We are restriction free!

Today was our follow up with the plastic surgeon and we got the green light for all foods, all activities, all Van back to normal. We are so thrilled. He really is back to his funny little self and now that he can feed himself and eat cookies again, life couldn't be better. We celebrated with a trip to Krispy Kreme donuts for breakfast and then to our favorite diner for a Chocolate Chip pancake dinner. Yes that's lots of sugar for one day but heck it was a celebration! Tomorrow we hit The Little Gym and a short visit to day care to reacquaint and prep for the return to work next week. Here's some of this week's fun...

Redskin Fans celebrate their victory with Krispy Kremes!

Halloween Try out and Fashion Show

Back Pack...Van is working hard on this word already...thanks Dora!

Taking a Potty Break for Noggin's Puzzle Time...yes we do Preschool TV and love it!

10 Days Post Surgery

What a difference 10 days can make...Van is almost back to full speed Van...every day he gets a little faster and a lot sassier. We have our follow-up appointment this Thursday and we are hoping for the all clear. He's already making lots of new sounds and we've got our speech therapy scheduled to begin in November.
Since we've been home all week, Van decided it was a good time to potty train...he just started doing it without any prodding and he's doing great. We've already run out of Elmo stickers for his chart and we can't use the M&M rewards since they aren't soft food. He's just so proud of himself and he loves to wear the Diego pull-ups. The kid who could care less about the TV 4 months ago, now has a list of character crushes...we've got Elmo, Thomas, Dora, Diego, the Backyardigans and Yo Gabba Gabba...so far. Yes it's been a long week at home with TV and the potty but it's all so worth it to see him getting better and happier by the day.
From the looks of the photos, you would think we were doing really well with the snuggle arms...not really. We've found at least one arm off most nights in the crib and witnessed him using his feet to actually pry them off at night. We are only using them for sleep now and he sometimes even requests that we put them on while he's playing...he's a funny adorable kid for sure.

Crusin' with his pals

Boys at play

Wardrobe malfunction

Our hospital day is over!

Here's the recap of our surgery experience in photos...think they tell the full story. Getting better every hour of every day...so good to be home!

Playing nicely with no clue of what's to come 5:45am

Our first sight of him post surgery 11am

Poor baby...look at those cheeks

Finally coming around and not happy

Trying to get comfy

Day two swelling so much better already

Van's peeps attempt to distract him

Yes he's laughing and wearing the snuggle wraps...go figure!

What a nice surprise..a get well frog waiting for Van as soon as we got home...thanks Aunt Beth and Uncle Dan!

Now it's time to eat.

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