Spring Break

This week was filled with fun and excitement as I had the week off for Spring Break. Friday of last week was our only real day all to ourselves though, as Monday, Wednesday, and Friday Bo went to daycare, Tuesday the three of us went to the dietician and I received training to give Bo insulin shots, and Thursday we went on another dental visit - this time to New Orleans for an oral surgeon that was recommended by the Children's Hospital. This dental visit was well worth it as the surgeon was much more friendly and understanding (though he also made a point to tell us on at least 3 or 4 occasions that Bo is not 4 1/2 because he has at least a few permanent six-year molars in place. The oral surgeon intends to pull 4 teeth in his office instead of the initially suggested 8 at the hospital.

This age discrepancy situation is making us feel better about our consideration to enroll Bo in kindergarten in the fall rather than daycare for another year.

Every morning at 6:50, like clockwork, Bo wakes up and wants to play Kung Fu Panda video game, or now a Buzz Lightyear game that we happened upon on the Mac when we were looking for pictures of Toy Story. He now sees the laptop as nothing more than a toy, fun fun fun!

We have watched Toy Story and/or Toy Story 2 nightly (he can't seem to get enough of them), and he is enjoying the Ultraman Season 1 dvd set that we found courtesy of Amazon. Though these are dubbed in English, Bo really enjoys them as they seem to comfort him and bring him back to China. Bo did have the crazy idea that Toys-R-Us would have aisles full of Buzz Lightyear action figures just like Al's Toy Barn on Toy Story 2 - but it was not to be. I guess they are waiting for the film to be re-released in 3d in the fall to stock up on Buzz action figures once again (or when Toy Story 3 comes out next June).

Yesterday was a rainy and dreary day in Baton Rouge, so we headed towards the local Children's Museum and caught an IMAX movie about Sea Monsters, and Bo got to see some fighter planes. We were surprised about Bo's reaction as we left around 4:30 (the museum was closing and it was about time to get home to cook dinner, etc), but Bo threw a major tantrum the whole drive home (which included a nice 20 minute traffic delay because we chose to drive by the football stadium right before the spring game).

***(This is Alison now: this was the worst Bo tantrum yet, and really surprised us because he has been going days without one and we were having such a good time before it happened. Usually Bo is dragging us out of places early but it was the opposite at the museum. I've noticed a few signs over the past few days that pointed me to the fact that Bo is finally starting to grieve over the loss of his old life in China. He has the spaced out look on his face more often and he has been especially clingy to me. I expected this and it's probably healthy to go through this stage but it's also rather sad to see him so easily distraught. When we got home from the museum he was still crying and going on 30 minutes so I took him into his bathroom and stripped him out of his dirty clothes, used a cold washcloth on his forehead to cool him down, then we went into his room and I offered him some of his China clothes. He chose to wear the peach quilted pants that he was wearing as one of his layers the day we met. He immediately calmed down and went straight to playing with Legos. Today we went to the neighborhood pool and afterwards Bo again chose to wear China clothes, this time his camo pants. I try to get him to wear them all the time and he refuses so this was definitely another sign that he is struggling with choosing between his two worlds. In my international adoption "bible" it says to put a book together with photos from the child's earlier life and them meeting you and then some photos from their new life so you can talk about it and show that you understand what a big change they have been through. Now with the added reality that Bo may be closer to 6 than 4.5 that puts his age at separation from his birth parents at around 4 instead of not quite 3, so I think his memories of them might be quite strong even though it has been 2 years since he has seen them. I'm sure we will learn more once his English improves and I can't wait until then.)***

Today our community pool opened and Bo and Alison stopped by for a while after we attended the first 4 innings of an LSU Baseball blowout loss (ranked the #1 college team in the nation, yet we have not witnessed them scoring a run in either of the two games that we have gone to). I have no doubt that Bo will want to attend frequently as the weather warms up.

Sorry, no pictures to include during this post, but the good news is that Olympus is currently fixing both of our broken cameras, and we should have them back within the next week or so.

Another week goes by...

This past week was full of excitement for Bo.

