Hot Cocoa and coffee

Blizzard 2010

The taste of snow

15 months

Words are bubbling up: fishes, eyes, hello, this, bye-bye, yucky, kitty, draw, and ouch. Japanese words too: oishi (yummy), unchi (poop), okaeri (welcome home), and ocha (tea). She shakes her head no, and nods her head yes. She roars like a lion, barks like a dog, hums and sings her own sweet songs. She likes to wear hats and beads and other peoples shoes.

Cat sitting

This is Squid. He is our neighbor. We are taking care of him while his people are away for the holidays. Uta believes he is a master ninja in disguise. Every day he instructs Uta on secret ninja ways. And I get to change his litter box.

Little tree

It has become a Christmas tradition for Uta to pick out our tree from a stand a few blocks away and carry it home himself. This year he had a little unwanted help decorating. Kiki preferred taking ornaments off the tree just as soon as Uta put them on. But in the end the tree looked lovely, full of origami stars and cranes, paper chains, and sparkling white lights.

Bad luck flu

Uta was back to school for four days before he got sick again. Five solid days of alarmingly high fever, throwing up, and body aches. It was scary, having just gotten over pneumonia, to see him so ill again. I brought him to the doctor on day one thinking it was a relapse and certain we were heading back to the hospital. And though there was some head scratching and quizzical looks at the boy, the diagnosis was flu, and some seriously bad luck. On day four the doctor still said bad luck flu. And though it is unbearably frustrating for Uta to go through, he will get better. Uta checks out OK, he's a normal healthy kid who has just been hit hard, twice, back to back.

And now Kizuki is sick. Its just a cold. But she's not happy about it. Coughing makes her furious.

Cheers!

This week Kizuki mastered the cup. Well, sort of. She can manage a few sips beautifully, but pretty quickly she gets cocky and pours the whole thing directly into her lap. She then resorts to finger slurping, proud as punch of her own ingenuity.

Community

Karate is much more than an after school class for Uta, it is a second home. When he is there he shines. Since he began training at the dojo a year ago, his confidence has grown in leaps. He has found his own voice, and is sincerely proud of all he has accomplished. I never thought I'd be a fan of Karate, but Uta's teacher makes trying your best and caring for others core principles of his teaching. He manages to keep a serious atmosphere in class, but not without joy and good humor. It is an impressive balance. Uta takes it all to heart.

Yesterday was the annual holiday party at the dojo. For Uta it was a homecoming. He hasn't been to class in three weeks! It was good to be back.

Back to normal

Perhaps Uta thought his recovery would be instantaneous, just sign the hospital release forms and walk out the door feeling just like your old self. Not so. Getting back to normal is an uphill climb. And its frustrating! Uta has to build up his strength. He's tired and still coughing and pretty much overwhelmed by his old routine. But he's eating again, and eating with gusto. So he'll make a comeback. His body knows what to do. It is his mind that is the current challenge. All the sweet cards and well wishing has been a true help. There is nothing better than feeling loved. And if there is one thing that has come from all this craziness, it is proof positive of just that. Uta is a very loved kid. And now he knows it. Thanks everyone!

Pop in Miami

With all that has been going on it is hard to believe that Papa has not been around for it. But for the last ten days he has been in Miami. He would have come back in a flash had it been necessary. But fortunately I had an amazing support team that didn't hesitate to help me out. Grandma and Grandpa gave up a lot of sleep and alternated nights at the hospital with Uta. I stayed home with Kizuki  and spared her the trauma of a sudden separation. In their company Uta didn't mind my leaving in the least. During the days we were all together. I owe Grandma and Grandpa a big Thank You. But some how the words don't feel sufficient.

Pop will be home tomorrow. We can't wait to be all together again. It feels like a lifetime.

Note

The little dog in my previous post is Hudson. He's a hospital volunteer. He came to visit Uta during his stay. He loves veggies. Uta got to feed him a tiny piece of asparagus and a green bean. Kizuki was there too. She offered him her banana. His handler said that would be a very special treat for Hudson. So we broke off a piece and let him gobble it off of Kiki's open palm.

The good news

The good news is Uta is doing a lot better. The bad news is that before he got better, he got a lot worse. On Thursday night I could hardly recognize the boy in Uta's bed. After five days on antibiotics, his fever came back with a vengeance and his breathing became alarmingly labored. He could hardly lift his head from his pillow and the sparkle in his eyes completely disappeared. We took him to the ER. After x-rays and evaluation they decided he needed to stay. Twelve days of fever had him completely dehydrated. His blood oxygen levels were too low and his heart rate was too high. Apparently the Pneumonia rattling Uta's lungs was resistant to amoxicillin. All that pink nasty liquid he was choking down twice a day was having no effect. The doctors concocted a much stronger cocktail of drugs, administered by mouth as well as by IV drip. Four days later Uta is back. He lost ten pounds and all those strong karate muscles. But he's smiling and moonwalking just the same.

Get Well Soon!!!

Being sick is no fun. Well, it was a little fun at first, Uta said. He liked being allowed to watch movie after movie in bed and have unlimited sports drinks and ice pops. But the thrill has worn off and now Uta is sick of being sick. It has been ten days after all! Who wouldn't be? When I asked him if he would like to try eating some apple sauce, he said he'd like to try to kick me out the window. And when the wind rattled our front door, he glared, and very sternly asked, "Who dares to knock on a sick man's door?" He's mad. But also a little bit funny. So its a hopeful sign. He wasn't making jokes, even evil ones, a couple days ago. I think he's getting better.

A silver lining in all this was a care package that arrived from school yesterday. All sixteen of his classmates wrote get well cards for Uta. They were all so sweet. They truly made Uta feel better. His  teacher says Uta is genuinely missed by all, the class just doesn't feel the same without him. Uta said he didn't know everyone cared about him. He read the cards over and over again with a big smile on his face. Then we hung them above his bed.