid-paced walk. You may be having a little bit of trouble from the iron supplement you added a couple of months ago. I plan to talk to your doctor about that at your appointment next month. I don’t know what the clinical definition of remission is for Crohn’s disease; no one has said that word to us yet, and I don’t know exactly how they’ll determine it. Your last set of labs were good, except for being a bit low on iron, which is why you started taking the iron supplements. It’s very good that you’re able to swallow pills if they’re smallish, which your iron pills are. The doctor was originally planning to prescribe you a liquid, which rumor has it is nasty. I’ve researched it a fair amount, and it’s hard to even find chewable vitamins with iron that aren’t gross. Luckily, you can slurp that iron pill right down with orange juice and be on your way.

You have to get a lot of shots. Along with your every-other-week Humira, you’ve had to repeat the series of Hepatitis B vaccines because your body didn’t produce antibodies the first time around. Apparently that can happen to some subset of the population anyway, which may be why you didn’t respond to the series you got as a baby. I really hope the series you just completed with get you immunity. You’ve been pretty healthy so far this fall. We’ve had a few colds and other bugs run through the family, but you haven’t seemed to suffer too terribly. I’ve been vigilant about keeping you away from sick family members (Tobin had to sleep in the guest room for a while) and cleaning common surfaces frequently. I hope we can continue to protect your health as we treat your Crohn’s.

Your current favorites: playing in the creek with the neighbor girls, reading, playing video games, meat of most kinds, mini muffins, wearing as little clothing as possible, Manchego cheese, eschewing any babyish words (“Don’t call them jammies”), ELP, watching YouTube, and our bedtime reading routine.

I love you so much, my sweet Callum. I know you’re not a baby anymore, but I’m so glad you’re mine no matter what.

Love,

Mom

10/17/2023

The Callum Chronicle #105

Filed under: — Aprille @ 12:56 pm

Dear Callum,

The word that comes to mind when I think about you lately is energy. I don’t know if it’s because we’re getting your Crohn’s disease well-controlled, or if it’s a developmental stage, but you have been in high gear. You’d rather run home than walk, you love to play with your friends (and your siblings and your siblings’ friends), and you have been riding your bike a lot. I’m so happy to see you so full of life and excitement.

You still don’t love the fact that you have to get so many shots. There’s your every-other-week shot of Humira for Crohn’s, plus you’ve had to have an extra series of hepatitis-B vaccines because your first round didn’t generate antibodies. Now we’re all in the timeframe of Covid boosters and flu shots, and you had to get a couple of blood draws to check for Crohn’s related blood counts too. You sometimes feel a little sorry for yourself, wondering why the one-in-one-hundred had to land on you. I don’t want to dismiss your feelings, because I’m sure it’s pretty crummy to have to get so many shots and know that you’re immunosuppressed. I do try to remind you, though, that there are so many one-in-one-hundred things out there, almost everybody’s going to end up with one of them. Artemis has scoliosis, Tobin is colorblind, and we know other people with more serious conditions as well. For the time being, I’m grateful that we have the treatment options and vaccines that we do.

Photo by Gary Clarke

You’re curious, smart, and interested in the world. I think school is going well for you. We’ll learn more when we have our conference with your teacher, but from everything I’ve heard, you’re learning and enjoying yourself. You’ve taken an interest in insects, partly due to your friend Griffin being very excited about them. You and Griffin and another friend formed Bug Club, which mostly involved crawling around in the mini-prairie by your school playground looking for specimens. I think Bug Club got thwarted, because your teacher and principal didn’t want you bring unwanted guests into the classroom. I can’t blame them for that, but Griffin did find a really cool praying mantis a while ago. You also checked out a very informative library book about the life cycle and migration journey of the monarch butterfly. We read that over several bedtimes. Predictably, you got tearful when the butterfly’s life ended, and you kiboshed my suggestion of trying to raise a monarch caterpillar into a butterfly and then releasing it, because it would be too sad to let it go. In any case, I think you enjoyed the book. We see monarchs pretty often around here, and it’s interesting to think about where they started before passing through here (the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada) and where they’re headed (central Mexico, mostly).

I recently took advantage of the generosity of a Family Folk Machiner who donated delicata squash to our sharing table and made a filling for squash ravioli. You got excited about the prospect of making homemade ravioli, and you got involved in the whole process. I was nervous that you might pinch your fingers in the pasta-rolling machine, but you didn’t. You weren’t too interested in the squash filling, but you made a second variety with tomato sauce and parmesan cheese. You and Tobin both enjoyed eating that. Your favorite food group is still meat, though. You love tearing into a ribeye steak or demolishing a pile of chicken wings. I made wings for dinner last night, and I’m glad I bought a large quantity. Most of the family likes wings, but when you’re at the table, they disappear particularly quickly.

On a recent no-school day, you suggested that we take a trip to the mall to do some ice skating. We often go skating when we’re visiting Ames, but we hadn’t been to the Coralville ice rink in a long time. You caught on faster than I expected, with only a few spills, and you recovered quickly from those. You preferred to stay by the wall most of the time, but you ventured out mid-rink a handful of times and did very well. Tobin was eager to coach you, and Artemis came too. We all had a fun time zipping around together. You hadn’t been to the mall for a long time, because it is one of my least favorite places in the world. Even before the pandemic, I avoided it whenever possible. You and Tobin both love it, though, and you took a spin on the carousel too. It’s funny that you have so many fond memories and associations with something like a mall, but I’m glad we were able to get out and enjoy it on a weekday afternoon when it wasn’t too crowded. In fact, the low crowds made the ice skating especially nice, because a trip to a highly-populated rink brings the challenge of dodging other skaters.

Your iron count was still a little low at your last blood test, so we’re adding some supplemental iron to your diet. Between that and the ferocity with which you consume meat, we’ll have your levels up in no time I’m sure. Sadly, it will take another blood draw to find out for sure. I call you my little pincushion, and I hate that it’s the case, but I also admire how well you handle it most of the time. Like recovering from a fall when you’re ice skating, you’re learning to take a deep breath and push ahead to the next challenge.

Your current favorites: muffins, playing outside, playdates with friends, steak, chicken wings, video games, the shows Word Girl and Odd Squad, cuddling up to read and talk at bedtime, and playing the various instruments we have around the house. You’re going to do a recorder solo in an upcoming Family Folk Machine open mic night, and I’m so proud of you for being brave enough to do that.

I love watching you dive into life and explore the world, my sweet Callum. Enjoy the remaining nice days of fall.

Love,

Mom

9/16/2023

The Callum Chronicle #104

Filed under: — Aprille @ 6:41 pm

Dear Callum,

Third grade life is treating you well so far. Your teacher called to check in with us a week or two ago, and she said you’re doing great in all the important ways. When I picked you up from school the other day, three or four different friends called out to you to say goodbye. You’re learning, having fun, enjoying ELP, and playing soccer. Your Crohn’s dDisease seems to be pretty well-managed. You’re not crazy about all the shots and blood draws you have to get related to your Crohn’s care, but you’re getting more and more brave about facing them. Overall, I feel like you’re doing everything I hoped you would do at this life stage.

This season is always busy-busy-busy, with both you and Tobin playing soccer, Art in the marching band, your swimming lessons, and the various things your dad and I do to work and volunteer. Sometimes it feels like the day goes so fast, before I know it it’s time to tuck you into bed. That’s one of my favorite times of day: we read a chapter of a book, talk about what’s on our minds, say our goodnight rituals, and go to sleep. You don’t need to me to stay with you until you fall asleep anymore, and often I don’t, but sometimes it’s just so cozy in your bed with you that I snooze a while before moving to my bed. It’s not helping me get any reading done, but I doubt I’m going to look back on my life and regret spending some extra snuggly time with you.

The only issue is that you’re very empathetic. Now and then, when a challenging situation comes up in one of your books, you feel so sad for the character facing the difficulty that you cry and have a hard time falling asleep. The most recent occurrence was in a Humphrey book. The class had a long-term substitute teacher, and he was more interesting in having fun than teaching much. First you felt bad that he was a bad teacher, and then when we learned his back story (he erred on the side of being fun, because a previous class didn’t like him and threw wadded-up balls of paper at him), you felt even worse. I never expected to spend so much time consoling you over the feelings of a fictional substitute teacher. You really care about other people, even pretend ones.

We had a fun outing to a Cedar Rapids Kernels game. The Kernels didn’t do so well, but we got a lot of stadium food and enjoyed a fireworks show afterward. You’ve also been an active member of Family Folk Machine this year, the only one of your siblings I can still get to come with me. You’ll be having some ukulele lessons at upcoming rehearsals, which you’ve enjoyed in the past. You particularly enjoy Family Folk Machine songs that include lyrics you can act out. We recently did a performance in support of IC Compassion, a group that supports immigrants, refugees, and other people in need in our community. You took every opportunity to make dramatic gestures to accompany the lyrics. I suspect you prioritize the movements over singing. You may end up as a show choir kid, as long as it’s okay to be more show than choir.

