Wesley has been home one year!

I know it's been a LONG time since my last update, but I didn't let myself update the blog until I finished the annual update to the Ukrainian government. I think I'm going to start writing shorter updates more often. The problem is that I procrastinate so long that it's a daunting task to even start. But here we go...

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Wesley has started feeding therapy at Cincinnati Children's Hospital. We've only been twice, but the therapist has given us good suggestions to try. We are working on stage 3 foods right now, and I can assure you - it's a struggle. Wes does okay unless he realizes that the food is more than just pureed mush. He immediately spits out anything of substance, but I've been trying to get him to attack it with his teeth. So far it's not really working. The therapist though is really optimistic that Wes is going to "catch on" to eating without too much trouble. She pointed out that Wes letting us put the spoon in his mouth with food on it is really an accomplishment. She also stated that his ability drinking from a straw is a good indicator of his oral abilities - who knew?

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It's starting to get cooler here, and I normally love autumn but I'm not quite ready yet this year. I think it's that Wes loves playing outside so much, and when it gets cold, we'll have to find a way to amuse him inside. The mall near our house has a small play area, but I think that will get old fast. We are outside at least 2 hours a day, and he wears himself out! I am just really not sure what we are going to do because Wes NEEDS physical activity. Any suggestions?

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I'm trying to think what else has been going on...work has been going well for me, but I'm feeling a little burnt out. I thought that working from home part of the time (and the rest of the time in the office to get to full time) would be a dream, but it really is more difficult than you'd think. I feel that work is always hanging over my head when I'm at home, and when I'm at work I think about home. I love my job, but it's a difficult balance, so I would appreciate your prayers.

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What else? Damon and I have been working on completing our basement, so that's exciting for us. We bought a new leather sectional, and it's so fun for all five of us (Damon, Wes, the two dogs and me) to sit on it together and watch Elmo.

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Nothing else going on that I can think of, but I do promise to write updates more often.

Damon, Pawpaw (Staci's Dad), and our friend Rob put up a new swing set in our backyard. Wes playing on the new tire swing - he quickly moved to the swings, then the slide, then the stairs.

going down the slide

Wesley was messing around with Damon's recliner and somehow got grease all over his face and hands. For the life of me I cannot tell where he got it off the chair, but I can't think of anywhere else he would have gotten it. Thankfully it wasn't on the tan fabric chair anywhere!

Kids can ride the pony at Meijer for $0.01!

Wesley was so excited to go on an airplane. This picture was taken at 4:00 in the morning.

Wes took a 90 minute nap in the airport!!

Wes and Daddy in the airport on the way to Maine

What kid doesn't love a sheepskin hat??

Camden, Maine port

family picture

The view from our hotel porch. What a wonderful sight to wake up to!

a sculpture in the museum lot in Rockland, Maine (I'm not sure of the artist...)

sitting in the seaweed in a cove on the Atlantic Ocean

Wesley loved picking up anything and throwing it in the water.

crawling in the seaweed

Not sure what this look is, but we get it all the time. I think it's the look of annoyance and boredom.

Wesley got to touch the lobster before it was cooked. The lobster was alive and Wes tried to take off the rubber bands around the lobster's claws!!

Wesley's look of fascination

Wesley kissed the lobster before we ate it. He didn't eat any of it, but he told people he did. What he really said was "Wesley eat lob-stah"

family picture

the beautiful view from the state park in Camden, Maine

at Cappy's Chowder House in Camden, Maine

on the coast in Rockland, Maine

You know how I love pictures of food...my caprese salad at the Three Dogs Cafe in Rockport, Maine. If you are anywhere near this restaurant in Main - EAT THERE!!! I love a dessert, and they had over 4 cases of desserts to choose from. I didn't get a picture of the dessert because I ate it too fast :)

Wesley sitting at the Three Dogs Cafe playing with his airplane.

Wesley riding a pony at the fair. Personally these little horses broke my heart because they looked so sad, but Wesley desperately wanted to ride one.

Wesley enjoyed gnawing on an apple after his first fair experience. He loved the animals, but a set of goats scared him. He was right outside their pen when a loud goat bleated (or whatever you call the noise they make) right in his face. Wesley's eyes got HUGE, then he started crying and had trouble stopping. We couldn't go near the goats again. Maybe next year...

