FamiLee Blog

Gotcha Weekend

2010-06-11T05:15:00.000-07:00

It's really quite surreal to think that we just celebrated the 2 year anniversary of us becoming a family. We celebrated by having a small get together at our home. My mother-in-law, MK and Kelly, as well as the rest of my family, were all present for the occassion. Everyone had a blast! I even tried to make Kyrgyz lagman from this cool photography and recipes blog upon which I stumbled while looking for recipes.

I had the greatest photos of Dylan with the balloons Bill brought home for him. Dylan was so ecstatic when he saw a dozen baloons, just like in his new favorite move "Up". Uncle Hil helped him get them up really high in the sky. I would share them, except I lost them all due to negligence. I blame it on my speedy fingers on the delete feature on my camera. I was sick to my stomach when I realized what I had just done.

Nevertheless, I managed some other pretty cool photos from the weekend. Here are some of them.

On a side rant, I tried to have a menu that was all home made. I am having fun doing that for get togethers. It's probably a bit more work, but the results do speak for themselves when you find something completely yummy an worth doing again. Of late, my favorite recipes have come from the folks at America's Test Kitchen. I have a couple of their cookbooks and seem to be having a lot of luck with their recipes. They really do know their stuff because I am not a great cook by any means and I am pulling it off (for the most part). 2 of my new faves are the Beef Satay and their Giant Chewy Chocolate Chip recipe.

2 1/2

2010-05-12T16:30:00.001-07:00

Just trying not to forget

2010-01-23T22:05:00.000-08:00

Dylan reads the letter O. Then, he looks at the pictures and says them
A-kah = Oscar
Akapuss = Octopus. Try correcting him by saying it correctly and he'll look at you and say, "ahkah-puss, mommy".

Then today, he drew a spiral on paper. No joke, I watched him do it. It was pretty darn amazing for a 2 year old.

He also says "no thank you" now. I never taught him that. Thank goodness the teachers are definitely more polite than his parents.

Hmmm what else? He knows A, B, C, K, O, P, Q, S and maybe some others that come and go. He know 1, 2, 5, 13 consistently and the rest are fleeting. He definitely knows colors (even silver, gold and purple). He also knows his shapes (including diamond, oval, heart, and moon). Sadly, no octagon, pentagon, trapezpoid. We've got work to do (kidding).

And he knows how to play the toddler games on the iPhone.

How do 2 year olds do this. I could not have ever imagined that 2 year olds could know all this stuff. I figured the bossiness was normal but all this reading stuff is blowing my mind.

Summer's Come and Gone and Now It Is Time to Move

2010-01-09T14:29:00.000-08:00

Wow, it's 2010. Happy New Year! 2009 went by so fast for us and 2010 is starting and going just as fast, or am I just getting older?

It's been a long time since my last post. We have had a wonderful holiday season with lots of family visits. Dylan is growing up fast and is talking, talking and talking. And did I mention Dylan is talking?

Summer was super busy for us because we were deciding what was best for our family. Bill and I love the Bay Area and had never seriously considered moving anywhere else. Bill settled down here after being a rolling stone for many years. Growing up, I have always thought I belonged somewhere else that is not Los Angeles. I have always wanted to move to the Bay Area and got the chance to do so 8 years ago and haven't ever regretted doing so.

That was B.C. (Before Child). After Dylan (A.D.) entered our lives, there was sort of this slow emotional migration to the idea of moving closer to family. For one, he seems to love the time he gets to spend with them. Second, he won't grow up an island, only to see family during special occassions and holidays. We envision a life growing up with cousins some day and we want him to feel as comfortable around the entire family as each and every child yet to come.

Specifically, I am referring to my family in the Los Angeles area. Sure, we have Bill's family in the east coast and in the midwest. And let's not forget Auntie Kay and Uncle Tom right here in the Bay Area. However, everyone sort of has their busy lives around them. And while we love everyone equally, the consideration, if we were to move, was to move closer to my family in Southern California, where we will celebrate each family birthday together, where Aunties and Uncles will come and play on the weekends (and maybe some weeknights too), where Mommy and Daddy may some day be able to schedule a weekend off together sans Dylan.

So, after much soul searching (mostly from me I think as it took me several months to get on board with the idea), and frustration with house hunting and deciding where we really want to build a home, we found a house in Simi Valley, California. It's not fancy or new, nor in a ritzy neighborhood, but it does have room for the three of us, 2 offices, and some guests who don't have to sleep on the sofa or the floor. It also has a small backyard (super important for Dylan) and a large jacuzzi (we didn't care really for this but it was there). There is a local pool and tennis club that we will end up belonging to as part of being in that particular neighborhood (again nothing fancy but probably a good place to meet new friends). My parents are about 20 minutes away so that my mom can have her Fridays with Dylan. And technically, we are not in Los Angeles county, but Ventura, so that makes me feel better.

As with all major decisions, there are pluses and minuses. Obviously, the pluses outnumbered the minuses. Nevertheless, there are a few things that break my heart when I think of this move. We will dearly miss our time with Bill's sister Mary Kay and her husband Tom. They have made living here all the more awesome. While we will come up and see them and they will come down to see us, it's not like calling each other the night before and saying, "what are you doing tomorrow?" Dylan will miss Aunt KK and Uncle, and even Max. Then, there are our friends. We don't see them super often (most of them live about an hour away), but we are in each others peripherals and will often think of each other and plan get-togethers with each other. Especially now that most everyone has kids, it's the idea that we are leaving that community that saddens me. The idea that we have to find new friends is a little daunting as neither Bill nor I love to make new friends. We are picky that way I guess. Plus, how many people are we going to meet in So Cal who love rafting as much as we do? For Dylan, I am sad to take him away from his daycare/preschool. We were fortunate to have found Lil Sunflowers over a year ago when I went back to work. We will be sad to say goodbye to all the caring teachers and Dylan's buddies. He has blossomed there so much and I am nervous of how he will adjust to the new school. Then, there is the SF Bay Area in general. I don't hate Simi Valley. Actually, I think it is nice and the schools are great, and it is the perfect place to raise kids. But, I also can't imagine that I would one day be heard saying I love it there, and that there is no place on the planet like it, etc etc.

So here we are in the eve of the biggest move we have yet to make as a family. We are moving mid February and starting brand new in Southern California. We are excited, we are sad, yet we are happy all at the same time. I hope to post again before the move but if I don't get the chance, next post will likely be from Simi Valley.

Kyrgyz Products for A Good Cause

2009-11-11T08:26:00.000-08:00

We interrupt our regular program with this late breaking update on how you can both get some shopping done and help a good cause this holiday season.

Follow this link to see the many wonderful Kyrgyz made items for sale on ebay and etsy. Proceeds go to Kyrgyzstan to help the orphans.

Happy shopping!

Happy 2nd Birthday!

2009-11-01T01:48:00.001-07:00

Family came from Southern California to celebrate Dylan's 2nd birthday. Dylan opened some presents early, like his new red vintage play kitchen and chef's accessories.

We held a smallish birthday celebration at Hap Magee Ranch Park. Family and friends, hot weather, grilling, summer fun and cake.

Candles freaked Dylan out even though we have tried to practice at home for the last couple of weeks.

Enjoying some red velvet cake with Uncle Hil.

Where are all the kids?

After some fun in the water.

Exhausted in Mommy's arms

How does that song go? "I'm too sexy for my diaper, too sexy for Danville, ..."

Then we continued to celebrate with family at home. What a perfect birthday celebration for a 2 year old.

The Shortest Camping Trip in History?

2009-11-01T00:20:00.003-07:00

We knew we wanted to try camping with Dylan before the summer was over. However, being the great planners that we are, we decided just a tiny bit late. Fortunately, we we able to secure a small spot at our local campgrounds at Lake Chabot. The spot is about a 25 minute drive from our home. We figured that if it started to turn into a disaster, we could pack up and go home.

Dylan is ready to go camping. Let's go!

Is there any room for another bag?

We were joined by our good friends Brooke, Pete and their daughter Maisey for a Saturday to Sunday camping trip. We got a late start getting there because being we tried to pack our house into our vehicle for this overnight trip. Then we figured we needed more food and stopped at the store to pick up some more.

We finally got to the teeny spot by 4:30 pm, just in time for a short walk to see the vista of Lake Chabot (which is beautiful), and return to our spot to set up our borrowed tent and get ready to grill some burgers for dinner.

Even though this was a whirlwind camping trip, we had a blast just the same hanging out with great folks. Bill and Pete played guitar for everyone. Dylan and Maisey took turns driving the car and ate pistachios. Brooke and I chatted, as usual. We started a fire on the grill and had wonderful burgers, snacks and wine, and the night was almost perfect. Perfect, except for the headlights from cars that are coming down the road next to our spot, and perfect, except that we forgot Dylan's froggie at home and had to find a somewhat suitable substitute, perfect except for the 2 drunks having a very loud conversation by the nearest dumpster, perfect except for the large family camping trip that caused a huge rucus at 2 am, and perfect except for the sound of the trains and the helicopters coming through Oakland all night.

The next morning, we continued our lazy last summer hurrah with the perfect morning weather. We spent the morning munching on the abundance of food we brought, walking around the campgrounds, chasing Dylan who has decided that running up and down the road was the fun, and watching Dylan have fun with ice and juice.All in all, we learned that Lake Chabot was entirely too close to the city to be peacefully quiet at night, but it reaffirms that with good company, the venue isn't as important, Like I said, we had a blast nonetheless and I would consider Dylan's first camping trip a success.

A Whole Lot of Summer Going On / Sept. 4 - 7 Weekend

2009-11-01T00:20:00.001-07:00

We've been busy house shopping and visiting with family this summer. We just came back from another fun-filled weekend in Los Angeles to continue house hunting, celebrate my brother's birthday and visit with the family.

Usually, aside from general cuteness, there is nothing much to write. This trip, Dylan surprised us. We put him down for his usual nap. He usually goes down for about an hour and a half and when he wakes up, he lies there for a bit and babbles. Imagine the surprise when he came out from the hallway after about an hour and said "Hi" with a big grin on his face. Yes, he has learned to escape from his pack n' play.

I could not figure out how he learned to pull himself up and over the edge of the pack n' play because it is pretty high. It goes up to his chest. Fortunately, he got a chance to show us later on. As to be expected, Dylan is not a fan of bedtime when we are in L.A. There is just too much to do, too many exciting things to explore and too many people to keep him entertained and vice versa. We usually set up his pack n' play as his bed. We place it wedged between the wall and the bed. It's not his favorite place to sleep so he will usually fight for a little. He will cry for about 2 minutes and usually go to sleep. We tried our luck again at bedtime that night. He cried for a little longer than usual but soon, it quieted down. I figured he had fallen asleep but I stood by the door for a minute to make sure he had fallen asleep. About a minute later, with my ear on the door, I was startled with click of the door knob. He managed to escape out of the pack n' play (again). This time it was pitch black in the room and I never heard him making his maneuvers in the dark. So what was I to do but take him back to the room and start over.

When we went back in, I asked him to show me how get out, and he happily did. He grabbed the edge of the pack n' play with one hand and reached out to the bed and grabbed the blanket on the big bed with the other. He then pulled his way up and over the edge of the pack n'play. He then got himself onto onto the bed and then edged his way off the bed and then walked to the door. Once he's at the door, he is clear. He learned to open that a long time ago. From there, he walked out into the hallway and into the living room where he knew everyone can be found having a good time without him.

So we had to execute plan B. I laid in bed with him for 45 minutes. He stroked my face gently and not so gently at times. He touched my eyes, nose, ears cheek, then his and then mine again. He babble some cute stuff I could not understand, snuggled up next to me and then finally fell asleep.

There ends the duties of our beloved pack n'play, and the start of our nighttime snuggle bug.

Yet another fun thing he learned is how to use a straw sippy cup. At first he kept tilting it up light his other sippy cups and we kept pulling it down to his chest to keep the liquid at straw's reach. After a day, he figured it out, but in the cutest way. I think maybe that he thought it was about his chin touching his chest that would do the trick. So everytime he could not get to the liquid, he would pull his chin down to his chest and sip.

What a great weekend of breakthroughs with the little guy.

