What a Surprise! You got your door!

Dear Logan,

Did you like the little pumpkin that we left for you? We decorated it with the stickers that your brother got from his goody bag at school, and the rubber ducky and the spider ring were also from the goody bag. We were SO surprised to see your new door. I didn't get a phone call, or email, notifying us that it's ready. That's why when your brother visited you today, he couldn't find you! Then Daddy noticed that your new door has arrived. I was glad that it came right on time, and actually earlier than expected. However, it also sealed the deal. It solidifies the reality that you're really no longer here with us.

Today is Halloween, and we had such a fun, and busy day. But first off, before we came to see you, we went to get our flu shots. We spent the night down in Sunnyvale, just so that we could get up early and head to Kaiser for our flu shots. This is the only Kaiser in the area that opens on Saturday for flu shots from 9-4 p.m. We missed it last week, so we specifically planned to be there today. Your brother immediately recognized the hospital was where you stayed. He still remembered you were there and spoke about it. When Mommy tried to tell him the plan for the day, I usually liked to say, Number 1 ...... , Number 2......, Number 3..... Today, he said this himself, "No. 1 get shot, No. 2 see Logan, No. 3 bouncy house". Just because we're at the same hospital, that's why he put you as No. 2. Your brother never forgets about you. He still remembers you, but unfortunately, it seems likes his last memories of you were the visits at the hospital.

Mommy has been super busy with work and with the move. I actually haven't been too emotional lately when thinking about you. Trust me, I still miss you a lot, especially, when I see other babies that are around your age. The pain is still there, I am just too busy to feel it right now.


Miss you,
Mommy

Been a busy few weeks

Dear Logan,

I am so sorry Mommy hasn't been writing to you as often these days. The last couple weeks have been pretty busy. First of, we got the new house!! We signed all the papers, got the key, and actually started moving things in. Daddy has been diligently bringing stuff to the new house everyday. Mommy has actually been slacking off, and not really packing as much as Daddy. Unfortunately, I also got the cold or maybe flu, last week. Still not feeling 100%, but slowly recovering. I think I might get your brother sick too, but luckily, he seems to recover from the cold a lot faster that I do.

Last weekend was a busy weekend. We spent most of Saturday down at the new house. Remember I told you that when we came by? Your brother was so tired that day from the excitement of being in the new home, and being fascinated with the washer and dryer. He has actually never seen me do laundry, so he's excited to hear the beeping sounds, and see the lights and spinning. And because of all the new things, he was too excited to nap. Afterall, he's on Albuterol, which got him hyper. That's why by the time we came to see you, he was too exhausted and wasn't in the mood to sing and dance for you. After we move, we would be SO much closer to you. I am happy about that, and I could swing by to see you on my way to work, if time permits. When daylight savings is over, your place will only open from 8-5 p.m.

*waiting for Karoke and singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star*

Last Sunday, we went up to San Francisco Yerba Buena Gardens area for the Target Family Day event. We got free admission to the Zeum, but stayed there for less than an hour. They gave out hourly ticket, and we didn't want to wait in line to get another ticket to go in. At least he got to do Karaoke up at the top floor of the Zeum. Too bad I forgot to bring my camera! Your brother did have a lot of fun at the huge slide at the play area, and surprised Mommy by sliding down the tallest one without chickening out. Your brother usually wasn't that brave. But after sliding down once with Daddy, he's fearless!

We plan to do another yard sale this Saturday and try to get rid of our stuff. We have so much stuff that we don't need or want anymore. Just as I told you before, the stuff we couldn't sell, we'll just donate them. Mmm.... I wonder if I should bring my unwanted items back to The Arc, or just bring it to Goodwill. Need to check with work.

On Sunday, we're having a pumpkin carving party at Uncle Greg and Auntie Karen's house. I already got you a small pumpkin, and will bring that to you on Halloween day. Maybe I can try to do something special to it, so it's not just a plain, simple, mini pumpkin.

