Summer

How is it possible that we have been home 3 months? Where has this time gone? I don't know. I guess "busy" is an understatement, but most people with small children can say that. This has been quite the time of adjustment for us and I have been more than a little overwhelmed at times with doctor's appointments, attachment issues, and behavioral stuff. It's all so weird anymore that many times I have this surreal moment in time and think, how did I get here? Just tonight, Russ and I were in the kitchen with two kids that were having a contest to see who could scream louder. We looked at each other and I said, "remember 1997?" In 1997, I knew Russ, but we had not an inkling that someday, in 2010, we would be not only married to each other, but sitting in our kitchen with our two Chinese screaming little wonders. 1997 was a good year. Things were so much easier back then.....

Asher has been progressing, however slowly it may be. We have seen a tremendous difference between his abilities and overall development than what Caleb was doing at the same age. It is impossible not to compare the two. Asher, being in an orphanage, was terribly understimulated for the first 17 months of his life. For weeks after we met him in China, he screamed and cried over nothing and over everything. It hasn't been easy, I'll be honest. He had ear tube placement surgery in April and he has done much better. We are at the point where he is really so so much happier. He has this adorable smile that I saw in a picture once in January. In China and for a long time afterward, Russ and I, in our sleep-deprived/somewhat-not-clearly-thinking states often wondered if we had been given the wrong picture. Or maybe the wrong child! Turns out, it really is him. He's getting more teeth, and he is so much more interactive. We have been working with early intervention and even his words are coming along. He still babbles a lot but he imitates so many sounds and actions. He loves cars and trucks and he and Caleb have this chasing game going on frequently that I don't quite understand, but they have fun. So, it's a lot better and it continues to be so all the time. 

Caleb, too, had a rough time coming home. He decided that he did not want a brother. The excitement wore off after about 5 minutes and then we proceeded to deal with some really bad tantrums and other patience-inducing behaviors. I'll share this story of an early event that occurred coming home:

Caleb has been out of diapers for a year, but it can be expected that with a new sibling, some amounts of stress happen and kids regress. We tried to expect this, and Caleb delivered. He began wetting his pants again beginning even in China. On the day that we came home, we had a super long day. Our flight from Hong Kong to Newark was 15 hours and then we had a seven hour layover there before flying into Omaha. When we landed in Newark, we were met by some good friends, Lee and Lois and their daughter Larisa, who live in the area and who we haven't seen in years. So, we spent some time with them at this little cafe in the airport during our layover. The boys were even being good, considering the long flight we had just finished. They were drinking apple juice and we were happily visiting with our friends. Pretty soon, Lee and Lois had to go home, so we packed up our area and started to head toward our terminal for the next flight. As we were picking up our bags, I was annoyed because I realized that someone had spilled apple juice all over the floor. Some of it was even on my bag and I tried to wipe it off. I picked up my bag and some of it was getting on my shirt as well. I was trying to round everything up and get our children together when I realized that Caleb was walking funny. It was then that I realized that he had wet his pants. I then had the slow, dawning realization that it was not apple juice on the floor, or my bag, or my shirt! 

Because of so many little things, I have had trouble keeping up at times and the blogging has suffered. But hopefully, things will continue to get better. We have been having a great summer so far and we have much to look forward to. My brother got married last weekend and Caleb was the ring bearer. He did a great job and took his title pretty seriously. I loved seeing him in his little tuxedo--a replica of my brother's. We had lots of family come from out of state for the event and I so enjoyed seeing everyone and catching up with cousins, aunts, uncles, and longtime friends. It was great!!

Coming up on June 22nd, both boys are having surgery. We recently took them to see a different craniofacial team, one that is closer than the hospital where Caleb had surgery two years ago. We have also been somewhat frustrated with the first hospital because Caleb has had ongoing speech issues that I feel like they haven't been addressing. It's a long story, but I met a woman who was part of our local cleft team and we were able to get an appointment with them. It is thought that maybe part of Caleb's speech stuff has been related to the fact that he still has a large fistula (hole) in the roof of his mouth that opened up two years ago where he had his original cleft palate repair. The fistula is big enough that closing it (essentially having another half cleft palate surgery) may help with some of his sounds. Also, his upper lip has a very tight muscle and he can barely move it or show his upper teeth at all. Brushing his teeth every day is quite the project. So, he will have some work done on that lip as well to hopefully loosen it. 

Asher still needs his palate repaired, so he will have his done on the 22nd as well. The same doctor is doing both surgeries and they will be back to back that morning. I think we'll be in the hospital 2 or 3 days. So, I'm trying to be a brave soul here and just get it over with. Once we get through all of the hospital stuff, it should be fine. Then, hopefully we can just enjoy the rest of our summer......