Izaak Turns One - Wk 5

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So, this post is a couple days behind. We spent a few days this week visiting my family which meant I didn't have time to update on Sunday. It's been a busy week with lots of firsts. Izaak's first birthday being the most important. It seems like he's grown so much just in this last week.

I made my first cake from scratch for Izaak's birthday, a carrot cake with cream cheese icing (with no sugar, apple concentrate instead). I'm still very picky about what Izaak eats and even though I knew he probably wouldn't put a piece of cake in his mouth (we're still working on finger/table foods), I wanted to feel good that it was healthy if he did. Well, as I suspected, he didn't want anything to do with the cake, but he did play with the animals on the cake and was quite content eating cheerios while we chowed down on a more adult friendly cake that my mom made. The theme for the party was jungle animals and he appropriately wore his safari overalls. Izaak had a blast opening presents. His cousins had to help him out a bit. I think he was taking notes! Cymbals that his Aunt Melissa gave him turned out to be his favorite gift for the day. You'll have to check out the pictures of him banging them together - absolutely adorable!

We headed to my dad and stepmom's house on Saturday. They planned a birthday party/meet Izaak/pool party which turned out great. Everyone was excited to meet Izaak and he was thrilled to meet his family. The most memorable part of the day was Izaak teaching his grandparents not to tell him "no." The plan with the cake was for dad (who's birthday is at the end of the week) to hold Izaak and the two of them blow the candles out together. Well, Izaak decided that he was going to get into the ribbons on the cake and dad said "no." That was enough to bring on the tears. "No" was said on a couple more occassions for various reasons (not directly at Izaak) and again the tears started flowing. My boy has them trained already - just hope he doesn't start pulling that with me and Mike! Izaak really enjoyed dad's pool. They bought about 4 floats for him to try and he ended up having the most fun splashing around in our arms. This kid is definitely going to be a swimmer.

Izaak met all of his great grandparents, his great-great grandmother, lots of great-aunts/uncles and cousins. He even met my mom's neighbors in the neighborhood I grew up in. He especially loved playing with the wheels on my Papa's little red wagon. Riding it was okay, but the wheels really got his attention. Izaak slept well in his pack-n-play, even took a few naps while away from home. Sleeping on the way to my family's (almost 2 hour drive) didn't happen, but he was very good during the car ride and played with his toys. Guess it's safe to take some roadtrips now!

I think Izaak held out well over the 3 days we were visiting and meeting almost 40 family members, but was super glad to get home on Tuesday. I've never seen him so happy to see his toys and to play alone. He'd check in with me for hugs and smiles, but generally just wanted to play and crawl/cruise. I think my family wore the poor little guy out!

Izaak received his Certificate of Citizenship this week with a letter from the President welcoming him as a Citizen of the US. It was perfect receiving that the week that he turned one.

So, here's what our big one year old has been working on this week:
- Making fish lips is a new favorite. I still have not captured a picture of this, but it's extremely cute!
- He's trying to really hard to say "ball." He gets the "ba" out, but still no "ll." He's been working on this for a couple of weeks, but is really putting a lot of effort into it this week.
- He can successfully say "mama" when he wants/needs something like he's hungry, a hug, etc. It's more clear now and not as mumbled.
- He's started listening more to what we say. Before he wasn't interested at all.
- He's started trying to stand in a triangle.
- We are still working on standing and walking. He can take a few more steps on his own and is quite proud of those steps, but no long runs yet.
- He's eating shredded cheese. After looking at it for a week, he finally decided to touch it and put it in his mouth.
- He's practicing eating with a spoon, with some help from mom, of course.
- We can add green beans to the list of foods he dislikes.
- He looks at us when we call his name. Yeah!

Okay, after a week of trying to make a homemade birthday cake, packing, visiting and unpacking, I'm beat! Fine time for Mike to decide to go to a work conference in Boston for the week! You'll have to check back in on Sunday to see how I managed on my own with a very active one year old! ~ A

The Announcements are mailed

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So, my project for this week has been to make Izaak's adoption announcements. I had been thinking of this since the day we got Izaak's referral. Although there are many who have kept up with Izaak through our website, there are still lots that may not even know we're home, so I thought it was important to send out a formal announcement about our little guy.

