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
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Monday, April 28, 2008
Spring is here
In March we took Ethan for a follow up appointment at the cleft clinic at Pgh Children's. They are pleased with his progress. Dr.Jiang wanted to wait until he is 2years old to see him again. If he is speaking well they would not revise his palate. His only words right now are MaMa and other sounds like UhOh, UhHuh. He loves to engage people and is outgoing, but he depends on his signs mainly to communicate.
We then spent hours in the ENT clinic having Ethan's tubes evaluated. They believed that one of the tubes may be blocked, but after seeing the ENT here in Warren we are still not sure it is. They also did a hearing test which turned out normal, good news. It was great that we had a hotel room booked, we didn't get out of the hospital until almost 6 pm and we had arrived at noon. The next day we had fun at the Childrens Museum before heading for home.
The kids playing with their new stuff on Easter Sunday.
One of our friends pointed out that the last entry had snow pictures! Spring has arrived and we are really enjoying the blooming flowers and trees. Ethan loves to play outside. He will get his shoes and sign the word play. I took the kids to a nearby hiking trail to get some outside pictures, I have yet to take the 3 of them to a studio for pictures, its on my to do list.
We then spent hours in the ENT clinic having Ethan's tubes evaluated. They believed that one of the tubes may be blocked, but after seeing the ENT here in Warren we are still not sure it is. They also did a hearing test which turned out normal, good news. It was great that we had a hotel room booked, we didn't get out of the hospital until almost 6 pm and we had arrived at noon. The next day we had fun at the Childrens Museum before heading for home.
The kids playing with their new stuff on Easter Sunday.
One of our friends pointed out that the last entry had snow pictures! Spring has arrived and we are really enjoying the blooming flowers and trees. Ethan loves to play outside. He will get his shoes and sign the word play. I took the kids to a nearby hiking trail to get some outside pictures, I have yet to take the 3 of them to a studio for pictures, its on my to do list.
Friday, March 7, 2008
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!
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!
Monday, January 28, 2008
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!
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!
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Thursday, December 13, 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!
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!
Friday, December 7, 2007
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!
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!
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