You may hear me cough, or growl or bark – a lot.

My mom is super hyper about my health (and will be super sensitive to yours as well)and she is also mom to my three older siblings and two pets, which only means she’s really good at knowing when things require a code red alarm, a Doc McStuffin’s band-aid or simply a kiss.  Since I am big and strong enough to come to this school with you, it means I stay healthy a lot longer between illnesses and can safely run and tumble now!  If I do catch a cold, you may see me use a machine called a nebulizer – it’s sort of loud, but it’s just a fancy way to help me breath easier.

My cough could be from pretty much anything.

A bad swallow, a bad inhale or exhale, drinking my milk too fast or just holding myself wrong.  It feels like anything can cause my body to react by coughing hard.  My cough comes and goes and is not an indicator that I am sick.  Good thing my parents know the difference between a good cough and a bad one – and believe me – the bad coughs always keep me at home.

My cough is loud – super loud – and sounds a lot like Croup (but is indeed NOT a croup infection).

My pipes are not very strong or firm and they do not naturally use proper motion, so when I cough the sound vibrates like a whoopee cushion.  This causes lots of sharp looks from Gritty Grannies or people who don’t know me, but I promise, you will get used to it very soon.  We may even have fun because I have learned to use and control my sound to play dinosaur, monster, cars or trucks (watch me above in the video).  I never mean to scare or startle you – so it’s perfectly ok to tell me to stop when we are playing.