Birthdays, Anniversaries, Postponements, and Firsts

Novemeber has been a pretty big month. November 22 marked Troy's birthday as well as the one-month anniversary of Aiden becoming a U.S. citizen. We returned from China October 22. To mark the auspicious occasion(s), we went to Spezias where Troy and I had celebrated many important milestones in the adoption process. Aiden amazed us once again with his exemplary behavior. (Not even joking) It was a wonderful time. Also during the month, after much soul-searching, discussion, and talking with our social worker, we decided that I would stay home with Aiden until after the first of the year. It is another few weeks without pay, pay we're trying to figure out how we'll live without, but we feel me remaining home is important enough to warrant the loss of wages. Although he is an incredibly happy, outgoing little boy most of the time, he is having a couple issues. He is not sleeping well. I am currently sleeping on an air mattress next to his crib (until we get a portable crib in our room). He often wakes up in the middle of the night crying, looking for us. Usually, not always but usually, if he sees me, it's enough to stop his crying and get him to go back to sleep. Sometimes, though, it is even almost as though he is having night terrors. Again our social worker made a suggestion that we stay near him until he adjusts and gets over his fear of abandonment. He is starting to warm up to other people more readily now, but it is still not an instantaneous occurrance. :) My cousin Maureen adopted a child from Guatamala a while back, and what she was told was that these adopted kids, although they are as cognizant as other kids their age, they are emotionally starting at day one when they are brought home. I guess that means we have an infant that can and DOES get into everything! He is incredibly busy - SUCH a handfull! He's not busy enough to burn off all his calories, though. The little turkey has gained almost two pounds in a month! Aiden also got to participate in his first Thanksgiving. He liked the food well enough, but he really didn't have much time for that. He liked exploring the grandparents' homes. He also really enjoyed playing with his cousins. In fact, Abigail even came to our house that night to stay over. We even did a VERY little shopping on Black Friday while Abigail babysat for an hour! The other 'big' news of November? Aiden experienced his first snow. We know that they get a little snow in Xi'an, China, (which we were told usually melts in a day) but judging by his initial reaction, this was his first encounter. When I walked him out, all bundled up, he at first didn't want to walk in it. He kept putting his arms up for me to hold him. Then he'd try to retreat to the garage. I got out his little shovel he and Dad bought, and he started to get to work. By the time Dad got home from work and started to clear off the driveway, Aiden was beginning to think this snow thing is all right! It didn't hurt that Ceit, true to form, was leaping and lunging to catch the shovelsful of snow. :) All-in-all, it has been an unforgettable first month with our beautiful boy! Pictures - Top to Bottom: Abby and Aiden after Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving at Grandpa and Grandma McDonald's, Birthday / Anniversary Supper at Spezias

Photos :)

Bottom to top: Watching the Vikes game with Dad; Playtime! (The game stunk); First American haircut. Not a fan! Katie did a great job, though!; Post haircut supper. All better!

Post Placement Visit and Miracles!

We had our first post-placement visit by our social worker on Tuesday night (11/9/10). It went really well. She was impressed with Aiden's adjustment and said the sleeping would probably resolve itself with time; he probably just needs to reassure himself that Mom and Dad are in fact still with him. He was a character that night. He is really starting to be more comfortable with other people, especially on his home turf.
Our big news, though, comes from our cardiologist appointment (11/10/10). We have experienced a miracle! We went to see Dr. Waltz, our pediatric cardiologist, where they conducted an ECG and an ultra-sound. The ECG took just a short time, and Aiden tolerated it well. During the ultra-sound, which was supposed to last 20 minutes, Aiden fell asleep. It was just as well. It took 40 minutes! Dr. Waltz even came in and took over for the tech. I guess they took upward of 200 images of his heart. They carried on a relatively lengthy conversation, and the only term I heard / understood was aneurysm. MY heart almost stopped. Afterwards, we met with Dr. Waltz (who, by the way, is amazing), and he gave us some interesting news. Apparently Aiden had not had just one hole; rather, he had a major hole and several small holes. Somehow, the large one closed on its own, and all but one of the small ones had closed. The remaining hole is small enough that there is no surgery or medications required. We do need to go back in a year, but that is the extent of it. The doctor says the prognosis is excellent! In fact his murmur is almost imperceptible. What I'm trying to say is, this is nothing short of a miracle (thank you, thank you, thank you for all the prayers)! Dr. Waltz was pleasantly stunned. The rest of the visit was NOT as good. It was determined that we needed to do some basic medical checks since we have no medical history. They tried to draw blood to do eight different tests. Aiden was hysterical. Unfortunately, they had to stick him FOUR times. :( The ordeal last 40 minutes, and they still didn't get enough to do all the tests. The poor little guy cried so hard, he almost threw up. It took 5 adults to hold him down. What a nightmare!
However, he recovered quickly. It wasn't long before he was running around, singing (one of his favorite pasttimes), and laughing. It probably took Mom and Dad longer to get over the trauma. The little guy is a handful! He has an amazing sense of humor. Unfortunately, he thinks he's funny, too! He loves to tease and BE teased. He smiles almost all the time and loves to give hugs and kisses. He also loves to go bye-bye. We think that can be attributed to our early days together when we were always on the run.
In short, we are stunned by the changes we've seen in the month we've been fortunate enough to have him in our lives. Today, 11/11/10 is our one month family anniversary! We are so blessed! I just don't know how I will find it in me to leave him in a couple weeks. :( I will attach updated pictures this weekend (as my dad has hip-replacement surgery tomorrow, I will not have time). Until then.....
Pictures: Tubby time with Daddy; Eating carrots with a Dorito (pretty sure that's ok!)