23 months in 2 days

2009-08-28T23:11:00.000-07:00

I can't believe Dylan is going to be 23 months on Sunday. I've been blog lazy, but well, we've been kind of busy in the last month or so, but to give you an idea, here is what we've been up to.

Hanging out at Auntie Kay's and Uncle Tom's, enjoying the beautiful summer weather, and playing in the blow up pool in swim diapers that are on backwards (thanks to Mom).

For the record, Mommy had NOTHING to do with putting this outfit on Dylan. This is all DAD.

Playing with trucks at the museum

Trying on dad's hat

Putting stickers on the mirror

Putting stickers on himself

Playing so hard and falling asleep

Making sure the house is a wreck and laundry is never folded

Eating eggrolls on the go...

Hiding under sheets

Shopping for a new family car

Playing big boy in the front seat of the new car (don't worry, we weren't driving at the time)

Sorting plastic containers for hours with grandma

Getting a new haircut (thanks to Dad, Uncle Paul, Uncle Hil and a trusty clipper)

And attending a family wedding

You get the idea! Wheeewwww! I am tired and going to bed now.

A Little Laughter

2009-07-17T00:06:00.000-07:00

Words Words and More Words

2009-07-12T20:46:00.000-07:00

At Dylan's 18 month visit to the doctor, we were told he may have some speech delays since he only had 5 or 6 words at the time. I had been reading up on this on the internet (where else do google parents go to research anything?) and wasn't all that worried because he totally understands what we say to him. Regardless, the doctor suggested we called Regional Center of the East Bay to have them do an assessment.

Fast forward a couple of months and we finally got the visit scheduled. In the meantime, the week before his assessment, he started picking up words right and left, mostly monosyllabic, but words nevertheless. When the lady came to the assessment, she did not recommend any early intervention for him, just some pointers for us on how we can help him improve on his expressive skills. She wasn't concerned that he has any kind of developmental delays in speech or cognitive. What she did recommend was a full hearing test, and only because we told her he has had a few ear infections in the past year. Otherwise, little man is totally normal, advanced in some areas in fact.

As of today, it seems he just picks up works as he hears them, and I mean in context also. The latest cuteness is that he now says "please" when he wants something, unless in the middle of a full-on tantrum. He also knows to when you want him to sit and will say "sit" after you, especially if it means sitting in the big chair so that he can watch a video.

He has been saying the only two syllable word we have ever heard from him, which is "outside"

Other words he knows to say "meee" for mommy, "Da-eeee" for daddy, "wa wa" for watermelon, "juush" for juice, shoes, "da" for froggie (don't get it either but it is what he says when he wants froggie), "fru" for fruit, "hah" for hot, "mah" for more, "ka" for car, "choo" for train, and a bunch more I am forgetting. He says countless things we cannot decipher but he has full on conversations in Dylan Babble. So cute.

The latest in this little guy's activities is also climbing. He is into climbing onto chairs and tables, the sofa. retaining walls, his stroller, among many things. I am just waiting for the day he climbs out of his crib. That will be the day we either lower the mattress some more or convert it to a toddler bed.

The cutest thing I noticed lately is that Dylan likes little babies. As much as he is such a boy, throwing, grunting (no high pitched screams for this guy), banging on pretty much everything, pushing, he is so gentle when he gets in the vicinity of an infant. Than, he says "bee" for baby and touches the babies very gently. It is so adorable.

The last few mornings, we have been transferring him to our bed at around 5 am, just for some cuddles. At about 6 or so, he climbs down from our bed, finds my hand (or dad's) and then pulls on it so that we get out of bed to go with him out to the living room.

So life goes on in our humble little abode and as much as I hate the tantrums, I cherish this time because Dylan is simply growing up so fast.

Such is Life

2009-06-15T00:49:00.000-07:00

Today, Dylan busted his lower lip on a coffee table edge at my friend Stephanie's place. We thought he was over this phase of just knocking into stuff. No ER but man it was a bleeder. However, he seems to have gotten over it. He was drinking his sippy and sucking his thumb like nothing ever happened. Stephanie, who used to be a preschool teacher just laughed at my comment about being over this phase. She tells me this is one of the many previews and that we may become friends with the ER folks. Anyhow, he seems to be ok now.

He fell asleep on the drive home after half a chocolate chip cookie. When we got home, we weren't sure if he would continue sleeping for the night as it was so close to his actual bedtime. After we change him into PJ's and gave him some soymilk and Tylenol, we put him in our bed and I laid next to him for a while. We don't consistently co-sleep and he isn't always receptive to it when we try, but sometimes, he is a cuddlebug like tonight, and these rare moments are priceless. He laid in bed with me and rolled around gently. He did this for a good 45 minutes, just tossing and rolling and wedging himself against me. He would look at me from time to time, babble something and then smile. He was so gentle, unlike so many times (most of the time) these days. He even turned and gave me a nice kiss with his busted lip. It's really good to have moments like this because so much of the time these days, it is tantrum city for us. Short and sweet but very passionate tantrums, and truth be told, I have so little patience for that. I'm a lot better than I anticipated, but these are super stressful moments for me as a mom.

Last Monday, our homestudy social worker came to see us for the 2nd post placement report. He looked at Dylan and kept saying he looked like he wasn't 20 months because he was so tall. Dylan is registering almost off the charts for his age. He is only 50th percentile in weight but about 100th in height. Unexpected, I guess, since his birthparents are failry short. It is not a bad thing. He is just growing tall really fast these days and we are surprised at the rate this is happening.

In our last visit at 18 months, the doctor recommended that we called the agency that is in charge of assessments for developmental delays. At 18 months, he said Dylan should have about 20 words. He had about 6 at the time. So, we finally met with one of the case workers came yesterday to assess Dylan. She said that he is a little bit behind on expressive skills and self help skills but nothing alarmng that they would recommend any speech or occupational therapy. He doesn't attempt to dress himself too often, except to put on "szzzheez" (shoes) and put his arms through the armholes of his shirts when we are dressing him, although he attempts to take his shoes off while sitting in his carseat. He also doesn't consistently use utensils, which is really my fault because I don't introduce it as much as I should. She did recommend a full hearing test, only because he has had a few ear infections and possibly can't detect some of the softer sounds. I wasn't really worried because his cognitive skills is fine but it is good to confirm. In the last week alone, he has picked up a few more words and uses them perfectly in context. He said "Mi" (milk) while signing it with his hand, "Chiz"for cheese, and "foo" for fruit/food just in the last couple of days. The cutest one is when he says "Awtshy" for outside. I guess more to come after she sends us her full report.

One realy cool thing is that Dylan is now very interested in writing. Markers are his favorite. For the last couple of months, I have been attempting to entice him with the triangular shaped crayons and the supposedly easy to hold bulb looking markers and crayons Crayola makes called ToDoodles. Your toddler is supposed to cup their little hands around them with the assumption that they would learn to color and draw with those since it is too hard for them to try and hold regular markers and crayons that are cylindrical. Allow me digress for a second and go on a tirade about how worthless those things are in my experience. Because I am a product of consumerist society, I assumed that Crayola puts this stuff out in the market because it works like a charm. WRONG! I also thought that because they sell it everywhere that it is a well designed product. WRONG AGAIN! These things are expensive lures to sucker first time parents into buying worthless pieces of plastic.

First of all, toddlers learn by mimicking. I don't think he ever got the concept of these because he has never seen either or us or anyone for that matter color with balls. Whenever he saw them, he would try to call them "ba" for ball and throw them. After all, that's what you do with a ball. Secondly, these bulbs are weighted so that the tips are always on top. Therefore, even when Dylan realized that they can be used to make marks, and that he is supposed to hold them in his palm, he didn't get the concept that the bulbs have to be turned over so the tip is touching the paper. I tried to turn the bulbs for him but they are so round that it is not obvious to him how to actually make sure the tips are in contact with the paper. So, then, he just ends up banging the ball on the paper and not seeing results (marks made). He also gets all the ink all over his palms. It doesn't really set him up for independent activity. And the ones that hold crayons - don't even get me started. It's frustrating for both Dylan and me to say the least.

I started thinking that it was just Dylan who just wasn't ready to start coloring. Not so! I finally gave in and bought regular markers (the washable kind) and guess what, Dylan took them in his hands and started marking the paper. He holds them almost like adults hold their pens. I assume he sees us holding our pens so he decided he also needed to hold his like we do ours. He painstakingly tries to put the tip between his forefinger and his thumb. Even the lady who came to do his developmental assessment thought that was so cool. I told her he has just been at this for about a week. Prior to that, he made no real attempts to write. Now, he has figured out how much fun it is to color on paper, and the floor and the wall (if I let him).

Interestingly, he only knows how to hold markers and pens/pencils this way. He is still a hit and miss with the triangular crayons. I think it is because of the shape of the barrel. The round barrel crayons are held just like pens.

As for the markers, this is where Crayola redeems itself because their washable markers are the most washable I have seen thus far. I tried another brand and the washable part is open to interpretation. I found out because Dylan will often still confuse the tips of the pen and end up having ink on his palm and fingers. He looks at this hands at this point and then me and then expect me to wipe them off. It seems to really bug him when his hands aren't clean. He will literally look at his hands, think about what he is seeing and then walk over to me to show me so that we can wipe them clean. The other brand of markers (yes, I was going for slightly cheaper when I bought them) stained his hands so badly I couldn't get them clean enough to Dylan's satisfaction.

So with our coloring skills, we have gone from zero to hero. This kid never ceases to amaze me.

I babble as I am wide awake at 2 in the morning because I fell asleep next to Dylan at 8:30. I have to be up in a few short hours to go to work. Yikes.

Here are some photos of our beautiful boy these days.

And lastly, for those of you who noticed, yes, I cut my hair. I have been anxiously awaiting for my ponytail to reach 10 inches so that I can donate it to Locks of Love. I finally got there and sent in 12 inches of my hair to them. It feels great to have an updated look and to know that kids will benefit from my donation (after they fish out a few gray strands).

Gotcha Day One Year Ago

2009-06-04T21:37:00.001-07:00

One year ago, we held Dylan tightly as we walked out of the Tokmok orphanage.

It is possibly the happiest day of my life. That day has lasted a year so far - one long wonderful day.

Happy Gotcha Day, Dylan. We love you more than we can ever express with words.

Updated with photos.

Here are are some photos of our celebrations. It started in L.A. over Memorial Day weekend and to the actual Gotcha Day celebrated while at Auntie Kay's spaghetti feed fundraiser for the SF Breast Cancer walk.

Yes, those are Gotcha Day shirts from Grandma Pat and Auntie Kelly. They were so cool. It had a photo of Dylan from my first visits with him in Tokmok for Trip 2. Everyone in the family got to wear theirs that night.

Mother's Day Thoughts

2009-05-16T23:30:00.000-07:00

Yes, I know I'm almost a week late. I just wanted to remember my first official Mother's Day. It was actually pretty low key. I was actually out all weekend on a girls trip to Napa. We planned it even before we realized that it was Mother's Day weekend. It was a great trip. Good wines, good food, good company and glorious weather. I almost didn't go because Dylan started to develop a fever the night before we were to leave. However, at the last minute, I felt at peace that his daddy would never let anything awful happen to him.

We came home in time for a small celebration of Mother's day. I told Bill that all I wanted was my car washed and serviced, no more, no less. I got what I wanted.

My mom sent me a fruit bouquet and a card and that was very sweet.

My sister, Marie, sent me a cake, which is literally and figuratively very sweet.

My other siblings and cousin donated to Possibilities International in my honor. Perfect!

However, when I really think about this, it boils down to the fact that it is Mother's Day for me everyday. I am Dylan's mother. That is the most wonderful gift of all, and I get that gift each and every day.

Canned Smile

2009-04-24T23:45:00.000-07:00

This is Dylan's canned smile. I am dedicating this post to Auntie Joanne, Uncle Paul, and cousin Katie Beth, who have perfected their own beautiful canned smiles for the camera.

He is joining the ranks... There is just one minor thing - he just hasn't figured out that it may be better to flash the grin after he swallows the berries. No worries, young Jedi, training, you will get.

Presenting.... More!

