Well we've had an interesting few days.

Good news: Thursday and Friday, Alan and I both had fall break.

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Bad news: We spend it at the hospital.

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Wednesday, Coopie had a runny nose, and that evening, he started coughing a bit. Thursday morning, he woke up breathing pretty hard and was very lethargic. He spent the first several hours of the morning clinging to me and alternately crying and sleeping. So we went to the doctor around 11am.

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The doctor agreed that his breathing was labored, so Coopie had a breathing treatment (albuterol in a nebulizer) there in the office. And then the doctor thought we needed to sit someplace and be observed, maybe have another breathing treatment or two, get some oral steroids to open up Coop's lungs. So he sent us up to the emergency room to hang out.

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The breathing treatments helped--he was breathing easier and his lungs sounded better. But the er doc was still concerned that he was breathing fairly rapidly and his heart rate was elevated.

He thought we should go ahead and spend the night, so we checked into the Pediatric ward. The major bright spot of the entire two days was this Little Tykes coupe on the Pediatric ward (and the fact that there weren't other kids there, so we didn't have to share):
Cooper loved it like I have never seen him love another toy. We have a teeny version of that car, so his eyes just lit up when the nurse brought out the life-size version:

We spent hours walking up and down the hallway either pushing Cooper in the car, or chasing him as he pushed it himself. We had dinner in the car. We got breathing treatments in the car. It was actually a really good way to entertain him and keep him semi-calm and relaxed.

The kid-sized hospital gown, complete with backside opening:

(He didn't really have to wear this. It was too cute, though, so I made him put it on so I could take a picture.)

Family photo. One of us doesn't look too happy...

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We stayed in the hospital Thursday night, saw our doctor again Friday morning, and stayed all day Friday for more observation and breathing treatments. We sprung free Friday night.

And Cooper sobbed when we left the car.

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The final verdict is an asthma-like reaction to a cold. So we're continuing the breathing treatments here at home, along with an oral steriod to keep his chest opened up. (So much for his Major Toddler League baseball career.) And we're to "restrict his activities, as much as he'll allow." Ha.
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Cooper did enjoy playing with a stethoscope, which is good because many, many people listened to his heartrate and lung sounds. Here, Cooper shows how it's done.

Notes:

* At one point, he says that "Dr. Hughes listened to heart," just in case you can't understand him around the pacifier.

* His toe is glowing orange because there's a pulse-ox monitor on it.

* Cooper's sad to be home because the unlimited-access pacifier is now once again restricted to sleep-time.