Multiparenting Cayen & Cayson

Due to the cold weather, Cayson has started to have runny nose. As he's too young for medicine, I wanted to try this natural remedy I saw online - Wrapping feet with onions.  http://www.enlightenplanet.com/2017/02/attaching-sliced-onion-to-your-foot.html?m=1 As I was discussing this with Da, my helper told me that they also do that in Philippines , and that can also help to relieve leg pain. In fact , one can put garlic near the head too. Anyway, I decided to try the onion first. So here's what we did.  After 3 days of occasional runny nose ..  Night 4 : no aircon and stuff half an onion into the socks he's wearing Day 5: no runny nose or sniffles  Night 5: no aircon and stuff half an onion into the socks he's wearing  Day 6: no runny nose or sniffles  Ok, two nights are not quite statistically significant evidence that onions work but at least I have one more trick up my sleeves when confronted with flus. Apparently this works for adults too. Try it and le...

As Cayen's cough didn't improve despite the four weeks of Chinese medicine (there was one juncture it almost disappeared but it came back the last minute), my mum suggested to track down this PD I used to see when I had a persistent cough when I was a kid. Miraculously we found that the clinic is still there, and the PD still surviving after thirty odd years ...so so we went. We described all his symptoms and received the diagnosis that this didn't look like an infection but an allergy and it looks like it could be triggered by persistent exposure to air con (oops, guilty) , and perhaps dust / other allergens (possible .. cox he used to have eczema / allergy to milk when very young) .. Hence, we were advised to wean him off aircon (this is going to be real challenge as he can't really take high or even moderate room temperature very well). Finally, he ended the session by showing us how to "slap" the phlegm out of the system using cupped hands on the back...

Cayen has been sick since Wednesday. It all started weird on Wednesday when I saw that he couldn't finish his favourite Kaya bread and was a little listless on his way to school.  By noon, teacher has called to say he's running a fever. So we brought him home to rest. All seemed well till the next morning when he woke up all red and burning. My parents quickly brought him to the PD when he was given some medicine to bring down the high fever of 39 degrees. Because he was so sick, he was allowed to watch his favourite cartoons on Nic Junior during his waking hours. And his energy level oscillated wildly within every four hour slot. He would be his normal self half an hour after each medication, and back to being weak and irritable half an hour before time of the next medication. And strangely, he started to deplore taking medicine and resisted all attempts to put any cold cloth or cooling patch on his forehead. Hence, his fever couldn't come down.  By Friday morni...

Cayen has had a persistent cough and phlegm for very long. Despite taking around 2-3 bottles of the western medicine, it didn't get better. And at night  during that period, he kept asking for extra serving of milk , which only made the phlegm worse, as he sometimes may puke the next morning.  So last month, we stopped all extra milk servings and Western medicine and switched to simply drinking pear and Chuan Bei soup every other day. The cough actually subsided to a big extent and he was no longer coughing so often. But the phelgm remains as we could hear from the occasional cough.  As such, we decided to bring him to this Chinese Tuina (massage) for kids that was supposed to be very effective. First, we took a number to see a Chinese physician and she advised against eating "cooling foods" like oranges, watermelon and mango. No bird nest too. Then massage was prescribed for three days.  Unfortunately, what we didn't expect was that Cayen was completely adverse to a...

He missed his first party in school on Tuesday as he was running a low grade fever. Pity , for he loves parties and I had hoped that will help in his liking for the class. Yesterday, he was sent home after a few hours as the fever had resumed though he still had a big appetite for lunch and dinner and was still very energetic at home. Heard from the teacher that he was in a good mood and even did some writing together (though he's still not so chummy with the Chinese teacher). Also, he had some minor nosebleed after he sneezed. He must be quite heaty. We guessed he might be teething as the incisors have now emerged.  Yesterday, he slept at 10.10am. It should be a relatively good day today. Fingers crossed.  Random picture of water writing - no need to clean up 

In the day time, he was still ok. No flu, no cough .. Though there was the occasional (1-2 times in the entire day) cough that sounded more like a choke. That happened during his nap as well. He kinda had a cough and he woke up. It didn't seem serious so we reckoned a trip to the doctor the next day would be fine.  By night, as he was about to go to bed, things still seemed ok. However, at 2am, he seemed to have difficulty breathing and was crying uncontrollably. There was a barking / seal like sound that he was making and that was quite new to us. After half an hour of unstoppable crying, we decided to send him to KK hospital, kids A & E.  When we arrived, I was quite surprised it was almost full house. Although we have read "Dora goes to the doctor" a thousand times, Cayen was still quite rather hysterical when the nurse tried to use the stethoscope on him. To be fair, he was wailing profusely already so a stranger trying to get him to open his mouth and p...

Poor boy had a bout of stomach virus last night . Puked a total of three times throughout the night and had a bit of a recurring stomachache. Learning: must have probiotics, anti vomit medicine at home as standby . Thankfully , by evening today he was his usual chirpy self again. And he surprised me with his rendition of this song (I rarely sing this to start with). YouTube Video