2009-04-21T00:00:00.000-07:00

We've been working on this for months. Just when I was convinced sign language isn't for Dylan, a lightswitch somehow got turned on as he now clearly understands and uses "more" in context. Context in our case really means it only applies to berries (so far). Regardless, we are so proud of him. Now, we can work on signing "Eddy out", "swimmer", and "equipment in the water" and we'll be ready to train him to become a river guide.

OK, maybe not just yet. We'll work on "thank you", "thirsty", and "hungry" next. Then, we'll talk about the river guide thing.

The Little Piggy in the Mud

2009-04-20T23:38:00.000-07:00

It was super hot this past Sunday so we headed out to the beach to let Dylan have some fun in the sun and the water. We got there when the tide was extremely low so we knew it would be muddy. We knew Dylan loves to frolick in the water but it also turns out Dylan loves mud! The day was not without squealing in delight at the mud puddles and the small waves that licked his legs as he sat at the water's edge.

I bet most kids love mud but I thought it was so appropriate that Dylan does as he was born in the year of the pig in Chinese astrology. Our little piggy!!

After we got enough mud and sun, we headed over to the Bay Area Discovery Museum for some rinsing and some indoor fun.

Easter

2009-04-20T23:28:00.000-07:00

Dylan's first easter consisted of......

...eating his first candy necklace and easter egg hunt at Auntie Kay's and Uncle Tom's. And when he couldn't find any more candy on his necklace, he proceeded to try and eat the buttons on his shirt. Oh what fun!

18 Months (Almost)

2009-03-28T21:45:00.000-07:00

Dylan is a couple of days short of turning 18 months. I am amazed at how big he has gotten and how smart, and how much we love him more each day (if that is possible). He is funny, smart, active, beautiful, goofy, willful, loving and just plain wonderful and happy.

He says lots and lots all day long but we can't necessarily always tell what he means. For some time now, he knows how to shake his head "No" but in the last week or so, he has learned to also nod "Yes", except we think it still means "No". Today, we were over at our friends' home and he spotted a big pink ball. He yelled "ba! ba!" and got the ball to throw. He clearly said "ba" for ball. Then, later on he said "ba" again and pointed to his sippy bottle. Close enough. Yeah Dylan!

He is into going up and down stairs, general banging on everything, pushing whatever buttons he finds (actual ones, not just mine). He loves to refuse help during mealtime, loves to climb up and down our bed, opening and closing doors and drawers, loves to hold Chapstick tubes, play with boxes of mac and cheese (like building blocks), eating mac and cheese, eating fruit, and my favorite of all, he loves to be danced to sleep playing Jack Johnson tunes.

He has also learned how to give kisses, no sound, mouth open and sometimes with a bite at the end. He also knows how to give hugs, wave bye, and withhold them all at will. Basically, he is becoming more and more his own person each day. It is fun to watch him figure these things out. He is pretty darn smart.

He also loves a couple of DVDs. Seriously, these are the only ones he will actually sit down and watch. And as much as Elmo used to annoy me, Dylan really likes the darn creature. He also likes Baby Shakespeare, at least all the way until the part on snow, which is when he is done watching and will climb down from the chair and find something else to do. He has learned the word "video" as in when I say it, he climbs onto our big chair, sits there contentedly and waits for the video to come one. Then, at this point, mommy has 20 minutes to get the kitchen and dinner ready or cleaned up.

We went to the beach today and ran into a bunch of friends who had the same idea. That's because the weather has been perfect and it wasn't a day to be missed. He squealed in delight as he ran naked through the water, picking up sand and splashing around. He also got to sit on a kayak and paddle around with Bill for a few minutes. He was a bit freaked out, I have to admit, but we just have to make him feel safe each time we try it and soon enough, he should be ok.

Here are just a few of the pics as of late. I haven't taken as many, as I have been working a ton and I've been forgetting to tote around a camera whenever we go anywhere.

Today at the beach, with that goofy smile he loves to flash. He knows everyone laughs when he does it so when he feels like entertaining us, he does it over and over.

He climbed up onto this chair to watch Elmo. I think this is fast becoming Dylan's chair.

Sometimes, he just cracks himself up.

Giving Daddy a kiss.

"BA"

Our morning routine with opening and closing the door, a hundred times.

He isn't really looking at his own photo, he is trying to climb up to reach the iPod on the 2nd shelf.

Splashing around at the Discovery Museum. We later put on an apron. Even then he still got soaked.

Walking down the stairs like a big boy.

Dylan's first kayak experience.

This is when you know Dylan has had a VERY GOOD day.

Let's Get It Right for the Wrights

2009-02-27T23:23:00.000-08:00

There are so many past posts where I mention John Wright and his incredible family who do so much to restore hope to the underpriveleged in Kyrgyzstan. They do so much for others (including so many adoptive parents)and have rallied to raise money to help those in need.

For them to continue this work, they also need to cover their own expenses (this part they are not so great at asking). So, I figured, the least I can do is use my blog as a forum to help them raise the funds they need. They need to raise a minimum of $50,000 to be able to go to Kyrgyzstan twice a year and cover their expenses both over there and at home in Canada.

If you are interested in making a donation, it is very easy. Here is how. Go to JOHN'S Blog and hit the button on the top right hand side of the blog it is for the Wrights….support.

www.actofkindness.blogspot.com

You can also watch the work they do on that site. Once you start following it, it is easy to get hooked and follow along, like your favorite soap opera, but better.

I have met many of the orphans and trust me when I say, they light up when they see the Wrights. It is so special to watch. I hope you decide to reach deep down and find a way to contribute.

Recovering From All Sorts of Stuff

2009-02-23T21:10:00.000-08:00

We have been on a month-long recovery plan. No, no, I'm not talking about the stimulus package. I'm talking about our month-long recovery from being sick.

Bill has had a cough for about a month now and is on the tail-end of that awful thing. He was very sick a day or so before his 50th birthday celebration.

I have been trying to kick the same bug, although it didn't hit me as hard.

The most terrible thing is that Dylan got it too. He didn't seem to suffer as much from the bug at first but on the second week of having this cold, I thought he had an ear infection for sure. I was right. He was on 10 days of antibiotics only to develop a very high fever last Wednesday on day 10 of his meds. Try 104.5!! I came home from a business function and went into the room to just look in on him and touch him goodnight. He was burning hot. Between the time dad put him to bed and the time I came home, he developed this scary high fever. He woke up around midnight and acted like nothing was wrong. He was in a good mood and ready to play.

At midnight, after having been on the phone on hold for 20 minutes for an advise nurse, I finally got on the phone with a live person who spent 20 minutes just telling me to give him Tylenol or Motrin and sent a message to Dylan's doctor.

Fast forward to the next day. Mom and Dad were sleep deprived and had to stay home from work because we didn't want to take Dylan into daycare with his fever still soaring as soon as the Tylenol started to wear off. We finally get an appointment for 4:30 to see his doctor. We get there and the nurse takes his temperature and sees it is still ringing in at 102. She proceeds to tell us he is hot. No shit, really? And then she proceeds to ask us why we were there...

After the doctor examined him, we found out that he still has an ear infection in one ear and that this particular strain of bacteria has probably become immune to the first anitionbiotics. Hence, a stronger and different kind of antibiotic was prescribed. I am not one who loves antibiotics but ok, if it is necessary, here we go again.

Fast forward to 3 days later (yesterday) and he all of a sudden develops a rash on his tummy. We suspect it was a reaction to the new meds. A quick call to the advise nurse and we are off the antibiotics, on Benadryl and another message to his doctor.

Today, Bill had the day off and took him back for another exam. He no longer has an ear infection so off the antibiotics to see what happens.

OK, we are exhausted. Here is to a better week/month/quarter of better health.

On a sweet note, Dylan has developed this love of dancing with mommy. From time to time, he wants me to hold him and bounce around like we are dancing together, mostly to the Jack Johnson Curious George album. It was meant to be a fun activity. Instead, it relaxes him and he sometimes will fall asleep while we are dancing. He would press his cheek against mine, suck him thumb with one hand, hold his froggie with the other and then will doze off. He has now learned to point at the iPod and the player when he wants to dance with mommy. Tonight I danced with him for about 20 minutes (thank goodness for the Ergo carrier because after 10 minutes, my arms start to slip and go numb). He didn't fall asleep while dancing but he was so relaxed that when I put him in bed he went straight to sleep. What a great privelege to be his mommy!

Far From Religious but Near to My Heart

2009-02-10T20:27:00.000-08:00

In the last few weeks, I have been working a ton of hours and haven't posted anything new. Really, life is just humming along for us, in a good way. Bill and I both have good but very time-intensive jobs and Dylan has a routine that he seems to like which includes his days at his fabulous daycare. We spend our weekends doing normal family stuff around the house, and have managed to spend a little time with friends and family . It is just nice to have this normalcy after the excitement of the holidays. I felt that for weeks, I have had nothing to blog about, or more like I have had no energy to even consider writing a blog post.

However, today, I am sick with a bad cold, but oddly motivated to write this post. Bizarre, but I'll go with it. While I am sick again with a bad cold, Bill is getting over a 2-week long cough, and Dylan is on antibiotics again for his second double ear infection since getting home, we are home together. We are just your typical American family, with its joys and its challenges.

What is really on my mind a lot more than I have admitted is the adoption situation in Kyrgyzstan and how the adoptions have been stalled for the past few months. I feel like we just eeked through the cracks and got Dylan home by no more than a tiny ounce of luck. Some people have said things like, "this was meant to be", or "it was in god's time" or "it was destiny". I don't know exactly what it really was. I am neither religious or superstitious. I am just very appreciative that it happened for us when it did.

At the same time, there is a bit of guilt that we are home enjoying every happy, exhausted, trying, exhilarating, hilarious, sweet time with Dylan. He is definitely an active boy. He is also very bright, which makes for a challenging toddler. He is the classic text book example of one who pushes the boundaries to see where they are. He has also developed a healthy attachment to us and knows the difference between mom and dad versus everyone else. He is developmentally right on track, babbling a few words, running, starting to climb, dances, kisses, gives high fives, knows a few body parts, and all sorts of fun other toddler shenanigans. He is also very sweet at times yet contentious at others, just like we all can be. He is certainly developing into his own complex little person and being challenged by his new understanding of the world. For all those things, I can't be more thankful.

Yet, I can't live in this bubble of bliss alone. I can't help that my heart aches every time I think of all the other families who have spent months waiting to bring their precious kids home. Their stories cling to me and I follow along on their blogs, watching the group posts, just waiting for the good news that they can go back to Kyrgyzstan to finally take their babies home. I find myself unexpectedly shedding tears on my way to work while thinking of how they must feel. I feel a deep empathy, likely because I know it was excruciating for me when we spent 5 months being told of one delay after another. I knew in my heart I could not have spent another minute without seeing and holding Dylan. I can't imagine what it is like for those who have been waiting much longer. These families are near to my heart.

While I am not religious and I don't answer to a higher being called God, or Yaweh, or Allah or Buddha or whatever, I feel like the universe gives you back what you put out so I live by those moral rules for myself. In that vein, the other Kyrgyz thing I follow is the story of John Wright and his family. While his motivations are coming from a different place, I spent a considerable amount of time with them while in Kyrgyzstan last summer and found their work with the disadvantaged people of Kyrgyzstan (and believe me that there are lots of them) to be nothing short of phenomenal. I am talking literally, John is a phenomenon in Tokmok, possibly even Bishkek. More people there know of him than you would think. His work is far reaching and truth be told, he is probably more memorable because he just doesn't have the ability to blend into the Kyrgyz crowd, even if he gave it his best shot. And that is a good thing. But I digress...

Since coming home from Kyrgyzstan in June, I noticed that my perspective has changed about needs and wants. I noticed that I tend to be less concerned about wants, perhaps because I see that so many others cannot even get their needs met. Now, I was really never one to keep up with the Jones' to begin with but I like what I like and if I had the funds to spend, I would spend it without much hesitation. Fortunately, my wants are never that pricey and we lived pretty modestly even prior to this trip to Kyrgyzstan last May/June. I searched for ways I could cut some luxuries (like my Peet's sugarfree non-fat vanilla lattes) out of my life so I can use that fund to help someone in need, whether an orphan who needs to be sponsored in order to go to school, or an elderly who needs care, or kids who need dental work but cannot afford it. I have questioned why I care so much about the people of Kyrgyzstan when there are those who suffer right in my backyard. I don't really know the answer right now. Perhaps I feel a closeness because I feel EXTREMELY grateful to this country that allowed us to have one of their own to call our own.

