Change is hard

We have had a couple of difficult months and I have been too distracted to update the blog. The kids are fine. We have decided to move to New Hampshire in late summer. Patrick talked to a couple of hospitals in Nashua and we decided he should take a look. The interviews went well and we liked the area, urban, close to Boston -not overly crowded yet more diversity for the kids - and close to the ocean/mountains. My hope is that Patrick (who has been working long hours + call nights/weekends for 10 years) will be able to have more time at home with the kids, that may be wishful thinking! The down side is missing all our friends at home and Patrick's transition out of his practice here is proving much more difficult than he anticipated.

We went out to NH the first week of July and when I get a chance I will post some pictures of our trip. We are in the process of trying to sell our house and buy a house out there (with the market being terrible at present). We are hopeful that everything will fall into place and that we are making the right decision.

I took Ethan to Pittsburgh Childrens on July 10th for his last visit with Dr. Jiang and Matt Ford. They are so wonderful, I really hope the cleft clinic at Boston Children's will compare. Fortunately, Dr. Jiang is good friends with a surgeon in Boston and he gave me his contact information.

Dr. Jiang and Matt were pleased with Ethan's progress and although he is still not talking (but attempting to imitate words), they feel that it is ok to wait 6 months and re-evaluate. Matt ford summed up the 3 things that will delay Ethan's speech - living in an orphanage for over a year, some hearing loss from fluid in his ears (now corrected) and of course his cleft/lip palate which still has a small hole near the gumline. Despite all this, they feel that he will catch up to the other kids in time.

On the drive home I thought back to last August when we received Ethan in China. He drank his bottles but clamped his mouth shut and wouldn't eat a bite of food. I emailed Matt Ford in distress and he told me to hold off on the food, just give him bottles and let him bond. Of course it worked and at the appt last week, Ethan was eating pretzels and sharing them with Dr. Jiang. Its amazing how quickly things change and kids grow!

Ethan also has a wonderful Speech Therapist that has worked tirelessly with him 2 days a week for months now. He is such a motor kid that she is exhausted by the time she leaves our house at 9:30am, with a whole day of kids yet to see. She has taught Ethan so many things I can't list them here and again I hope we can find someone in NH that can compare to her.

I got a chance to post because Patrick took the kids out for a bike ride. But I am supposed to be packing and had better get back to it. I will post pictures when I get a couple of free minutes