Rest & Recuperation, March 2009

Following his stay at the hospital, Little Nio is back at home making sure he hasn't lost his skills on the drum kit.



He misses all his stuffed toy friends and climbs into their midst for a quick bottle of milk formula to get his spirits back up.





Another toy set we got for Little Nio before he went to the hospital was a tool box. He is always trying to open up and play with his Daddy's toolbox, so it was decided that he should simply have one of his own.





Here's Little Nio having a go with a power drill. It really is a working toy drill that rotates ever so gently at a very low speed. It can turn both clockwise and counter-clockwise and with several attachments that will allow bolts and screws to be fixed (or removed) from the work surface.



After playing with his toy tools, Little Nio settles in for a power nap. Still fitful with periods of coughing, but all in all a very long much needed sleep.



Here he is after taking a nice refreshing bath. All snuggled into bed with several of his Bearista Bears, again with a bottle of milk formula. He's well on his way to complete recovery with the only the problem of getting him to drink his medicines still to be resolved.

Hospitalized, March 2009

Following a regularly scheduled vaccination, our Little Nio caught a nasty throat bug. And because of his lowered resistance, what should have been a little cold became a terrible bronchial infection. I suspect it was something that I brought home from the office as several of the folks I work with had the same bad dry cough.

Little Nio had to be admitted late Wednesday evening to Vichaiyut Hospital, where he had to be given oxygen with adrenaline, hooked up to an intravenous drip and given a couple of injections to lessen the swelling around his throat. This threatened to close up his wind pipe and suffocate him. Fortunately, we arrived at the hospital well before that became a real danger and the doctor was able to get him stabilized right away.



Here we are in the morning after our first night. More than a little bit exhausted from the lack of sleep and the scheduled medicine doses in the middle of the night. Little Nio though doesn't look too roughed up.



Little Nio is unfazed by the injections, but he hates the medicine syrups being given to him with a syringe squirted into his mouth. It takes a team of four nurses, plus his Mommy and Daddy to hold him securely and attempt to get some medicine into him. It doesn't really work. We are able to get about 20% of the dosage in him, but all the rest gets squirted back out and sometimes it is accompanied by an eruption of vomit that he somehow manages to conjure out of no where.



Here's Little Nio sitting quietly, enjoying our view down to the Samsen train station.



Later that same evening, he is able to sleep for several hours while still hooked up to a drip. The next day we try taking off the intravenous feed and attempt some solid foods. Instead of cooperating, he wanders around and explores the nurses station.





There's a garden deck three floor down with a waterfall and a pocket garden. There's even a meandering fish pond with several elusive carp fish hiding as we pass.



Little Nio is able to stretch his legs and walk around to get a bit of sunshine. He is even able to stop and visit at a small spirit house.





We bring his toy car to the hospital to lift his spirits and hope he will like being walked around in it slowly. Instead he gets on his care without a care in the world and speeds around the hospital corridors at break neck speed. Hard to believe that he is still sick.











Later that afternoon, Little Nio finds a toy tricycle that belongs to the Pediatric Ward. After spending time terrorizing the nurses and racing with them down the corridors he says goodbye as his nurse friends end their shift to go home.





Friday evening finds him back in his bed with his Mommy sitting with him making sure he gets enough milk formula.



The next morning, after a poorly eaten lunch the day before and a non-existent dinner, followed by a pathetic attempt at breakfast, we decide that Little Nio needs to get hooked back on to the intravenous drip.





This is a view of Little Nio's hospital room, Room 1927. The room is in a shade of pale green, but all the bed linen and hospital gowns are in pink because that's the color of the hospital.



Little Nio sitting by the window with his Mommy, watching something on the television. His stuffed toy teddy bear in sheep's clothing Bearista Bear is watching with them.





We have better luck at lunch time when he digs into a bowl of noodles with tremendous gusto. Definitely a good sign that his appetite is back and we can remove the intravenous feed. Little Nio gets discharged shortly after that and we go home in the late afternoon of Saturday.

Artistic Expression, March 2009

We have always tried to encourage Little Nio to express himself. Self-expression is only one of the many ways a child will learn about himself and develop the independence to become an individual.



Here's Little Nio at a little table we set up on the floor of the computer room. It looks like he's got a difficult checklist in front of him, but it's really just recycled paper and a non-toxic felt pen that's nearly out of ink.





Doesn't matter to him that there's not much ink in the pen, but he takes to the task of scribbling and doodling with utmost concentration. From the looks of things here, he favors his right hand for writing. We should consciously try to allow him the opportunity to write with either hand, whether he becomes ambidextrous or not.



Another inexpensive toy we bought our son was a miniature drum set. It helps him work off some of that extra energy all baby's have, gives him some serious exercise and it also allows him to express himself musically.





Well at least the intention was to help encourage the musical side of his talents, but for now he just raises one heck of a racket. Maybe the drumset wasn't a very good idea in the first place.



That's something we will have to get the opinion of our neighbors about.

Happy Second Birthday, February 2009

Unfortunately, we don't have photographs of our birthday dinner together... just the two of us, Little Nio and his Daddy. His Mommy had gone out to the temple to make merit and give some special offerings, but wasn't able to join us in time for dinner because of the traffic.

Little Nio and I were able to enjoy a great spaghetti dinner together at S&P Restaurant at Central Lad Phrao. We also had some chicken wings and shared a big chocolate milkshake.

My wife, Kanittha, joined us after dinner and we all went shopping for more birthday gifts. We got him some clothes, a life vest for when he goes swimming, a little musical caboose and a combination xylophone and piano.



Here he is back at home, already playing with his birthday gift even if it's still in the box. Actually he was already playing with in the car... banging on the keys all the way home.



Finally unpacked.



Little Nio up on his high chair with his piano-xylophone combination birthday gift toy.



We also bought Little Nio an ice cream cake from Swensen's for his birthday.





Here he is enjoying the ice cream cake, and the chocolate dipped candied cherries on top.



With his Mommy on one side, his birthday cake in front of him, and his aunt, Pa Kut on the other side.



A very generous and giving boy, here's Little Nio sharing some of the cherries on his cake with his Mommy.



A quick shot of the reusable decorative canopy we set up over our dining table. With the environment in mind, it doesn't hurt to have party decor as a "renewable resource". Too bad that his aunt and Mommy forgot to blow up some balloons for him. Better luck next year, son, maybe your Mom will remember by then.





More cake eating for Little Nio. It's a 2-pound cake, so you are bound to see a lot of it featured in this blog.





After the birthday cake, all cleaned up and ready to start banging away at the keyboards again.





Little Nio takes his musical act to our family room on the second floor. You can see here that he plays with a lot of energy and much gusto. He's a natural performer.







Slowing the set down a bit, Little Nio plays some mellow tunes that involve a slightly less frenzied banging on the keys.





Taking a load off his tiny feet, Little Nio plops himself down on the sofa, but continues to tap away his music on his brand new piano-xylophone birthday gift toy.

It's anyone's guess how long the toy will last. I give it a month at the very most, but it will be all worthwhile if it kindles in his heart a passion and a penchant for music. One can only hope that this early introduction will lead to the development of a talent.