The nice thing about having a bunch of luxuries is that there is a lot to work with when you need to cut something out. Since I didn't have that much to start with, I am now scrambling to cut something else out. I have cut out Netflix, lattes, fine dining (though this is a natural consequence of having a toddler but I'll claim it), ski trips (ok, this one too is driven by circumstance), expensive shoes, expensive teas (not entirely but we buy a lot less). The economy is suffering so I know I won't get a salary increase this year. So what else can I do to help?

What I really want to do is have 2 of me, not because I think I am great. Nothing like that. It is because I love my life with my family, but at the same I feel like there is a great big magnet pulling me towards Kyrgyzstan so that I can offer my help in whatever capacity needed. As circumstances would have it, this isn't possible right now. Dylan is way too young and we are still entrenched in too many commitments. I am hoping that one day, this dream will come true for me. In the meantime, perhaps the best thing to do is to share how anyone who wants to help fulfill some dreams can help. I am not one to affiliate with a religious organization. You'd fine me screaming naked into the night before that happens (ok that kinda sounds like fun) but John puts it best when he says, "We are not missionaries ... we are philanthropists...." I buy that!

Now go check out how YOU can help. I swear to you, giving hope and fulfilling dreams is addictive. Maybe you too will find yourself giving up a small luxury to become a philantropist.

BRRRR... It's Cold Outside

2009-01-12T22:07:00.000-08:00

OK not really!

It was 70 degrees this past weekend. Dylan certainly enjoyed it. We are thankful for this beautiful weather, though it means we may have an upcoming drought.

Synapses Occurring Right Before My Eyes

2009-01-03T19:47:00.000-08:00

I gave Dylan too little credit today. We were at this really fabulous little kid park in CV where there was a giant sandbox and a bunch of general use sand toys. Naturally, some of them were broken, and naturally Dylan found one that was sharp-edged and unsafe for him to walk around holding, especially given his topply, swaggering, pseudo-running, in a drunken sailor way of toddling about. Perhaps it may even be considered walking ;) He was standing against the concrete wall that contained the sandbox. That's the wall behind him in the photo. So, what better way to get him to give it up than to bait and switch him? I gave him a white measuring cup that I knew he liked earlier (same one he is holding in the photo) and Bill pulled the other one out of his hand. Bill put it on the other side of the wall where he could neither see it or get to it. Great, we thought that was the end of the bright green and dangerous plastic shard.

We were wrong. We expected that if really wanted the darned thing, he would throw his butt down on the sand and cry alligator tears. He has been doing that a bunch lately; it seems to be a new thing he is trying out. This time, he didn't break out into Mr. Drama Boy. Instead, without skipping a beat, he turned, walked along the wall about 30 feet or so to the opening, then walked carefully up the little step onto the concrete, followed the retaining wall on the outside perimiter until he got to the spot where Bill dropped the green shard. He then picked it up and continued to play with it as if nothing had interrupted him. He knew exactly where it was and how he was getting there. I think the only worry he had was whether or not we were on to him, and would snatch him away before he can fully execute the heist.

We just stood there totally amazed. I gave him so little credit. The gullible and easily distractable little munchkin is way smarter than we thought. I've been reading that their brains are making crazy amounts of synapses at this age but I didn't expect such a carefully, yet so effortlessly executed plan to come from this 15-month old. Wow, I'm impressed.

Here are a couple of typical Dylan the Drunken Sailor shots.

One afterthought in all of this - when we were in Tokmok, there were discussions from the orphanage staff regarding how weak his legs were and how they have been massaged regularly to no avail. I was told that hopefully, we can help him because nothing they did has helped him thus far. Fast forward to mid-November when at 13 and a half months, Dylan decided crawling was for babies and started walking. A month and a half later, this boy is almost running. No blame, no ill-feelings about any of them. I am just so thankful they were wrong about him at the orphanage and I hope one day, I can have the opportunity to show them in person that these kids come home to their families and just thrive like crazy.

The Best First Christmas Ever

2008-12-31T21:53:00.001-08:00

This post is dedicated to all the families who are waiting for their kids to come home from Kyrgyzstan. May the new year bring your precious babies home to you.

We spent a few days around Christmas in Los Angeles with my family. Dylan had a blast exploring Grandma and Grandpa's house. You would have thought this kid was in Disneyland.

He got to open and close a ton of cabinets and doors (yes, his favorite activities right now)

He got to toddle up and down the best hallway ever

He got to eat a bunch of Christmas treats

He go to play the piano

He was held and loved by everyone.

He got to open so many cool presents

The only thing we couldn't seem to get Dylan to do was sit still with mom and dad for a family photo next to the Christmas tree.

Overall, it was the best first Christmas ever!!! It was so much fun, it blew him away...

Can't Wait 'Til Christmas

2008-12-20T15:51:00.000-08:00

Several of my family members visited us the week after Thanksgiving. They missed Dylan so much as they haven't seen him since the birthday party in early October. My sister Joanne missed the party so she was extra motivated to get her Dylan time. My 2 sisters, my brother and my mom made the drive up from Los Angeles and San Diego to hang out with us. OK, who am I kidding? They came to hang out with Dylan.

Fortunately, Dylan did not disappoint. He was still up when they got here on Friday night and was Mr. Adorable Extraordinaire.

The next day, we decided to go to the Oakland Zoo to see Santa and some animals. We found out that at 14 months, Dylan is a little too young to be interested in looking at animals. We thought that may be the case but he may have liked the petting zoo. Not so... After a sheep that is twice his size grazed him on his way in, it scared Dylan just a little bit. After that, he was more interested in the hay on the ground than any of the animals around. Oh well, maybe next year.

He did have lots of fun in the play structures though, so it wasn't a wasted trip altogether. We even got photos with Santa.

They drove 5 and a half hours to the San Francisco Bay Area. You would think they would at least want to go into the city for a little bit. It seems that they are perfectly content just to hang out in a cold east bay condo with the most awesome, funniest, and cutest little guy in town. He is so worth the drive.

And did I mention that we are going down to see them at Christmas? I guess when you get bit by the Dylan bug, there is only one remedy, to get your dose of Dylan cuteness.

Having fun with Uncle Paul

Playtime with Auntie Joanne

Auntie Marie is making sure I don't topple over.

With Grandma Virgie

Going through tunnels is hard work!

I just like this photo...

A little apprehensive about petting animals

"This is more my speed mom!"

First Thanksgiving and a Black Eyed Early Christmas

2008-12-15T22:14:00.000-08:00

We decided that it was a good idea to take a 14 month old on a plane ride from California to Connecticut. OK, maybe not necessarily a good idea, but an OK one. We wanted to be with Bill's family on Thanksgiving so we decided to make the trip to the east coast. We also decided a red eye flight would be a good idea. Well, in one aspect, it was because we were able to get Dylan to sleep for a majority of the 6 hour flight. On our flight back, let's just say I felt sorry for him, but also for the lady sitting next to us.

Here we are before we left our house for the airport. It was really past his bedtime and he was so cranky, only an apple would do. As you can see, he was falling asleep as he was eating it. It's not the first time he has fallen asleep yet continues to take bites. HILARIOUS.

When we landed in Connecticut at 6 am EST on Thanksgiving Day, he was awake, not in the best of moods, but certainly curious about the cold air, the busy airport and everything else around him. Auntie Kelly and Grandma Pat picked us up from JFK and we drove for a while to get to Darien, to stay with Uncle Bob and Auntie Debi. When we got there, Dylan seems to have found new energy. After all, there a million new things to explore and he got loads and loads of attention from everyone. Katherine and Christopher were home for Thanksgiving so aside from and aunts and uncle, he had cousins to keep him entertained, or should I say he entertained them. Oh yeah, there were also 2 dogs to torture. Hooch and Emma had to tolerate Dylan pulling on them for a few days and they were both really good sports about that.

With Katie Beth and Bibish

Learning that Hoochie doesn't bite, only licks...

He also immediately took it upon himself to learn to climb up some stairs. We spent a good part of the weekend going up and down, but mostly up. Dylan would climb up and I would pick him up and we'd start over. Either that or he thinks he should climb down head first. He picked up the going backwards later on but it wasn't his favorite. He would get a look on his face as if thinking, "I know it worked when I went backwards, but that doesn't make any sense" and he would hesitate, not because he didn't know how to do it, but because he somehow thinks it makes no sense why he would have to go backwards.

He had his first Thanksgiving meal of turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, corn souffle, bread, cranberry relish, raspberry jello, gravy, green beans, and who knows what else. He seemed to really enjoy himself. Uncle Bob made a spot for his high chair at the table and Dylan enjoyed his first thanksgiving meal with his new family. We didn't make a huge deal out of it but it was pretty special. He is pretty special.

One of the most fun activities for Dylan while we were there was to splash his hands in Hooch and Emma's water bowls. He seemed to really love it so Auntie Debi grabbed some towels for the floor and we just let him splash away. Oh the delight in this boy's face as he flooded the floor with water. We cleaned up right after because it would just ruined their beautiful wood floors, but it was so much fun to watch him while it lasted.

A couple of days before we left California, Dylan started to really show an interest in walking. The day we left (Wednesday, he had a small accident at daycare. He pulled up on some shelves, lost balance and hit his forehead, landing him 2 bumps on each side, sort of like where horns would be if he was Pan). Despite the bumps, he continued the same zeal when we got to Connecticut. It was fine for the most part but on Friday night, we were sitting in the family room and he started to walk towards the wooden coffee table. He has a habit of reaching his hands and grabbing for support when he gets to his destination and then squealing with satisfaction. This time, he didn't quite make it. He reached his arms out too soon and missed the table. Instead he fell forward and hit his eye on the edge with a loud thud. This happened while both Bill and I were sitting there watching him. We were horrified. Fortunately, there was no blood, but we knew it would bruise for sure. Debi tried to put some ice on it but the cold only made for louder blood curdling screams. We decided to immediately give him some Tylenol in hopes it would help with the pain. I took him upstairs and held him as he cried himself to sleep. We monitored him all night to make sure he didn't have a concussion. Poor little man.

The next day, his eye was certainly blue and swollen. He had a bump on the bridge of this nose as well, but all in all, the swelling wasn't too bad and neither was the bruising. It was certainly a black eye but we were so thankful it wasn't worse. Dylan didn't act like it bothered him whatsoever. However, I noticed he wasn't attempting to walk so valiantly all day. He would take about 2 steps and sit down and continue to travel on all fours. I don't think he has forgotten the night before just yet. I was happy to see that he isn't as big a knucklehead as we originally thought.

That night (Saturday), we did our early Christmas gift exchange since we were all going to be in different parts of the world during the actual Christmas time. The adults usually get stocking stuffers and one main gift. This rule doesn't apply to kids. So despite the fact that we would be travelling back with anything we received, no one could help but want to buy things for Dylan. He received so many wonderful gifts ranging from stuffed animals that read "Twas the Night Before Christmas" to an iPod shuffle and an iHome so he can listen to lullabies, to a multitude of cool toys and clothes. I know that it sounds like a lot of material stuff, but it is also such an act of love and acceptance of Dylan by the whole family. It is so intensely touching to see everyone fall in love with him. It isn't hard because he is super a super adorable and awesome little boy, but I just remember all our hesitation when we first started this adoption journey. I feel foolish now, having spent all that energy worrying because everyone in Bill's and my family have welcomed Dylan with wide open arms and he has taken them by storm in a way we could never have imagined.

With Auntie Debi

With Uncle Bob

With Grandma Pat

With Auntie Kelly

With mommy

Stand Tall and Walk

2008-11-24T20:17:00.000-08:00

I don't think we quite expected Dylan to start walking this past weekend. For a few weeks or so now, he has been standing. He would hang on to stuff and cruise then let go. Then, he would get nervous and hang on again. If Bill or I are in front of him, he would hurl himself at us and start giggling, looking amused with himself.

