It's All About Expressing Yourself

Thanks, Dave and Beata for the GREAT big sister/little brother shirts! We love them!

We've been home a month, and a totally different adjustment phase has begun. We have a 26-month old who was at the physical level of a 16-month old when we got him but is rapidly playing catch-up. He weighs 26 pounds and wants to be carried around daily, climbs on everything but falls easily, and wants to speak but physically and culturally can't yet. He knows the signs we've taught him, but doesn't use them when the pain of hunger consumes him.

He loves the variety of toys, but doesn't yet understand that wooden spoons aren't for hitting, and the cat and dog tails are off limits. Meanwhile, Emily's performing chemistry experiments at the table with her dinner, which she learned from her brother. Can you say, "regression"? :) Our entire family dynamic has changed, and some days it's completely bewildering. It's a daily physical and emotional struggle for everyone, dealing with this little guy. But we love him deeply, and we just keep moving along.

Good news in the attachment department, though...a month later, David's finally showing strong signs of attachment to me. I managed to put him down for one nap since we got home last month, and I put him to bed the other night while Kevin had a work conference call to Korea in the kitchen. So Emily, David and I went to bed, and David stood in his crib for hugs and kisses, resting his cheek against mine. Then he finally lied down, grasped my hand with his tiny fingers, and fell fast asleep.

Cleft Surgery

No surgery date yet, since the Cleft team discovered a heart murmur during David's checkup. So we visited a Pediatric Cardiologist outside of town. David has 4 separate birth defects in his heart--Patent Formane Ovale (ASD, a hole that's slowly closing), Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD, another hole), Superior Vena Cava (SVC, blood flows the wrong way in a vein but hits the right chamber), and a heart murmur. Sounds awful, but the good news is, none of the above defects are life threatening, they just need yearly monitoring. So now we wait for a surgery date. Meanwhile, the little man has a double ear infection, which we think began in China. But, survivor that he is, he's doing well in spite of it.

Happy Birthday, Summer Rose!

Girlfriend Summer turned 3 this week, and had a Princess dress up party. And what a party it was! Take a look. Emily was in heaven, and when it was time for the Snow White game, Pass the Apple (when the music stops whoever is holding the apple falls asleep), Emily fell asleep...on the floor, and took the other princesses down with her. Too funny.

The Grand Princess Arrival


A Preening Princess

Michael Revisits

Friend Michael came to visit with his mommy Barb (my high school friend) to meet David for the first time and the kids just loved him. After watching one American Ballet Theatre video with Mommy, Emily decided she needed a dance partner, so here are Michael and Emily performing a Pas de Deux.

A sincere thanks to Barb for all the toys, gifts, videos, books, and food she sent down. It was sooo appreciated. We tore into the food greedily--Barb makes a wonderful sauce, good Italian that she is.

A Visit with the Shands Cleft Team

On Thursday of this week we had a 4-hour visit with the Cleft Palate team at Shands Childrens Hospital in Gainesville. We were seen by a Plastic surgeon, Dentist, Oral surgeon, Ear, Nose, and Throat doctor, Pediatrician, Geneticist, Speech Therapists, Audiologists, Psychologist, and Social Worker. These are all the folks who will follow him into adulthood with his different surgeries (nose revision at age 5, bone graft to his gums at age 8, more surgeries as needed, regular hearing and speech tests, etc.). Thanks to Papa/Rea for watching Emily in The Villages the entire day while we were with David.

David did pretty well considering it was a very long day. Thank gosh for Gerber snacks and Cheerios! The team was very happy with David's development since his adoption, and will schedule his surgery very soon. David is 34 3/4" tall and weighs 25 lbs

Being a Parent to Two

So what's it like, you ask? Here are some highlights...

- Seeing them touch or tickle each other and smile...sweet songs from the car seats behind us...being together at mealtime...a famiy of four cuddling and giggling in the same bed.



- Watching green beans, then carrots, followed by chicken bits hit my freshly mopped kitchen floor. The chicken is gobbled up quickly, but the dog steps on the beans and carrots instead, mashing them into my freshly mopped floor.

- Waking up to a family of four in the same bed, wondering who??, how??, and why my arms are so numb from such small bodies taking up so much space in a king-sized bed!

- Taking a 10-second break from watching David only to hear a splash splash in the next room and realizing it's David in the dog's water dish. Slipping on the wet floor to retrieve a yelling, soaked toddler while the poor dog stands nearby, perplexed and thirsty.

- Feeling like my eyes will remain permanently crossed, and that I'm about to have a stroke from the stress of raising two...



- Changing the poopy diaper of a screaming, kicking 2-year old, and seeing a little hand move past me with a diaper wipe and clumsily but gently dab at David's naked bottom. Realizing it's Emily, trying to help...and I just melt...

Get Well, Chloe!

Little Chloe Ming Bolton (at left), sister of Abigail, had her palate surgery today and is recovering. (Chloe, also from Tianjin, has the same degree cleft lip/palate as David.) She'll spend the night in the hospital and go home to face "no-nos" (soft arm restraints the kids have to wear for weeks after cleft palate surgery) and a liquid diet. But, hopefully the palate surgery will help her sleep better, eat better, breathe better, and speak, just as we hope David's will. We love you, Chloe!

Farewell to Casey Kane...

Sadly, Uncle Joe and Aunt Carol Kane lost their Golden Retriever Casey this week. What a sweet, gentle soul he was. Our condolences go out to Joe and Carol in their time of grief. These are folks who rescue animals and give them great lives. Casey will surely be waiting for his beloved owners at the Rainbow Bridge.

Home and Conscious, Sort of...

Hi Everyone!

We're slowly coming out of a sleep deprived daze and getting into some semblance of a routine. Thanks to Grami Frani for prompting us to update the blog. Oh wait, and my sister Cindy, who called me and said, "what's the matter with you, don't have you anything better to do than update your website??!!" (She has 3 teenagers.)

So here you go...photos and video.

This photo bears adding on its own. I discovered Emily's bathroom sink slatered with pink Princess toothpaste. Emily's been having behavioral issues lately due to the pressures of being a big sister and a Publix celebrity, so I called her into the bathroom, intent on showing her the evidence and promptly sending her into timeout.



She entered the bathroom, and after I asked her what was in the sink, my lips pressed tightly together from the stress of taking care of 2 small kids, she said...brightly..."it's art!" Oh heck, what can you do? So we took a picture, and here it is. Bad mood dissolved instantly.

Videos of the Kids

David drinks milk for the first time...



David eats rice cereal...



Sharing Mommy's noodles as a group, at 9pm at night (I never really got my dinner)...



Sit n Spin



Take care, everybody,

Caroline