First Week at Home Recap

It's hard to believe that a week ago today, we arrived back home with our new son.  We've really adjusted well considering it's only been 7 days.  Already, we can't imagine what our lives were like without Silas.  It's like he's always been with us.   We've learned so much about him this week--his quirks, his likes, his dislikes.  His big dislikes are going to bed and getting his diaper changed.  Up until this week, he also hated baths.  But, the last two baths, he's been really having fun playing in the water with his toys, so we might be over that little hurdle.    Everything seems to get better and better with time.

One other thing Silas dislikes is being examined by doctors.  Unfortunately, he had to endure two doctor visits this week, and he did really well at both.  He had his first pediatrician appointment on Thursday.  The doctor thinks he looks great.  We'll be getting blood work during the coming week just to confirm that he is in as good health as he appears.  I suspect we will be adding blood draws to the list of Silas' dislikes.  Not looking forward to that.

According to the doctor, Silas' biggest challenge (and it's not that big) is weight.  While he's in the 25th percentile for height, he's below the growth charts for weight.  So we're doing everything we can to make sure Silas is eating nutritious, calorie-dense foods and drinking lots of milk.  Who knew my expertise in gaining weight would come in handy one day!  :)  We suspect Silas will be taking after his dad in the speedy metabolism department, though.  He has a ravenous appetite and burns like a furnace at night.

Silas' second doctor's appointment was with the oral surgeon.  Silas' cleft palate was repaired in February when he was still in China, but he has two areas (fistulae) in the roof of his mouth that either opened up or were left open.  They don't seem to bother Silas, except when he eats.  No matter how hard he tries, food always escapes through the fistulae into his nasal cavity, and either runs out his nose while he's eating, or gets sneezed out later.  If he gets too uncomfortable, he stops eating, which is not good for his weight.  The oral surgeon did not think the fistulae were beneficial, but is not sure we need to put him through another surgery right away.  So, Silas will be evaluated by the entire cleft team (which includes an audiologist, a speech therapist, an ear nose and throat doctor, and an orthodontist) to see whether they can recommend surgical closure at this juncture.   When he is evaluated, the doctors will determine whether Silas needs ear tubes.  Ear infections due to a backup of middle ear fluid are especially common with cleft kids.  So, ear tubes are almost a guarantee.  We suspect that once the doctors confer, they will see the benefit of inserting ear tubes and closing the fistulae in one surgery.  But, we'll see.

Here's a link to another video of Silas doing his best James Brown impression: http://www.youtube.com/user/jenbri6268#p/a/u/0/e-CDYqZ2R50   Enjoy!

A Boy and His Dog

On Silas first day home, he was introduced to our pets, our 15 year-old cat, Mallory, and 1 year-old schnoodle, Josie.  Silas was terrified of Mallory.  She walked up to him, and as soon as she got close enough, he squealed in fear.   Since then, Silas has really warmed up to Mallory.  Today, he sought her out just to give her a nice pat.  The cat was great with him.  Very patient.  I think she's just happy she has someone else to scratch her behind the ears.  Later that morning, we brought Josie home from the boarding place.  We were expecting a far more intense reaction from Silas since Josie can be a little exuberant.  Surprisingly, Silas was not afraid of Josie at all.  He was appropriately cautious when Josie got right in his face and tried to smell him, but no negative reaction from either of them.   I suspect that Silas was a little more prepared to meet Josie, since we included pictures of her in the photo album we sent to the orphanage.  We could definitely tell that the nannies had shown the photos to him and explained who we were on more than one occasion.

Today, I was able to get a little snippet of Silas and Josie playing.   They did this for a good part of the afternoon.  They also invented a game similar to "tag."  Silas crawls over to Josie and reaches out to touch her, and Josie runs away and laps the kitchen and living room.  They do it over and over again.  I love it that Silas barks back at Josie.  They are on their way to becoming the best of friends.  Click the link for video:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aq5enfdoKl0

Happy Mother's Day!

A very happy and jet lagged mom surrounded by her babies.  Life is good.