Then he got more and more comfy with the standing and would even drink out of his sippy while standing. Great balancing trick that lasts a few seconds, head tilted back and going to town on the watery juice or soy milk. Then he would sit back down and finish the contents of the cup.

This past week, he decided he could take a step or two himself. We thought it was so cute that he was trying. He would do it only if we were right in front of him because that way, after the step or 2, he would reach out and throw himself at us again.

On Saturday, his lightbulb seemed to come on and he decided it was time to get more serious about this walking business. Little man kept trying all day. He would get to 2 steps consistently and this time, he would fall forward or back on his tushie. A few times, he did 3 or 4. I figured at least he was no longer hurling himself because a few times, he was a little short and had we not reached out in time, his little Kyrgyz nose may get even flatter.

We went to a baby shower on Saturday evening. Dylan was quite the charmer and was smiling and babbling away. You know what else he decided to do? Walk a few more steps on his own. I think he knows what a pleaser one or 2 steps were with mom and dad so if he did 3 or 4 or 5, imagine what the crowd would do? So there he was, showing off and laughing the whole time.

And Sunday, well, you know how the story goes. We were at Auntie Kay's house and munchkin man made it about a couple of feet. He was walking towards me and I kept backing up and he kept coming. Now, the real babyproofing job is at hand. Goodbye corners, hello foam pads.

And just for fun, here is Dylan getting his second haircut, eating an apple, eating half a raw zucchini and looking guilty after he spilled a tub of cookies on the floor, reading a book, and just random photos from everyday life.

Little Things I Want to Remember

2008-11-18T20:40:00.000-08:00

Time has a way of blurring the details. I decided that I need to find a way to remember things about our life with our little man. What better venue than this blog about him.

Today, I decided that I want to remember our Tuesday Mommy and Dylan Trader Joe's shopping trips. I've been taking him to TJ's with me each week after I pick him up from daycare. The initial trips were great. I would put him in my Ergo carrier and shop the whole time with him strapped to me. He would smile at strangers and make them talk to him. We could never get out of there without people just stopping to be delighted by him. Sometimes he would fall asleep against my chest.

Then, as he got closer to the one year mark, I put him in the shopping cart. Thanks to my friend Isabel whose wonderful shopping cart cover I am using, he has a germ free experience and I am not constantly imagining little critters invading my son's immune system. The first shopping cart trip was fun for him. He enjoyed being carted around the grocery store and patting his little watermelon that I placed next to him.

However, as the novelty wore off and he got more mobile, he started to become impatient while sitting there. Entering toddlerhood could also have something to do with it. Whatever the case may be, he now wants off the cart after 5 minutes. That is, until I keep him busy by giving him snacks. That is actually the memory I want to record here, the reason I am writing this post.

Dylan will actually spend the whole time shopping with me contentedly if I give him snacks. It is now our routine to stop at the sample table, drink a tiny cup of soymilk that is there for the coffee sampling table and open some kind of package so that Dylan can eat while we shop. Some weeks I gave him vanilla wafers, one week he had a stick of cheddar cheese, another week, he had mini cheese sandwich crackers, then mini peanut butter sandwich crackers. And today, apple slices. As for the samples we have tasted together, that now includes pecan pie, turkey meat balls sandwich, pomegranate juice, chocolate dunking cookies, sweet potato casserole, and I am sure I have forgotten others. I just love this little tidbit about our TJ trips. I want to remember it forever.

Not a Cuddlebug?

2008-11-15T20:36:00.000-08:00

In the last couple of months, Dylan is becoming less and less of a cuddlebug. I suppose, it is part of the quest for independence as he gets into his toddlerhood. Usually, he doesn't want to be rocked to sleep. He just wants to hold his froggie, suck his thumb, put his butt up in the air and go to sleep. Imagine my silent delight the other night when he decided to let me sit in the rocker with him and just hold him. After a few minutes, I realized he had fallen asleep. I almost fell off my rocker (hee hee). I loved every moment of it to be quite honest. It just felt so right to have my big boy just completely relaxed in my arms. I loved hearing his regular breaths of sleep. I love how he completely trusts me.

When we least expect it, he lets us in. Another example is today. We went to some dear friends' wedding. It was great to be there to witness their marriage. It was great to reconnect with old friends. However, I must admit that having a toddler with you there makes the experience challenging. The noise level, the amount of people, the unfamiliar surroundings, coupled with not enough time napping today, made Dylan kind of cranky. Now, Dylan's crankiness was only noticeable by Bill and me. He was still capturing the hearts of those he met and with whom he flirted. But we know our boy, we know when he is uncomfortable. The wedding was at 3 pm. By 7:30, at the reception, we had to graciously call it a night. We could see that it was about to turn into mayhem if we didn't give Dylan the rest he deserved. On the way to the car, I just held him horizontally for a while and he didn't complain, where normally, backarching and squirming are involved. After he got too heavy for my arms, I shifted him so that I just held him vertically. Again, no complaints. Just clung on to mommy calmly and I got to give him a million kisses on the way to the car. What a treat for mommy.

These are the moments when he must be so damned tired, he can't muster a squirm or a babble. He just lets things be and enjoys the cuddles. I guess that at the end of the day, when he has spent most of the day testing his independence, he lets his guard down and lets himself be comfortable being a cuddlebug again. These are the moments that erase my doubts about bonding and attachment. These are the moments when my insecurities about my role as his mother completely melt away and are taken over by an overwhelming feeling of joy.

13 Months Update

2008-11-06T19:34:00.000-08:00

Little man is not so little. He weighs 24 lbs 6 oz as of last Monday. He is 32 inches high and is in the 90th percentile in height and head circumference. He is in the 75th percentile in weight. I guess I was a little worried we would be told to lay off the food. It seems Dylan is just a big boy overall, not overweight or anything. At least that is what I heard from that conversation with his pediatrician.

We are due for our first post placement. I am actually excited about this. If nothing else, I hope that the Kyrgyz government reads the report and sees how good this adoption is for our lttle Kyrgyz munchkin, among the many other post placements from other families that I am sure say the same. In light of any negative press international adoption has recently gotten, I hope this helps dispel the untruth.

Our Favorite Little Devil

2008-11-01T20:48:00.000-07:00

costume compliments of Auntie Joanne and Uncle Hil.

Pumpkins are Cool

2008-10-27T23:06:00.000-07:00

We thought it would be really cool to bring Dylan to a pumpkin patch this weekend. Our original intent was to take him to Halfmoon Bay, where there are a few really cool pumpkin patches. When we got off the freeway and saw the traffic jam, we thought better of it and decided on a more local venue. Hence the pumpkin patch on the side of the road. Notice the all natural orange tarp. Dylan didn't seem to mind. He liked it all the same, which is what we figured. He especially liked going through the bales of hay that were stacked to form a tunnel.

Notice the 2 new teeth coming in. There are 2 more on the bottom that you can't see on this photo. At 10 months, we were so worried they had not come in. Now, it seems it is all about teeth and learning to walk.

The pumpkin patch adventure really only lasted about half an hour. We headed over to the park nearby for an afternoon of fun. Dylan is really growing up fast. The more mobile he is, the more he enjoys himself when we are at the park. He is now learning how to climb, is starting to really like the slide and apparently enjoys a mouthful of sand.

My little baby is gone and is being slowly (or not so slowly) taken over by toddlerhood. Just yesterday, we had our very first all out tantrum, over yogurt. He wanted more yogurt than what was in the container. I let him have a little fit on the sofa, then when he was calmer, I told him he couldn't have more yogurt just because he threw a fit. I gave him some other snack to munch on as I figured he was upset because he was still hungry. I wish we could communicate a little better. It must be frustrating for him to have very specific desires but unable to communicate it to us. Baby sign language may be the next thing we try.

He seems to have discovered the art of clinging to our legs these days. It seems the more independent he gets, the more clingy. It must be that new and exciting discovery of his own independence. It must be so exciting, but so scary at the same time. It's like when he stands on his own for a few seconds. The moment he realizes he is standing unsupported, he immediately looks for something to hold on to.

It is kind of the same for me. It is exciting yet scary at the same time. I see that my actions now play a part in how Dylan acts. At this point in his development, you really see when the lightbulb comes on in his eyes. Now, I really have to be mindful of everything, my sailor mouth in particular. Oh shit.

A Birthday Party

2008-10-08T20:42:00.000-07:00

We planned on having Dylan's party at the local park by our house. It was a perfect plan because we could just walk over there. I figured that if we forgot anything, we can go home and get it. If there are guests who need to chill out with their kiddos for a little bit, they can just head over to our place.

My parents arrived Friday with all sorts of goodies to eat and loads of boxes that are giftwrapped. Dylan was super happy to see them and had a hard time with bedtime because he must have just known that GMa and GPa were here to play with him.

Then at about 1 in the morning, my sister Marie, my brother Paul and my cousin May showed up having driven after working all day. Of course, they brought more goodies with them. There was no doubt that this weekend party has started!

It rained and rained (the first of the season) all night on Friday. The forecast called for rain all night and clearing up by Saturday morning. I was hoping the meteorologists knew their stuff. We woke up Saturday morning to loads of clouds, a small threat of rain still hanging about. By 10 am, I walked over to the park to check things out and decided we were taking the chance anyway. Fortunately for us, the gamble paid off. The day turned out perfectly. We had dear friends and loved ones with us, the sun wasn't too harsh, there were plenty of things to eat and drink and the kids enjoyed the playground.

At the end of the party, we opened gifts and in true one year old fashion, Dylan wasn't too interested in ripping any wrapping paper. He was more intrigued by the cards and crawling off to, well,... who knows? Nevertheless, we had a great time and it seems Dylan did as well.

Happy Birthday Dylan

2008-09-30T19:49:00.001-07:00

Dylan celebrated his first birthday today. Bill and I are so ecstatic to be celebrating his big day with him as a family.

However, I can't help but feel a nagging ache in my heart for his birthmother. Was she thinking about him? Was she sad she couldn't hold him and celebrate with him? I don't think she knows where he ended up so she probably doesn't have a clue where this wonderful boy is now and how big he has gotten. She doesn't know how smart he is and that his first sign language is to show you where his tummy is. She doesn't know that he eats like a champ and that he is almost standing, and how he just delights everyone he meets, and how he loves the water. I just wish I could let her know somehow that he is with us and he is happy and growing well and most importantly, he is loved by so many, most of all by his new mommy and daddy.

As for celebrating, we are having a real party for him this Saturday. Since today is the actual day, we had to have a private celebration as well. We thought we would give him cake first, just a little bit, and then feed him dinner. 10 minutes later, I am mesmerized by Dylan devouring the cake that I can't put my camera down to actually take the cake away.

When we finally cut him off the sugar binge, he proceeded to eat his regular dinner of sweet potatoes, green beans and meatballs. After all, it probably tasted so good with all the frosting on them.

This is how it happened. We think he had a blast. What do you think?

We thought we were going to be screwed for sure. He will never go to sleep, but it turned out that isn't the case. We had to try a couple of times because he got startled by a fire engine siren the first time (oh the joys of living across the street from the fire department), but he went to sleep without any issues. I just can't help but feel so fortunate that Dylan seems very well adjusted, bonded and happy. Tonight, I sat on our rocker with the lights turned down and he laid in my arms, sucked his thumb and held my hand in his other one while he rubbed it lightly over his cheek and looked up at my face. It was so precious, filled with so much understanding (much as can be expected from a one year old anyway) that he is where he belongs, and that this, we, are his home. I thought my heart was going to explode with joy.

A Bad Cold, Double Ear Infection, Rashes, and 2 New Teeth

2008-09-28T20:25:00.000-07:00

In the last 3 weeks, Dylan has suffered a long resilient cold, a double ear infection, rashes on his palms and knees, and 2 new upper teeth. And he managed to learn to crawl on hands and knees overnight.

We drove to L.A. for my sister's bridal shower last week and got in at 1 am on Friday. We hoped Dylan would stay asleep in the car for the entire ride but we had no such luck. Instead he woke up 2 hours before we got there. As soon as we got to my parents' house, he decided he was ready to actually crawl instead of slither. All this at 1 am. Wide awake and crawling and happy as a clam (how happy are clams and why?) Who would have thought?