You’ve been taking swimming lessons and improving a lot. Your teacher says that you’re making good progress, and she expects you to really take off after you master the front and back floats. You’re getting good at those, so I’m looking forward to seeing what comes next for you. After your last lesson, you told me that you don’t want to tell Tobin about what you’ve been learning. You want to surprise him when we go to the Florida Keys in March by swimming like a pro in the pool. I think he’ll get a kick out of that, and I know you’ll be proud to show off your abilities. Swimming is such an important life skill, both for safety and pleasure, so I’m glad you’re making good progress.

We’re counting down the months until our Keys trip. The way natural disasters have been happening, I hope our Marathon rental condo is still there in March. The most recent hurricane seems to have avoided the Keys, but the season isn’t over yet. I know we all look forward to returning to our favorite places, and that sparkling blue swimming pool overlooking the ocean is calling your name.

Your current favorites: biking on the path behind our house, watching Star Wars with your dad at night, the Humphrey book series, mini chocolate chip muffins, Super Mario Brothers Odyssey and Bloons video games, the show Word Girl, and maintaining your Duolingo streak (it’s over 200, thanks in part to Tobin occasionally stepping in for you when you forget to do it).

You’re a sweet pup, a caring heart, a good friend, and the sibling least likely to fight with another sibling. I love your tender approach to the world and am so grateful to be part of it.

Love,

Mom

8/15/2023

The Callum Chronicle #103

Filed under: — Aprille @ 2:11 pm

Dear Callum,

You’ve had a wild and adventurous summer. Last night, I was reading School Days According to Humphrey to you, and the students in the class were assigned to bring a summer box. That was a box full of things that represented what they did over the summer, and after we were done reading, I asked you what you would include in a summer box. You said a postcard from Niagara Falls, the ornament you made at the Corning Museum of Glass, the slime you made at camp in the park, and a playing card to represent all the poker you played at Mubby and Skitter Week.

This was your first time attending Mubby and Skitter Week. You planned to last year, but it ended up not working out because our air conditioning broke and your dad and I stayed there too. You were pretty annoyed about that, because you didn’t feel you could fully take advantage of grandparent (mostly grandmother) leniency with your dad and me present. This year, you were on board for the complete experience, and you definitely got it. Much of it occurred after your month birthday, so I’ll write more about that next month, but I know you had a great time. You are already excited to go again next summer. Rumor has it you improved your poker skills quite a bit, though you sometimes had to hide under the table when you knew you couldn’t maintain a poker face.

I’m a little nervous about sending you to school in the fall. It’s rapidly approaching, and you had only just begun your Humira treatment at the end of the last school year. It’s been helpful for easing your Crohn’s symptoms, but it’s also immunosuppressive on a systemic level. That means you’re more vulnerable to viral, bacterial, and fungal infections. Your older siblings have finally worn me down about not wearing masks at school, but on your doctor’s advice, you’re still going to. For the time being, you have a reasonable attitude about it. That may not last forever, but I’m glad that you don’t seem to hate it too much just now. It does mean we’re going to have to be more vigilant about protecting you from germs your siblings bring home.

Tobin’s always been the kid in the family most likely to catch a cold, which I attribute to his utter inability to keep his hands to himself. Since you share a room with him, that may mean that you get moved out of the bedroom temporarily if Tobin is sick. If he got something more serious, like Covid or influenza, he might get banished to the guest room so you could keep your room. He uses that room as an office anyway, so he’d probably be able to handle it, though he really does like being up on the same floor as everyone. Even though you two squabble, he really loves you and likes being your bunk bed buddy.

We already have our Florida Keys trip booked for the spring, and we’re staying at the same rental condo that we used last time. I’m sure you and Tobin will share a room again, since Artemis prefers the privacy of the small single room. You and Tobin had fun in the pirate ship room last time anyway, and you’re good roommates. As long as everyone stays healthy, we should be under control.

I’ve learned that immunosuppressed people such as you, including kids, are currently eligible to get an additional Covid booster two months or more after their previous shot. It seems like it might be useful for you to do that a couple of weeks before our trip. It’s hard to say whether that will still be an option seven months from now, with how fast everything changes on that front, but I hope so. What I would really like is for our whole family to get a bonus booster, but I’m not sure if that will fly. Maybe we can beg your doctors for a special prescription.

An important benefit of Humira is healing your intestines to the extent that they do a better job absorbing nutrition. Your height and weight had stalled out for a while, but you’ve made small but consistent gains at your last several appointments. That makes me happy to know. It’s a pretty dismal feeling as a parent to learn that the food I’ve been giving you hasn’t been doing its job to help you grow. You were also happy to learn that your GI doctor recommends red meat to help boost your hemoglobin. As a lover of ribeye steak, you gave a big thumbs-up to that advice. We’re (I’m) making casual plans for a big trip I hope to take in about three years, a European extravaganza. Your dad and I were talking about places in Italy we should go, and the first place I thought of was Florence, because of the enormous T-bone steaks for which they’re famous. I’m sure you’d love the pizza and pasta, too, but nothing makes you wash up for dinner faster than steak on the table.

Your current favorites: pancakes and waffles, not wearing a shirt, chicken wings, steak, the PBS show Word Girl (your dad is also excited about that, as it’s his favorite of the PBS lineup), dancing, doing elaborate fight choreography, building blanket forts in the bunk bed with Tobin, and being tender and cuddly. Even though I never get a good night’s sleep when I share a bed with you, I admit I don’t hate the idea of doing it more often. You’re a pretty sweet little pup.

Love,

Mom

 

7/15/2023

The Callum Chronicle #102

Filed under: — Aprille @ 1:21 pm

Dear Callum,

I am pleased to report that this month has been pretty darn fun. You started your Humira shots for Crohn’s Disease (more on that below), you finished out your baseball season, and we went on an epic road trip. You’ve been enjoying going to your “camp” a couple of mornings a week, which is a Parks & Rec-sponsored playgroup in the park right by our house. You, a teenage counselor two, and other neighborhood kids make crafts, play games, and chat. You weren’t shy about attending at all, even though it’s been two years since you did it. Our park was under construction last summer, so they didn’t hold the camp there, but you were ready to bounce right back as if no time had passed. You’re brave about meeting the counselors, even though they change frequently. You get along with the other kids. I’m so glad your return to pretty-much-normal life has gone so smoothly. I credit your wonderful second grade teacher, Ms. Hill, with guiding into socialization. I’m confident that the next school year will go well for you too.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves—we’re not done with summer yet. You made big gains in baseball this year, becoming a consistent hitter and a valuable member of the Diamondbacks. You also had a lot of fun hanging out after your games to watch Tobin play. More often, you hung out with your friends who also had big brothers playing. You also enjoyed quite a few concession stand snacks. You really enjoyed the pizza, popcorn, and Snickers bars.

Unfortunately, we had to miss tournament week in baseball, because our vacation eastward was set to begin. It was a family reunion for my cousins, their kids, and some aunts and uncles. You jumped right in and had fun getting to know some cousins you hadn’t spent much time with before, especially cousins Torin and Evan. I hope we can make another trip out to the Ithaca area, because there was so much to see and do. We saw many waterfalls, frolicked in a beautiful swimming hole, played games in Uncle Al and Aunt Barb’s amazing basement, and got a sense of Ithaca as a community. After we got done with the family time in Ithaca, we took a day trip to Corning to see the Corning Museum of Glass. Your favorite part of that day, besides the pizza and French fries from the museum café, was the glass-making activity. Under the guidance of an instructor, you designed and blew a glass holiday ornament. You and your siblings so enjoy the ritual of decorating the Christmas tree every year. I know it’s going to be extra special as you remember our trip to New York when you hang our ornament.

We had the ornaments shipped to our house, because they were too hot to take home the same day, and it didn’t work in our travel plans to stop by Corning again the following day. When they arrived, you were very pleased to see the beautiful blue and purple ornament you designed, but you were even more excited about the cornstarch-based packing peanuts included in the package.You took it upon yourself to design and create a packing peanut cube. I haven’t figured out what we’re going to do with that yet, but it might end up on the Christmas tree as well.

Toward the end of our trip, you decided you want to become ambidextrous. You spent a lot of our last night and much of the drive home writing “The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog” with your left hand. It’s a good thing we got a bunch of free souvenir postcards with our admission to the Maid of the Mist in Niagara Falls, because you used just about every bit of scrap paper we could find. You also made thorough use of the notepad that was in our hotel room in Erie, Pennsylvania. I hope the skill proves useful for you in some way. It was a long, hot drive home, because the air conditioning stopped working in the van we had borrowed, but you didn’t complain. I guess all that left-handed writing kept your mind occupied.

An important development for you this month was starting your Humira shots. You got your first one at the Children’s Hospital before we left. Your dad has volunteered to be the main shot-giver in the family, though I imagine I will need to learn to do it as well. The specialty pharmacist walked your dad through it the first time. He did a good job, but you were not so happy about it. The needle is small and the poke is shallow, just into the fat under your skin. However, you said the medicine felt like “burning hot needles” as it went into you. The first dose was eighty milligrams, and we were optimistic that the second dose would be easier, as it was only forty milligrams. Your dad did that one at home, and you agreed that it wasn’t very bad. The anticipation was a lot worse than the actual injection. Moving forward, your doses will only be twenty milligrams, so we hope that will be easier still. I don’t like seeing you scared and stressed, so I hope you’ll get more and more used to the shots and confident that they’re not very painful.