The week started with an endocrinnologist visit for Bo, and Alison finally got her way and got to cut down on Bo's nightly insulin dose before bed. After a week of low blood-sugar levels at 4am, we were very thankful to not have to wake him up and feed him every morning/night. We are pretty sure that Bo is grateful too.

We got to be psycho diabetes parents for the first time, as we had to circumvent the daycare Easter party that included cupcakes and candy-filled eggs. Alison prepared for this by purchasing empty eggs and sugar-free candy which would be switched with whatever Bo found during the egg hunt. I arrived as quickly as I could, and removed him before the cupcakes were served to the class.

We had our first overnight visitors (Amy and Jason), so Bo had an opportunity to take his baths in our rarely used (read: NEVER USED) whirlpool tub (which he loved), and he got to sleep with us in the big bed (with the dogs of course).

Bo got along well with Uncle Jason, but I think he is still unsure of what to think of Auntie Amy (and I believe that she shares these same feelings - not everyone speaks 4 year old!).

Saturday we went to the zoo, which Bo enjoyed for the first 45 minutes. Thankfully, we are now official zoo members, and we can continue these 45 minute long visits until we have seen each of the animals. Bo took a good nap and slept during his car ride from the zoo to his first crawfish boil at Rob and Candace's. He wasn't too keen on this (though he did enjoy the crawfish and shrimp that he tried), and Bo and I headed home after about an hour and a half at the party. Alison is still under the impression that he was stuffing his face with the seafood because he understood that we would go home after he ate. Our return home was right up Bo's alley as we made our way home to play Kung Fu Panda on the newly discovered XBOX 360 and ate french fries and hushpuppies with LOTS of ketchup.

On Easter Sunday I got out of bed a bit before Bo and hid eggs filled with a few toys on our back patio, and after discovering the first egg or two he figured out the game and enjoyed playing with his new toys all day.

The hottest new toy in our home is the plasma car, courtesy of Miss Becky. Bo is carving a path around our patio nightly and getting very adept at his 360 maneuvers (and Alison enjoys riding it as well).

Somewhere over the past month Bo became an official Louisianian as he now wears full gloves, ski cap and winter coat when the temperature goes below 70 degrees. Alison picked him up from school on Tuesday afternoon and he was wearing his gloves during nap time. According to Ms. Carolyn, he took his gloves off for food and nothing else.

This week's words were: Yogurt, Thank You, Banana, grapes and the phrase "I LOOOOOOOVE KUNG FUUUUUUUUUU!"

This week's major interests were: Toy Story, Bakagon that he received in the Easter Basket, and continued requests to watch the Letter Factory DVD while drawing his letters on a whiteboard. We also introduced the game 'Trouble' (thank you Weko family!) today, and he counted out all of his moves using English numbers.

New foods introduced this week that he enjoyed: hushpuppies, Danimals yogurts, ham or chicken salad sandwiches, and sugar free jelly beans (the kid is smart enough to always hand me the licorice ones and save the good ones for himself!).

Ryan

Quick Recap of Bo's Recent Activities

So with school and doctors and just adjusting to his new life in general, Bo has been pretty busy. He has however kept up a pretty active social life so here's a recap of some of those activites and a few anecdotes from fun times at home.

Bo has had a few visitors at his house so far. Last weekend he got to meet Madison Smith, a potential babysitter, along with her father Dave. He had also had visits from Mr. Nile and Tom and Becky Wendahl over the past few weeks. Next weekend he will have his first over-night guests when Amy and Jason come to visit from Houston.

Bo has been to 4 different playgrounds (BREC rocks) and he loves swings of all shapes and sizes. He likes slides too but chooses to run up them instead of slide down them. I think it's a boy thing. I don't let him run up the tall ones because they are only safety designed for sliding downward but he has fun climbing the short ones so it's a good compromise.

Bo has been to two dinner parties at other kids houses. Last weekend it was an NCAA March Madness night over at Rob's house to play with Abby and Robbie. Bo was really into Robbie's Playstation and watched intently as they played a Sonic the Hedgehog type game. However, he did his usual thing which is eat dinner in about 5 minutes and then want to leave. Last night we went over to the Stanton's house and played with their kids (Jack and Sydney) as well as little Gabriel who was also over for dinner. Bo did very well and played on a bunch of bikes and tried out the jungle gym they have in their backyard. He is getting better at playing with other kids, probably from being at school every day and getting more confidence. I also think his English is getting better (understanding it spoken, not necessarily speaking it himself).

