handsful

So, a quick run-down on the last few days. 

On Thursday, we drove about 2 1/2hrs to a Christmas get-together with Randy’s family…lots of fun, Dylan met tons of extended family members and did great.  We dropped 3 of the kids off at their cousin’s house to stay till we could pick them up today. 

Today, we were scrambling to get ready for another 2 1/2hr Christmas get-together trip  – this time with my extended family.  The little kids were playing on and around the stairs, I was packing a bag of things we’d need for the trip.  I heard Dylan jump and cry out a little, Randy grabbed him up to give him hugs…and, then took off his pants to check out his leg. 

No, it’s not supposed to look like that.  And, for some strange reason (I think we were both clinging to denial), we decided that I should go ahead and drive towards our planned destination while he took Dylan to the ER to be checked out.  He’d drive over as soon as they were done. 

About 1 hour into my drive, Randy calls to say Dylan has a complete break of the femur in his little leg, they’re transferring him via ambulance to a children’s hospital, and he’ll most likely need surgery to set the leg.  I make an immediate u-turn to drive back home. 

Arriving at the hospital, I’m thankful to learn that they don’t need to do surgery, and can set the leg during the casting process…we choose red and he’s wrapped from the bottom of his little leg (with a hole at the bottom), up to his hip, and then around his waist and up to his chest all around. 

I stay until 9:30, then drive back home to be with the other kids – Randy and his dad, (who drove the other kids back home for us), will be staying with Dylan through the night. 

He’ll be in the cast for 4-5 weeks. 

 I realize this isn’t life-shattering, very far from it.  But, life sure can change on a dime.

So, Dylan YuHai has been with us for exactly one month, as of today! Here are a few things we’ve learned about him so far…

He loves french fries. I mean LOVES. And, most fruits, hot dogs, fish sticks, yogurt, milk, and muffins.

His expression after his tower fell down!  He says “oh no!” 

He likes having a bedtime routine. Brush teeth, turn on the air filter, TV on FoodNetwork (okay, maybe that’s for me), and, read “Ted in a Red Bed”. Then, he usually crawls around on me until I make him settle down beside me where he eventually nods off. After he’s asleep, he does NOT wake up until morning. Ever. I probably shouldn’t type that outloud.

Busted his lip a little while he was playing….he rarely ever cries when he gets hurt.  Lainey was the same way – never expecting attention means there’s no need to make a fuss.  We’re working hard to love on him so he realizes we’re there for him always. 

He loves to stack things.  I was surprised to see that he can easily connect and stack the Duplo blocks.  The higher the better! 

His meaningful words (at least the ones we understand) are Mama, Baba, all done, hello, bye bye, nyow nyow or nala (what he uses to indicate he needs to go potty), and he knows each siblings name and usually calls them by it.  He’s understanding more and more each day, too.  He still says “where’d it go” – a game we started playing in China when we were looking for a toy or something. 

Loves to rough house with his Baba!

He doesn’t like things hot or cold.  Ice cream?  Hates it.  And, if food is even a little bit hot, he’ll spit it out.  He likes to talk about things being hot (like mama’s tea mug) or cold (like the ice pack I used on his cut lip today). 

He loves to give kisses, both on his own and when we ask.  But, he’s not big into hugging yet – we’re trying to show him :)

First haircut at home!

Favorite toys right now are anything that stacks (did I mention that already?), food/dishes, and trucks.  He enjoys playdough, scribbling, and sticking stickers, too. 

I started using lotions on him, since his skin is dry.  His favorite thing is for me to use them on his knees.  Since they function really as his feet, they take a beating, even under pants.  They’re calloused and very dry, so he loves the special treatment. 

Did he like the snow we had recently?  Uh, NO.  He wouldn’t even touch it on his own!  Not sure we’ll have him on a sled this year, I guess we’ll see. 

Someone thinks he’s handsome!

We think he’s right!  Happy 1 month, Dylan!

Finally able to get some of our Christmas pics up (yahoo!)

Later that evening…

And, here’s what we woke up to.

Our backyard.

No, we haven’t thrown our pumpkins away yet.

Yes, Ethan is trying to sled on a skim board. We have some winter shopping to do.

The artistic photos are credited to Abbey. She’d want you to know :)

Our neighbor came over with a sled – guess she felt sorry for us! Here Lainey and I are headed down. Did you know sleds are incredibly hard to steer?? We almost hit a tree, and then slammed into the bushes. Fun.

Waiting ever so patiently for us to give the go-ahead to run into the living room on Christmas morning. Yes, we’re those parents who have to have the camera set up and ready to capture their faces as they see the things set out for them. We wrap most everything, but leave out a big thing for each kid.

More pics of our Christmas coming later…I’m having issues with my photo upload account, but a very nice friend is helping me get it worked out (thanks, Alan!). Sorry the pic above is so small, it’s either that size or one that fills the entire page! Grrr…

He takes her toy. She grabs it back. And, takes his. It’s all a process.