Well, the cold that he has had for a couple of weeks turned into a double ear infection, much to our dismay. He tried so hard to be his happy self but with the fever and the earache, he was a little cranky on Saturday and extremely cranky on Sunday. He also developed a rash on his knees and palms. We think he may be allergic to the Persian rugs at my parents' house, but who knows?? The advise nurse says that if he was allergic we would know because he would itch. There were no signs of any itching. She also said some viruses that cause ear infections also produce rashes. I suppose we'll find out next time he crawls on those rugs.

Don't get me wrong, Dylan managed to have himself a wonderful time. He got to go swimming in an 85 degree pool, got a bunch of attention, new toys, new clothes and got fed incessantly. The Motrins and Tylenols didn't hurt either.

The good news is that all is better now that the meds have kicked in, just in time for his birthday tomorrow. I can't believe he is going to be one. I sort of want to suspend time right here. Since that is crazy talk, I'll just take loads of photos so I can remember these days.

Catch Up Post - Week 4 - June 14 to June 21

2008-09-17T23:09:00.000-07:00

Saturday June 14th - 6 sleeps and a plane ride

Dylan doesn’t seem to be better. He also now doesn’t want his bottle. I came back from shopping with Kat and Jia, and Bill hadn’t been able to get Dylan to drink his fluids. I may be overreacting but the doctor with whom we spoke specifically said to feed him 6 to 8 full 8-oz. bottles of formula plus electrolytes in between. It seems like a lot and Ted thinks the doctor is being very extreme. Maybe so but what other info do I have to go by? Dylan just doesn’t hold on to his fluids. He poops liquid while he eats. It’s not even disgusting anymore. It doesn’t even smell like poop. It’s like his body doesn’t process it correctly so it just comes right out. His bootie is very raw and sore. We have been using the Boudreaux’s Butt Paste and Desitin but from the amount of times it gets wiped and soaked, it’s just not keeping up very well. I am only assuming he has lost some weight. He seems to also want to sleep more. Not good…. But we keep pushing him to take a few ounces here and there and he somehow gets a good amount into him.

Additionally, Bill and I have been sleep deprived from having to feed him and change him. So I am probably emotionally worn out and blowing this out of proportion. I am also concerned that he isn’t peeing and the doctor said that this was critical that we find out. It is super hard to tell when it is with all the other stuff in his diaper. She told me to attach a plastic bag to his boy parts so I can see how much he pees. We tried different methods but none of it was very successful. We tried putting him in the inflatable baby bath without any diapers so we can see it when he pees or poos. Poor guy was just too uncomfortable after the novelty of an inflatable barca lounger wore off. We tried cutting a small piece of plastic and attaching it by tying a little knot. That didn’t work either. Plus Bill was really concerned that it will cut off circulation to his boy parts. Actually, he was a bit more than just “concerned”. At 4 or 5 in the morning, we were totally exhausted and lightheaded and Dylan wasn’t liking it much. If I was woken up several times throughout the night to change diapers and rig my privates with with all sorts of crazy things, I’d be just as cranky.. I just wish he was more stable before we take him on another hard travel to Almaty.

So today, we started getting our stuff packed. We have until tomorrow night to finish packing. I can’t believe how much stuff we have accumulated in the apartment in a month. It will be quite a challenge to leave this place the way we found it.

Saule was supposed to come either yesterday or today with the driver so that she can introduce him to us and figure out where our apartment is. She isn’t going to be with him when he picks us up. However, as of tonight, there was no sign of her. She hasn’t tried to contact us letting us know when she is coming. I doubt she’ll actually be able to pull this off. She is very busy. However, I wonder how the driver will know where we are.

Tonight, everyone went to Mega-polis but Dylan and me. We had a really great time together. He was a happy boy tonight. I think giving him more food and electrolytes could finally be working. He and I just hung out on the floor or played upside down games and tossing him in the air. We even watched some of Seas of Life on the computer. He also pooped some and pee'd which made me extremely happy. It feels like Dylan is starting to get well again. I hope so. He's been through a lot already.

Sunday June 15th – Happy First Father’s Day to Bill - 5 sleeps and a plane ride

Today is my Bill’s first Father's Day. Cool. I was going to make him breakfast but the stomach bug has been going around in our apartment and the only things he has been consuming are electrolytes, bananas and bread. I am the only one who has not been touched by it. Therefore, no breakfast celebration, just greetings. It was nice nevertheless. I was only a little bit envious that we weren’t in this situation on Mother’s Day.

Dylan saved his blowout until this morning- I was checking all night. Bill was scratching mosquito bites. It is funny that our existence is centered around this little guy's bowel movements. As Bill says, his life was full of shit before he got sober, now it's full of shit again but it's cute little baby shit. Well, maybe not cute. The baby is cute, the shit is like some kind of nuclear waste, almost odorless but nasty nevertheless.

We are packing to go to Almaty. It is incredible how many diapers we are planning to bring. It just doesn’t seem real. For a 2 day trip, we are planning at least 40 diapers, and we’ll probably need more. I’ve gone out and hunted down “pampers” at every drug store on the main drag. I am paranoid that we don't have enough diapers for his blowouts. I went to several drug stores today and found one where there was still a whole package instead of just a part of one (people here buy them several pieces at a time because they are expensive in Kyrgyz standards). The whole package cost 1200 som and since we have been trying to get rid of our soms before we head home, I didn't have enough to buy the entire bag. I managed to tell the lady to pull out a few because I was short a few soms. Diapers - $1200 soms, useless Russian phrasebook - $7, communicating via calculator and paper and saying things louder to each other in languages neither party understands – PRICELESS. Diapers that ended up being too big for Dylan, …I am speechless at my blunder.

Saule called this afternoon to ask us for our address so that the driver can find us in a few hours when he comes. I have no idea what the actual address is. I could have probably given her directions from the big Tokmok roundabout but with Saule’s comprehension of English and my lack of any other way to tell her, it would have been impossible. She suggested I call Vlady and give him her number and that is what I did. I hope they got a hold of each other.

Dylan is still coughing and has a rattle in his chest. He sounds like a pug. It is quite funny, not funny that he has a cough but that he sounds like a pug. Thank goodness his eyes don't bug out and that he actually has a chin. We can endearingly call him our little “puglet”.

It seems a little sad to be preparing to pack up and go for good, but I am ready. I am grateful for the company I have had this past month. I feel like we are forever indebted to the Wrights for their support, kindness and everything in between. I have never met people as nice as this family. I am also grateful that the Danners and Kat and company are all here. It makes things easier and feels a bit more like home to have familiar people. It is weird that we have never met yet it has been comfortable living with these folks. This journey has been full of lessons, about people, about Kyrgyzstan, and mostly about love.

OK – I just had to include this paragraph. Bill actually wrote this one. It’s kind of like the Saturday Night Live skit a few years ago called “Deep Thoughts by Jack Handy”.

“I used 5oz of formula to mix a big bowl of rice cereal and Dylan ate most of it. I hoping that helps alleviate his butt-squirts. I am wondering how much of his mix is baby-butt-paste and pee which makes it less pasty”.

Today we also had a funny but kind of scary thing happen. A constable showed up at the door wanting to see everyone's passports. We had no idea what for and there was no way in hell I was going to give this man my passport. He spoke no English either so it was hard to tell what he actually wanted. So what do we do? We call John Wright who came over right away and called someone named Olga who talked to the constable. We found out later that Olga is John's ace in the hole – she's the president’s secretary. So the constable left assured that we are just fine and not to bother us. Apparently we needed to register with the local police department because we are on an extended stay, and we did not do that. Hmm, I thought that is what our visas were for.
The bus is supposed to pick us up at 2am to travel to the border, drop us off at the border for all of us to walk through – then pick us up on the other side. Then, on to Almaty and straight to the clinic. Saule is going to the embassy for us on the first day. The second day we go to the embassy and straight to the medical checkout office then to the swearing thing and done. We plan on having a good-bye dinner with the Danners on Tuesday night – stay one more night in Almaty then back to Tokmok. We’ll have Wednesday night and Thursday to pack. Then Friday at 2am we get on a bus too the airport to go home. Why are we always traveling like a pack of thieves?

On a fun note, Dylan was particularly happy today. There was very little fussing and crying and he seemed to discover that sticking his tongue out is a lot of fun. He laughed a lot with us and by himself. It seems little bubber is feeling a lot better. I am hoping this is the real Dylan. He was so much fun to hang out with today.

I am wondering how I can get Dylan to have some kind of Kyrgyz language immersion. When I was visiting John today, or more like asking for another favor yet again, we joked around having Acel tutor Dylan over the phone. In actuality, I think this isn't a half bad idea. Maybe once a week over Skype for an hour of Auntie Acel talking to Dylan in Kyrgyz. We will pay Acel a fee of course. I hope this idea turns into something. It would be awesome to have Dylan speaking in Kyrgyz.

I was motivated to try and remember some interesting things about Kyrgyzstan so here they are. I am sure there are more but if they were that interesting, maybe I will remember them again one day:

No ziploc baggies can be found anywhere (what do potheads do?)
Most people still use outhouses, even if there is running water inside the house.
Charo (pronounced sha-ro) tastes like salty spit.
Shashleek is grilled meat skewered with oil dip sticks and sold on the side of the road, sometimes in yurts
There is Kyrgyz time and then there is German time. Kyrgyz time is whenever and German time is right on the dot (Vlady observes German time, we in the apartment are on Kyrgyz time)
There are many different nationalities here: Kyrgyz, Russians, Uzbeks, Dugans Turks, Tatars to name a few. As a result, there are also lots of different looks.
During harsh winters, people are so poor, they have to let their dogs loose so that they have one less mouth to feed.
Kazakhs cross the border to shop in the Tokmok bazaar because it is cheaper to do so. Double edged sword for the Kyrgyz people. On one hand, there is more sales to be made but on the other hand, it seems like this is a form of rape on Kyrgyzstan.
Lots and lots of stuff here are made in China and are VERY poor quality.
Marijuana grows wild so you see it everywhere.
During the Soviet era, there was a major airbase in Tokmok. Therefore, foreigners were not allowed into Kyrgyzstan for military reasons.
The orphanage workers believe that wind is bad for the children. This is likely why the babies are bundled in winter clothes even in the midst of summer.
Most cabs do not have handles on the rear windows of their cars. They take them off and put them in the glove box on purpose. They do not think they need to roll these windows down. Remember, wind is bad.
Most cars here are imported from Japan or Germany.
The Kyrgyz government sold their gold mining rights to Canada for virtually no money. They have lots of gold but cannot make a living off them.
Most of the people we have encountered in Tokmok are nice. They have good spirits and you don't blatantly feel like you are getting ripped off.

Monday June 16th - 4 sleeps and a plane ride

The bus picked us up at 1:30 am instead of 2 as was planned. That actually annoyed me because I wasn’t completely ready to go. When I got downstairs with Dylan in my arms in our pitch black stairwell, I saw that Vlady was also outside waiting for us. I was perplexed for a second but realized that he got up to meet our driver to ensure that the driver didn’t get lost trying to find our apartment. Did I mention in previous posts what an awesome man Vlady is? I just had to hug him once again.

We rode on the bumpy Kyrgyz roads for about 45 minutes, and the driver pulls over across the street from a dance club that reminded me of those in Tijuana. We thought he was just out for a smoke break but he told Ted somehow that we would be there for at least 15 minutes. Apparently, this is where he meets and picks up Saule (about 4 km from the border) on these trips to Almaty. After Saule arrived, we continued on our journey. This whole time, I had to go to the bathroom really really bad, but unless I was willing to go to the dance club (and I wasn’t), I was going to have to squat on the side of the road and I wasn’t willing to do that there either as there are headlights coming on a regular basis. At home, I would have found my spot but not here. So I just had to suffer a bit more. Saule assured me there are bathrooms at the border.

When we got to the border, the first order of business was my bathroom break. The bathroom was closed. Instead Bill and I opted for the bushes, or more like behind some concrete barriers. So there, now I can say I peed on the side of the road at the Kyrgyz-Kazakh border.

Dylan and Bill sleeping in the back row of the bus.