I have left him home alone with Ryan twice for more than a quick trip to the grocery store. Last weekend I went for a massage and while I was gone and Ryan was mowing the lawn Bo helped himself to a regular Kool-Aid. We have those stashed away in case of low blood sugar but Bo just helped himself. When I got home he got a special shot of insulin to correct. This weekend I decided to go for a manicure and left with Bo all ready to eat lunch, mac-n-cheese in the microwave. Well, Bo refused to eat the mac-n-cheese so Ryan made him a bowl of ramen soup. While it was cooling on the counter Bo decided to grab it and carry it over to the table himself. He then proceeded to drop it and it spilled all over the kitchen floor. Then he dropped on all fours and started eating noodles off the floor and cried as Ryan started cleaning it up. Luckily there was a spare brick of ramen in the pantry and Ryan cooked Bo his third attempt at a meal and all was well. Bo is a super-active, 100% boy four-year old so you have to be anticipating every way he can hurt himself or break something all of the time because given any freedom one or both will happen. Ryan has spring break the week after Easter so we may have some more funny stories then.

Earlier today Bo learned that the silly white box on top of Baba's TV is a magic cube that plays a Kung Fu Panda game. And yet another XBox junkie is born! I had to go out and buy an egg timer so we can set limits on Bo's playing. This morning I had to practically drag him away from it to eat lunch and then when I did he realized he was feeling shaky and freaked out. His blood sugar was 46 (note to fat people: playing xbox burns calories!). Then I had to drag him out of the house to run some errands this afternoon and on the way home all he could talk about was Kung Fu. I think we have created a monster, although I did use this new obsession for some good too. I now have some leverage in our little battles over getting dressed, getting out of the bath, etc. I just say "no more Kung Fu" and he quickly does whatever I asked him to do and then kisses me. This is probably not what is recommended by Family Circle magazine but whatever works go with it, right?

And last but not least in the bragging how great our kid is category, Bo is now sleeping all by himself in his room. Friday night before bed I showed him that I would sit with him until he fell asleep and then I would go into my room and sleep there and then in the morning he could come in and wake me up. It worked like a charm. We still have to go in his room at 4 AM to test his blood but the rest of the night I sleep much better. Not getting kicked in the kidneys makes sleep so much more enjoyable. Plus Bo is falling asleep between 9:30 and 10 now so we still have a little time to get organized for the day ahead and to watch some of our shows on TV.

This week is a 4 day week for Ryan and Bo because they both have Good Friday off. It's supposed to be gorgeous weather next weekend so we will probably go down to New Orleans and visit the zoo. I haven't been posting as many pictures because both of our small cameras are broken right now and I am stuck using a larger one and I always forget the camera bag when we leave the house. I'll try to take some good pictures at the zoo.

Bo Goes to the Dentist

His new smile, minus one tooth on the lower right

Recovering from the dentist, Boo is making sure he doesn't drop any food on the floor!