Doctor Appointment

We had our first doctor's appointment yesterday, 11/3/2010. It went pretty well. Although, Aiden did have a pretty significant meltdown when he saw the nurse. He must have a 6th sense about them and certainly hasn't appreciated what they have done for them in the past. On the other hand, he loved Dr. Van Es. The doctor's assessment of Aiden's overall health was positive. He actaully made the growth chart for weight. Height? Not so much. Oh well. Now, we have scheduled an appointment with a pediatric cardiologist for November 12. We're praying for good news there, too.
Before the doctor's appointment, we visited the high school. Aiden got to meet many students and held up admirably. He also got to meet several of the facutly and staff. Dr. Talcott even "bribed" him successfully with fruit snacks; Aiden smiled for him!
Even though Aiden is playing quietly by himself, not uncommon, I had better wrap this up. I am not feeling well (how fun is it to be sick with a two-year-old in the house who is still figuring out the ins and outs of this new world?) and need to go try to relax on the couch, even though I'm pretty sure I'm going to end up at the doctor's today, this time on my own behalf. It doesn't help that Aiden took a header onto the wooden platform of our bed last night and hours later ran full-force with his chest into our coffee table. He cried a lot last night in his sleep, and the only place he would sleep? On the floor next to his crib. :( So guess where Mom DIDN'T sleep all night. Yep. On the floor next to Aiden's crib.
I will post again soon (if not before, I will post after our doctor's appointment and tests on the 12th) with more information about Aiden's ever-chagning / evolving personality and characteristics. His true colors shine through more each day. For now, we'll just say, pretty much EVERYTHING is funny - including Mom when she says no. Cute. Till later!