Brian and I just wanted to wish our moms, stepmoms, and all our mom friends a happy Mother's Day today.  I am spending my first Mother's Day unpacking, and trying to get the house somewhat organized so we can quickly establish a routine for Silas.  So far, it's going very well.  We're all dealing with extreme jet lag, and trying to get back on east coast time, and we all have colds, but we're still taking time to enjoy the day.  We got up early this morning and Brian and Silas took me out for a big American breakfast.  Silas ate a ton!  I was happy to see that.  I generally worry about his eating.  He's such a little peanut.  My goal is to get him into his size 12 mos. clothing by the time he's 16 mos. old.  If his appetite continues like it did this morning, I think it's doable.  :)

Home Sweet Home

After 33 hours of traveling, we finally made it home!  We're all very tired and jet lagged, so we'll have to post our update on the trip at a later time.  Just wanted to let everyone know that we are home, and looking forward to the new "normal."  Thanks, everyone, for following along with us, and for sharing your comments.  It really meant a lot to us to hear from you while we were abroad.

...And We're Done!

As of today at 4:30 p.m. Guangzhou time, we finished the final steps in completing Silas' adoption.  Our guide picked us up at 3:00 p.m. and we drove over to the U.S. Consulate.  Once we arrived, we were led through two security checks.  At the second one, we had to leave our phones and cameras, which is why there are no photos of today's events.  :(  We were led to a room to wait with five other U.S. families adopting Chinese children.  Typically, you wait with 30-40 other families, so this was an unusually small group.  Silas was the only boy and the youngest child in the room! (We also think he was the cutest and smartest, but we might be biased.  :))  We stood with all the other families and took an oath attesting that the information we provided to the U.S. Government on behalf of our son was true and correct to the best of our knowledge.  After the oath, we were provided with a visa for Silas to enter the U.S., and a brown envelope that we must present to the immigration officer when we land in L.A.  The immigration officer will stamp Silas' paperwork, and he will be a U.S. citizen!  Because it was such a small group, the consulate was able to issue the visas today.  We weren't expecting to get the visa until tomorrow, which is why we were staying until Friday morning.  Because of the early issuance, we could feasibly leave on Thursday, but we figured trying to change the tickets and pay the change fees would be more trouble than it is worth.  So, we're doing some sightseeing tomorrow with our guide, Lucy, who has been just awesome.  All we have left to do after that is pack!  We are rally looking forward to being home with our new son, getting into a routine, and introducing him to his family and friends.

Here are some pictures we took today while Silas was playing in our hotel room.  He loves to play with his toys, and he's working so hard on his standing and walking.  He's come a long way in just over a week.  When we met him a week ago Monday, he wouldn't  even crawl.  Now, he spends more and more time on his feet every day (the Chinese "squeeky shoes" help a lot), and we make a game of walking to Dad and walking back to Mom.  He gets such a look of pride on his face when he does it without holding on to us.

Visit to Shamian Island

After our first really good night's sleep in a few days, we were up at the crack of dawn this morning to meet our guide in Guangzhou for Silas' medical appointment.  We met Lucy in our hotel lobby at 7:15 a.m. and hopped in a cab bound for Shamian Island.  We arrived at around 8:00.  First, Silas had to go to this little office and have a passport photo taken for his U.S. visa.  That went fine.  Then, we went to the medical clinic, where Silas was seen by an ENT doctor, a internist, and a nurse who took his temperature, height and weight.  Silas only cried a little, when the doctors took a look in his mouth.  He really hates that.  We can only look in his mouth when he's laughing and we tip hip upside down making a game of it.  That's how we found out about his fistulae.

Silas was born with a cleft lip/cleft palate, which is likely the reason he was abandoned by his birth parents.  The orphanage did an amazing job repairing Silas' lip, and we thought we would be haivng his palate repaired when we got home to Orlando.  On Family Day, the orphanage director told us that Silas' palate had been repaired over Chinese New Year.  That was a pleasant surprise.  However, the first time we fed him, about 20 minutes later, food starting leaking from his nose.  That was a signal that something may not be right with his palate repair.

The doctors confirmed our suspicion today that Silas has a fistula, a small hole in the palate, which allows food to enter the sinus cavity when Silas eats.  We thought he might have two.  The fistula doesn't seem to bother him much, but it does make feeding time messy, especially when he sneezes!  Ew!!!  We will have him evaluated by the cleft doctor, and they will likely do a surgery to close the fistula at some point.  But at least he doesn't have to have surgery immediately when we return.