The next few weeks will be busy packing and unpacking. We're all very excited. Even your brother kept on saying "We won't be at 820 anymore. We'll be at 215" our old and new home street numbers). The look on his face when he went up to the second floor was priceless. He had his eyes, mouth and arms wide open. It was hilarious!

Mommy will keep you updated on our activities and the move.

Take care, honey.


Love you,
Mommy

Asthma again

Hi Honey,

Yesterday I noticed that your brother was coughing intermittently after he got home from school. I was a little concern that he might have caught a cold. I also saw his classmates almost all have a runny nose, too.

So of course, I gave him his routine asthma treatment: nasal spray and 3 puffs of Albuterol. He was fine until around 3:15 a.m. He started coughing on and off, for about an hour. I knew it's his asthma again. I gave him everything I could do to soothe his cough: 3 puffs of Albuterol, water, Chinese herbal cough syrup, and even open the kitchen door to the backyard for some cool (and very rainy) air. Nothing really worked, and of course, none of us slept well last night.

Coincidentally, today was the scheduled follow-up telephone appointment with the pediatrician. What great timing. I told him what happened last night, and told him that your brother was doing a lot better since 2 weeks ago, up until last night. Pediatrician prescribed another inhaler for your brother, Flovent (which is a steroid). He said to use that twice a day for two weeks. Pump up the Albuterol to every 4 hrs again for 1-2 days, continue with Claritin and nasal spray. He said he's fairly sure your brother has asthma. It seems like his asthma is not hyperactivity-induced, as he doesn't really cough too much when he was running around. It might be inflammatory-induced. It's very likely that Aidan did catch a cold, and that triggered the asthma again. Pediatrician said the Flovent, though is steroid, is actually a lower dosage even using it everyday during the flu season than the rigorous 5-day treatment needed in case his asthma gets worse. He also referred us to see an asthma specialist, to give us more information. I hate to see that your brother dependent on all these inhalers for the rest of his life. Pediatrician said that it could be a lot worse than asthma. I knew he was right, coz I immediately thought of you. What your brother has to go through is nothing compared to what you have gone through. I just have to continue keeping an eye on him, and be pro-active with his asthma treatment.

Let's hope your brother's asthma will get better, and he will outgrow that when he gets older.

On a happier note, we signed all the papers for the new house, paid the down payment, and will VERY soon become homeowners! We're expecting to get the keys by the end of the week. Then we can take your brother down to the new house, on our way down to visit you.

I hope your home is not flooded. We've been having a big rainstorm and it's not pretty. Luckily, we chose your home to be slightly uphill, and hopefully you won't get too wet.


Miss you,
Mommy

Melanie's 3rd Birthday Party

Dear Logan,

Last Saturday when we came to visit you, there were a lot of people! It was the first time I saw so many people close to where you are. I then found out that it was Korean Thanksgiving. Your place is right below the Korean section, and many visitors brought blankets, food, flowers, and just hung out like they're having a picnic. That gave me an idea that maybe for your birthday next month, we could bring some cupcakes, a picnic blanket and hung out there to celebrate. Hopefully by next month, our allergies would be a lot better. Coz even though we took our medication before visiting you, we could still feel our nose tingling and eyes watering.

After visiting you, we headed down to Bounce-a-Rama for Meli's birthday party. It was such a fun location. Your brother had so much fun bouncing and jumping, and sliding down the big Lightning McQueen structure. It was great that all the kids could just run around and do whatever they want, and not be confined in the party room the whole time.

When it was time to eat, we all headed up to the room for some yummy food. I was starving at that time, and probably ate a little too much. There were yummy chicken wings, corn dogs, chicken nuggets, many pizzas, and best of all, ice-cream cake! That Coldstone Ice-cream cake was sooo delicious! And yes, I had two slices. I just love how smooth the ice-cream was! Of course, your brother didn't finish up his food, and then started eating the ice-cream. Surprisingly, he didn't eat as much as I thought he would, esp. since it was pretty late for lunch (our standard) and he's been using up a lot of energy.

