This time last year...

Last year, on October 30th, Meg from China Adoption With Love called me with the file of a little guy called Wei Zhong Kai. She had limited information for us other than his birthday and CL/CP status and a few other details. If we were interested in knowing more about this child and would consider adopting him, she would send us his file to look over.
Sometimes you just know. We knew. We knew before looking at his records and photos that Wei Zhong Kai was the son we had been waiting for all these years.
We made our commitment to this little boy one year ago. We waited to meet him for 6 1/2 long months. He was born in our hearts a long time ago, but this precious child came alive for us on October 30, 2009.

Monkey Business

I have so few opportunities to post new pictures these days. Kai is forever on the run and insists I remain "actively engaged" at all times. As you may notice in these pictures, the swelling in Kai's nose and upper lip is slowly subsiding. He feels great and is forever a ball of energy. Sleeping continues to prove problematic each night since the surgery and may not improve before we start all over again with the next surgery. Well, at least my arms are getting really strong. Speaking of surgery, I think Kai is noticing a difference in his hearing since the insertion of his ear tubes. He covers and uncovers his ears with both hands all day and gets a kick out of the sound being muffled. It's pretty cute to see.
Lately Kai has been interested in touring the neighborhood (from his stroller)in search of kitties, doggies and squirrels. A couple of weeks ago a very large fisher cat leaped out of the woods to cross the street just a foot away from where we were walking. The poor thing froze in fear before wheeling around and heading for the safety of the woods. It watched us continue on our way before disappearing into a tree.
Okay, so here are a few photos from this week. The first few were taken as Kai was awaiting Annie's visit. She is the speech therapist that comes to the house once a week. He grabbed a pillow to sit on the floor the way she does while she is working with him.


This photo shows my young toddler's death wish behavior. He insists on using EVERYTHING as a chair. Here he is astride a parking garage. I had to "save" him from falling on his head half a dozen times before he could be persuaded to try another activity.


I love this picture because it shows Kai being Kai. He is such a little goof ball sometimes. He decided to use the fridge to prop himself up while taking a drink from his cup.


As mentioned earlier, Kai uses everything as a chair. Here he is atop his fire engine.


HAPPY HALLOWEEN...
Even though Kai didn't go trick or treating this year, he has been a good sport about letting me dress him up as a dinosaur and monkey. We got a few costumes from a consignment store this year for dress up play. This monkey suit was great for today's chilly weather; it is fully padded making him a chunky monkey!

Autumn Days

Kai has been trying to blow little pieces of paper off of surfaces after seeing me do it once. Unfortunatly, because of his partially open palate, he can't build up enough oral pressure to "blow" out air; mostly he just spits on it a bit. I give him a little help after a few tries do that he doesn't get too frustrated.






Yup, he's doing it again. This time he was trying to blow leaves off of a chair. Little cutie.

Busy Body, Busy Boy

I have several pictures for you today. The first set is Kai in his "artistic" phase. Well, actually I painted things as he requested them through signing and he managed to find opportunities to get his fingers in there enough to look like a human canvas.





These photos are a good indicator of what a tired Kai Kai looks like. When he felt that dinner was over, he upturned his bowl and made a lovely ball cap of it.





Today my brother, Chris, and I brought Kai to a pet show. For the most part, the event was a dud (it didn't live up to the advertisements). Kai didn't seem to know the difference. He enjoyed seeing the animals that were there and didn't seem to miss the ones that were noticeably absent. (They had claimed to have a petting zoo, but it turned out to be a donkey and two enclosed Alpacas). Once we were outside, he was thrilled with the strong winds blowing his hair around. It turned out to be a beautiful autumnal day after yesterday's heavy rainfall.









I haven't time to write more tonight, but I will try to squeeze more in this week. Kai's sleeping patterns are just beginning to get back on track, so I am hoping to do a better job giving updates in the next few weeks.

Pumpkin Patches and Furry Friends