Projectile from top bunk (a.k.a. Revenge of the Rotavirus!)

It's just past midnight, the whole house is sleeping... and then the sound of whimpering... which soon turned into crying... the kind you know you're going to have to will yourself out of bed for (sigh...roll over...sigh again... stretch...). Michael (as usual) was the one who got up to investigate -- and what a sight met his eyes!

Kenna, who hadn't felt very well when going to bed, had just spewed her spaghetti.

(Disclaimer: don't read further if you don't want the details)

Now, this was not any normal upchucking episode! Kenna knew it would not be good to throw up in her bed, so she decided to lean over the side instead. Only problem? She sleeps on the top bunk. Yeah... so there was twice-stirred tomato sauce dripping from the wood railings, spots on the bed, spew sprayed all over the walls, closet doors, dressers (it bounced off of everything and splattered everything), chunks of chuck all over the toys (of course we hadn't picked up the room on that particular night and nearly every toy in the house was on the floor in that room!), vile-smelling vomit oozing into every crack of the alphabet-puzzle foamies that covered the whole floor... yes, that'll do, you say!

And thus began the "Revenge of the Rotavirus" that attacked the youngest 3 kids for almost the whole next month.

Not only did the rotavirus bring on puking every 10 minutes or less for several hours in a row, the severe diarrhea that was also part of the fun made us go through several packages of diapers. Even Kenna had to wear diapers for a couple days because it was so impossible to control!

Anaya and Nathan just laid like rag dolls on the couch -- so out of it. They had to be on a BRAT (bananas, rice, apples, toast -- and that was it!) diet for 2 weeks -- poor kids -- it was torture for them to watch us eat other foods, so we all went on the brat diet for a bit. We had to force-squirt rehydration drinks down their mouth. Many kids in our area had to be hospitalized, but we managed to just avoid that.

After rotavirus, we went through hand-foot-mouth with the kids (Elise's class closed down for 10 days!), then finished off the sick season with bronchitus.

Bring on summer vacation! (Please?)

Diving from the top bunk

Yes, at just 16 months of age, Nathan mastered the art of climbing to the top bunk. Yay.

We tried to keep close tabs on him, but of course one evening he managed to sneak up there and we didn't know it till we heard the big THUD! Right onto the back of his head/neck (so says Kenna, who was 'playing' with him and apparently watching... yes, Kenna, thanks for watching...). He was in quite a bit of pain, not acting normal, eyes were a bit roll-aroundy, and he went right to sleep 2 minutes later and did NOT want to be woken up -- so we decided we'd better load everyone up in the van (kids all in pj's)and make a trip to the emergency room.

You feel like great parents when you turn up at the ER and try to explain just how it was that your one-year-old fell off the top of a bunk bed.

Anyhow, everything was ok, Nathan started to perk up and return to his normal self, even cracking a few smiles, they sent us back home -- and didn't charge us anything! Nice!! Love healthcare in Taiwan! :-)