The doctors told us it could take eight to twelve weeks to see any improvement, but I feel like you might already be feeling results. One of your more troubling symptoms was sores in your mouth. We’d tried several strategies to address it, like cutting out citrus (a big bummer for a kid who loves orange slices, lemonade, and orange juice) and switching to a toothpaste with no sodium lauryl sulfate. Once we got the Crohn’s diagnosis and learned that mouth sores can be part of Crohn’s disease, we were hopeful that your mouth sores would improve too. Well, they already have. That’s made your teeth-brushing a lot easier, and you’re back to enjoying your favorite citrus foods and beverages. I told you we could go back to Crest Kids or whatever normal toothpaste you used to use, but you said you prefer the (more expensive) SLS-free kind. So it goes.

You’re the kind of person who wants a lot of advanced notice for things. We recently had a follow-up visit with your gastroenterologist, and she suggested getting you a pneumonia vaccine then and there. The Crohn’s medication make you immunosuppressed, so you are more susceptible to pneumonia. Also, the typical pneumonia vaccine contains a live virus, and you are no longer eligible for that type of vaccine. You were not okay with the idea of having a shot sprung on you, but your doctor was very understanding and said it was fine for you to get it at your next appointment with your pediatrician. That’s next month, so you’ll have some time to get used to the idea.

Your current favorites: watching fishing videos on YouTube, practicing Spanish and beginning Russian on DuoLingo, playing with friends and cousins, mini muffins, accumulating sticks, referring to your dad and me as “Denny” and “Aprille” when speaking to others (e.g., you asked your gastroenterologist, “Have you met Denny?”), singing and dancing, and going around shirtless. You’re having a ton of fun this summer, and I’m so glad your health is improving and you’re living a fantastic life.

Love,

Mom

 

 

6/14/2023

The Callum Chronicle #101

Filed under: — Aprille @ 2:51 pm

Dear Callum,

This month has a been a big deal for you. You finished second grade just splendidly, happy and accomplished. You made friends, did fantastically on your school work, and made your teacher wish she could keep you for another year. I’m so, so proud of how well you transitioned to in-person school. You’re a rock star. We were happy to see that you qualified for ELP next year, so you’ll be able to continue with teacher who taught your enrichment classes this year. You really like her, and she’s retiring after the 2023-24 school year, so I’m glad you’ll get one more year with her. Third grade marks the beginning of the “big kid” designation at your school. It’s hard for me to fathom that you could have such a label, but time is relentless. Tobin was going into third grade when the pandemic began, and that whole timeframe has been such a blur. If this school year is a good indicator, I know you’ll do great in third grade and beyond.

You participated in the school team spelling bee for the first time, as it’s the first time it’s been held since you’ve been eligible. You studied hard, putting in lots of hours into learning and reviewing the long list of words. Your hard work paid off, because you and your teammates came home with the victory. Your big sibling Artemis was even one of the judges, so it was great to have it be a whole-family event. Don’t worry–they didn’t cheat for you. You and your teammates won fair and square. I was proud of you for standing your ground on the word icicle. It was a hard one, but you knew it.

We think we’re on a good path in terms of your health. After an upper and lower endoscopy (which is a big deal for anyone, but especially for an eight-year-old), you were diagnosed with Crohn’s disease. That’s an autoimmune disorder that affects your digestive system, causing inflammation, pain, and frequent bowel movements. While you do suffer from some pain sometimes, the issue that your doctor most wants to address in the short term is the flattening of your growth curve. You haven’t grown much in the last year, despite your good appetite, because your intestines aren’t getting all the nutrition they should be extracting from your food. Your GI team prescribed Humira injections, which you’ll do every other week for the foreseeable future. It will take up to twelve weeks to know if it’s working, but we’re hopeful that by the end of the summer, you’ll be feeling a lot better and ready to do all the fun things a third grader should do.

I’m grateful for a lot of things, including the fact that your case doesn’t seem to be terribly severe. There is another treatment option that involves IV infusions, and that’s not necessarily off the table if the Humira injections don’t work, but the doctor said it’s more often used in cases more severe than yours. Another advantage to Humira is that we can do the injections at home. Infusions are less frequent but require a trip to the clinic, and they’re pretty lengthy, so you’d have to miss at least a half day of school each time. I’m a little nervous about doing your injections, but your dad has offered to be the one who does them most of the time. I want to know how to do it, because I surely will need to at some point, but I’m glad he’s able to take the lead. We’re going to do the first one at the specialty pharmacy under the guidance of the pharmacist, and after that we’ll do them at home. There’s a lot to learn about the drug, in terms of storage and administration, but I’m confident we can handle it. We’re smart and brave, just like you.

I asked if you’ll be needing ice cream after every shot, and you told me that you certainly will. I suppose that’s all right, since weight gain is one of the goals anyway.

So far this summer, you’ve had fun singing with Family Folk Machine at Arts Fest, playing lots of baseball and soccer, playing with friends, and attending the Parks & Rec camp in the park by our house. So far, not very many kids have shown up for that, but you’ve enjoyed having a lot of interaction with the counselors. You tried to teach one of them to play chess, but I’m not sure sure how well it went. You’re confident and ready to jump into the action. I walked over with you the first day, only because I wanted to. You didn’t care whether I was around or not. Tobin also offered to go with you the first time to help you get acclimated, but you didn’t feel that was necessary either. I admire how willing you are to try things and get involved.

Your current favorites: hanging out with the other little brothers who watch the Senior League baseball games, your Vitamin D supplement gummies, steak, playing Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, watching Scooby Doo with Tobin, taking showers (you don’t need help washing, but you like to have company in the bathroom, especially Tobin’s), sleeping shirtless, eating frozen yogurt and ice cream, and reading the Humphrey book series. We’re going to have to find some good audiobooks for our upcoming road trip, because you’ve been in a bit of a Humphrey rut, and it will be refreshing to get some new literature in our lives.

Next month at this time, I’m sure I’ll have lots of stories from our trip, which will include lots of outdoor adventure and time with cousins. I hope you feel good and can have a ton of fun this summer.

Love,

Mommy

 

 

 

5/13/2023

The Callum Chronicle #100

Filed under: — Aprille @ 8:28 am

My sweet Callum,

You’re one hundred months old now. I know non-parents laugh at how parents describe their children’s ages in months to the extent that it’s weird (e.g., “My 28-month-old knows a lot of words”). I don’t do that on a daily basis, but one benefit of writing you a monthly blog entry is that I keep track of those numerical milestones when otherwise I wouldn’t. One hundred months is a nice number to think about. So much has happened in the last one hundred months, in our family, in our world, and of course for you.

We have our Family Folk Machine tenth anniversary concert later this afternoon. You’ve been around almost as long as FFM, and you’ve been a part of it one way or another your whole life. In fact, your fetal nickname, Little Potato, was inspired by a Family Folk Machine song. Interestingly, you’re not a huge fan of potatoes. You like French fries of course, but in a meal of steak frites, you’re more likely to focus on the steak.

In preparation for the concert, I’ve been reflecting on the last decade, and you’re a huge part of that. Every kid brings something special to a family, but you’re truly an irreplaceable member of ours. You bring wit, humor, and thoughtfulness to every conversation. You are sweet and affectionate. You are tender-hearted, and you often come to me to confess minor transgressions that happened months ago. I hope they don’t stress you out too much, because some things seem to stick with you for a long time. I always assure you that I still love you, that nothing you could say or do would ever change that. I think you enjoy that reassurance, because sometimes you preface or conclude your confessions with “But you still love me, right?” The answer, of course is yes: always, yes.

One thing I appreciate you is your ability to be equally comfortable on your own or in a group. You had a doctor’s appointment last week, and your dad and I took you out to lunch afterward. The restaurant we went to has a nice playground nearby, so we stopped there before heading home. At the playground, you played happily by yourself for a while, but when you happened upon another kid around your age, you engaged with him happily and naturally. School has been great for you in that way. I was never terribly worried about your social development, since you’ve grown up with siblings and neighborhood friends, but two years of online school does have its drawbacks. I am so happy that the school year has gone well and you’ve developed good friendships and socialization skills.

The academic side has been going very well too. The annual school spelling bee is coming up after a several-year hiatus, and you’ve been doing a good job studying in preparation. Your teacher gives glowing reports about your work in the classroom so far. We’re still waiting on the results of a standardized test that will determine whether you will be in ELP next year. I hope you’re able to do that, because you’ve really enjoyed your enrichment class (a pre-ELP special class for kids whose teachers recommend them). In any case, you approach school with an attitude of fun, focus, and dedication. I love that it’s been a good experience for you and hope that remains the case for the rest of your education.