Next, we all had to get out of the bus and go through the passport control. While we were waiting in line for the officer to look at our passports and issue the official stamps (yes they are all about these official stamps), our bus went through the vehicle inspection line. I think Bill saw dogs sniffing around. He was sure they would find our stash of Peet's coffee. It is funny that were concerned about that at 3 am at the Kazakh border but at the rate the guy in the booth was moving, you would think he was doing a thorough evaluation of someone's entire life. We had nothing but time. The kids seemed to all be dazed and half asleep, or in Dylan's case, out like a lightbulb inside the Ergo carrier that is strapped to me.

On the other side of the border, the road immediately got much better. The potholes were replaced with very nicely maintained highway. We drove as the sun was coming up and got to see the immediate disparity between Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. There were nice modern structures and yurts like none I’ve seen in Bishkek and Tokmok. You can immediately tell that Kazakhstan has much more resources than Kyrgyzstan. It’s a much wealthier country. No wonder we are told how expensive things are in Almaty.

Here are a few photos from inside our bus. You may notice that there are a lot of new construction going on and the buildings and yurts are more updated and are bigger and nicer quality construction overall (at least from afar).

From the border onward, Dylan started having blow-outs. We went through 7 diapers in less than 20 minutes – he just kept pooping and the diapers kept leaking. It still is not settled – as we feed' he poops it out. I spent all day with him shoving fluids down his throat, cleaning his booty and changing diapers. We are all really exhausted because we got very little sleep and just haven't gotten the chance to get a little caught up. Poor Dylan is physically responding to having his world turned upside-down and the travel and turmoil wont stop for another week. I am afraid the poor boy will have poop issues until we can get home and settle his life so he can settle his stomach.

We got to Almaty about 9am. and went straight to the SOS International Clinic to get a checkup for the kids. Saule’s nephew Talhat met us there as well. I previously met when we went to Bishkek to fill out paperwork with Saule. The plan was that while we were getting the kiddos checked, Saule was to go to the U.S. Embassy with our passports. What none of the families realized was that the bus was going to leave with Saule without warning. We left most of the snacks and drinks for the kids there. I happened to bring a couple of small bags down with me because I was quite hungry at the moment we got there but other essentials were left there too.

At the clinic, they weighed and measured Dylan. The nurses took his temperature and pulse. Then the doctor (Irina Bol-- something--- eva), looked in his ears and his tongue and asked questions. I was afraid to tell her the truth about the diarrhea so I kind of played it lightly. I just didn't want them to keep him here longer or not release a clean bill of health for the embassy. Waiting aside, it literally took the clinic 10 minutes to check out this little guy and say he is healthy. What an expensive joke - $114 USD. Oh, and the “international” clinic only takes credit cards and Kazakh currency. Ha, this is definitely a lesson in how not to cater to an international clientèle.

We spent more time in the waiting room than actually getting examined. Dylan was having fun with the toys.
The doctor checking Dylan out and giving him a clean bill of health.

Mommy is happy this went smoothly and without any hassle.

The appointments for all 3 families were completed by 10:30 and we had a bunch of waiting to do out in front of the clinic. The day was turning out to be a scorcher and we tried to make the best of it by keeping each other company. We had no idea when Saule was coming back from the embassy but we hoped it would be very soon. It was about this time that Jia decided she was done and had her breakdown. Poor thing has been ripped out of the bed at 1:30 am, only to be put on a bumpy bus, and then out of the bus at the border, and then back on the strange bus, then woken up when we got to the clinic and expected to behave while her little brother gets checked out by the doctors. All this while her tummy wasn’t doing so well to begin with and her security a bit challenged by having a brand new baby brother. She is only 3 years old. I am 35 and I am about to have a tantrum myself. Yes, little girl – I want to go home too.

Waiting for Saule... the girls at least found something to entertain themselves with.

Waiting around for Saule and our ride. Did I mention that we have gotten very little sleep and have had no food?

Saule showed back at the clinic at 11:15, which felt like an eternity and everyone was tired, sleep deprived and getting crankier by the minute. We piled back into the bus, and headed to the Hotel Kazakhstan where they said they had no air-conditioning in the rooms. We decided that was a deal-breaker so we went to the Grand Eurasia where they said they had air in the rooms – they lied, sort of. It took a room change (the first room had no electricity whatsoever) and a few hours before we got the damned unit really kicking in so that we were comfortable.

Getting comfy at The Grand Eurasia.

Bill thought we should have stayed at the Hotel Kazakhstan – nicer hotel and nicer neighborhood. There is an Nhtephet Kaфe across the street and more restaurant choices nearby. The only real saving grace for the Grand Eurasia was the Pamctop (Ramstor) mall nearby. An indoor mall with a small food court and a big grocery store. Bill picked up some much needed diapers. Bill also picked up a couple gyros sandwiches for dinner and brought it back to the hotel room for me. Dylan fell asleep so hopefully tonight is our golden night to get caught up on some sleep. Hopefully Bill and I can get some much needed sleep.

Saule wants us to go back to Tokmok tomorrow after dinner in the cool of the evening. This sounds so hard on everyone but the upside of that is that we can get back to the comfort of our apartment in Tokmok with 2 days to spare. I can’t believe I just said our apartment was comfortable. This is true testament that it can always get worse. When we were scorching in Tokmok, we said, at least it can’t get any worse. That is obviously not true. We are hoping Dylan's tummy troubles will settle a bit before we take the long 24 hour trip home.

In Bills words again, “I feel like I was rode hard and put away wet. Tired and beat. I think tomorrow will start easy and end hard but we will wake up in Tokmok”.

Tuesday June 17: 4 sleeps and a plane ride

There has been no improvement in Dylan’s blowouts or chest congestion but at least we got to regroup somewhat by just chilling out inside our hotel room last night. I got to wash some soiled towels and sheets which we brought for protection in the vehicle. I also brought my hot water pot so we were able to sterilize bottles and make coffee. My priorities are still somewhat straight.

The Grand Eurasia Hotel has all looks of being great but everything is chintzy and breaks easily. Most everything here is made in China. Pieces of crap with crappy installation. Yesterday, the shower curtain rod came off when I tried to hang a towel. Today, the glass shelf that is already halfway hanging down from the brackets came off. The fridge doesn't work and smells like vinegar (more like fermented juice) and the hot/cold water dispenses only dispenses at room temperature. There is, however, a towel warmer that is on all the time. Go figure. Oh, and as I came down from the window sill where I sit typing this, drinking my coffee...

... my foot touched the radiator cover, and it came off the wall. What else will I break next? I am afraid to touch anything.

Watching the view from our window, it made me think that the next time the American laborers complain about long working hours, they should come to Almaty. Construction goes on here from dawn to past dusk, try 9 p.m. It is happening as part of this hotel's construction. One would think they would be mindful that guests need some quiet and rest. After all, it is a hotel.

I guess I shouldn't complain too hard. The air conditioning unit finally worked last night and at full blast, we were cold. That is a nice change. I felt bad for Kat and Karen who spent a considerable amount of time yesterday afternoon searching for another hotel with air conditioning. They came back here with no luck and rooms that are too warm for anyone's comfort, except the Central Asians, who for some reason don't believe in air conditioning or wind for that matter. They improvised by buying fans that will end up being donated to the orphanages afterwards. I am impressed how my new friends always seem to find a way to make lemonade when handed lemons.

We skipped the free breakfast for a chance to lounge around and sleep in. I heard it was terrible as the foods served were catered towards the Pakistani business travelers who were there for some kind of convention. Not to discount Pakistani food, but it's just not what our palettes would expect. We took our time getting our stuff ready and checking out. Our appointment at the embassy isn’t for another few hours, but by 11 am, Bill and I were restless and we decided to check out and do some exploring at the Ramstor.

We stopped by the Danner’s room and just caught up with them a bit on how their night went. They are moving to another room tonight. It was extremely stifling all night long and there was no way they could stay another night in such discomfort. We also caught up with Kat, Jia and Charlie and found out that they too stayed in a very hot room where nothing much worked and the kids had a very hard night. I am guessing so did their mommy but she is too much of a lady to discuss it in depth. I should take some notes.

It was raining on and off so we had to time our stroll. When we got to the Ramstor, it was already around 1 pm and it left us very little time to shop before our 2:30 appointment. We bought bunch of snacks and a couple of gyros again and after another messy diaper change, off we went.

At the embassy, we were supposed to go in with Saule but somewhere during the craziness of yesterday, she lost her passport. Hence she gave us a couple of pointers and instead of her, she sent Talhat in with us. I guess he is in training to help her with these adoptions. He seems like a nice kid and he is good with the families. He is like a younger Kuba. At almost 17 years old, he is getting to learn a trade that will be very helpful to families later on. I hope he keeps up the interest.

Inside the embassy, we paid the fee and were called to the window within a few minutes. The officer had our paperwork ready and seemed genuinely happy to give us the visa for Dylan, explaining how his IR3 visa works and what to expect when we get home. It went very smoothly. Considering everything else it was the smoothest day we had. The embassy literally took 30 minutes at most and we had ourselves the cutest bundle of a Kyrgyz American citizen. It was a teary moment that neither one of us expected to have.

Afterwards, we all went back to the hotel and hung out at the Danners' room, this time the new one that had air conditioning. Yay for them. It was fun just hanging out for a while, taking photos of our new citizens and their passports that had their IR3's on them. We just spent a little time visiting with Saule and enjoying the surreality of what just happened.

We also spent a little bit of time taking photos with each other.

We had dinner at this restaurant that Saule took us to. I tried a cold horsemeat appetizer, some kind of cold cuts. Some cuts were very fatty and some cuts were leaner. It actually was not awful. It was an interesting meat to taste. It wasn't gamey, it was actually pretty mild but highly salted. I'm really glad I tried it. It was good on bread. Bill ordered at T-Bone steak and realized as he spoke to the waitress that no one knew what medium rare means. Everything seems to be prepared well done. It is such a shame that countries that have such an abundance of cattle do not seem to be able to prepare it well (I know this statement just made me seem to Eurocentric but that is my reality - at least regarding steaks) The best meat I have had here are the shashliks. Otherwise, everything is overly greasy and overcooked.

Almaty is a big city compared to Bishkek and Tokmok, especially Tokmok. It is quite metropolitan and very, very busy. Traffic rivals that of Los Angeles and the Bay Area. There is an underground metro as well. I can't imagine what it would be like if there wasn't and everyone travelled above ground. I would imagine it to be somewhat like Karachi, though I have never been there. There are loads of fancy cars, late model BMWs and Mercedes Benzes. There are designer shops all over the downtown area. You can certainly see the stark contrast against Kyrgyzstan. Money was poured in to develop this city, unlike Kyrgyzstan which after the breakdown of the USSR, got the opposite treatment. Instead of rebuilding, Kyrgyzstan lost the industry and the economy tanked. It still is unable to recover to this day. The Kazakhs, on the other hand, received major funding from the oil industry because of the abundance of oil fields in its territory. Ladies and men downtown are very fashionable. However, at the core of it, there are loads of things that do not work. Elevators are programmed weirdly so that you can't go to floor 4 from floor 1, etc etc. If you look closely, there are things that are again "Made in China" and are very flimsily constructed. Do I sound like I have a thing against cheaply made Chinese products, produced by abusing the human rights of its citizens? Well, I suppose I do.

The landscape seems a little flatter than that of Kyrgyzstan and you can see nice buildings on the side of the road. It seems to have a lot of Turkish infuence, even more so than what we have seen in KG. The city is bordered by beautifully tall snow-capped mountains but from I have read, there are some very flat landscape and is used for farming. In fact, I bought a book in Bishkek about a true story on human trafficking involving Kyrgyz people being trafficked to work in the farms in Kazakhstan.

