Milo, An Update of Sorts

My baby boy.

Oh this boy.

He is my dream come true & so much more.

He drives me so crazy one minute, then turns around & melts my heart.

I mean...

Seriously.

Those eyes!

It was the first thing I fell in love with when I saw his referral pictures. 

I've thought for a long time about doing some type of update on Milo's limb difference.

I've gone back and forth with it because,

well,

there's not much to update.

I've already posted about Milo's school experiences so far.

There really isn't anything that I can honestly think of that this boy cannot do.

He may do it differently than others, but he can do it!

We had a little incident last week with some kids at Xandra's bus stop.

But all in all, it really wasn't a big deal at all.

Milo doesn't usually wait with us at her bus stop (another example of Matt's & my policy of "divide & conquer").

But Matt had an early morning appointment, so Milo got to wave his sister off.

A couple boys walked up & stared at Milo - blatantly (& if I'm honest, a little rudely; but they are little boys so... I'll let that go).

Then they began saying he was "weird"& "looked weird."

I corrected them - "He's not weird, he's different. We're all different. If you have a question about him, please ask me. But please don't call him weird."

They didn't really ask any questions we haven't heard before:

"What happened to his arm?"

"Is he from China?"

"Are you his mom?"

As I always do in these situations, I second-guessed all of my responses, my tone, how long I waited before I "stuck up" for my son, how Milo "heard" my answers & will answer these questions himself later on.... 

Does it ever get easier??

Matt & I recently discussed (again!) getting Milo a prosthetic.
Matt has been thinking about it a lot, and thinks it might be good for him.
Not so much for me.
I really don't think he needs it.
He does everything - & I mean everything - including a lot of things I don't want him to do!
I can see both sides of this issue, pros & cons for each case.
But, for now, I'm in the camp of "let him be."
Because he's doing so well, and because he's still growing (lordy! is he growing!!), I think we could just save the couple/few hundred dollars it would cost to refit him every time he outgrows it.
We'll reevaluate again in a few months (& probably will forever more).

We're restarting speech therapy, as of today.
Matt took him (no more home visits-boo!!)...
& apparently, he did really well!
I'm really happy about it.
After last school year, when we took the summer off, I was pretty discouraged.
We hadn't been making any progress, except for what he was picking up at his school
(which is one of the huge reasons we wanted to keep him there!).
So, now he'll be getting good practice at both places.
Love it when things work out like that!!

So that's my non-update on Milo.
Not too interesting... but that's where we are.
Love that boy!!

PS
Anyone know of a way to keep a kid in their crib? Milo's driving me nutty with all the climbing out! He even managed to scare the bejesus out of Xandra this morning - he got up way too early, climbed out of bed, snuck into Xandra's room...
& let's just say, I woke up to insanely loud screams at 6 am.
Not fun.

Click over to my friend's blog

& check out some other great pictures!!

Class Assignments

Last week's photography class assignment was silhouettes, backlighting, & sun flares.

I really thought Xandra would once again be my go-to girl...

But she just wasn't feeling it.

So, I managed to catch the one I figured I'd have the most trouble with... Milo!

And I got him a couple times! 

Awesome!!

50mm, ISO 100, f16, SS100
Oh man! I love those pouty lips!!

That's not to say that Xandra didn't get her fair share of pictures taken...

And this week's assignment...

The dreaded self-portrait.

Look all you want to at this...

It will probably not happen again for a very, very, very long time!

And moving on!

My girly is really maturing right before my eyes.

Ugh!

So bittersweet!!

Finally, this wasn't really an assignment for the class

But I couldn't help but take some more pictures around my town again.

This the reflection of a church in a puddle in the parking lot

And the front of the church
So beautiful!

I completed my first week back to school. 

{big ole sigh!}

I have (ultrasound) scan lab 3 days a week for now (getting ready to head out to clinicals next month)

I have had more ultrasound gel on my body than I ever wanted

While I enjoy scanning & discovering the human body in new ways

I HATE that gel!!

The kiddos are both doing great in their schools.

Xandra has leaped from barely being able to remember her "sight" words assigned last year,

to writing full sentences that we can actually read & understand!! 

I'm so proud!!

And Milo's teachers are amazed with him on a daily basis.

The first day back, his teacher (who was also Xandra's preschool teacher) confessed that she had pulled her co-teacher over to re-think their curriculum for the year - 

They wanted to tweak things based on Milo's abilities.

Well, that same day, they were showing the kids how to string beads.

Milo didn't need or want any help at all.

He was all over that project & completed it with no problems!

That's when Miss A threw up her hands & told the other teacher "Never mind! No tweaking necessary!!"

That's my boy!

My only complaint about Milo right now is the way he works with markers.

He put the lid of the marker under his short arm & tries to aim the marker into it to close it.

Unfortunately, his shirts pay the price daily. 

Not one day has he come home without a large, dark marker stain on his shirt sleeve & side.

Yesterday, it had even bled through the shirt onto his skin. 

But if that's the worst thing I have to complain about...

I'll take it!! 

I sincerely hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday weekend!! 

My plan is to do as little as possible - except for that pesky homework...

Check out some other great blogs!!

Referral Day Anniversary!!