Luckily I found exactly what I was looking for. Okay, so they are wedding announcements on natural paper with a vellum sheet and a green bow. I wasn't thrilled with the baby announcements out there and I wanted a family picture to be part of it (we aren't exactly a baby blue kind of family), so this would be perfect!

We spent one afternoon last week taking pictures in our back yard to get the perfect family picture. Most families go the professional route, but we decided to do it on our own with a camera, tripod and Mike running back and forth while the self-timer went off. We really had no idea how this would go with Izaak. We’ve done it before with our dogs, which took some patience. Surprisingly Izaak did great and actually looked at the camera a few times. Okay, so it took over 150 pictures to get a few of him smiling at the camera, but it was worth it! Since that went so well, I guess our next challenge will be getting a photo of us with the dogs. We'll let you know how that one goes!

After several days of printing, tieing bows, and stuffing envelopes, I finally got all of them mailed. I have to say I'm quite proud of how well they turned out. Attached, you can see the picture of the announcement and our attempts at family pictures in our back yard.

Since sending out the announcements we've gotten several calls, letters and emails from elated family and friends. Thank you to all that have checked in and wished us well. We're doing great! ~A

Our first week home

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It’s hard to believe we’ve been home for over a week. Izaak has had many firsts this week and so have we! It took a full week for us to recover from jetlag and feel like we could make it through the day without taking a nap. Though I’m not sure we can blame the naps completely on jetlag since we had made it part of our routine in Kaz. Guess we’re going to have to shake that habit. Not sure our employers are going to go for a siesta during the middle of work.

First off I have to thank my mom for staying an extra week to help us get back on our feet. She stayed at our house while we were gone to take care of the yard work, watering plants, paying bills and more importantly loving and caring for Abby and Casey, our dogs. It meant a lot (even though we may have been cranky and weren’t very good at showing it) that she stayed and made sure we had clean clothes and dishes. We even got some home cooked meals and a little free time to get caught up around the house. So, thanks Mom!

Okay, so how did our first week at home go? I’d have to say all went well. Izaak has been a true trooper this week! We went to the doctor on Monday for his cold. Got some meds and were instructed to go back the next day for his check-up. They put the poor kid through the ringer! Since he’s from a foreign country with limited medical information there are a lot of unknowns. Developmentally the doctor said he seems on course except for his speech, which she said is about 3-4 months behind. Gotta start working on those mama’s, baba’s and dada’s. We found out that Izaak is in the 50th percentile for his height and head circumference but only in the 5th percentile for his weight. The good news is that he is at least on the charts, which is good for children raised in orphanages. Mike and I have taken on the challenge of feeding the little squirt solids and were instructed to add another bottle of formula in the middle of the day. Not sure if he’s putting on weight, but his little stomach has started pooching out a tad more and we’re getting more poopy diapers. I guess what goes in must come out! Speaking of coming out, we also had to gather samples of the “stuff” to test for parasites. This is one of the “firsts” that I’m talking about – yuck!

Another first was collecting urine to test for urinary tract infections (since his birthmother had kidney problems and UTI when he was born). You can’t exactly tell an 11-month old to pee in a cup. The nurse was going to use a catheter, but decided to “bag” the boys (Mike was relieved). We did everything we could to encourage Izaak to pee, gave him a sippy cup full of juice, moved on to formula, opened the diaper and tried to send a cool breeze, bounced, you name it. We waited for what seemed like forever and finally 30-45 minutes later the nurse got what she needed. While at the doctor’s he also got his TB test (sad for any parent to see their kiddo get shots) and then we were sent to Western Wake Med for blood work. His vaccinations seem pretty up to date, though they can’t be sure he was given all the shots and that they were effective, so there had to be blood drawn. Also blood tests for HIV, Hepatitis, etc., even though his medical says he’s been tested and negative, just need to make sure. This was the worst part of the day! Had to wait for almost an hour, he was getting hungry and we were getting impatient. We weren’t quite prepared for what was to come, a butterfly needle in our little guy’s arm with 8 vials waiting to be filled. We’ve never heard Izaak scream so loud! Both Mike and I almost broke down in tears. After all that, we decided to call it a day. We’ll find out next week what the results of everything are, but have been instructed by our doctor to limit close contact to only family until we get the results.

