Visit to the Plastic Surgeon

We had our first appointment with the plastic surgeon who will eventually repair Micah's cleft palate. He feels that there is enough tissue to have a successful repair. We have to see a couple other specialists (ENT and pediatric dentist) before we can schedule his surgery. We're trying to coordinate appointments and surgery schedules to minimize procedures.

For those who are unfamiliar with cleft lip and palate, here's a helpful webpage: What is Cleft Lip/Palate? Micah's condition is like Figure 1b on that page (unilateral complete). His lip was repaired in China which is why he has that sweet smile. This next surgery will close his palate. He will likely have future surgeries to redo his lip and nose as he grows and to make sure he has adequate bone to support his adult teeth as they come in.

We learned some good news (at least to my ears). The doctor said that he won't use no-no's for Micah after his surgery. No-no's are arm splints used to keep his arms from bending so he can't put his hands in his mouth and possibly interfere with the healing. For children Micah's age, they will bond an obturator (kind of like a retainer) to the roof of his mouth so the palate can heal. I was wondering how I was going to keep no-no's on him!

After his surgery he will probably have speech therapy to teach him to use his new palate.

Here's a picture of Micah with his Lao Lao (maternal grandmother). I can't tell who's happier!

Zoo Atlanta

On Wednesday, we met a couple of adoptive families at Zoo Atlanta. Micah had a wonderful time hanging with Sheridan and watching the animals. The moms had a great time watching the kids.
The best-looking guys at the Zoo!
Yay! Aunt Kim brought bagels!
Hanging out with Lao Ye (thats Mandarin for maternal grandfather)!
The boys enjoyed playing on the playground.
Peek-a-boo Sheridan!
Of course the best playground was the steps at the cafe!
Micah loved watching the Panda who was night-night!
Micah earned a headbutt by trying to "love love" a goat.

Naptime

It's naptime, at least for a little while longer. See, the boy hates to take a break from his busy day for a much needed nap. I know he needs it because if he gets a nap he's cheerful and cooperative all evening long. If he doesn't get a nap he's cranky and fussy until bath time. I prefer child #1.

I've scoured the internet for naptime ideas. I pull out all the stops daily. We turn on a CD that would put Richard Simmons to sleep. We bring many books to read. We enlist two, count 'em, two, Elmos for moral support. Most days, he cries when he realizes it's time to go to his room. Once there he settles down and looks at his books but he asks repeatedly to go to the potty. I usually give in and take him to the potty once cuz who wants him to wet the bed? But I suspect its a tactic to get out of bed. Often he cries again after potty when I take him back to bed. Usually it takes 30-75 minutes to get him to sleep. At that point, it's almost too late to nap or he won't want to sleep at night.

So how important, really, are these naps? Do I just deal with it and let him get up if 30-60 minutes of quiet time don't result in sleep? Or do I keep doing whatever it takes to get him to sleep? How late is too late to nap? So many questions.... Any thoughts?

Story Time at the Library

This morning we were off bright and early to go to Story Time at the Library. It was a fun combination of songs and stories, followed by coloring and free play. Micah wasn't sure about some of it, but warmed up when the toys came out.

We borrowed a couple of DVDs from the library's collection. Here's Micah watching the Elmo-sizing DVD. Notice Elmo watching himself on TV. Eerie.

Happy Easter

We had a wonderful family weekend. On Saturday, we went over to the elementary school and played on the playground. The boy loves to slide.
Libby got to go along. She was excited to be out with the family.
Micah eventually tried out the big slide.
Mama even got into the act.
Did you know Del Monte makes Elmo green beans? Talk about marketing to 2 year olds! And the box can be recycled - LOL. Do you like my new hat?
On Sunday, we all dressed in our finest and headed off to church. Mama rang bells and Micah really enjoyed the children's sermon.
Christ is risen - Alleluia!

Transition Topics

So many people ask "how's it going?" Here's a rundown on how we're transitioning in some areas. If you're wondering about something I don't cover, just ask in the comments and I'll blog about it next time.

Sleep

This has been our toughest challenge and our greatest improvement. The first week home Micah resisted sleep in all its forms. Bedtime started with a couple of hours of screaming, then a couple of hours of sleep, 3 or 4 more hours of screaming then a couple more hours of sleep. Mama, Baba and Micah were all running on empty in the sleep department. We were working on establishing an after dinner routine that led up to bedtime. After we had been home about a week, he started sleeping through the night, though he still had to cry himself to sleep. Now, when we turn of his nightly viewing of Elmo's World, he reaches up and allows me to carry him to bed. He will play and roll around in bed for 30-60 minutes and finally settle down to sleep. If he wakes, he will again settle himself back down to sleep. Not ideal, but so much better. We are still co-sleeping as this seems to be aiding in attachment and is giving him the confidence to go to sleep. We've even slept four nights in a row with no shoes on!

Food

Micah's a pretty good eater. There are very few things he'll refuse to eat, though he still loves starches most of all (mama's boy, again). He'll eat his bread or rice first, and he has loved every veggie we've given him, especially green beans, peas and spinach. Proteins are a different matter. But if we give him time, he'll mostly clean his plate.

Car Seat

Remember that horrendous torture device called a car seat? He shrieked all the way from the airport to home, the first time he encountered it. It only took 5 M&Ms to pacify him the next time we put him in it. Once he realized that if he's in the car seat we go somewhere, he was good to go! Now he loves to go in the car and seems to accept the car seat as a necessary thing to taking car rides (no M&Ms necessary).

Language

He is picking up English words every day. He is a great mimic and will say or sing whatever comes out of our mouths (we'll need to watch that in the future). He can say "no, more, yes, shoe, help," and I'm sure a few more I can't think of. A few words he says paired in Mandarin then English, like guo guo dog, mao mao cat and qiu ball. He knows the names of his dog Libby, Elmo, Mickey, Big Bird and Grover. He sings the first line of the Elmo's World theme song and the "now I know my ABC's" part of the alphabet song. I think song may be a great tool for learning words for Micah.

He can identify his mama, baba and both sets of grandparents by their titles in Mandarin. For those who don't realize it, maternal and paternal grandparents have different names in Mandarin.

He understands even more than he can say. Yesterday he was closing the TV armoir and I told him to open it back up. He did.

Good Friday!

Today was Good Friday and a good Friday for our family as well. We had run over a nail with the Jeep so this morning we went to the tire store to get a new one. Of course they have to order our special Jeep tire and it won't be in until next week. (Um, I guess that wasn't the good part). They were also unable to fix the tire on Micah's little truck that keeps falling off. He looked at all of the tires in the store, but they were all too big. It was too cute.

Then we all packed up into the PT Cruiser and went to work with Baba. We had fun visiting with all the people there. Micah thought it was a little funny that everyone dressed like Baba. We had lunch at the PX and Micah took a nap on the way home. He was still asleep when we got home and I wasn't willing to break up a good nap so I put the seat back and napped along with him.

After nap we packed everybody back into the car and went to church for the cross walk. About 60 people walked from church to a local park carrying two crosses to symbolize Christ's walk to Golgotha. Micah had blast riding along in his stroller. We opted to walk back to the church as well and had some fun family time.