Well, I just took a look at how long it has been since I updated Kai's list of signs. It's been months! If I counted correctly, he is at 115 to date. There is a chance that there are a couple that I can't remember, but I try to record them in a journal as he goes.

So let me tell you, Kai IS killing me! He woke up crying the other night, so I went in to comfort him. He needed to be held in order to relax. Okay, no problem...since his surgery, I do this once a week or so. He put his head on my shoulder and took in a slow deep breath. Perfect, I think; he's going to fall back asleep quickly and I will get my sleepy self back into bed. It is just before 2 a.m. and we have an appointment to meet with his surgeon later that day...I want he and I to be well rested for this visit. In the darkened room I realize that Kai has spread his arms wide. The silence is suddenly broken with the sound of my son clapping. What??? Is he mocking me, I ask myself? Suddenly he is alive with the rhythm of music that ISN'T playing...did I mention that it's 2 a.m.??? And so, we we're up. I had tried to put him back to bed once I realized that he couldn't be rocked back to sleep, but to no avail. He was leaping and bouncing in his crib, playing his musical lullaby toy, kicking on the wall with his little footie pajama feet, and talking at full volume. Eventually I caved and brought him downstairs for an early breakfast. I naively thought that I could make him drowsy with food and then set him down for a long nap. No such luck. He only slept and hour and a half at 6 a.m. By the time we were on our way to the hospital, he was in rare form. He was an unhappy camper on the way down, but he perked right up once we were in the waiting room. Kai is quite the little ambassador (for those of you who have not met him). He charmed all the families in the waiting area. He is a riot. Oh, and the best part...The little boy that was terrified of medical personnel loves, loves, loves his surgeon and the nurses in the office. This is probably because he has no idea that this doctor is the one inflicting all the pain of surgery on him. He is still very anxious around anyone wearing scrubs or lab coats, but the progress he has made is HUGE. You would think that he would be all about sleep after his extended day, but he napped only briefly on the way home, he was cranky as all get out at dinner-time, and had zero interest in sleeping come bedtime. He's kill'n his Momma.

As far as the doctor's visit, he is scheduled to have palate surgery on Jan 12th. His open palate was "repaired" in China a few weeks before we travelled to adopt him, but it wasn't done properly. As result, Kai had to wait until now to have it fixed (the scar tissue needed 6-9 months time to heal before it could be touched again). Unfortunately, the existing scar tissue makes it harder for the newly constructed palate to retain the sutures. Fistulas (holes) can develop and would require future repair work. Kai will have a restricted diet for 6 weeks. The first two weeks will be strictly liquids and purees. {YIPPIE}. The following 4 weeks will consist of very soft foods such as slightly undercooked eggs, overcooked noodles, etc. Oh boy, Kai is not going to be happy about missing out on his crackers. Kai will stay in the hospital overnight 1-2 days depending on how well he is able to drink. Nothing will be able to enter his mouth during this healing period, so he will not be able to use utensils or put his fingers in his mouth. Kai will have to be fed his food using cups and extra large serving spoons that are too big to go into his mouth. Oh yeah, can't wait to tell my two year old that he can't be independent at mealtime. I am going to request different pain meds; maybe we can avoid some of the side-effects that we saw with his last operation. It's not going to be easy, but we will get through it. We have a very talent surgeon working on our little guy, so he'll be in good hands.

Kai is not yet two and he is doing somersaults on the couch. Arrrggh. This boy is one good bump away from a concussion. He made an attempt at one a couple of days ago and this afternoon he was delighted when he executed his first one. I think we are going to ask Santa for wall to wall padding and a helmet.

Rob caught a couple of shots of Kai wearing his work boots this morning after breakfast. He was pleased as punch to be sporting Daddy's shoes.


These pictures show an all too common scene these days. Kai apparently remembers the "good ol' days" and has resumed wearing his food dish on his head after eating. It's not a big deal after dinner because we pop him into a tub soon after, but mid-day messiness is kind of a bummer. Ah well, that's the beauty of toddlerhood...apple sauce = body paint.

"Vintage" Coming Home from the Airport Pictures

I just came across a set of pictures my family had given us; I had been too busy when we came home from China to check them out, but here are a few of them now. Some posted out of sequence, but you get the general idea. Please ignore how I look...we had not had the luxury of a shower in a long time and had major flight delays that made coming home even more challenging. Also, this was Kai's first "car seat experience", until then he had ridden on our laps when traveling in China.

We've been a family for SIX MONTHS!!!!

Yippee!! We are meeting with our social worker this weekend to complete our 6 month post-adoption homestudy.
Also, I am so proud of him this week. Despite having a pretty nasty chest cold, he has made a HUGE gain this week. Now I know this many not seem like a big deal to many people, but those who have adopted a child with a complicated history, will know the common challenges of bedtime. Well, after his lip and nose revision surgery in September, all of Kai's positive associations with sleeping went out the window. The hospital experience, pain, and insomnia kicked up all the negative experiences and surgeries he had in the orphanage. Even though I rocked him to sleep every night after surgery, he experienced so much anxiety and fear at bedtime. Bedtime has been a nightmare (yes, pun intended). The terror he felt at the prospects of going into his crib while awake were enough to break your heart. Well, after months of standing and rocking him for an 1-2 plus hours every night, we are starting to see a break through. Last week he showed an interest in playing around in his crib for a few minutes while I was rocking him to sleep. Three nights this week, Kai insisted on going into his crib and only needed to check and make sure I was still with him a few times; he fell asleep all by himself...no anxiety, no resistance. I am so happy for him to have reached this important milestone. We will continue to take baby steps and see how things go.

The last set of pictures show Kai at his friend's 2nd birthday party. The real kicker is that when Kai had first been introduced to Elmo from Sesame Street, he was terrified. Look at him now with the 4 foot Elmo balloon. He moved that sucker around from room to room that night. I consider myself fortunate that he didn't try and steal it from the birthday girl when it was time to go home. :)

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!