You have a fairly big medical procedure coming up next week, at least by eight-year-old standards: an upper and lower endoscopy (aka colonoscopy). You’ve been having some GI problems for quite a while, and the doctors have noticed that your weight has flattened out. We’ve tried a few strategies already, like eliminating certain food groups, adding probiotics to your diet, and adjusting your fiber levels, but nothing seems to have made much of an impact. We want to figure out what’s going on in there in order to learn the best way to take care of you and make sure you’re absorbing all your nutrients. You have enough people in your life who’ve been through it that you’ve gotten a lot of reassurance, but you’re not thoroughly enjoying the preparation process. I hope at this time next month I can update with more specific information about how we’re moving forward. It’s going to get worse before it gets better, but we have access to a great team of doctors who are dedicated to helping you. Plus, you get unlimited popsicles the day before the procedure.

Your current favorites: watching Scooby Doo with Tobin, chicken wings, steak, playing baseball and soccer, playing the new Zelda video game, the Humphrey book series, school, wearing mittens and shadowboxing, our cozy bedtime rituals, cocktail hour on the balcony, and playing with friends. Your allergies are sure to get wild any day now, but so far they haven’t been too terrible, so we’ve been able to enjoy spring a little more than usual. You’re also doing a lot better with getting your special anti-allergen eye drops than you were in previous years. That helps a lot.

Your body brings some challenges, but you’re such a sweet and smart little guy, I know we can find solutions and strategies. Thank you for your continued cooperation and all the joy you bring to our home. I love you so much.

Love,

Mommy

 

 

4/14/2023

The Callum Chronicle #99

Filed under: — Aprille @ 2:00 pm

Dear Callum,

This has been a month of manageable-but-annoying health challenges for you. For quite a while now, you’ve been complaining of pain in your gums when your dad brushes your teeth. You also fairly frequently have a swollen lymph node on that side of your neck. It ebbs and flows, sometimes better and sometimes worse. I took you to the dentist to see if it was a problem with a tooth, and she assured us that it wasn’t a tooth issue. She did notice a white patch on your gum, so that’s probably the culprit. However, she didn’t offer any advice on how to fix it. We’ve tried a few strategies around here, such as switching to a sodium lauryl sulfate-free toothpaste and cutting citrus out of your diet. So far we haven’t found a clear trigger or solution. We have an appointment with your pediatrician on Monday, so hopefully she’ll be able to offer some advice.

Another issue that came up around spring break time was a sore throat. I took you to Urgent Care, where they performed a throat culture and determined that you didn’t have strep. The doctor noted that your throat and tonsils were swollen, though, and all your lymph nodes were enlarged. I asked about the mouth thing, but that kind of got buried under the more pressing issues. You also were having some digestive distress, and we already had an appointment with your pediatrician to discuss that. We got to do the fun activities of taking a stool sample and getting blood drawn, and the lab determined that you don’t have any of the inflammatory markers that would point to Celiac disease or other autoimmune conditions. Everything in your blood work was normal except that your hemoglobin was a bit low. That’s often an indication of low iron. Your doctor was a little puzzled by that, because the other things she would expect to see in an anemic patient weren’t true for you. In any case, we’ve added a multivitamin with iron to your breakfast routine. I also read that iron deficiencies can cause mouth sores. That’s not a slam-dunk answer, but maybe boosting your iron will help your other issues.

Your spring allergies have not yet come on at their full strength, though I know it’s coming any time. We’ve been bracing ourselves and starting you on daily Zyrtec and nightly baths. Your poor little body has so much to manage, I really hope you aren’t too miserable this spring. Last year we mostly kept it under control by keeping you indoors as much as possible, but that doesn’t seem reasonable to do this year. You love school and playing with your friends, and I’m afraid it would be detrimental to force you to stay inside for recess.

We have eyedrops that help a lot, so when things get bad, we’ll start using those every morning before school. We’re really only supposed to use them once a day, but one time you had a terrible attack after already having received a morning dose, and our friend who’s an allergist said we could repeat the dose. My plan is to let your teacher know that we’ll dose you before school, and if you get so uncomfortable that it’s inhibiting your learning or you’re truly miserable, the office can call me and I’ll come give an emergency dose. It’s very helpful now that you’re more receptive to eyedrops, because when you were smaller, I could barely pry your eyelids open to get them into you against your will. Now that you’re better able to handle them, at least we have the “big guns” for the worst moments.

Baseball has started now, and you’re a proud member of the Diamondbacks. You and your dad have been playing more backyard baseball this year, and I understand that you’ve made big strides in your skills. You have the same coach as last year, and he was accustomed to the very beginner-level game you were playing last season. Your dad told me that at practice the other night, your coach noticed the hits you were getting off the pitching machine, and he said, “Callum came to play this year.” I think you were pretty proud of that.

Soccer starts in another week or so, and you’ll be a beginner there. It will be your first time on a soccer team, but watching Tobin’s games last year got you interested. Our family’s schedule is going to be very busy, with you and Tobin playing both soccer and baseball at the same time. Here’s to hoping for a good-weather spring, because I’ve seen a lot of pictures of soccer parents shivering on the sidelines, and I’ve certainly been one of the baseball parents shivering or roasting in the bleachers.

School is continuing to go great for you. You’re wrapping up your second grade year with lots of friends and excellent academics. Your goal is to never get under one hundred percent on a spelling test, and you’re on track to accomplish it. The spelling bee is coming up next month, so we’ll have to put more focus on preparing that list rather than your classroom spelling words, but you’ve always done great on those with minimal home quizzing anyway.

Your current favorites: ice cream cones, baseball, riding your bike, the Humphrey books by Betty G. Birney, talking to your friends at lunch (and not eating much of your lunch), making and playing Scratch programming games with Artemis, playing Switch, and learning Spanish on Duolingo. You’re on a practice streak of 101 days now, and I love it when you try out Spanish phrases on me. You don’t usually understand when I reply to you in Spanish, but at least you’re getting started. You definitely have “Gracias, mi amor” down pat.

Have a good month, my little sweetheart. I hope all your troubles heal up so we can enjoy the lovely springtime.

Love,

Mom

3/14/2023

The Callum Chronicle #98

Filed under: — Aprille @ 2:13 pm

Dear Callum,

This month has been busy, crazy, stressful, and weird. You started the month full of excitement, because you were having a great basketball season and you got invited to a friend’s birthday party. Even though you’re still a beginner at basketball, you had wonderful time playing. Your dad was the head coach of your team, and you improved your skills and supported your teammates. It didn’t seem to matter to you much that you didn’t do a lot of basket-making. Your favorite part was dancing and high-fiving your teammates to celebrate successes. It was a lot of fun, and I’m happy that you got to have such a good experience.

School has continued to go excellently for you. We had your spring conference, and your teacher had nothing but glowing things to report. You have blasted past the end-of-year standards in both math and reading. You’re an enthusiastic participant in all class activities and a good friend. I’m so grateful to your wonderful teacher, Ms. Hill. She has done so much to ensure that your year is a positive one. She frequently sends me notes about how well you’re doing and the things that are on your mind. You tend to take on the stresses of your classmates. One time Madeline couldn’t find her earmuffs, and you were quite worried about it. That’s not unusual for you, as you’re very empathetic. We were reading a chapter from our latest Humphrey book at bedtime the other night, and the substitute teacher character was recounting how once, in a different substitute teaching assignment, the students were rude and threw paper at him. You got teary at that thought.

The biggest challenge our family faced this month was Artemis getting COVID. Fortunately, our efforts to contain it worked. It helps that Art is very happy to stay in their room alone all the time anyway, so between that and our other methods, no one else got it. We wore masks in common spaces, kept the windows cracked most of the time, and ran our Corsi-Rosenthal box at full blast for days on end. I don’t know if we could be that effective if you or Tobin were the one testing positive, because you both need a lot more parent interaction than Art does. For the time being, though, we’re under control. It also helped me be a little less fearful of COVID. I still don’t want to get it, and I still recognize that it would probably be a lot more unpleasant for those of us over 40 than it was for Art, but we got through it. Art’s case was very mild, pretty much just some fatigue and congestion.

The biggest issue was the worry over whether you and Tobin could do your activities. You both loved basketball so much, and you were so excited about the birthday party. We burned through our supply of home tests with frequent nose swabs, but nobody besides Artemis ever had a positive. We were extra vigilant with masking, but you still got to do all the fun stuff you hoped to do. Your friend’s birthday party was lots of fun, with pizza, arcade games, and swimming.

You’ve had a few non-COVID health issues lately, with some bathroom trouble and a painful gum (maybe related to an emerging molar) that has resulted in a swollen lymph node. It doesn’t seem to be at a deeply concerning level, though I do have an appointment scheduled with your pediatrician later this month just to make sure you’re under control. We’ve tried removing lactose from your diet with no obvious effect, though maybe we’ll have to be more vigilant about trace amounts of whatever might be bugging you. You’ve been very interested in trying new foods lately, so this seems like a bad time to be limiting your diet. We’re not sure it’s food-related anyway, so I guess we just need to keep an eye on you and see how it goes. Overall, you don’t seem to feel bad. Your spirits are good and you don’t complain about any kind of pain most of the time.

