Wiggly Piglet and Bouncy Tigger's Playpen

Mckayla started feeling sick on Saturday after Marcus got home. We decides to start the inhalers begote things got worse. She was very clingy to Auntie Jackie and great-aunt Pony during the day. Marcus was feeling better and hungry. He ate a bunch of food. Mckayla was flanked by Jackie and Jenni at the dinner table, and being fed. After their baths, Marcus was exhausted and went to bed immediately. Mckayla stayed up late again with great-aunt Pony. She was sad when she found out about the departure schedule. It’s Philippines, Hong Kong, then us.
The next morning, Mckayla completely forgot that great-aunt had already said goodbye and looked for her. She was feverish again with more cough and runny nose. I was barely able to keep her temperature down with acetaminophen and ibuprofen. Despite being sick, she was still very playful. She hung out with Jackie all day after Margaret, Leong, and LJ left. Marcus was still having diarrhea and very tired. He took two long maps during the day but didn’t eat much. I asked Jackie to gently remind her about our departure to avoid melt down when we leave, she ended up having a melt down right then. We ate dinner at home and had the kids bathed before heading to airport. It was mad chaos since it was end of CNY holiday for most people. We barely had enough time to get the kids to the potty before we boarded. Marcus was fine on the flight. He slept for eight hours out of eleven in Ted’s arms. Mckayla was uncomfortable and didn’t sleep much. I had to dose her twice since her temperature was climbing. When we landed, there was a long wait at the immigration. It took us more than two hours to get home. Once we got home, both kids were very happy. They missed their toys! Mckayla immediately ran to the kitchen to look for the fish until we reminded her that they were at the Browns. We unpacked while the kids played. Finally by ten, we got both kids bathed and in bed. We were all exhausted!

Marcus was still spiking fever up to 104 on Friday morning. He looked horrible and was very cranky. I took him back to the pedi office since I was told to do so if fever persists. Poor guy wasn’t eating at all and I was barely able to get any fluids down. He lost four pounds in five days. The pediatrician checked him out. After a quick physical exam, he recommender x-ray of his chest and abdomen. Marcus was pretty cooperative with the x-ray until they wanted to lift his arms up for the abdomen scan. He was weak and wanted to be held. After a short wait, we got result back. He had bowel obstruction with bilateral infiltration in his lungs. The pediatrician wants him admitted for further evaluation. My dad helped us out with the paperworks and we went sent to the pedi ward upstairs. Poor Marcus was so weak and sleeping the entire time in Ted’s arms. After admission, they inserted iv line in his tiny hand and took blood samples. It was hard watching him cry when they inserted the needle. He kept telling us he was in pain. He was even more tired after all crying and fell asleep again. While he mapped? I went home to pack up a few things for him and let Mckayla know what was going on. She was quite upset when I told her that he was ill and will have to stay at the hospital for now. Luckily, she loves hanging with family in Taiwan and didn’t mind too much that Ted and I were gone. After lunch with great-aunt Pony and grandma, she went to the park with auntie Margaret, uncle Leong, and LJ. Ted and swapped so he could get some rest. I held him the entire afternoon while Marcus napped with the IV line running. They switched him to IV Augmentin and added Ceftriaxone. They also gave lactobacillus and some anti-gas meds to help with his GI issue. The blood test result dane back and his cbc showed elevated lymphocytes. The chem 7 panel also showed that he was dehydrated. Pediatrician think the infection is probably viral, so he discontinued CeftriaxoneIn. In the afternoon, great-aunt Pony came by with aunties Jackie and Jenni to check on Marcus. He woke up for a bit and played with them. After they left, he continued with the bronchodilator treatment. He refused to cooperate and I had to hold him down while he screamed, cried, and kicked. He was exhausted after the treatment and went back to sleep again. By then, he fever finally broke. Then Ted came back worth uncle Jeff to relieve me. I went home to check in Mckayla and showed her pictures of Marcus as she requested. I quickly ate dinner then went back to the hospital so Ted could get dinner. Luckily, the hospital was only five minute walking distance away and we were able to go back and forth easily. Marcus slept the entire time I was gone and continued to sleep for a while until it was time for his next bronchodilator treatment. He fought again and cried through the whole treatment. By then, he was allowed some food and fluid intake. He refused water and noodle that my mom prepped for him but ate some bread we brought. Ted came back around nine to swap with me. When I came home, Mckayla had just got back too from dinner. She quickly said hi to me and went back to playing with grea-aunt and aunties and uncles. I showered quickly and went to bed to get some rest. While I was home, great-uncle came by the hospital to check in Marcus. At the time, Marcus was energized from all the sleep he had and feeling better. He was actively playing until almost eleven thirty before he went to bed. According to Ted, he slept well overnight. I went back to the hospital early next morning to relieve Ted. Marcus’ been very clingy with Ted and was upset to see him leave. But he was feeling much by then and I was able to distract him with games on the iPad. We watched a bit TV and he wanted to go for walk. We walked around the ward while he pushed his own IV pole. Then, we went back to his room. The attending doctor came by with the resident to check on Marcus. He looked much better and was fever free overnight. And he had some bowel movement by then, he was cleared to go home in the evening after he finishes his dose of antibiotics. We were so relieved with the news. The rest of the morning, I hung out with him and kept him entertained. Every time, the nurse came by for treatment or examination, Marcus tells her that he wanted to sleep. But he continued to play the entire morning until he finally went down at twelve thirty. He slept the entire afternoon until Ted came back to the hospital. While we waited for his last dose of IV antibiotics to complete, uncle Andre came by the hospital to check on him. And finally, we were able to all go home together. After we got back and had all bathed and cleaned up, Marcus was very happy and playful. He was also very hungry and wanted to eat again finally. Mckayla was so excited to see Marcus home too. We booked appointment to see his pediatrician on Monday for follow up. He’s to continue his Augmentin until he sees his pedi. He’s still having diarrhea (diaper rash, too) but fever free for over twenty four hours. But unfortunately, Mckayla started having fever and was not responding to acetaminophen. Her fever finally broke after another dose ibuprofen. She was very good with increasing her fluid intake in fear of going to the hospital like Marcus. I’m also sick with runny nose and cough. Our goal is to make sure Ted remains healthy so he could take care all of us. We will be getting in the plane today and hope everyone gets well soon.