But, I think they’re beginning to grow on each other.

We’re speeding through the last few days!

Going out for my birthday. We went downtown where, on each Friday in December, they open all the stores, have cider and cookies, lights up everywhere, Santa, and a favorite restaurant of mine.

Okay, I’m fuzzy on what day this was. We saw the snow starting to come down and headed outside to enjoy it – since we knew it wouldn’t last.

We heard that the kids saw snow when we were in China, but they said this was a LOT more. And, the flakes were huge!

Dylan approved :)

That night, we headed to a Christmas tree lot to find the perfect tree.

Checking out the freshness factor. Everytime Dylan has a new experience, I wonder what’s going on in his little head.

The winner!

Super Dad!

Lots of table crafts and activities lately. Dylan loves being in his chair and will sit a long time working on something. Here, he’s sticking cut-outs of stickyback foam pieces to paper.

It was big sisters idea.

This was actually on my birthday, I think. He’s enjoying his first lollipop from the pediatrician.

We made it through the first week home. I’m so glad to be back in our (new) routine and looking forward to Christmas (which we’re still feverishly trying to get ready for – I’m one of those ladies with the overflowing carts at Target days before Christmas). Am I missing anything from China? Room service, maid service, the water pressure at the White Swan (gracious!), doormen who are always happy to open the door for you, and friends that we met. Oh, and….

Okay, okay. I’ll stop talking about the french toast, already. Sheesh…

Seems to be a nickname that’s sticking…

Dylan went to the pediatrician yesterday and did wonderfully – very cooperative, no tears. Course, there’s been no ouchies yet.

He weighs 26.15 pounds (2nd percentile) and is 36 inches tall (3rd percentile). Yep, he’s small, but proportionate, so all is good. He’s wearing 24mo/2T shirts and 24mo pants. 18mo pants fit better, except they’re usually too short. Thank goodness for pants with the elastic/button things on the inside of the waist!

We discussed shots, and I expressed my interest in getting as many titers as possible, to avoid unnecessary shots. She contacted the disease control center and got specifics on how this can best be accomplished. Next Monday, he’ll have those titers run, have a repeat TB test, and I’ll bring in the stool for cultures. So, there may be tears on Monday!

I’ve been keeping a list on Dylan since China, so I thought I’d share a few things here that we’ve learned so far.

Despite his leg difference, NOTHING stops him. He climbs anywhere and everywhere and scoots across the floor faster than I can keep up. He loves his little leg, and delights in showing it to anyone. Makes me sad to think he has to lose it – praying we can explain it to him somehow.

He began giving us unsolicited kisses and calling us mama/baba on day 2.  He loves to kiss! 

He understood “ball” by day 4.  He says “nyow nyow” to ask to go potty, and is beginning to understand some English already.  He understands “more” and “all done”.  As of today, he’s responding to the name Dylan most of the time (we’re calling him Dylan YuHai and will drop YuHai eventually). He says “didden oo di” for Dylan YuHai.

Dylan seems very mature for his age…he eats neatly with a spoon or fork (in fact, he hates picking up food with his hands – doesn’t like his hands dirty).  Today, we were playing with play dough and I handed him the plastic scissors.  He held them just right and began cutting…I wonder if he’d used scissors before?  He plays creatively (trying all sorts of arrangements with his stacking cups) and has a long attention span for activities. 

His favorite food was bread in China; he’s not as fond of it anymore.  Like I’ve said, he will hold food in his mouth and takes forever to swallow sometimes.  But, it’s decreased a lot in the last few days, he has needed less encouragement to eat,  and he seems  more willing to try new foods. 

Bedtime has gotten easier lately, now that we have more of a routine that slowly gets him used to the idea.  And, once he’s asleep, he’s a deep – though very restless – sleeper.  He kicks, spins, turns sideways (his favorite way to sleep) all night long.  Once he’s in his own bed, it’s a good thing his bed has rails all the way around! 

Dylan loves to throw things away and will point out trash he finds.  Likes to shut doors, too.  Hoping these traits rub off on the big kids! 

He doesn’t like to go barefoot or even sockfoot.  Shoe on at all times.  And, even though he has 4 shoes, he always chooses the squeaky shoe we got him in China. 

 

I feel like I’m so behind in the blog! Today is my birthday – I’m officially smack in the middle of my 40’s. I’d prefer to avoid typing the actual number. Ouch. And, we finally got a Christmas tree in the house as of last night. We’ll decorate this weekend. We’re ridiculously behind in Christmas shopping and we have 6 children hoping we catch up quickly. Well, at least 5 children – Dylan is happily oblivious to it all. Randy suggested we just postpone Christmas for a week, but none of the kids liked the idea. Weird, huh? I promise to try to post more pics soon!!