Matthew Monday: My Talkative Boy

Last week Matthew had the croup which caused him to miss two days of school.  This is the second time he’s gotten it.  I posted on it some three years ago, here.  I’m not familiar with the croup, and this is what Wikipedia says:

Croup, also known as laryngotracheobronchitis, is a type of respiratory infection that is usually caused by a virus. The infection leads to swelling inside the trachea, which interferes with normal breathing and produces the classic symptoms of "barking" cough, stridor, and a hoarse voice Fever and runny nose may also be present. These symptoms may be mild, moderate, or severe. Often it starts or is worse at night.  It normally lasts one to two days.

Apparently Matthew is susceptible to it since he’s now gotten it twice in a few years.  When he woke up Thursday he was having trouble breathing, so my wife took him to the emergency room.  Wikipedia says more:

Croup is a relatively common condition that affects about 15% of children at some point. It most commonly occurs between 6 months and 5 years of age but may rarely be seen in children as old as fifteen. It is slightly more common in males than females. It occurs most often in autumn.

Well, he’s older than five and it’s not autumn.  It’s now five days, and it has not gone away, but then he’s not had fever or a runny nose.  He does get a burning sensation in his throat.

When he missed school and word got around his class that he had gone to the hospital, his classmates were all concerned.  One of the girls in his class called him to check on him and they were on the phone for 45 minutes!  Only to be interrupted because it was getting toward dinner time.  What a cute conversation.  He had the phone on speaker and I was in the next room and caught a few snippets.  (I wasn’t trying to listen, truly.)  But I did catch that she had prayed for him when she heard, which I found absolutely adorable.  I love the fact that he goes to Catholic school, and I can’t imagine that from another child in public school.  Matthew it seemed did most of the talking.  I guess the laryngitis did affect him when it comes to chattering.  He’s such a chatter box, but he’s got to learn in a conversation to let the girl say a few more things.  Then he pulled out his harmonica and started playing “a song he wrote.”  That was so funny.  He also took out his guitar (which he had gotten at Christmas) and played one of his choir songs for her.  I think he impressed her. 

Here’s a recent picture of Matthew in his choir robe with a few members of the children’s choir.  He’s the only boy in the children’s choir and feels perfectly comfortable with that.  

Looks like he may develop into quite a lady’s man.  ;)