Poor Marcus is really sick with fever as high as 104 overnight. He’s got severe runny nose and cough. We had lunch plan with Ted’s uncle but Marcus and I couldn’t go. I took him to see pediatrician instead. Because of the CNY holiday, most clinics were closed. Luckily, we were able to get an appointment at the hospital nearby. The pediatrician checked him out and swabbed his throat because of recent outbreak of influenza B virus. He’s got sinusitis with pretty severe sore throat and runny nose. He was given Augmentin for five days along with antihistamine and suppository for fever. Luckily the throat swab was negative for influenza B. Hopefully he will recover before our return flight on Saturday.

While giving her a bath tonight, I asked Mckayla what was her favorite part of our trip do far. Her answer was when Uncle Ajay comes over to visit. Then, the second part is when she sleeps with Jackie. After her bath, she went to uncle Ajay if he was spending the night. He told her that he was going home but invited her over to his place. She declined his offer and told him she’s sleeping with Jackie for one more night. Then, she went to Jackie and wanted to know why she can’t sleep in her room tomorrow. We told her great-aunt Pony was coming back from the Philippines along with Uncle Jeff, Auntie Jenni, and Uncle Kris. Her response was, “what about my dog in the Philippines?”.

Marcus is sick with cough, runny nose, and fever the past two days. To make things worse, he’s also been teething. He hasn’t eaten much the last two days. Finally, when I was flossing his teeth tonight, I was able to check his teething status. Half of the bottom left second is out. And the bottom right one is almost there, too. I couldn’t check the upper ones. Hopefully, we will be done with this last set soon!

Both kids are making themselves comfortable in Taiwan. They go between my parents’ and grandma’s apartments on their own with a little help. They are right next door to each other and the doors are not locked during the day. When she wants to eat apple, she goes to the maids and asks them to cut them for her. Then, when they’re done eating, both kids take their empty dishes and hand them over to the maids to wash. Yesterday, Mckayla woke up herself (she slept with Jackie). She left the room and went to hang out with great-grandma in the living room until grandma came to get her. The only danger is the stairs. The two units are connected via a smaller apartment upstairs. Both kids like going up there own there own which is quite dangerous. Marcus has been sleeping in our bed. He’s been sleeping in after we all got up. When he wakes up, he climbs out the bed himself, clutching his dogs in each arm, opens the bedroom door himself, then comes out to look for us.

We were walking on the street the other day. Ted pointed at the sign that read “love”. He asked Mckayla to say the letters. After she spelled out the word, Ted asked her to say the word. At first, she said she doesn’t know. Then, Ted asked her to make the sounds of each letter. Before they even finished, she shout out “love”. Maybe this is her first step to reading, not just a random guess.
Marcus is sick with cough and runny nose. He’d been cranky. Rejecting everyone, including me and Jackie. He’s back to being daddy’s boy. But when grandparents, uncle, and auntie were handing out red envelopes, he happily accepts them after greeting “gong xi” and “happy new year”. Ted was telling Jackie that Mckayla doesn’t really understand the concept of red envelopes. But he was so wrong! After getting her first envelope, she ran over to tell me she’s going to buy Jasmine costume for her fifth birthday. I told her she should save the money and use them wisely, like buying books. She rejected my idea and told me she’s got plenty books but doesn’t have any Jasmine costumes.

We have an ancestor shrine upstairs at my parents’ house in Taiwan. We started the CNY celebration with praying and offerings to ancestors yesterday. We told Mckayla about her great-grandpa and she should tell him that she’s back to visit her. Today, she took Marcus upstairs to pray. Here was her conversation with great-grandpa. “I’m Mckayla, do you remember me? Here’s Marcus. Marcus say hi. We came back to see you but you went to people heaven. Can you say hi to Fluffy and MeiMei in doggie heaven? Bye!”.

It’s been raining outside and most shops are closed today. We hung out at home in the morning until kids decided to wake up Jackie. Marcus wanted to go wake her up and play with her. Ted and I were heading out to the store to do some shopping, but Marcus decided to stay home with Jackie. It was nice to have just one kid with us especially that we were walking in the rain. We shopped for a bit until we got a text from Jackie that Marcus was looking for Ted. He left first while Mckayla and I stayed to try on the clothes. When we got home, Marcus was still happily playing with Jackie. We ate lunch at home then took a nice long nap. The CNY eve celebration started shortly. Then we had our dinner at home. Both kids been having great appetite. They ate a bunch of food and played with great-uncle Hong Wen and Uncle Ajay until Marcus got tired. He wanted to sleep. After he went to bed, Mckayla was allowed to stay up a bit. Then, it was time for her to go to sleep too. She complained for a bit then told me she was having lots of fun in Taiwan. I reminded her she needs to rest so she could have energy to play tomorrow. The celebration continues today until midnight. Hopefully we won’t get too much firework noise tonight.