Your current favorites: practicing Spanish on Duolingo, doing math problems on the whiteboard (double-digit subtraction with regrouping is no problem, much less traumatic than the subtraction story problems from last year where you got so concerned about the fish that swam away from its family), granola bars, steak, playing catch with your dad, playing chess with Tobin, Scratch programming with Artemis, and saying funny things. Ms. Hill commented on your immense vocabulary, and that didn’t surprise me a bit. You have a good brain for words, and I’m always interested in the funny and astute things you have to say. See Stuff My People Say for many, many examples.

You’re such a sweet kid with a kind, loving approach to life. Ms. Hill remarked on your “sincere heart,” and I couldn’t agree more. I sincerely love you, my sweet heart.

Love,

Mom

 

2/13/2023

The Callum Chronicle #97

Filed under: — Aprille @ 2:17 pm

My dear Callum,

You are such an enthusiastic participant in life. I don’t know if it’s just a natural stage in your development or it’s related to the early pandemic years when you didn’t get to do much outside the house, but these days, you’re ready to jump into anything you can. Yesterday at Family Folk Machine, you were singing with all your little heart and doing the movements with gusto. You’re not a terribly experienced basketball player yet, but you’re trying hard and having fun with your teammates. You also decided you want to do soccer instead of baseball in the spring, so I got you signed up for that. We need to work swimming lessons into the mix at some point, too, but that probably won’t be until summer.

I got an email from your teacher this morning with an update on your progress as a second grader. She had nothing but wonderful things to say about you, both socially and academically. I was never too worried about the academic end, since you haven’t struggled in that area, but I was nervous about you adjusting to full-time school. According to Ms. Hill, you’re doing just fine. She says you participate fully in all class activities and really enjoy interacting with your classmates. That’s exactly how I hoped this school year would go for you.

Another important development: you and Tobin have taken on the challenge of trying new foods. That makes me so happy and proud. I’m glad you and Tobin can be teammates on that project, because Artemis is certainly no help there. You’ve had better experiences with some foods than others (tater tot casserole was not a big hit), but you’ve been making an effort to try all the things I put on the dinner table. Your latest challenge is that you want to go a week with no sugary drinks, the one exception being family cocktail hour on Saturday. We decided you could have special dispensation for that one, since it’s an important family bonding event.

You took a strong interest in Lunar New Year this year, probably because you learned about it at school. We made some Lunar New Year-inspired paintings together, made Chinese almond cookies, and went downtown to see the big inflatable rabbits. I think they’re related to the Year of the Rabbit celebration, so we tied the events together. You really enjoyed them, especially the interactive features. Each rabbit had a QR code that you scanned with my phone, and that launched you into a text conversation with them. You learned all their names, chatted with them, and had a good time.

We also did a few other things downtown, including a trip to the library. We haven’t spent a lot of time in the library lately, and you had fun finding the book that you’d put on hold with your very own library. You and I also watched some of a Lunar New Year presentation that was going on there while our other family members looked around at other things in the library. We ended up not staying long because it wasn’t as compelling as the lure of the enormous rabbits outside. When we described it to your dad and siblings later, I was trying to explain how a group of women were doing these slow steps and arm movements, not quite like tai chi. “It was supposed to be, like, elegant,” you said. It was pretty elegant, but it was also crowded, so we hopped like bunnies out of there.

You are so funny and witty. I feel like I burst out laughing almost every day from the funny things you say. I’m not sure how many of them are funny on purpose and how many are just funny because they come out of your little mouth, but either way, you’re a hoot.

A recent highlight:

Callum had just eaten Doritos and his fingers were covered with cheese powder.
Callum: (wiggling his gross fingers at me) Do you want to shake my hand?
Aprille: No!
Callum: Is it because there’s not ENOUGH Dorito powder?

Your current favorites: chicken wings, the Betty Birney books featuring Og the Frog, art projects, your Happy Birthday drinking glass, watching YouTube videos, playing Scratch games with Artemis, and playing card games and chess with your siblings, playing with your homemade weapons, and reading bedtime stories. Usually I read to you, but sometimes you read to me too. I don’t know how much longer you’ll want me to cuddle in bed and read to you, but I’m glad I still get to do it.

You are so much fun, and I’m so happy to have you in my life. You’re doing such a good job being eight.

Love,

Mommy

1/16/2023

The Callum Chronicle #96

Filed under: — Aprille @ 2:24 pm

Dear Callum,

Now, more than a week has passed since your eighth birthday. You’ve surpassed the age your oldest sibling was when you were born, so this is the first time in fifteen years that I haven’t had a kid under eight years old. You’re straddling the line between big kid and little kid. You want to be included in everything your older siblings do, but you also have the self-awareness to leave the room when the T-Rex scene gets a little intense in Jurassic Park. I never would have let our first eight-year-old watch Jurassic Park, but I guess that’s the advantage of being third-born.

Your personality is an interesting one: sometimes you seem timid and tender-hearted, and other times you bash Tobin repeatedly with toy swords. This is why I don’t like to buy you toy swords. You’re getting braver and braver, and all the new opportunities you’re getting through school and activities are helping you branch out. You’ll be starting on your first basketball team next week, and it will be interesting to see how that goes.

The most notable aspect of your development in the last year has been your wit. You are a kid who cracks us up all the time. Almost every day, you come up with some hilarious retort, and the outsized vocabulary that comes out of your 29th percentile body makes you all the funnier. Recently your dad was goofing around with you as he helped you get ready for bed, and he was calling you silly names like “Billy Bob McGillicuddy.” You gave him a slow-burn stare and said, “I don’t think you’re my dad if you don’t know my name.”

I wonder if it’s common for comedians to be later-born kids in their families, because you get plenty of practice honing your zingers during the nightly dinner table conversations with your siblings. I often post your quotes on Facebook, and 0ne of my friends describes you as his “favorite Internet personality.” You also decided to start doing DuoLingo to learn Spanish, and you are so proud of yourself when you surprise me with new word knowledge. The world will have to brace itself to hear your commentary in multiple languages.

You had a fun holiday and birthday season, filled with thousands of treats, presents, and time with family. We ended up spending a whole week in Ames, because bad weather in Minnesota prevented Suzy and Joe from arriving when we they had originally planned. We only had to adjust our schedule slightly, and your dad was able to work remotely while you and your siblings basked in the sugar-laden environment that is Mubby and Skitter’s house. You played a lot of games, went ice skating twice, and prepared a special magic show. You got a magic kit for Christmas at our house, so you and Artemis took advantage of your time off to plan and rehearse an extensive presentation. You guessed a number an audience member (Tobin) chose, magically released knots from a rope, extracted that rope from my ear, and disappeared behind a blanket. You and Art had a lot of fun doing it, and we all were very impressed.

For your birthday, we kept things mostly calm. It fell during winter break this year, which is an awkward time to try to get together with friends, but we had a nice family party. We all went to Defy trampoline park and boing-boing-boinged, and you and Tobin made the special New York style pizza that has become a family favorite. You also got to choose our take-out dinner. Your choice was Z’Mariks, and your selected entrée was cavatappi pasta with tomato sauce. Instead of a cake, you chose a big chocolate chip cookie, and of course I put up balloons and sparkly number eight to commemorate the day.

You’re excited to try all kinds of things, from blowing Skitter’s cornet to the school spelling bee, which will be coming in the spring. I admire your adventurous spirit. The pandemic has limited your opportunities over the last couple of years, but you’re getting more and more chances now to discover new interests. Any time anyone runs an errand or goes anywhere, you want to come along. You haven’t spent much time in the retail space lately, so a recent trip to Walgreens to get batteries for a birthday gift was a big deal for you. You were amazed by the snacks, beverages, and Chapstick.

Your current favorites: meat of all kinds, but especially chicken wings; Manchego cheese; watching YouTube; playing with your school friends; pizza; the Humphrey and Og book series by Betty Birney; working on Spanish and trying out your new words on me; all the special events that happen at school, like pajama days and when your friends sang Happy Birthday to you; and our cuddly, cozy bedtime routine. You like to have your water bottle, whatever stuffed animal you love most at the moment (currently Og the Frog, a birthday gift from Suzy and Joe), and stories. We usually read a chapter from a long book, but you also like to get shorter books from the school library. We recently read one about Wisconsin. You like Wisconsin because we went there on a family trip once and you met a nice donkey.

Callum, you are smart, fun, sweet, and adventurous. You have an interesting perspective, and you often make me think about things in new ways. I love you so much. Eight is great, especially when the eight-year-old is you.

Love,

Mom

12/13/2022

The Callum Chronicle #95

Filed under: — Aprille @ 2:25 pm

Dear Callum,

Strangely enough, you claim that winter is your favorite season. Maybe you’re overly romanticizing the fun of snow, or maybe you don’t remember the drudgery of managing snow pants and boots at school since you did online school last year. Anyway, for some reason, you think winter is  great. Your dad is pretty intrepid about walking to school with you and Tobin in the morning, though the two of you are not as enthusiastic. Your opinion on winter might sway as you trudge up the hill to school on snowy sidewalks.