Wesley loves horses!

Wesley with Doda and Pawpaw

Brian and Laura's first dance as a married couple!

Wes sitting quietly during the ceremony (and I do mean quiet because he didn't make a peep the whole time!!) Doda and Pawpaw bought him a little plush Grimace from McDonald's, so he played with it during the ceremony.

We live near a great public park with water fountains for kids to play in - Wes loves it! He will even put his face in front of one until it sprays him in the face.

Wes was messing around at City BBQ and almost bit through his tongue - talk about a bloody mess!! I think he is going to have a permanent scar on his tongue because this happened about 5 weeks ago, and his tongue is still cut open.

Wesley and "Great Pawpaw"

Wes riding on Pawpaw's back in the pool

one year ago today...

One year ago today we met Wesley for the first time! In some ways it seems like a lifetime ago and in others it feels like yesterday. We haven't been able to get any feeding therapy yet, but we're working on it. I pray that this time next year I can say that he is mostly eating on his own...
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Here's a few pictures for comparison on what a difference a year can make. The one thing that strikes me is how much taller he is! Wes has grown over 8 inches and put on 17 pounds (doubling his weight), which is a lot for one year.

at the Kharkov Orphanage in Ukraine - July 30, 2008

sitting on the stairs of his forever home - July 27, 2009

Happy Independence Day!

I hope everyone had a wonderful July 4th! I've always been fairly patriotic and enjoyed the 4th, but this year I am much more sentimental about it than in years past. I think it has to do with the fact that it is Wesley's first Independence Day as an American citizen. I know he doesn't understand right now, but in the future I hope he comes to realize that the freedoms we have as Americans are unlike anywhere else in the world! I also want him to be thankful for those who fought (and continue to fight) to preserve that freedom that we so often take for granted. So to everyone out there - Happy 4th of July!!

FINALLY - a written update!

As you can see - Wesley is continuing to grow like a weed. Now I've always found that phrase a bit odd. As someone with a child who grows about an inch a month and weeds that grow about ten inches per month, I can now relate. Wesley has gone from being between the 1st and 2nd percentiles to the 65th percentile in height. For weight be was basically at the negative twentieth percentile (if there were such a thing) to the 65th percentile. Honestly though, Wes was between the zero and the 1st percentile for weight. The doctors were concerned about his weight, but needless to say, that's a problem of the past!! He has more than recovered physically from his surgery.

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We are struggling with eating by mouth, but that has more to do with the tube feedings. We recently went on vacation, and as soon as we got to the cottage, his tube came out. Thankfully we had a spare to put in, but it was the small mic-key button, not the long tube like he had before. The problem was that Wes couldn't be on the pump at night anymore because the button connector to the pump tubing sticks about 6 inches straight out of his stomach. Try and get a two year-old to sleep attached to that thing!! It ended up coming out of his stomach and soaking his bed with Pediasure about 3:00am after a rough half-night's sleep. So Damon and I decided to just feed him during the day to avoid the night feeding problems. Doing that though, we cannot get him to eat much during the day. He is getting five 8 oz. cans of Pediasure each day, so that doesn't allow him enough time to get hungry! And since he hasn't figured out that you can eat even when you aren't hungry, he won't eat. We go in a little more than two weeks though for a swallow test and to meet with the therapist and the surgeon, so we'll know more then.

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We went on our first family vacation to a cabin in Michigan with my family. I also realized that a vacation with a small child is not the same as a vacation without a small child. We had a great time, but it went by too quickly. I was so thankful to have so much of our family there because Wes wanted to go all the time - walking, playing, jumping. As you could see from the pictures, Wes did not like the sand between his toes! He loved playing in the water and drinking it (yuck, yuck, yuck). It wasn't easy to sleep in the same room with him though! We are used to him waking up slowly and talking to himself for a few minutes before we go in and get him up. But when we are all in the same room, he can just get out of bed and come stick his fingers in my eye sockets so I wake up!! Talk about an unpleasant awakening...

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We have stepped up the potty training efforts. Wes does great when we are at home, but things don't go so well when we are out of the house. As I came out of the bathroom earlier today, Wes was there to greet me and cheer "YAY!! Mama went potty!" Then he told me to go and get a sticker (a "goga" as he calls it that he receives when he goes on the potty). I am struggling with how hard to push him to be potty trained and when to just let him be an untrained two year-old. Any advice?