Final China Days / Life at Home

Ok, so I have been gently informed (thank you, Jessie) that I need to update the blog. Since Aiden is, for the time being, playing quietly with his ever-present plastic bag full of "treasures" - read: crayons, scraps of paper, a plastic stir stick, and a cardboard coaster, etc - I will try to do a brief update. I believe the last you really heard from us we were in our last day in Guangzhou. I cannot begin to describe the marathon of those last couple of days. Well, actually, I will give it a shot. After a long morning of photos with our Xi'an group and the entire Holt contingency, Troy and I made a final shopping foray into the quaint shops of the old town. I bought two Coach purses, a Coach wallet, and a Samsonite suitcase all for under $75. :) I love to haggle! Alright, trivial information, but pretty big news as far as I'm concerned! Anyway, we had to be ready for the bus to take us to the U.S. Consulate and then to the train station at 2:00. We got the visas without a hitch and then made it to the train station - with PLENTY of time to spare. All of us traveling to Hong Kong that night had to amuse our children for two hours. In a train station. Fun. Then, we had over a two hour train ride to get to Hong Kong. Luckily, there were few other people besides adoptive families in that train car, and I feel nothing but sympathy for those who were there without screaming, crying, fussing kids. It was a scene, I assure you. We'd been on the go since 2:00 with little food (except for the cheerios and other snacks we had in our diaper bags), and a cursory nap. We got to Hong Kong around 8:30 that night, if memory serves, and had to wait for our luggage, and then we had to take a 45 minute bus ride to our hotel. It was around 10:00, and we were exhausted. Aiden got some peanut butter crackers and fruit snacks before he went to bed. I'm sure he was famished as Troy and I were. He barely slept that night; I'm guessing I got in the neighborhood of 3 hours of sleep. We were up early, checked out, and to the airport with what we thought would be an abundance of time. I'm glad we left when we did. We weren't rushed and did have time for breakfast, but we didn't have a lot of time to kill before boarding then. The flight home was interminable. Wow. Even with better parenting through chemistry, Aiden was restless and irritable. He slept little, and when he did, it had to be on me (except for one short stint with Dad). There was no economy plus available, so we were packed in like sardines. 747s are NOT the way to fly! Really, though, the flight was uneventful, and he was remarkably good at O'Hare. (On a side note, when his little feet touched the ground, he became an American citizen! His first meal? McDonald's. Of course!) The 1+ hour flight from Chicago to Sioux Falls was a piece of cake. We were met at the airport by grandmas, grandpa, and a couple of uncles. They were all taken with the little guy who was, as is par for the course, extremely shy. We came home to a house with banners, flowers, gifts, and a huge pumpkin decorated with "Welcome Home Aiden." We snacked, gave Aiden a bath, and put him down for the night. I slept in his room on an air mattress so he wouldn't wake up scared. And wake up, a lot, he did! Sigh. That has been the trend. After a few nights, I moved back into our bedroom, but he continues to wake up several times during the night, a sad departure from China where he often slept straight through. Last night was progress. He only woke up three times and for short periods of time. He only slept for about 8 1/2 hours, but hey! Progress is progress! Pray we're getting things on schedule. I have heard from other families with whom we traveled, and they have said jet lag/time difference has been an issue with them as well. Hopefully it will soon be just a bad memory. Now, if I could just convince Aiden that our pets are not Satan's spawns, and he and I could kick these colds or whatever, we'd be in really good shape! Well, Aiden is still playing quietly by himself, but is showing signs of tiring of it (i.e. chucking his colors around the room and coloring on the tiles). We have to take a brief excursion; we need to replinish supplies. I will try to update in the near future should there be any note-worthy events or activities (i.e. doctor's appointments). Until then....!! Bye!
Pictures: Aiden in beautiful Guangzhou; Train to Hong Kong (this says it all!); Busy with his treasures; Ready for bed;

We're Home!

We finally made it home! It was a long day of travel, which I will recount later, but suffice it to say, we are dubbing it "The Longest Day." From the time we got up in Hong Kong to the time we landed in Sioux Falls, we travelled over 24 hours and 7,700 miles. Aiden slept only a few restless hours on the plane and a few restless hours last night. (I only wish I had slept as much as he has in the last few days. Troy and I are going on far less sleep over a longer stretch.) He was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at 5:15 this a.m. Sigh. We'll see how getting his nights and days turned around goes!
Pictures: Aiden with his Welcome Home Pumpkin (Thanks Jenny & Andrew) and his Welcome Home Sign (Thanks, Jenny F!) BEFORE he woke up

Last Post from China

I usually post at night, but that probably won't be possible tonight, so I'm posting on Thursday morning instead. Today we leave for Hong Kong; we're taking a train. We fly out on Friday afternoon. Fourteen hours on a plane with a two year old. It ought to be interesting. He's taking a nap right now while Troy is finishing some paperwork and getting last minute instructions from Holt. Last night was a rough night. Aiden cried out a lot and would hold his arms out and say, "Mama." I committed the cardinal parenting sin and had him sleep on my chest. He needed to sleep, though, and he was obviously scared. I had to cut him some slack; we have to remind ourselves that he has been with us for less than ten days. The real drawback, other than setting an unfortunate precedent? Mommy is incredibly tired today. I need to come up with some energy from somewhere, though. We went to breakfast, came back to change into our tradition Chinese garb and went for the "red couch photo" every adoptive family takes here at the White Swan. Aiden is napping now, but when he wakes up, we have to go buy a new suitcase, and I have to go buy a knock-off purse. At some point we need to get lunch and repack. All of this needs to be done by 2:00. It's 11:00 now. Ah well. I work best under pressure anyway! :)Wish me luck! I'll try to blog from Hong Kong tomorrow a.m. before we leave. If not, please pray for us and that we return to SD well and intact!
Photo: (Kung Fu) Aiden in his tradition Chinese clothes