You were very excited about getting our Christmas tree. We named it Gene-Gene the Evergreen, and we had a good trip to Wilson’s to pick it out. We also enjoyed some tasty apple cider doughnuts and brought home a four-pack of cider to drink while we trimmed the tree, so it was a good experience all around. I’m reluctant to get presents under the tree too soon, because you and your siblings can’t keep your dang hands off of them. In fact, I had a Timehop memory this morning that showed three-year-old Callum removing all the presents from under the tree and arranging them on the rocking chair. You and your siblings (especially Tobin) were so excited to get some present under the tree that I let you wrap your sibling presents. There may only be three down there so far, but it does add a jolly air to the room.

The sibling presents are a tradition in which I take you all to the Hobby Corner, which is a local shop that sells toys and games for a variety of ages and interests. They usually have items that appeal to each kid, so you draw names and wander around with your siblings. When something interests you, you point it out to the sibling who’s buying for you, and you have to pay attention to the preferences of the sibling for whom you’re buying. The goal is that each kid will have several suggestions so there’s still some element of surprise. It’s something you all seem to really enjoy doing, and it lends a special excitement to opening gifts on Christmas morning.

A less fun event this month was your formal allergy testing. We’d been holding off on doing that until the worst of fall allergies had passed, because you have to be off antihistamines for several days before the test. Hey, I just realized that maybe that’s why winter is your favorite season: it has the lowest level of allergens. Spring is just miserable for you, and fall also causes trouble, as well as summer to a lesser extent. Winter is your reprieve season. As long as we keep your skin well-moisturized to ward of the eczema behind your knees, winter seems to be a pretty comfortable time for you.

The test determined that your worst triggers are outdoor allergens. We already strongly suspected tree pollen, based on the timing of your symptoms, and the test confirmed that birch and oak are your worst offenders. You also reacted to many of the other outdoor allergens, like ragweed, mulberry, mugwort, and outdoor molds. The good news is that you didn’t have much reaction to indoor allergens, like dust, indoor molds, or animals. We got the test done right before Thanksgiving, and the knowledge that you’re not allergic to cats let you feel free to make good friends with Uncle Mark’s cat, Boris Florence. I assumed that you’re allergic to cats, since both your dad and I are, but it seems the genes didn’t shake out that way. Now you want a cat. I do not want a cat, but I suppose you have permission to cuddle with BoFlo.

You’ve been interested in Asian foods and using chopsticks lately. I think you must watch YouTube videos about people eating spicy ramen, because you really wanted to do that. We went to a local Asian market and picked some out, and you did not get very far into eating them before you bailed. However, you’re getting very good at using chopsticks. You use them for the expected things like stir-fry and noodles, but you also like to eat Scooby Snack cookies with them. I suggest using them to eat Cheetos to keep your fingers clean. Sometimes you don’t finish the lunch I pack you for school, so maybe I should stick a pair of chopsticks in your lunch bag to make it more appealing.

School in general continues to go great. You’re tender and empathetic, and I’ve found you tearful before because you witnessed someone else’s pain that had nothing to do with you. That empathetic quality has its upside, though, since you’ve made good friends in your class. You’ve even become good friends with a kid you were nervous about, because you had a negative run-in with him at baseball last summer. Any tension between you seems to have totally evaporated now. You scraped your knee at recess a week or so ago, and in telling me all about it, you mentioned that he was the person who took you to the nurse’s office. Your teacher is wonderful, and your conference was excellent. You’re excelling academically, and I am so proud of you for how well the first chunk of the school year has gone.

Your current favorites: the Humphrey book series by Betty Birney; your special drink blend with varying centimeters of orange juice, lemonade, and Kool-Aid; your fuzzy lined jeans; your new library card; watching The Great British Baking Show with me; using the iPad in your room; Bakugan toys; waffles; pizza; and cuddling up at bedtime for stories and chats. You’re loving and affectionate, and picking you up from school is the best part of my day. You’re almost always happy and excited and ready to tell me all about your day, and hugging you and hearing your thoughts is a great pleasure.

Thanks for all your sweetness, my little pup.

Love,

Mommy

 

 

11/14/2022

The Callum Chronicle #94

Filed under: — Aprille @ 5:01 pm

Dear Callum,

You are such a smart and funny little guy. You’ve really been thriving at in-person school. Your dad asked you the other day whether you prefer online or in-person, and you said you like school so much that “Sometimes I wish recess would end so I can get back to learning.” You’ve made good friends, aced every spelling test you’ve had, and been accepted into the enrichment program. You were so excited to tell me when I picked you up from school the first day you had enrichment class. Later, when we were talking to your dad, I suggested that you tell him your big news. You said, “I’m in enrichment! And we had a sub for P.E.!”

You’ve really been enjoying all the special activities and events that come with in-person school. Your class got to travel to another local school to join other second-graders as a visiting author-illustrator spoke. Her name is Juana Martínez-Neal, and you were so inspired by her that you decided you also want to be an author-illustrator. You drew a whole bunch of pictures of the same thing, the titular character from Martínez-Neal’s book How Alma Got Her Name. I don’t know if repeating the same drawing was a technique Ms. Martínez-Neal told you about in her talk, like maybe as a way to build consistency, but it’s certainly a practice you embraced. You’ve also been interested in painting and writing in your journal lately, so I guess you’re on track for the author-illustrator life.

You’ve been having a great time being part of Family Folk Machine. You had a special set of ukulele lessons as part of the group’s educational component, and you were a proud singer at our concert. When your siblings were your age, they were already taking piano lessons. That all got horked up by the pandemic, and their beloved piano teacher no longer offers lessons. However, Tobin’s bass teacher also teaches other stringed instruments, so maybe a higher-quality ukulele and some lessons on that could be in your future. You did a great job with your introductory skills, and it would be fun to see and hear you strumming away. Plus, a ukulele is a lot easier to toss into the car than a trombone or saxophone or piano. You could be very entertaining at family gatherings.

Halloween was a good time. You came up with the idea of being a plague doctor and never swayed from it. We talked about how they looked scary but they were actually helpers, and you found the idea very appealing. I think the image has been floating around popular culture in these pandemic years, though I don’t know exactly where you first saw them. I found a pattern to make a plague doctor mask, and between that and a repurposed Hogwarts robe, you were very cute and creepy. “They won’t know if I’m a trick or a treat!” you said.

You and Tobin attended a trunk-or-treat event hosted by your dad’s workplace, and you also went around the neighborhood. You even went to the house on the far end of our street that always goes all-out in terms of yard decorations. It’s out of our usual walking zone, so we’d never visited it before, but you and Tobin and your dad made a special trip. I stayed home with Artemis to answer the door, but I bet it was fun to get an up-close view of all the skeletons and inflatables we’d driven by so many times.

You are a kind and tender-hearted little pup. The other night at bedtime, I was about to start our nightly ritual of saying goodnight to a stuffed animal of your choosing. That day, you had gotten a special temporary tattoo as some kind of reward in school, and you were really excited about it. I suggested that I could say goodnight to your lizard tattoo. That was partly because the ritual involves me giving the selected stuffed animal several kisses, and it usually happens after I’ve put on my thick overnight lip balm. Things can get linty. Kissing your forearm sounded like a better proposition. I asked you your lizard tattoo’s name, and you got a little teary and said you didn’t want to name it, because that would make it sadder when it comes off. Perhaps I overemphasized its temporary nature when we were talking about the difference between tattoo-gun tattoos and the rub-on kind popular among elementary schoolers. I did eventually get you to commit to the name Flame with the promise that we could get more temporary tattoos in the future. I’ll have to put those on your Christmas and birthday lists.

You’re also very kind and sweet to me. You like to keep a water bottle by your bed, and a couple of nights ago I refilled the water before you asked me to. When you found that it was full of fresh, icy water, you said, “I really appreciate you filling my water bottle.” Then you looked at me earnestly and said, “I really appreciate your existence.”

Your current favorites: Twix bars from your dwindling Halloween stash, playing board games, your school friends (especially Connor, Griffin, and Kash), The Magic Tree House and Humphrey book series, making Scratch games with Artemis, waffles with butter and syrup, chicken thighs, steak, six centimeters of Kool-Aid or lemonade with ice, dancing and skipping everywhere you need to go rather than walking, and being a snuggly little cutie-pie.

I’m so proud of how well you’ve adjusted to the new challenges in-person second grade has brought. You’re a joy and a great source of laughter. Have a good month, my sweet Callum.

Love,

Mommy

 

10/14/2022

The Callum Chronicle #93

Filed under: — Aprille @ 8:06 am

Dear Callum,

This has been an active and adventurous month for you. You’re well-established in your school routine, nailing your schoolwork and making new friends. Sometimes you get a little hung up when you don’t feel sure about how things are supposed to work. You were teary at pick-up time a couple of weeks ago, because you had been dismissed directly from P.E. and you weren’t sure if you were supposed to check in with your teacher in your main classroom. I offered to go back inside with you and ask, but luckily, your teacher happened to step outside at that moment. She reassured you that it was okay to go home without stopping by the classroom.