Other than that, Silas has a slight cough/cold (which he probably caught from me.  Insert mom guilt here.), and a little conjunctivitis in his right eye, but other than that, he is a healthy kid.  To think he was labeled by someone as "special needs" is truly ridiculous to us.  The only need he ever really had was for a family.  He is so smart, funny, and personable.  We just can't believe how lucky we were to have found him.
Here are some random photos from around Shamian Island today.  Sorry there aren't more.  I think I'm suffering from a little photo burnout.  :)

Children lined up for an assembly outside their private school.  As you can see, much of Shamian Island is under construction right now as Guangzhou prepares to host the Asian Games in 2014.  Right now, walking around down there is a lot like being in a Super Mario Brothers game.

Military cadets in formation for the school assembly.  See the guy with his hand up.  He's telling me I can't take pictures.  I hope I don't get in trouble for posting this.  Doh!

Silas conked out at the Starbucks on Shamian Island.  I know, I know, no wonder he has pink eye, right?  When the kid wants to sleep, he sleeps.

My "germphobia" was happy it was a short nap on the couch.

A beautiful jade boat in the lobby of the White Swan Hotel.  The White Swan is pretty legendary as many, many adoptive families have stayed there over the years.  It's a pretty incredible hotel, as we saw today.  The common areas are extraordinary, and there were many adoptive families running around with their babies.  But the rooms are small and the beds are hard, so we opted to stay at a newer hotel near the U.S. Consulate.

Chinese barbed wire.  We spotted this wall near our hotel and thought it was pretty inventive.  Shards of broken class embedded into the top of a concrete wall.  I doubt it would do much to deter the determined, but it probably keeps the pests away.

Tomorrow we go to the consulate and take an oath relating to our pending orphan petition.  On Thursday, we'll pick up Silas' visa and do a little more sightseeing.  On Friday, we leave for HOME!!  Can't wait to be there with our sweet baby boy!

What a Difference a Week Makes!

Today was an auspicious day as we marked the one-week anniversary of our Family Day--the day Silas became our son.  Today was also Silas' first plane ride to Guangzhou.  A couple of photos, well, just because he's so darn cute.

 

So far, we're liking Guangzhou very much.  Mostly because the airport and hotel are really nice.  We ate dinner at the hotel tonight.  They had an "around the world buffet," the size and scope of which was truly stunning.  They had chefs at all these different stations,  Everything from roast pigeon and squid, to sushi, escargots, pizza, and lamb chops!  Good thing we were starving!  

Guangzhou is in the southern part of China, which means it is hot here.  Florida hot.  Tomorrow, we begin finalizing the U.S. portion of Silas' adoption.  We have a medical exam, and submit a visa application for Silas to return to the U.S.

Before we left Nanjing, we did a sightseeing tour within walking distance of our hotel.  It was a holiday weekend in China (May Day is Labor Day), so the streets and sights were particularly crowded.  Silas took it all in stride, though.  He loves looking around at all the people.  He rides with his daddy in the Ergo most of the time.  The Ergo is like a "baby backpack" you can carry a baby around in.  The kids can ride either in the front or back.  We weren't sure Silas would ride in an Ergo, but he loves it!  It also comes in handy navigating through airports, as we found out today.

One remarkable thing about Silas is he hasn't favored either one of us more than the other.  We often hear about adopted children bonding initially to one parent to the exclusion of the other, so we were prepared that one of us might be rejected in the beginning, but it didn't happen.  It's almost like Silas goes out of his way to spend equal time with us.  For example, at dinner tonight, Silas was in his high chair at the table.  Brian has taught him how to high five (some of you will appreciate how funny that is to him).  Silas made sure after he high fived Brian, that he high fived me, then Brian, then me....about 10 times.  When he's riding in the Ergo, he makes a point to look for me, then reaches out his hand for me to hold it.  Such a sweet boy he is.  He just melts our hearts every day.

Our tour yesterday took us to the Xuyuan Garden, which is essentially the entire grounds of a 600 year-old mansion in the heart of Nanjing.  We had a nice tour guide who gave us the history of the mansion, and they took our picture (below.)  It was very pretty, very old world.

Then we went to Confucius Temple, and the nearby pedestrian mall.  Again, insanely crowded.  (I think it made Times Square look rural.)  But, from a cultural perspective, it was very neat to take it all in.

We're looking forward to seeing what Guangzhou has to offer, and more than that, to getting home with our boy.  Next week at this time, we'll be sleeping in our own beds.  Ahhhhhh...