All Done...Van's new favorite sign

Yes, surgery is indeed "all done" and Van was happy beyond words to be leaving the hospital this morning. We are home, exhausted and hospital stinky but oh so relieved to be over this hurdle. The ear tubes were in place in 15 minutes and the palate surgery took about 2 hours just as predicted. The surgeons were all very pleased with the results. For all you adoptcleft group folks, I will post a message with the details that the rest of the world might not want to know about. We took lots of photos which we will try to upload and post later this week. We had a long night but this morning we actually saw a couple smiles and heard the word "no" plenty of times. Our boy is back! He's napping now and I am going to join him. Thank you all for the prayers and support. Six months from now when he's talking non-stop to you, you might not be so sure...we however are ever grateful!

Check out this smile!

We decided that it was time for a semi-professional photo pre-surgery. That irresistible smile is finally captured on film! It's still hard to believe that he's the same kid with the furrowed brow and serious looks in all the orphanage photos. Of course the fact that he was wearing pink alot probably didn't help!
So for the next few weeks as we recover and maybe don't see the smile for a while...we can keep this image in our hearts and minds.
Since we are still relatively in the dark on the details for surgery on Wednesday morning...(the hospital doesn't do the final confirmation until tomorrow afternoon between 4 and 6pm)...I thought it might be better to do my last pre-surgery post tonight and save tomorrow night for the packing and my final panic.
I know that God is watching over him and our family during this time. Van has so much love in his heart to share and soon he will have the words to express it. Please keep a happy thought and an extra prayer for him and all those involved in his care. He'll pay you back with lots of Van love and affection and those cuter than cute dimples!

And the first word is....

Oh you guessed it already...he's two after all...
It's "No" but it's long and drawn out so it sounds more like "Nahhh" and it usually includes a furious hand wave off and head nod. Sometimes he even adds the sign language for "No" especially when he's reprimanding the kittie cats for misbehavior. And this week, we've added a shove away motion as well to indicate that he can do it himself as in "No" I don't need your help. It's all adorable of course even if it's "No". And of course "No" really means Yes if food is being offered. Not much chance of catching it in a photo but we will give it a shot.
In the category of "No" I am not looking forward to it...surgery looms ahead next Wednesday. I am anxious to say the least but the adoptcleft group has my hopes held high for a speedy recovery. We've read many updates recently on success stories of cleft surgery. We are going into it with the most positive of attitudes and know that we can put it behind us and move on to an expanded vocabulary and an end to rice and goldfish making a reappearance from the nose!

Oh I love my new bike helmet...comes in handy for head butting the fridge too!

Daddy attempting to take a "before" photo of Van's mouth...good try

What a summer!

Wow...hard to believe Van's first US summer is drawing to a close and what a summer it has been. Every day he amazes us with a new skill, a smiling face, a happy sound. He is everything happy and joyful about summer days and I can hardly wait to see him in fall with leaves to jump in, pumpkins to decorate and oh yeah Halloween candy! We took our last road trip for a while up to West Virginia to meet Grandma and Boompa. And we had a playdate at Pretendtown with all our favorite friends. Check us out...

Yes, they gave us the group discount...well deserved!

Van and Logan "pretending" to help with the laundry...boys to men! Notice how Van is sneaking out on the chores.

Yes, it's blurry...but it's the three of them sitting almost still and sharing a hug!

So happy to finally meet you Grandma!

Enjoying Grandma's amazing garden

Group photo time

Malkie generations

Quick update

Oh how I wish time management courses offered a mommy management section. Still figuring it all out but I must admit it is getting easier as Van and mommy both get more comfortable with the new routine. We made a trip to NOVA this weekend to be part of a wonderful Baptism for my new Goddaughter Ada, beautiful daughter of our dear friends who are back in Virginia!!
This weekend we take a serious road trip to NJ and then next weekend to WVA. Van is doing pretty well on the short road trips as you can see...we'll report on the big ones next week....
Here's some cuteness...

Guess they didn't do bubble baths much in China!

Can Aunt Christina spoil Van any more after this awesome toy...his very own toddler size Quad!!

Road warrior

Van takes the cake at our belated family celebration and entertains Dad as usual

Blogging and Working...not a match made in heaven

I know, I know we owe you an update and some photos...it's been a long two weeks of working full time and even with Nanie here cooking, cleaning and loving Van, I can still barely keep up. Hats off to all the moms out there (especially Nanie!) who manage it all with ease...please share your secrets!
Van seemed pretty interested in the Olympic Opening Ceremonies tonight. He got all excited when he saw all the kids in costume and the drums but then he got just as excited when he saw the VISA commercial. So perhaps we are reading too much into his sense of heritage or he's bound for a career in advertising like his parents...who knows.
So we have a date for surgery, September 17th and we had our first evaluation for speech therapy services. Everyone seems pretty convinced that Van will be talking up a storm pretty quickly after his recovery. He's got plenty to say now with his signing and sounds and we can't wait to hear what his first real words will be. I had a dream that he spoke a full sentence as his first "word" and it was "I no want to be a good boy"...hoping that dream doesn't come true...
Now what you've all been waiting for...the cuteness...

Van gets lots of attention at the Families of the China Moon since the girls outnumber him

Mr. Silly shirt thanks to Aunt Christina

Our impromptu play date at the mall playground and food court with our twin buddies Austin and Logan

Checking out a new playground

We got to visit the backlot of the John Adams HBO series and Van found some friends-another family who had adopted from China and live in the Virginia Beach area and also work in the TV industry

Oh yippee...pre-season Redskins football...who is the happier fan?!

Pretty in Plaid

I've been meaning to post these photos for a while now. One of our family favorite photos is of Scott on his 6th grade graduation from Stratford Elementary School so we managed to get Van to pose at the same location just a few weeks ago. How cute are these boys!

Promise to post more later this weekend...this back to work schedule makes bloggin tough!