After food, we headed down again for more jumping and sliding. Auntie Leonor was kind enough to give me extra token cards for the arcade games outside. I was able to drag your brother out to the arcade area and spent some time there. He is no stranger to putting tokens in the slots, and pressing down buttons.

It was a super fun day. On our way back, we headed to Ranch 99 for some groceries. By the time we head back home, it was 4 p.m. already and your brother couldn't help but fall asleep in the car. Actually, Mommy fell asleep, too. I was still sleep when we arrived home, but your brother was awake and would not continue to nap. I think he only got maybe a 30-minute cat nap.


Love you,
Mommy

Day 4: Texas Trip - Time to go "Bye Bye"

Hi Logan,

The last day of our trip was an easy one. We woke up, went down for our free continental breakfast (which was a pretty good selection with a waffle maker), and then went back up to our hotel room to pack.

After we checked out of the hotel, we headed back to Granduncle Thomas and Grandaunt Cerina's house. Daddy printed out the online check-in confirmation, so that we didn't have to wait in line at the airport. We hung out with the other relatives, such as Grandma, Great Grandma, Grandaunts, and aunties. Most importantly, your brother was able to play with the piano and keyboard again, and of course the super cute little puppy, Oreo.

The flight back was fine. I continued to keep your brother busy with my Ipod Touch and Gameboy. Luckily, it was only a 3-hour flight. Grandpa came to pick us up and we were home in less than 10 mins.

It was a fun, but definitely tiring trip. I felt like we didn't get to do a lot of siteseeing or fun stuff. Next time we get to go back, we definitely have to do more toursity stuff.


Love,
Mommy

Day 3: Texas Trip - Downtown Dallas and Wedding!

Dear Logan,

Let me continue telling you about our trip. Oh, first of all, your brother is doing a lot better after all the treatment and medication. He's still coughing a little bit, but definitely no more continuously coughing. He's actually more used to the nasal chamber, and doesn't fight anymore.

So back to our trip. On the day of your Auntie Chandy's wedding, we spent the morning briefly exploring downtown Dallas with Auntie Katie and Uncle John. We headed to the grassy knoll where JFK was assassinated. Daddy and Uncle John have both been there, and it's Mommy's and Auntie Katie's first time. A little bit of history, a little bit of exploring. Downtown was pretty empty as it was a Saturday morning. We just walked around for a little while, then headed back to the hotel area for some lunch. Took us a while to find a restaurant, get settled and ate. We didn't want to go too far, as we had to head to the Church for the wedding pictures by 4 p.m. It left your brother very little time to nap. I think he only napped for 30 mins that day.

But since we're family, and your brother was the ring bearer, we had to get to the church 2 hours early. It was hard to keep your brother entertained while waiting for the real ceremony to start. Luckily, he got along very well with the flower girl, and they kept each other company. Your brother was playing with my camera, re-watching the clips taken from the Wiggly Playcenter over, and over, and over again. That's how I kept him happy for all the waiting time, and during the ceremony.

Aidan and the flower girl did an amazing job walking down the aisle. They listened to instructions, walked slowly, and did exactly what they're told to do. Besides, they looked super adorable! The ceremony was a pretty short one, so I was able to keep your brother happy by giving him the camera, and the Ipod Touch for him to watch movies. These same gadgets kept him happy at the wedding reception as well.

Aside from having dinner, and eating lots of M&Ms (wedding favors), there's really not much for your brother to do. He hung out with the kids a little bit, and exchanged gadgets to play. He shared his Ipod Touch, and the flower girl's brother shared his DS Lite. Kids these days! We had to leave right after we ate the cake, as it was getting late and your brother was getting tired.

At the end of the day, we're all super tired. I was glad your brother was able to go to bed pretty much soon after he got in, and wasn't kept up because of all the M&Ms that he has eaten.

To be continued...


Love,
Mommy