Last night the little guy had a horrible night, sleeping restlessly and generally being miserable.  He had a fever and lots of thick mucus in his nose, preventing him from breathing well – this led to poor sleep and not eating.

In the morning, the decision was made to stay in the hotel most of the day, instead of venturing out into the city.  He had a fever most of the day, so it was what was best for him.  Fortunately we stayed at a nice hotel (Hotel Nikko Saigon), and the room is nice and big, with a king sized bed and wonderful views of the city.  If you are going to be stuck in a hotel room with a sick baby, this is the place to do it.

I was really excited to go to a few sites in Ho Chi Minh today, but when you are a parent, there are times when you need to drop the plans and so what is best for your little ones – so I changed my approach to how we would experience the city.  For example, when the little guy was sleeping, I got out our good camera and used the opportunity with the perfect light to take some “sleeping baby photos”.  When his fever broke and it seemed like he was feeling better, we walked around the mall attached to the hotel.  This gave him the chance to be social with all the shop employees, who seemed to like him as much as the people in Hong Kong.  

Then I was struck with a reality: we needed to buy dish soap to wash his bottles with.  I had no choice – you cannot reuse baby bottles without cleaning them, especially if the baby was sick.  So, we ventured out into the city for a 10 minute walk to the supermarket.

It was funny how this city is literally buzzing with mopeds as they zip around the streets.  More than one enterprising single driver stopped to ask if me and the little guy wanted a ride (surely for a fee).  The people at the food stands smiled and waved at the little guy, and he smiled back.  When we made it to the supermarket, the many people employed by the different brands in the aisles were eager to say hello (often loudly and right in his face), and he took it like a champ, again smiling and taking it all in.

Tomorrow we have plans to go to those same attractions that were canceled today – I look forward to it.  But I look forward to having a 100% healthy baby back even more.