You were similarly freaked out when the weather started getting cold enough that you needed more than your green hoodie for the walk to school in the morning. For a while your compromise with your dad was that you’d wear a jacket to school, but he’d take it from you before you went inside and bring it home with him. It’s now getting cold enough that you need your coat during recess, and that provoked some resistance. As it turned out, you weren’t sure about what to do with your jacket when you were in the classroom. I gave you the assignment to watch what other kids did. We talked about possibilities, including my prediction that they would hang their jackets up the same place they put their backpacks. As it turned out, that’s exactly what they did, and you successfully wore your coat all the way inside today. At pickup, you told me that you forgot to grab it for one of your recesses, but I think overall it was a successful day in outerwear.

Possibly prompted by the footwear of your classmates, you expressed a sudden interest in learning to tie your shoes. We’re in the “it’s going to get worse before it gets better” stage of lace-up shoes right now, in which you really like wearing them, but it takes you quite a while to get them tied. Sometimes it’s easy for the baby of the family to be treated like a baby, and it hadn’t really been on my radar to teach you to tie shoes. It’s a good skill to have, though, and I’m glad you made the request. You’re doing a good job learning, and I’m sure you’ll get more and more confident as you practice.

You’ve also been excited about badminton lately. I’m not sure what got you on that kick—maybe watching a YouTuber who plays tennis. We don’t have easy access to a tennis court here, but we do have a badminton set, so you’ve been playing with that a lot lately. Though the weather is changing now, you had a lot of warm fall afternoons over the last month when you’ve gotten to enjoy it. You even get your big sibling outside to join you pretty often, which is a special treat. The two of you also worked hard on a computer game. Artemis taught you how to make a simple game using Scratch programming, and you two spent hours on it together. When it was finally done, you were so proud to show it to your dad and me. It was pretty cool. I didn’t do a great job deflecting the arrows to pop the balloon, but I loved how happy you were about the whole thing. Mostly I enjoyed watching the two of you cuddled up together on the couch, concentrating hard and achieving a goal together.

We had a family mini-vacation to St. Louis last week. We did a lot of fun stuff, including the City Museum, the St. Louis Zoo, and the Gateway Arch. I think your favorite of those places was the zoo. You got to see your favorite animals, flamingos. You also ate a lot of treats and picked out a special friend in the gift shop. At first you were disappointed that the townhouse we rented didn’t have a pool, I think because you associate our family trips with the water-centric Florida Keys vacations. St. Louis is warmer than our city, but not by much. The weather was perfect for lots of zoo exploration and outdoor dining, but not really for swimming. Still, once we got there, you totally fell in love with the place. You made me promise that we’d go back one day and rent the exact same house. I don’t know if that’s related to your cautious nature—you like going places where you know just what to expect—or if you just liked the rental house so much. Either way, you had a great time, and I’m really happy we got to take a getaway. Family vacations are very important to me, and it’s all the better when the rest of the gang enjoys them as much as I do. Maybe one of these years we’ll do something not specifically kid-centric, like an art museum.

You’ve been enjoying Family Folk Machine a lot lately, including a special performance where you sang a solo. You’ve also been getting ukulele instruction as part of the FFM children’s programming, and you’ve actually done a good job. You know several chords and can sing a few songs while you play. You’ve grown up surrounded by music, but the whole pandemic situation meant we didn’t get you into lessons like we did your older siblings. That might be in your future, but for the time being, I’m glad you’re playing the ukulele. We have a guitar or two hanging around that could be good for you to play if we got them touched up a bit. It won’t be long before you and your siblings can form a family band.

Photo by Gary Clarke

Your current favorites: chocolate-dipped granola bars, your school friends, the Humphrey books by Betty G. Birney, watching YouTube on the iPad, spending time with Artemis, holding my hand as we walk home from school, watching The Great British Baking Show with me, using words I didn’t realize you knew (e.g., on the topic of the judging of the former, “Do they judge on taste or aesthetics?”), and cuddling up at bedtime. The best part about having kids over a wide range of ages is that I know exactly what I need to cherish. Your big siblings don’t cuddle me the way they used to anymore, so I am extra appreciative of the love you give me.

You are learning and growing so much. School has been a great experience for you, and I love your inquisitive attitude and excitement. I know the world can be big and unpredictable, so I will do my best to help you contextualize your new challenges and find comfort in both the known and the unknown.

Love,

Mommy

 

9/13/2022

The Callum Chronicle #92

Filed under: — Aprille @ 2:37 pm

Dear Callum,

My goodness, you’re a second grader already. I am thrilled to share that in-person school has been going wonderfully. You have a teacher who is kind, experienced, and attuned to her students’ needs. You are getting along well with your classmates, especially your best friend Griffin. You walk to school with your dad and Tobin and walk home with me, cheerful the whole way. Last night, unprompted, you said, “In-person school is fun…but it’s really long.” It is a long school day for you; you were accustomed to finishing by about 1:30, so going until 3:00 is something new. Still, it’s not so bad, because our old rule was no recreational screen time until 3:00, the end of a traditional school day. Now you get to chill out with the iPad or the Switch as soon as you get home, so you feel pretty good about that.

Before the school year began, you got to do another big-kid thing: being part of a science experiment at the University. Both your big brothers had done the virtual reality road-crossing experiment, so when I saw a call out for test subjects of your age range, I asked if you wanted to do it. You accepted the challenge and had a good time. The test involves a simulated neighborhood street with cars that pass, and you have to decide whether or not you can cross safely. We did the set of road-crosses together, then I left the room and you did another set without me. I think the researchers are trying to determine how kids make choices with and without their parents. So far, you’ve never had to walk to or from school without a parent, but I trust that you are capable of doing it safely. While the cars in the experiment were digital and harmless, we’ve been taking a different route to and from school that doesn’t have much traffic.

You did a great job in the experiment, and more than anything, I was happy to see that it was no big deal for me to leave the room. We’ve been such a tight twosome for the last couple of years that I was curious as to whether you’d have separation anxiety. It was all totally fine, and when we were reunited at the end, you were excited and proud. Your favorite part was when the researcher let you get “hit” by a car at the end. You were quick to emphasize that she gave you permission to do it—you didn’t mess up in your assigned task. You also enjoyed the post-experiment frozen yogurt.

We got through almost two weeks of school before you got your first cold in a while. We were glad that testing confirmed it wasn’t COVID, but it’s run through all the kids in the family now and was kind of annoying. Your dad and I have managed to avoid it so far, probably due to the techniques we’ve learned during COVID times. I’ve been using a lot of disinfectant wipes on doorknobs, faucet handles, and light switches. While COVID isn’t so much surface-borne, we got well-versed in meticulously wiping things down before that fact was well-documented. Colds are definitely surface-borne, which is presumably how you got this one, since you wear a KF94 mask to school every day. We keep our homemade air purifier running most of the time, and I wore a mask when I snuggled with you at bedtime during the first week of your cold. It’s good practice for the day when one of us brings COVID home. Though we’re doing our best not to, it seems likely that it will happen eventually, and I want to have some good strategies in place to keep it from infecting the whole family.

Of course, vaccines are an important part of our defenses. You and Tobin got a first-generation booster a couple of weeks before school started, and the the older members of the family just got bivalent boosters. Once those are approved for your age group, you’ll be up. One positive to this pandemic is that shots have gotten pretty low-drama for you kids. It helps that the COVID vaccines are nearly painless, and you’re getting accustomed to them enough that it’s becoming a pretty small deal. And, like post-experiment frozen yogurt, post-vaccine ice cream is always a good motivator.

I’m so proud of the great attitude you’ve shown as you try new things this fall. School is going great, you’ve dived into Family Folk Machine, and you’re even getting braver about trying new foods. You weren’t quite as thrilled by the grape tomato as you were by the breaded chicken, but I’m glad you were willing to branch out. It’s so much fun watching you learn and grow. Even though I don’t get to see it happen on an hour-by-hour basis anymore, I still appreciate watching you face challenges and expand your experiences. You still seem like our baby, but you’re really developing a lot. Your vocabulary sometimes startles me, and I like watching you think through complicated problems. You’re a thinker for sure, and even though it’s sometimes hard for you to get a word in during dinner table conversations with your verbose siblings, your thoughts are usually interesting and well-considered.

Above: you had picked out a book for bedtime reading, and you claimed that I took so long finishing up my evening tasks that you fell asleep waiting for me.

Your current favorites: strawberry ice cream with chocolate syrup, chicken thighs, reading together at bedtime, telling me about the games and activities you do in school, attempting to recreate those activities at home, Kool-Aid, waffles, Word Girl, and generally being a sweetheart. I have a good anecdote about your kindness and consideration for others, but since it happened after your month birthday, I’ll save it for the next Callum Chronicle. For the time being, I’ll just say that you know how to get straight to my heart.