So Bo is still enjoying school and I worked two full days Monday and Tuesday. On Tuesday ryan picked Bo up from school and took him to his class at LSU from 4:30 to 5:30. While Bo was good during class, coloring in his coloringbook most of the time, I definitely think it was too long a day for him because he was a royal pain last night, on the verge of tears about every little thing. So luckily Ryan doesn't have that class the next two weeks and then we'll have to rethink Tuesdays. This morning I took Bo to his first dentist's appointment and it was quite an experience for both of us. The hygenist came out and greeted us and gave Bo a sticker and let him pick a new toothbrush out. She then proceeded to tell me that she would have no problem with him because she is used to non-verbal kids from working with autistic children. I felt like telling her that he isn't non-verbal, she just doesn't speak his language, but I bit my tongue and smiled and she took Bo into her room all smiles. Bo has had a loose tooth (baby tooth) the past few days and I guess it was really hurting in the X-ray room because he decided to yank it out himself! I don't think he was quite prepared for the pain or the blood that followed and he screamed so loud the building shook. I was out in the waiting room for this whole ordeal because they don't let you go back with the hygenist so she got to enjoy Bo's rage all on her own. When she finally finished his cleaning and brought him back to me they both looked a bit worn down and Bo was still sobbing quietly. I picked him up and he melted into my arms and settled down. Next I got to talk to the dentist who informed me that Bo's teeth are as bad as I had feared and we are going to have to remove 5 or 6 of them, which will require an out-patient surgery at the hospital because it's too invasive to do in his office. Bo already has a lot of permanent teeth in or coming in so some of these teeth are just making room for the permanent ones. The hygenist was kind enough to tell me (bluntly) that Bo is probably more like 6 years old than 4.5 based on his teeth that he has. I've always thought he's probably a few months older than his Chinese info states but I didn't really need a rude hygenist to tell me that my kid is two years older than I think he is. His paperwork is what it is so he's just going to stay four and a half (sorry, Barbara)! And if he really is older he'll just have an advantage in little league so why start down a path you will never get an answer to? Just another expample of the joys of older child adoption and how inconsiderate people are. So after the dentist informs me that he is going to completely rearrange my child's mouth in a few weeks and under general anesthesia I get the pleasure of speaking to his office manager about how much it's going to cost and how neither my dental nor my medical insurance will cover the cost of the hospital or anesthesia. Why is it we want this great private healthcare again? It would suck so bad to live where you don't spend half an hour holding your recently sobbing child while some lady named Jan tells you how many thousands of dollars you will need to pay upfront or else they can't schedule the operating room for a necessary procedure. Anyway, I tested Bo's bloodsugar in the car after this wonderful ordeal and he was 47 so we went straight to the Sonic drive-through for a caramel sundae and headed home. I couldn't bear to drop him off at school in his condition so I have been working all afternoon while he watched Madagascar and practiced his letters.

Nearing the end of School Week 1

So Bo has gone full days the past two days and he is doing great! On Wednesday he took a 1.5 hr nap (and then stayed up until 11 PM!) but today he just played quietly on his cot during naptime. Figures that he does that on Ryan's night to sleep with him :)

Some funny stories of school so far:

• Bo picks all the girls flowers when they are outside, even the teachers. My guess is he picked up this survival tactic in the orphanage, buttering up to all the female caregivers.
• Bo's teacher had a rough time testing his blood the first time she tried it and pricked him three times before she got enough blood. Bo shook his head at her and told her what she was doing wrong, my little boss man.
• He has eaten grits, oatmeal, and mashed potatoes in the past two days - all foods he refuses to eat for me! Our friend Rob told me not to feel bad b/c the people at school are "trained professionals". Hopefully we'll be that good soon.
• He played duck, duck, goose today during afternoon playtime. When we arrived to pick him up he was running around like a wild man but it was just part of the game.
• Last week's letter was B so he wore his Red Sox "B" hat to show-n-tell. This week is F so he's bringing a foam door tag that we made together, I added a frog sticker to the back to help him (that's right - already doing his homework for him).
• Today around 3:00 he asked the teacher where I was and even got a couple tears to flow. She showed him the clock and that the big hand hand to be at the 6 (3:30) and he smiled and ran outside to play on the bikes. I'm glad I'm not the only one he's a drama queen for!

So it is still going great and I can't wait to go back to work on Monday. I know that must seem weird to some of you but this overnight mommy-hood has me feeling like half my brain cells are gone. I need some serious adult time or I am worried I might lose them forever :) Plus, there are just way too many dishes and other messes to clean at home so I can never focus for more than an hour and it has prevented me from really digging in deep with anything and the list of must-do items is reaching a critical point. Tomorrow I plan to come home and veg out with some Brothers and Sisters DVDs and diet coke and enjoy the peace and quiet one last time. Next time I'm home on a workday one of us will probably be sick and I won't really be enjoying it so no one call me tomorrow between 9 and 3 :) Good night, off to tuck in the Bo-ster...