Izaak is definitely a morning baby so we’ve tried going out every morning after doctor’s appointments. We’ve been shopping and had lunch at sit-down restaurants. He has been wonderful! This is a huge relief since we had been told by many friends and family that our goings out days were over. I think they may be limited or altered, but by no means over. Izaak sits great in the restaurant high chair, plays with his toys or chews on the table (after wiping down) and will even eat his baby food while we’re out if it’s time. He rides great in the car and loves the stroller. So far so good! Now I just have to be brave enough to take him out on my own – yikes!

Sleeping is getting much better, though I’ve been getting jipped. Mike and I take turns every night. The nights that are Mike’s shifts, Izaak sleeps all the way through until 7am, but on my shifts, he wakes anywhere from 4am-6am for at least an hour wanting a bottle, diaper change or just to be held. I guess he misses his mom, right? Naptimes are also getting a little better as we are starting to understand what the fussy, “I’m tired” cry is. When he’s tired, he drops right to sleep, but sometimes he needs a little encouraging. If he’s not down in 10-15 minutes then we move back to playtime until he seriously starts tugging his ear and rubbing his eyes.

Bath times are still a big hit. I had figured out how to strategically sit on the edge of the tub with him between my legs. He could play safely between my legs, I could wash and all was great until he really started getting comfortable and jumping and splashing all over the tub. It’s tough holding a squirmy, slippery baby so we had to pull out the duck tub – ah, relief! It’s just perfect for a few splashes, playing with toys and smacking the duck and then getting washed without the worry of face planting in the water.

Another first for us is all the “free advice” that people want to offer. Complete strangers and well-meaning family and friends all have something to say. I had been warned about this, but really didn’t understand it until this week. Izaak is a fussy eater at first. Seriously the first 2 bites are painful – head shaking back and forth and lips curled tight - but after the first two bites when he realizes he likes what we’re feeding him things usually go pretty well. We have to be persistent and patient or the kid would never eat. Well, we’ve gotten a ton advice on this little matter. The funny thing is that no one knows our child like we do and we have figured out what works and it does work (for now). We’ve also gotten advice on his development from people that know nothing about orphanage children. It’s really frustrating, but we grin and bear it knowing that it would be more of a headache to explain. So, thank you to all my friends who wouldn’t offer advice and who said, “you’ll figure it out,” now I understand.

Interactions with the dogs continue to progress. We’ve had to limit Casey’s playtime because she’s just too excited, but Abby is doing great. She lets him pet her, crawl under her, tug on her ears and inspect her feet. She even brought him her toy to play with her. Of course he’s too young to understand, but I think it showed that Abby is getting more comfortable with him. Izaak really gets excited when he sees his dogs and I just know they’ll become buddies as he gets older.

We all had our first evening outing together on Saturday. We joined Mike’s sister, Melissa and her three girls at the park for the symphony. Another thing we’re getting used to is all the attention from strangers oogling over our adorable son. Izaak was fantastic. He immediately crawled from our blanket to Melissa’s to play with the toys she had brought. This kid is not shy! The girls weren’t quite sure what to think of him, but by the end of the evening they were touching him and wanting to hold him. I’m sure they’ll be showing him the ropes soon enough. Izaak’s favorite part of the symphony was watching everyone clap. He was amazed. We were amazed that he stayed up through the performance without too much fussing. We even got him home and right to bed!

Izaak got to spend some time with most of his grandparents this week. My mom was at the house helping out and had playtime with him in the afternoons. Mike’s parents live right next door so we were in and out visiting with them. Mike and his dad even had a lunch at Burger King with the little guy – just the boys. My dad and stepmom visited today and couldn’t resist bringing more toys. You could tell they were struggling with taking turns playing with him. Needless to say Izaak is well loved by his family and has plenty of grandparents eager to spoil him.

So we’re all adjusting wonderfully. I’m figuring out how to wash clothes, pull weeds and pay bills during naps. Mike has been fantastic at helping around the house, cooking and taking turns with diaper changes, feedings and putting Izaak to sleep. I think we’re starting to feel normal in our new life. Just have to get ready for the next change when Mike goes back to work in a week. Boy, are we going to miss him! ~ A