Dear Callum,

My poor little boy.  It happened a little later than in past years due to the long winter, but the tree pollen has hit you square in the face.  I won’t post a picture here, because I have so many adorable pictures of you that I’d rather use to remember this month.  It’s a pretty sad sight to see your sweet blue eyes all red and puffy.  A couple of mornings ago you woke up and said, “My poor little eyes!”

You absolutely love playing outside, but I’ve been trying to limit your outdoor time to reduce your allergen exposure.  Sometimes we can’t avoid it—our schedule has been crazy busy lately, and you have no choice but to go to Tobin’s baseball games on Mondays while your dad and Miles are at Let Me Run.  You don’t mind a bit; you love scrambling around on the bleachers and getting snacks from the concession stand and rolling around on the grass.  We’ve had some beautiful nights, too, so the temptation is great.  Last night was so rough, though.  You were up from midnight to one a.m. crying and rubbing your eyes and scratching your legs. I finally gave you Benadryl on top of the Claritin you were already on, which might not have done much more in terms of physical relief, but at least it knocked you out.  You were still restless in the remaining hours of the night, but not like that hour.

We’ve tried all the basic tactics:  baths every night to get the pollen off you, keeping the windows shut, antihistamines and hydrocortisone, frequent washing of the sheets.  So far the only thing that really works is waiting for the passage of time.  We have an appointment at the pediatrician’s on Friday.  I don’t know if that will result in a referral to an allergist or what.  From what I understand, allergy shots are the most effective treatment, but you won’t be eligible for those until you’re five or six anyway.

Tonight would normally have been a night at the ballpark for you, but we changed the plan so I could keep you inside.  We made popcorn and watched Emmett Otter’s Jugband Christmas.  I just didn’t want to risk another night like last night.  We had fun.  You’re in the bathtub now, which is one of your favorite places to be.  Normally we don’t require nightly baths, but we do them during allergy season to get the pollen out of your hair before bed.  You have no complaints about that.  You’d happily splash around in there for an hour if the water didn’t get cold.

Photo by Gary Clarke

You love water in all forms.  You really, really enjoy playing at the bathroom and kitchen sinks, which often results in a big mess.  You like to whip out your mad scientist skills and mix up really gross and wasteful soap, water, and toothpaste concoctions.  You seem to reserve those sessions for when I’m in the shower and can’t monitor you as closely.  I bought the big boys a new tube of toothpaste that I’ve hidden from you on a high shelf.  I don’t want them blaming you if they can’t brush their teeth and need a bunch of fillings.

You also have been really into shapes.  There’s a video series you’ve been watching lately that talks about all kinds of different shapes, and you’re good at naming them and knowing how many sides each one has.  You love cinnamon toast (and often help make it), and every time you have it for breakfast I ask you if you want triangles or rectangles.  You’re about fifty-fifty between the two shapes, maybe with a slice preference for triangles, except for the time you asked for a rhombus.  You like pentagons and hexagons quite a bit too, but fortunately you haven’t demanded anything with sides greater than four in toast form.

Itchy eyes aside, you really are a sweet-natured and fun little boy.  Today Miles had a school event, a poster session of sorts where we visited his classroom and he and his classmates talked about the different U.S. states they’d been studying.  Many kids (including Miles) chose to bring in foods representative of their states, and boy did those fourth graders have fun filling you up with treats.  You had Chicago-mix popcorn, Ohio buckeyes, Pennsylvania Hershey kisses, fudge from somewhere I can’t remember, Florida orange juice, a perfunctory bite of a Washington apple, and probably more that they sneaked to you when I wasn’t looking.  You were pretty crazy for about an hour after that.  I’m glad it was at 2:30 p.m. and not bedtime.  It would have taken a double dose of Benadryl to bring you down from that.  (I personally enjoyed the New York cheesecake.)

Photo by Denny

Your current favorites:  making shapes with the magnet toys, discussing (but not attempting) the potty topic, pushing the little cart around Trader Joe’s, helping me in the garden (predictably, the watering is your favorite part), helping with cooking projects, and spray bottles of all kinds.  I’ve had to replace almost-empty beauty products with water to make them safe for you to spray on yourself, because your eyes are irritated enough without getting hairspray in them.

May is the cruelest month for you, my sweetheart, but I know we can get through it.  Maybe a couple of good rainstorms will knock out some of the pollen and you can play outside again without paying such a hefty price.

Let’s hope you have a good sleep tonight.

Love,

Mommy