Connor did not have any more rashes or issues this morning, but since the rash was a mystery, we had previously cancelled our gathering with friends.  With a free day, we decided to check out a neighborhood hiking area.  It was a sunny day but quite chilly, so we bundled up.  The park was a nice and real hiking place, but maybe a bit too much for little kids.  The trail we took was basically all hills.  After just a couple of stretches, the boys started complaining and wanting to have snacks.  We allowed them to take a couple of power snacks on the way, and we finally decided to loop back.  We probably hiked less than 0.5 mile, but the hills did add up to be a good workout for the boys.  We had a picnic lunch at the base before we went home.

    This afternoon I needed to pick up something at a local store, so we decided to have the boys get on their bikes to go together.  Logan did better today, less hesitant.  They both wanted to be the line leader so Connor led the way to the store, and Logan led on the way back.  We took a detour to the local school for a short play at the playground before riding back too.  They rode for quite a long time today, and Stuart and I did a long fast walk chasing them too.

     Connor is always the affectionate one.  He often says “I love you” to all of us.  When we reply the same to him, he sometimes would ask “why do you love me?”.  He just likes to hear the explanation.

      Last week, Stuart saw a rock in Connor’s cubbie at school, so he asked him why it was there.  Connor said “Gau Gau likes rock” and he wanted to give it to Logan.  When he handed it to Logan in the cafeteria, Logan was happy to receive it.  Yesterday Connor and I were talking and he mentioned how he loves everyone in the family.  By the time I asked about Logan, Connor said with a matter of fact tone “I gave him a rock”.  I did not understand initially, then he clarified “I love Gau Gau”.

     Tonight when we got out of the bath, I took Connor out first and Logan asked for daddy.  Connor helped calling out for Stuart for Logan as we walked to his room.  Connor told me “I helped Gau Gau get Daddy”, so I expressed that it was nice of him to help out.  Then Connor added proudly “I am a good brother”.

     Yesterday at 9am I received a call from school reporting Connor had a blister on his foot, then again at 10 something suggesting that his foot was still bothering him.  The teacher also recommended I pay him a visit.  So during their lunchtime I came prepared with bandage and ointment to see Connor.  He was so happy to see me and just kept smiling at me.  The teacher reported that Connor complained of foot pain in the morning, so she opened up his socks to take a look.  One foot was red and had a blister looking thing on the sole side.  An hour later Connor still complained and did not want to participate in class activities as much, so the teacher checked his feet again.  This time the general redness had subsided but just a few big dots of redness on top remaining.  By the time when I was there, no more blister or big dots, but there were just a faint rash by his right ankle.  Connor had no complaints by then and was running around in the playground before lunch.  The rest of the day he was fine, the feet were completely back to normal.  I checked his body, head, mouth and hands after school, nothing was found.  He was happy as usual.

     This morning by 9am, Connor complained of foot pain again.  We removed his socks and saw some hives on both feet, top and bottom.  They did look like blisters which probably what the teacher saw yesterday.  It was bothering Connor quite a bit as they were itchy. We placed some hydrocortisone cream on the hives, and I decided to call the Advice Nurse.  The nurse thought that the rash was a reaction to something or a bite, and suggested us giving Connor some Benadryl to alleviate the itching.  After a big struggle, Connor took the medicine.  Before the medicine could kick in, Connor already had no more complaints.  The next time we looked at his feet, the rash had completely disappeared.  Connor was the usual happy boy with a big appetite.

    Connor slept through the night and woke up as usual.  He was doing fine, except for mentioning neck pain once.  He had good appetite and had a good portion for breakfast.  Both boys did not mind getting ready for school, and we left the house as usual.  They talked while we drove, but right when we were near the school, I suddenly heard a cough that sounded like choking.  I was at a stop, so I looked at Connor as he was the one who made the cough.  Then I saw all the breakfast and fluid coming back out from him.  Connor was so sad and started crying.  I asked him to hold still so I could pull over to somewhere safe.  His clothes were completely soaked.  There were nothing I could do to clean up, so I just drove to school and let Logan walk inside on his own.

    As I recalled, this was the first time Connor ever threw up in the car, but this was definitely a huge mess.  Connor was very good holding still as I had asked him to all the way home.  Stuart had to clean up his car seat while I took care of Connor.  He was still very sad and kept asking me to take off his dirty clothes.  After the quick bath, he was better.  As I was off today, I kept Connor with me.  I tried to observe him the entire day.  He ate light snacks a few times today along with a small lunch.  He went with me to do some shopping, and he played with trains and with my old camera while I did some exercise with our new video fitness game.  He had a normal bowel movement too.

    During the day, we talked about his routine at school and the friends he plays with.  By the end of the day, Connor was excited about school tomorrow.  I enjoyed today with Connor and I got another bonus day to nap with him.  I definitely have been quite rested during this holiday break, taking a nap almost every day these past two weeks.

     Connor had a yogurt with some persimmon for snack in the afternoon yesterday.  Before dinner, he started to complain that his tummy hurt.  Connor is not one who complains much, so we were a little bit worried.  At dinner, he did not eat as much and of course we did not push him either.  He started making some stinky gas by bedtime.  He woke up a couple of times complaining of bad dreams (ie. seeing monsters).  Later on, Connor had diarrhea.

     As a result, we did not go anywhere today in case he needed the bathroom.  But today Connor seemed fine, did not complain of tummy ache.  His appetite was reasonable but I tried to give him more bland food.  He was a bit gassy, but not the stinky kind, and he had one small loose bowel movement.  After dinner, he did say he had tummy ache, but this time we were not certain if he finally decided to say it to get some attention. 

    I am a bit sad that school is starting tomorrow.  It has been fun to be off with the boys these days.  Even when we ended up staying home all day, it was a pleasant day.

    We wanted to take it easy today, so we just hung out at a park in the morning.  Of course, we started with biking first to give the boys some exercise.  They made a huge loop around the park.  By then it was already lunchtime as we left the house so late, so we had a picnic lunch before the kids played at the structures.  The boys are obsessed with being chased at the playground lately, so today they enlisted a mother who chased them along with her own son.  They kept calling her the “sand monster”.  Her son was sad when their game came to an end.  Before we left, we decided to play with the speedminton for a bit as the boys wanted to watch us.  Logan took some pictures while they enjoyed our game.

    We taught Logan how to play Blokus this afternoon, and he got the hang of it but just needed to learn strategy.  Connor was sad that he was not playing, so later he and I pulled out some younger games for us to play too.