Exactly one year ago today...
a Tuesday
at 11:24 am
while I was shopping for some winter clothes
I received an email from our adoption coordinator:

... I was on the databank last night and did see a little boy that I wanted to share with you, I am not sure if you would be open to his special need or not though, he is missing the lower half of his left arm, and has an issue with his kidney, but I am not sure the details of his kidney, you would have to see the medicals.  Let me know if you would be interested in learning more about him.  I cannot guarantee that he is still on the databank, but he may be, I thought I would share him with you though just in case you may be interested.  I have attached a couple of pictures for you to see and his development report. Let me know what you think. 

Zheng Nan Gan

Male
2009-08-01
postoperative exarticulation of left elbow; comose concrement of right kidney 

I immediately forwarded the email & pictures to Matt. He was worried... what did that "concrement of right kidney" mean? Then I was worried. I'd kind of skipped over that part in my rush to see the pictures (yeah- I'm the pictures first, facts later kind of girl).

Although we were a little "gun shy" (this post explains), we took a leap of faith & submitted all of his medical history to Cincinnati Children's IAC. Two days later (2 days that I didn't sleep at all, or concentrate at school), we got word back that he appeared to be healthy... we still didn't know what "conferment of right kidney" meant, but we decided to move forward any way.

So, on October 29, 2010, we locked his file. We were adopting this little boy! He was ours... aside from getting official approval from the Chinese government.

I stared holes into those pictures for months! Those big, dark, sorrowful eyes. Those full, pouty lips that never showed an iota of a smile. I had no idea when the pictures were taken, how old he was in them, or what he would look like when we finally met him. We begged our agency for an update, but were told they were not allowed to request one. (???-we still don't understand that response) We sent 2 care packages through Ann of Red Thread China. She did such a wonderful job getting our packages to Milo's orphanage, but we still didn't receive any updated information.

Finally, out of desperation & frustration, we sent one final care package through Gifts to China with Love in April 2011 (by this time, we already had our TA). We told Sheri the most important thing to us was getting an update on Milo's measurements. While a picture would be nice, we knew he would be in our arms in just a few weeks. We just really wanted to know what size clothes to bring with us.

Sheri delivered. Oh boy, did Sheri deliver!! She managed to get us an update on his measurements, a synopsis of his personality, & a typical "day in the life."

Zheng Nan Gan

Update

April 19, 2011

 Here is the letter from Ms Luo Yi of Shanghai CWI:

我们已经收到了你寄给南甘的包裹，我们都很盼望收养他的那一天。

I just got the gifts for Nan Gan.We wish his forever family come to adopt him soon.

现在把他的情况回复如下，请转告他的父母：Please send the update to his parents.

他最新的指标：

height身高  81 

weight  体重  10  

head C头围  46  

chest C胸围   51   

feet length 足长    13  

teeth牙齿   6

He is a happy and active child. He loves to smile. He will feel nervous when he see strangers. He loves snacks and toys.

他的性格是比较开朗、活泼的，很爱笑，但看到陌生人会有些紧张。他喜欢吃零食、玩玩具。他目前的生活作息为：

every day ,5Am, drink babyformula每天5:00喝配方奶；

6:30Am,gets up, breakfast起床、早餐；

8:00am bath ,formula,steamed egg洗澡、喝配方奶或吃蛋羹；

9:00—10:30am outdoor play户内外活动；

10:30am lunch,formula午餐、喝配方奶；

11:00—13:30nap time午睡；

13:30pm gets up起床；

14:00pm formula ,fruits pieces喝配方奶、吃水果片；

14:30—16:00pm outdoor play 户内外活动；

16:30晚餐 dinner ；

17:00—18:30pm watch TV,indoor play户内外活动或看电视；

19:00 formula喝配方奶；

19:30 go to bed就寝。

照片见附件。

罗怡

PLUS, we got our updated pictures! 

And just a few short weeks later, we held our boy for the first time!
I can't believe it's been an entire year since we first saw our Milo's face.
Wow.
Time flies, doesn't it?

Happy Referral Day!!

SURPRISE!!!

We received the most wonderful gift today!! After much questioning & begging of our agency (who turned us down repeatedly), and 2 care packages sent through one service (with no results), we tried another service. We let them know that all we really wanted were Milo's updated sizes so we could bring some clothing with us. Anything above and beyond that would be just icing on the cake. 

**We got our icing!!**

If I'm not mistaken, that almost appears to be the beginnings of a little smile coming across his mouth!! 

I'm beyond excited over this!! According to the Shanghai CWI:

"I just got the gifts for Nan Gan. We wish his forever family come to adopt him soon. Please send the update to his parents:
Height  81 (@ 2'7")
Weight 10 (@ 22.7 lbs = wearing @ 12 mth clothing!)
Feet 13 (@ size 4, I think...)
Teeth 6 (OMG!!)
He is a happy and active child. He loves to smile. He will feel nervous when he sees strangers. He loves snacks and toys."

We also got an updated daily schedule for him- so as not to bore you, I'll just suffice it to say: he gets up at 5 am (!) for a bottle, up at 6:30 for the day (same as Xandra!), naps from 11:00-3:30 (4 1/2 hours!?), and is off to bed at 7:30.

He will fit into our family so very perfectly!! I can't wait to meet him!!!  =D