March coming in like a lion

Easter is only a couple of weeks away, yet we are having snow storms every 3 days. I am definitely looking forward to spring this year! I've noticed that lately the kids aren't that interested in playing outside, I think they are looking forward to spring too!



The kids are doing well aside from the winter bugs. Nyla and Liam are pretty good helpers. Ethan is busy busy busy. He is trying hard with the speech therapist and can sign about 15 words. He is also showing signs of separation anxiety if I leave him. This is great to see, a sign of attachment, plus he likes to give hugs and wet, messy kisses. Below he is cuddling with his favorite blanket that nonna made before we went to China.



Celebrating the Year of the Rat at our annual lunar new year party.







Ethan made a few friends, Drew was adopted from Korea and twins Isaac and John were adopted from Vietnam.



The last few months, Liam has been really busy with swim team on Saturdays and snowboarding lessons on Sundays. These will both end soon and we will move on to pitching machine - fun fun!






We hope everyone is doing well and that it is warming up in your neck of the woods! Happy Easter!

Ethan is walking & babbling!

Picture of all the grandkids over the holidays at Nonni's house.



Mid - January: Ethan decides this walking thing is for him.



Haven't posted in a while and I thought I should update. Ethan started taking a few steps for his nonni while we visiting them over the holidays. That progressed to letting go and walking on his own to climbing furniture within just a few weeks. Next week he turns 18 months so we are excited to see him take off!

While he was in this motor stage he wasn't very interested in learning to sign or talk. But once he got pretty stable on his feet he started repeating "ma ma" and "uh huh". Now he makes a little "e e e" sound for monkey. Doesn't seem like a lot but it is huge progress.

Emotionally, Ethan is much happier, secure and loving after 5 months at home. I am so happy to see him explore on his own and interact with family and friends. He loves to play peek a boo, catch (with a real football) and smiley faces with everyone who will pay attention.

Nyla has also come a long way in the last couple of months. We had some really rough times with jealousy and smothering Ethan when she thinks someone might be paying too much attention to him. She still struggles with this, especially now that we have a speech therapist coming to the house 2 days a week. We are working through it day to day, some days are great and others are still really tough for her (& us). She without a doubt loves her brothers but being the middle child is not easy especially when you child like Nyla Mei!

Liam has also come a long way. Although not as verbal with his feelings he also had a hard time with the new guy in his room. Now he gives Ethan big hugs and kisses and I know he loves him so very much.

I am still amazed by Ethan's progress. Of my 3 children, he definitely had the greatest physical delays. Emotionally, I believe the nanny was wonderful in bonding with him and showing him love. Physically, he was undernourished and although he had the desire to play and move, he lacked the nutrition and energy to do so. I know there are many people out there that question when we should be adopting children from other countries and taking them away from their home and culture. But when you see first hand what a difference you can make in the life of a child, it is hard for me to agree with this. I wish my kids could have grown up with their birth families, I know that would have been the best thing for them, but that wasn't their fate and we are trying our best for their sake. To end this on a good note, we are very lucky and we know it!

Happy Holidays!

Nyla, Ethan and Liam, December 2007

Post surgery pictures

Well today was supposed to be our 2 week follow-up visit at Children's. Unfortunately, another storm is blasting our area with sleet, snow and ice. SNOW DAY! I called the clinic, gave them an update on how Ethan is doing and they gave me the ok to come next week instead. I emailed their clinical coordinator a couple of photos of his palate. I had them posted here but my sister pointed out that Ethan maybe wouldn't appreciate me showing everyone his mouth one day. So if anyone who has a child needing this surgery and would like to see before and after pictures I would be happy to share them.

Ethan is sleeping much better now (thanks to nonna's blankie) and the splints will remain on for another week. I can take them off for short periods during the day. They are allowing us to feed him soft foods as well. We are hopeful that Ethan's incisions will fully heal in the next couple of weeks, thanks for all your prayers!

I will use this blog to give updates to friends and family if Ethan is going to need further surgery in 3-6 months. Thanks for following his progress and we are very grateful for your support. Happy holidays and best wishes for the New Year!

Update

We are just over a week post-op and Ethan is doing really well. The first week home was hard on him, during the night he never slept more than 2 hours in a stretch. He would wake up crying and even when he was sleeping he seemed aggitated, constantly flipping over in his crib. He spent a lot of time sleeping in our arms the first few nights, but once his pain subsided I tried very hard to get him back in his crib. Basically I pulled his crib up against the bed and tried to comfort him without always picking him up. When I was about ready to give up from exhaustion, Ethan started sleeping for longer stretches of time.

No one who saw Ethan during the day would think anything was wrong. He has been playful and happy with the exception of the first couple of days post-op. For the first week home we mainly fed him formula. Now we are feeding him things like watered down pudding, yogurt, cream soup & pureed baby foods.

Ethan is able to crawl and furniture walk despite the splints. He also doesn't have trouble playing with most toys.

Ethan is always happy during the day, nights are a different story.

Ethan at his 1 week follow up visit with Dr.Jiang. We are very fortunate to have a great surgeon!

Ethan's home after surgery

Getting ready to leave for Pittsburgh at 6am.

Just before going into surgery, a little nervous.

Not feeling very well after waking up post-op.

Patrick settles Ethan in the rocker.

Ready to go home after tubes and IV's taken out, not a happy camper!


Hello everyone. We are glad to be home earlier than expected from Pittsburgh Children's. Ethan had his palate repair on Wed, Nov 28th and we expected to stay at least 2 nights. But less than 24 hours after surgery he was drinking apple juice so well they let us take him home on Thurs! His first night out of surgery was really hard for Ethan. Once we got to the floor, the nurse alternated his pain medication and we rocked him to sleep with his favorite blanket. His heart rate came down and he didn't have any breathing problems overnight.

Ethan's surgery went well, his tubes were placed first and then Dr. Jiang closed his palate, although not in the technique he hoped to use due to his wide gap. Although he was able to close it, he was not able to elongate the palate as he normally would. This can affect his speech and he feels that he may have to redo his palate repair in 3-6 months. The good thing is that now that he has it closed, enough tissue will be available once everything heals to close his palate in the preferred method.

Now that we are home, we are getting more sleep and Ethan is adapting to the splints. When I pick him up the first thing he does is rub his face against my shirt, he has an itchy nose he can't scratch, very frustrating! Today is Friday and we are allowed to start formula, that should make him happier, he must be so hungry!

Halloween Night!

Happy Halloween! Liam & Nyla had their halloween parties at school today. Our friend Laura made Nyla's beautiful costume, it looked great!



The kids were hot, cranky and tired but we couldn't go out trick or treating without getting a picture first! Halloween is fun for the kids, not so much for the adults!

I probably won't post until the beginning of December (hopefully we will be home and Ethan will be recovering from surgery by then). Ethan's weight is almost 23 lbs now and he is developing well, especially those pilates 'core' muscles. We are just going to focus on making him healthy and strong before surgery.