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I am sure there is more that I am forgetting, but I'll post when I remember!

FINALLY - an picture update!

I will post a written update soon, but I figure that you probably enjoy the pictures more than my words :)

first professional photograph -

Staci's parent's favorite picture

my favorite picture


Wesley blowing dandelions (yes, he did stick them in his mouth - yuck!!)

family picture -

Damon, Staci, Doda (Staci's Mom), Pawpaw (Staci's Dad), Wesley, Uncle Scott, Emily (Scott's girlfriend)

Wesley and Uncle Scott in front of a bear at Legs Inn restaurant

family picture at Legs Inn overlooking Lake Michigan

tee pee in front of the Legs Inn restaurant in Cross Village, Michigan. Damon loves this restaurant that serves Polish food!

Wesley was SOAKING WET! I would have taken off his t-shirt, but I didn't think he would go all the way into the water. I thought he would play in the sand...

Wesley showing determination to climb onto the dock from in the water

Wesley LOVED the water!

What could taste better than a little lake water?

running up and down the dock

still hating the sand between his toes

Wesley HATED the sand on the beach at the lake. Once he got used to it, he was fine.

Wesley was wide awake as we left home for vacation (it was 3:30am)

riding his new car in the garage as I packed the truck for vacation

sitting patiently (sort of) during dinner

family picture at the reception (I think the photographer's finger was in front of the flash)

waiting for the reception to start (we tried to run him around outside to burn off some energy)

the first wedding that Wesley attended (congratulations, Jessica and Colin) - Wesley did sit with us through the ceremony, and he only spoke out loud during the minister's prayer when he said his own prayer.

waiting for the ceremony to start

he put his sunglasses on all by himself

mowing the lawn just like Daddy with the hat and everything

Wesley and his buddy Duke

telling me he was "all done" at the emergency room (his stomach tube came out, so we had to go to emergency room to have it replaced. I was not happy because I had to pay $150 copay for a doctor to do what I could have done myself with a new tube in about 3 minutes - not 3 hours!!)

drinking water outside

the new "unhappy" look
because strong men just pick up their lawnmowers to move them

I will post an update soon (I promise)

Thank you to everyone who has been checking for an update! I promise to post one in the next few days. We are all doing well, and Wesley is healthier than he's ever been! Eating is an issue though, but I'll post about that later.

Thanks!!

Staci

two weeks home (tomorrow night)

It still feels wonderful to be home! The last time I was this happy to be at home was after returning from Ukraine!! We're back to work and back into the swing of things. I am always surprised how much work piles up when you are out of the office for even a few days. I am getting caught up now though.
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Wesley has been eating (even though it is not nearly as much as Damon and I would like). I think the reason is because he never has the chance to experience "hunger" and food filling that hunger. I tried to turn off his pump an hour or so before we tried to feed him by mouth, but that doesn't seem to make a big difference. We have also learned that Wes will not eat by mouth when other people are around. I am not sure what's up with that, but I figure that the distraction may be too much to handle. It isn't like eating actually holds his attention, so it's not too difficult to distract him.

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Wes goes to the doctor Tuesday. I pray that the doctor tells us that we can begin bolus feedings (this would be feeding with a syringe, using gravity to get the food into his stomach as we were doing before surgery). This would allow us to feed him only as much as needed through the stomach tube, as we work on getting oral feedings to be the main source of nutrition. I wouldn't mind if he were on the pump at night, but the daytime pump has to go (and I'll tell the doctor that too). I'll update as soon as we know more.

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Here are a few pictures from the last few weeks...

Wesley was learning how to ride the bike he got for his birthday (I did have to keep him from riding down the driveway on it though)

Wesley was "helping" Daddy mow the lawn

Wesley hanging out on the front porch (he only sat down for a minute)

Wesley and his Daddy

This was the look Wes gave me the last few days in the hospital - to me it means "seriously, how long do I have to be here?"

Wesley watching television with Duke

look at those beautiful blue eyes - I love them!

Wesley helping Mom and Dad with yard work

Wesley "smiling" (even though it looks more like a sneer)

I thought this shot showed how well Wesley has been healing. The incision on his stomach still has the surgical tape on it, but it is starting to fall off.