Love,

Mommy

 

 

 

8/14/2022

The Callum Chronicle #91

Filed under: — Aprille @ 3:53 pm

Dear Callum,

As we close out the month of August, I’m trying to prepare myself to send you to school in a little over a week. For the last two-plus years, you’ve been doing school online. It started out being due to COVID concerns, and we had planned to send you back after you were vaccinated. That would have meant switching mid-year, and you were having such a good experience with your online teacher that we decided to keep you in the online class until your first grade year was done. Now, second grade is looming, and you’ll be heading to the neighborhood elementary school. You’ve been there before–plenty of times you went along to your brothers’ events, and you attended preschool in that building for most of the year when you were four. But it’s been a while, and it will be interesting to see how you adjust to a traditional classroom situation. Both the second grade teachers at your school are well-experienced, so I’m confident that you’ll be in good hands. Still, it’s hard to let go after I’ve spent so much time with you over the last couple of years. I’ve really enjoyed watching you learn and grow, and I thank you for the privilege of being along for the ride.

I had a conversation with a doctor friend recently, and she recommended that we get you and Tobin the booster that’s currently available to your age group. We keep hearing rumors about a new vaccine that targets the omicron variant, which is what’s currently dominant, but we have very few specifics. We don’t know exactly when it will be available; President Biden is pushing for a September release, but last I heard, Pfizer and Moderna weren’t certain they could meet that deadline. Even if it is released then, we don’t know for sure whether kids in your age group will be eligible or if you’ll have to wait. For that reason, we went ahead with the existing vaccine. It doesn’t do a lot to prevent symptomatic COVID, but it will give you some extra protection against severe disease. A life without stuffy noses is an unrealistic hope, so we’re using the tools we have while trying to keep a reasonable balance of caution and life experiences.

A major development in our household entertainment situation was the acquisition of an Oculus Quest II virtual reality system. You and your siblings had been wanting that for a long time, and you had enough of your own money saved to buy one. Your dad took a lot of convincing—apparently a lot of people buy them, enjoy them for a short time, and then lose interest in them. You kids and your dad have been reading a book together about financial literacy, and the three kids used the facts you learned from that book to create a persuasive presentation. Your dad was very impressed, and in the end you prevailed. Best of all, you found a good deal on a gently used one, so it wasn’t even as big a monetary hit as you’d planned.

I’d been in favor of you guys getting one for a long time, mostly because I really wanted to do the Ocean Rift underwater experience. It’s extremely cool, and I think we’ve used it every day since you’ve gotten it. That may go down once school starts and you don’t have as many flexible hours in your day, but it’s been a fun way to spend some spare time as summer winds down. The other day I was virtually swimming with manatees, and a baby manatee came and swam with me. A bit later, your dad asked, “Where’s Callum?” I replied, “I don’t know. Upstairs I guess.” Your dad thought you were downstairs with me because apparently I talk to baby manatees the same way I talk to you. They, like you, are very cute.

I don’t know if it’s because you’re the youngest or because of how you’ve been with me more due to online school the last couple of years, but it seems like you’ve had an extra long little-boyhood. I’m sure we’ll be in for a big transition soon, as you gather independence and try out new big-kid skills. I admit I’ve been relishing your sweetness, because a kid’s interest in cuddling and complimenting his mother naturally fades as he matures. I don’t know how much longer I’ll have of that with you, so I will squeeze it up as long as I can. I’m beginning to see signs of transition already. You still like me to stay in your room with you until you fall asleep, but you don’t need it. Last month when you had the COVID false alarm, we all slept in separate rooms, and I was trying to minimize my time in close physical proximity to you. That was when you rose to the occasion and fell asleep without me, and now it’s about fifty-fifty as to whether I sleep in your bed long enough for you to also fall asleep.  A lot of it has to do with how early you got up that morning.

You were very excited to attend a reading for my book earlier this month. While you understood the basic concept of the book publication, I think it became real to you when you saw me read, saw people in the audience, and watched me sign people’s copies. When we got home, you really wanted me to sign a copy for you. You aren’t old enough to read the book yet, but you’ve read the inscription quite a few times. It makes me happy to know that you’re proud of me. Reading has always been a special thing for us to do together—we’ve been through so many Magic Tree House books I’m always surprised when the library has any left we haven’t read. While you can read on your own very well, you still enjoy listening to me read to you. I will be interested to see if you get hooked on any other authors or series this year. Last year you got really into the Mercy Watson series by Kate DiCamillo. Those were lots of fun, but we got through them quickly. She has written many more books, so maybe we can find some others to intrigue you. Or maybe your second grade teacher will have some great suggestions that will send you in a whole new direction.

Your current favorites: playing Beat Saber on the Oculus, granola bars, lemonade with a splash of Kool-Aid, frozen pizza, steak, Minecraft, and The Magic Tree House books. Your face is always messy. You love adventures downtown and playing with other kids, including but not limited to your siblings. I know you’re ready for a big adventure.

It’s going to be quite a year for you, Callum. You’re smart, kind, and excited, and I hope it’s a wonderful one.

Love,

Mommy

 

 

7/13/2022

The Callum Chronicle #90

Filed under: — Aprille @ 7:36 pm

Dear Callum,

This has been a summer of friendship for you. We signed you up for baseball, your first sport ever and your first group activity since pre-Covid. You team was kind of terrible, but you never let it bring you down. You focused on the message that it was for fun and learning, and with the exception of one rude kid who smack-talked, it was a good experience. Your favorite parts were the post-game snacks. Even when it was beastly hot out, you always wanted to stay for Tobin’s game after yours. This was partly because you were likely to get more snacks, but mostly because you became good friends with other little brothers. One was the younger brother of Tobin’s teammate, so he was often there, and you also reconnected with a preschool friend whose older brother usually played at the same time as Tobin’s team.

Even though I was very happy that you had such a good year of online school, I was concerned about your social readiness for in-person school this fall. Seeing how well you jumped in and played with those other kids made me feel more confident. I know you’ll be fine academically, so as long as you can sort out how to listen to your teacher and follow classroom community rules, I think you’ll have a good year.

We had been a bit concerned that you might have a first-year teacher, because there’s been a lot of staff turnover at our elementary school. Right now the district roster shows two experienced teachers whom our family knows as teaching both the second grade sections, so I hope that’s a final decision. Either one of them would be a good teacher for you. I really just wanted someone who has been through years of teaching and has seen a lot of different situations to help support you as you go to in-person school for the first time in a long time.

It’s certainly going to be different with all three of you kids away from home all day. Maybe I’ll write another book or do more simulated patient jobs, or maybe I’ll just sit around and cry. Hopefully I will get that out of my system in the first few days and then find other things to do. I do know that I will be counting down the hours until pick-up time on that first day of school. Covid is a concern, of course, but we plan to get you and Tobin boosters before school starts. Unfortunately they won’t be the omicron-specific boosters that will be available to adults later this year, but any kind of medical reassurance is welcome. We’ll make sure you and your siblings continue to mask at school, though I’m not sure how that will work at lunch. Last year I brought Tobin home during high-Covid-rate times, but I don’t know if it will be practical or reasonable to do that at two different lunch times every day.

We’ll have to see how things are going and make a decision as the date draws nearer. I imagine Covid will hit our family eventually. In fact we had a scare earlier this week after our trip to Innsbrook. You had a positive test result that turned out to be a false positive. I was very freaked out, because we have a lot of important things going on in July that are hard to reschedule. I think something may have gone wrong at the lab, because your dad knows someone else who got a false positive just one day after you. We put all the safety protocols in place and were hoping for the best, so it was a huge relief to find out you weren’t actually sick. We will almost certainly get it at some point—school is a cesspool of germs, but it’s also a font of development, so it really seems like time to get you back. We can just hope that advances in vaccines continue and that any cases we get are mild and conveniently timed. I know there’s no truly convenient time to be sick, but I would prefer any time that doesn’t concur with my book tour, family visits, and your sibling’s surgery.

The family visit to which I referred was a trip to Innsbrook, Missouri. We rented a house on a lake with Mubby, Skitter, and Uncle Tyler’s family. You and cousin Vera became immediate best friends. You relaxed in the hot tub, played video games, watched movies, ate treats, played foosball and darts, swam in the pool, and had an epic water fight. It made me happy to see you have so much fun together. You both know what it’s like to be the little sibling who gets dragged to older siblings’ events and practices. You’re good at finding friends among the kids who are around.

We don’t have another vacation planned right now, which always makes me antsy. Tobin was hoping to take a trip to celebrate turning eleven, but our July has gotten so busy that we’ve hardly had time to think about it. Everything’s more complicated these days, and it’s hard to make plans too far in advance when you don’t know what the Covid climate will be like or what kind of nonsense will be happening with airports. I recently learned that the US no longer requires a negative Covid test to get into the country. That hardly seems like a smart strategy, and it doesn’t make me more likely to get on an international flight any time soon. I do hope we can get another trip figured out, because vacation time with my family is the very best time of all. I want you to have the kinds of family vacation memories that I have.

Your current favorites: corn on the cob, sugary beverages like Kool-Aid, Minecraft, playing with your siblings, doing physical therapy with Artemis, having play swordfights with Tobin, bouncing around on Artemis’s physical therapy ball, crafting weapons out of toys that were never supposed to be weapons, reading The Magic Tree House books at bedtime, and wearing jaunty hats.

You’re a sweet little guy, and I hope the American public school system doesn’t squash that out of you. In the meantime, we still have a good chunk of summer left, and I’m going to hug and kiss and squash you in the most loving way I can while you’ll still let me.

Love,

Mommy

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