Quick Update on School

Just a quick recap of yesterday. It went much better than expected with no tears shed by me or Bo. We reviewed the picture story a few times in the morning before going to school and I really emphasized the mommy bye-bye and then mommy comes back later part. When we got to school at 8:15 we walked into the class and the teacher greeted us. I explained the picture story to her and she went over it with Bo and I, then Bo ran off to the other kids and I gave him a quick kiss good-bye and that was it. I got a call about 15 minutes later that he wouldn't eat breakfast, which was no big deal because I had anticipated that and fed him enough at home. When I came back at 11 he was out on the playground but didn't see me pull up because he was so busy playing in the sandbox. Some of the other kids saw me and waved but I just quietly went inside and waited in his classroom. He noticed my car a few minutes later and ran to Miss Carolyn to point at it and raise his arms like "where is she?". Miss Carolyn let him inside and he came in to see me with a big grin. I told him what a big boy he was and that we were staying for his lunch with the other kids. The rest of the class came inside and they all washed their hands at the sink and sat down for a story before lunch. Bo and I went to the director's office with Miss Carolyn so I could do the first training session with the staff on how to use his glucometer. His blood sugar was low so I'll have to adjust some things but other than that all went smoothly. Some highlights of his day were talking to Richard's dad in the morning (in Mandarin, supposedly Bo said that he has 2 computers at home), playing on the classroom computers, doing his artwork, playing music, and a visit from someone at the Ag school who brought three live pigs for the kids to play with. Miss Carolyn said Bo was giggling and saying "oink, oink" when he petted the pigs. He was tired in the afternoon at home. This morning I dropped him off for day 2 and again no major drama. He said "boo bye bye" (no bye bye) when I went to leave but I smiled and nodded yes I am going and he smiled back. I think he was just testing me out. Tomorrow (Wednesday) will be the big full-day adventure. I'm eager to see if he actually naps. I bought him a transformers blanket and pillow and he used them on Sunday and loved them. He asked me for it yesterday afternoon but I told him they were at school. Hopefully when he sees them it will make him think happy thoughts of home and he will actually lay down for a little while. Oh, the last thing about yesterday that was awesome... Bo actually ate everything they served at lunch. In fact he inhaled it and asked for seconds. They ate black-eyed peas over rice, canned pears, and collard greens. He has turned down every green vegetable I have ever offered so this was a big first. I guess the peer influence of all the other kids eating combined with a super hungry kid did the trick.

School Starts!

This week Bo became an official preschooler. We went by school on Monday to inquire about getting Bo in to get used to the place and after a brief scare that they might not be able to handle his diabetes we were ready to go. Monday we met his teacher but did not spend much time in the class. Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday we went each morning from about 9 to 11, which is their morning play time when they work on the letter and number fo the week and then do free play and finally playground, which is definitely Bo's favorite. Each day I saw progress with how Bo related to the other kids. Day one he clung to me and didn't even try to play with other kids. He did talk to Richard, the other Chinese kid in his class, in Mandarin for a few minutes on the playground. It's funny because although Richard speaks Mandarin at home with his parents he seems to think that school is for English and he isn't able to translate or switch between languages very easily. He's a smart kid though and the spontaneous conversations between them will definitely put Bo more at ease. By Friday Bo was actually playing with the other kids a little. Tomorrow (Monday) I will leave him alone without me for the first time. I am not expecting this will go well but I drew a picture for him this morning and we have reviewed it a few times. It has stick figure drawings of us waking up, eating breakfast at home, going in the car to school, Bo staying at school while I go back home in the car, then me coming back to pick him up and both of us driving home together and Ryan coming home. I have to go to school at 11 to test his blood (staff isn't trained yet) so I'm guessing he won't make it past lunchtime. I think that's Ok for two days and then Wednesday will probably be our first attempt at full day. It will definitely help to not have me coming at lunch to test him but I think with another stick figure picture story I can explain that I come and do "finger" as we call it and then I leave and come back a second time before he comes home. This will no doubt be a crazy week but it has to happen (I'm not cut out for the stay-at-home mommy gig). So stay tuned and wish us luck!

And for those of you wondering, Bo is starting to speak a little English. He mostly mimics us and doesn't really use it spontaneously himself but I can tell he understands me more and more. And he has copied a few words at school from other kids (teacher, sand) so I'm sure that not having me around as his Mandarin crutch will be a big help.