The bus ride back to Tokmok was quite an adventure, to be kind about it. We traveled after dinner in order to avoid traffic at the border. The drivers here are crazy to begin with but our driver tends to go all the way up to the bumper of the vehicle in front and the swerve left to pass. At some point he got into some road rage with another vehicle. There was some brakes slammed and stuff from the seats went flying forward. I did all I could to keep Dylan from flying off my lap where he was sleeping contentedly. He was shaken awake and started crying. Then to make things worse, both our driver and the other one pulled over and got out of the vehicle. Somewhere along the way, our driver picked up a fellow driver who needed a ride, and thank goodness for that (an afterthough to this incident of course) because they both got out of the bus to confront the other guy who was a rather large man. Our driver was rather scrawny and smoked a lot. I thought he'd get his ass beat on his own for sure. After some angry words everyone gets back into the bus. The interesting part is that Saule wasn't even phased by it whatsoever, which I thought was crazy. I felt we were owed an apology for our driver's behavior.
The border crossing would have been less adventurous if not for the fact that it was around midnight and Dylan pooped and leaked out of his diaper while he was in the Ergo carrier, that was made even more interesting because it was attached to me. He was asleep but a little fussy. As we were standing in line to present our passports, I felt hot liquid on my belly and I knew instantly what the crap was about. It took another 15 to 20 minutes or so as it seems some of the officials at the border were having an attitude or a power trip. I could not tell which. Jia was melting down and Dylan just teetering on the verge. Finally we get back to the bus and we dig out a shirt for me in the dark so that I could change and get Dylan and me cleaned up. And the wheels on the bus go round and round...

Wednesday June 18th: 2 sleeps and a plane ride

Dylan will be an American citizen as soon as we cross border control in L.A. and they stamp his papers. I am so excited for his future – with and without diapers. Right now Dylan is an adorable little child who has temporary meltdowns. I am sure this will change in the future an we will need to break him of the habit of crying until he gets what he wants. Right now I will pick him up and rock him to sleep when he cries, but in the near future I have to stop that and get him to sleep on his own. Right now though, the poor guy has had some challenges that I think gives him license to make a few demands. Not just that he was in an orphanage, but that he was taken from his stable and regimented life style and changed his sleeping and eating schedule, made him travel from one place to another almost every other day. We have turned his world upsidedown. But we are hopeful that he will have many opportunities for a better future than if he was raised in an orphanage in Kyrgyzstan. To say the least, he still has to write his own cards, but he will be in a better position to decide his future, which is very important in ones life.
　
This morning it was so hard to get out of bed and get going. Dylan exploded last night around 4am, and then again at 6 and then at 8. Obviously, he is very regular. What I am happy about is that he took food this morning, both formula and electrolytes. He has been hungry all morning. After yesterday his being resistant to sustenance, it is nice to see him taking nourishment.
Yesterday Saule gave us Dylan's birth certificate and documentation from the birthing hospital. He was named with the male version of his mother's middle name. She was 21 years old and an unemployed student who was not using appropriate birth control and did not want a child. She was 5'4'' and the daddy was 5'7'' so Dylan doesn't have the tall gene. But he is real cute, so he has that going for him – for now.

Thursday June 19th: 1 sleep and a plane ride

Yesterday was a throw-away day, didn't do anything except sleep and play with Dylan. What a treat. I guess playing with Dylan was the best part of the day but we just could not get motivated to do anything else. Bill slept most of the day.

Today I want to make sure we are packed correctly and we have to clean the place as well as get a few more diapers to make sure we have enough for the fight.

Right now Dylan is laid out on the living room floor waiting for someone to pick him up. He gets enthralled by Charlie when Charlie is banging around the room. There are some things I would want Dylan to pick up like Charlie's ability to figure things out. But not Charlie's habit of crying for everything until he gets it – not into the tantrum thing. It's probably inevitable though. We are already going to have to change a few habits Dylan has picked up. Such as sleeping in our bed. He has a crib at home and he will have to learn to use it.

I can't wait to get going tomorrow. Bill is worried that our seating was not done correctly and we may be s sitting a seat apart from each other. We do have a few hours tomorrow morning to work it out though.

I am hoping we see Vlady today, I want to say thank you again, he has done so much for us.

Friday June 20: The plane ride home

Dylan's last sleep on this Tokmok bed

Like thieves in the night, we again loaded up the bus and drove out of Tokmok at 2 a.m. This time, to go home to the U.S. with Dylan. On the way to Manas, Dylan had a blowout unparalleled thus far by any we have witnessed in the past. Bill thinks the bus rides trigger these. Poor little guy. Poor daddy and poor mommy. I am at my wits end. I am sleep deprived, worried sick, out of my element and altogether just need a damn break from Dylan's screaming and diaper blowouts that spew diarrhea like a faucet. Mommy has become a nervous wreck. Try poo flooding a few times at public places and in a moving van in near-complete darkness.

Dylan has spent the last day whining and crying. It is driving us insane. I know he doesn't know any better and we have really taken him out of his comfort zone but man, what the hell are we supposed to do here? Blowouts, crying fits, more blowouts, more crying fits!!! Did we make the right decision? Bill probably thinks so, but now I don't know if I myself did the right thing for us and this boy. I'll probably regret saying this later.

As soon as we opened the van at the Bishkek airport, we were immediately and aggressively approaced by a bunch of men offering to help us with luggage, for a few soms of course. We repeated told them we had no more soms and finally, one of them said something to the effect of, "that's ok, I'll help you anyway", which he did. He turned out to be really kind and helpful. We were very thankful because we really did have more than our hands full.

As we were checking in, we got separated from Kat and her kiddos. I was worried I wouldn't get to say goodbye.

Sitting in the waiting area, I also realized I never checked our boarding passes to make sure they had checked our luggage all the way through to Los Angeles. Bill took care of the luggage being wrapped (impressive job, all for $20) while I stood at the counter while the Aeroflot employee checked us in on his computer. Bill asked me to take care of the boarding passes, making sure it was done correctly. When he looked at the boarding passes, it only said to Moscow. Shit, it seems I fucked up. There was nothing we could do about it though because 1) we couldn't get out of the secure waiting area - didn't know how and didn't know how to ask, and 2) we didn't have all that much time before our flight was scheduled to take off. I guess we'll figure it out when we get to Moscow.

In the meantime, we decided to go to the other end of the waiting area to catch up with Kat and her kiddos. We were getting worried because we hadn't seen them come through and we knew their flight was scheduled to leave before ours. As we sat there looking at the clock and realized their flight was starting to board, we see that they are finally being allowed to go through the security gate. We had a few seconds to give each other hugs and off the went onto their big bird in the sky that is going to take them home. I sent them good thoughts as I knew it would not be easy for Kat having 2 kids in tow.

Bishkek to Moscow was the shorter leg of the total flight so with the help of a bottle for taking off and landing, Dylan didn't seem too bad. When we got to the Moscow airport, we found out that the reason we weren't checked in all the way through to L.A. was because at Bishkek, their computers simply did not allow for that. I stressed out and felt like a loser for nothing.

View of Moscow as we were getting ready to land.

We found the lines that we needed to wait in to get our boarding passes for the next leg. It was a very long wait. Fortunately, though we didn't think so at that time, we had many hours of layover between our flights. In true Russian / Central Asian fashion we have come to know, there seemed to be no order and the lines moved very slowly. There were pushing, and squeezing against each other involved and it seemed like we would be there a really long time. People were speaking Russian and we know nothing of what they were saying. After a few minutes, I noticed that there was a particular babushka actually talking to me, in Russian of course. I didn't know if she was making a comment about me having Dylan in the Ergo carrier in front of me who had just woken up and started fussing, or if she was saying something nice or rude. She didn't smile, just talked in a very animated fashion. Of course, the smile thing tells me nothing. I noticed that the Kyrgyz didn't necessarily smile much, even when they are having a nice conversation with you. It's just a difference in culture. After several repeated attempts to tell me something, someone finally stepped in and translated that she was telling me to get in front of the line because I had a baby. She kept telling me I need not wait in line. As soon as she realized I understood what she had been trying to tell me, via the nice woman who translated, she literally shoved me forward all the way to front, behind the person who was actually at the counter. I thought that was very kind, in a weird sort of way.

Once it was our turn, it took another hour of the lady at the counter trying to make it work so that we sat together. Bill and Dylan had tickets together but because I travelled to Kyrgzstan on my own and booked at a different time, my ticket was a little different than theirs. And of course, I didn't have a paper ticket because I made the changes with Federal Travel on the phone from Tokmok. At first, the lady kept telling me she didn't see my on the list. After much insistence, she finally found me and helped us get seats together. Pheeewww..... what a relief.

Now, we only had 2 or 3 hours more to wait until our next flight.

We found a cafe at the Moscow airport where we were able to get something to eat, feed Dylan, get free wifi (thanks to a fellow American who told us how to access it) and pay handsomely for some coffee and food. I think we may have, at different times, ordered a sandwich, a salad, 2 coffees, and 2 deserts and ended up paying $60 or more USD. We didn't care at that point. We were willing to do whatever it took to be able to stay there until our flight left. It wasn't the Ritz but it was a non-smoking, well-lit and clean restaurant, with cushy seats.

Finally, it was time to board our plane to L.A. What a moment of joy when that plane finally left the ground. The flight itself was hard. Both Bill and I were extremely sleep deprived. This photo of Bill really says it all for both of us.

Even with the double B strategy (bottles and Benadryl), Dylan fussed and screamed. He also continued to have massive blow-outs. The last 4 hours of fight were the hardest. At one point, Dylan wouldn't open his eyes no matter how much stimulation and I got really worried, even more worried than I already was, which I did not think at that point to be possible. I picked him up and then.... projectile vomit that landed on me on the floor and possibly splattered on other passengers. Oops. The good new is that after this, Dylan opened his eyes and smiled as if nothing happened. He was airsick!!

I went and asked the steward if we could get off early and just before landing he put us in the crew seats just behind 1st class so we could get out early. I told them I had a sick baby in my hands that needed medical attention ASAP. They understood.

We got off the plane and got in the citizens line because we thought Dylan is a US citizen as soon as he touches US soil – that is what we were told at US embassy in Kazakhstan. But we had to go to immigrants line and we waited there for a while. When they called us up they gave us back our passports along with Dylan's, which had the stamp, and told us that the green card would come in the mail. We asked about this green card thing because he shouldn't need a green card, but the customs guy didn't know anything about it and suggested we talk to CIS – which we will do next week. For now, we are home on U.S. soil and that was just fine with us.

We spent the next few days in L.A. with my family where Dylan first met everyone from my side of the family and where Dylan Mania started. Then, we left for home in the bay area where we started our life as a family of three.

This next section is all Bill's words. I decided just to leave that be because of the honesty and joy in it:

Grandpa Robert and Grandma Virginia picked us up in Roberts truck. Dylan was fairly stunned by everything he saw when we got out of security. There were more people at LAX last night then lived in the town we adopted him from. Large vehicles everywhere, big noises, and people everywhere. Driving out to the freeway he just looked around wide eyed.

We took him to an urgent care center right away and talked to a doctor who said Dylan was fine and need more fluids – which the formula was giving him – and that we should just keep up with the formula, not worry so much about electrolytes and do a few tests on his stool. We were relieved that nothing serious was going on and a western doctor was not concerned about Dylan's immediate health so we decided to wait until we could arrange a Kaiser doctor to take all of the tests.

When we got to the Uy's house aunt May and uncle Rick showed up to meet Dylan. Auntie Marie had already met Dylan as she took Ivy to the clinic since Ivy stopped to change out of the vomit clothes. He is meeting so many new people and is mostly enjoying the attention. When we get home he is going to be hit with the reality of new rules and habits. No one to pick him up whenever he wants. We will be there for him and hold him often, but the spoiled boy will not be spoiled much longer.

Dylan slept most of the night and woke up at 6am this morning. He was all big-eyed and happy. When I was talking to my sister this morning she was surprised I was awake so early in the day considering I have never in my life been a morning person. But since Dylan has been around waking up early had not been an issue. Of course I would enjoy sleeping in. But I also am happy to wake up to his smile.

In fact Auntie Marie was up at 7am this morning and she hates mornings as much as I do. But she wanted to spend time with her new nephew.

I can't believe how good the bagel was this morning. Just a store bought whole wheat bagel with cream cheese and strawberry jam. Dang.

I can't believe Dylan is finally home.

Taking turns playing with the baby

Uncle Hil falling in love with Dylan.

First bath on American soil, in Grandma's kitchen sink.

Auntie Marie, the newest victim of Dylan mania.

Dylan's new grandma

And finally, Dylan's flight home to San Leandro

Dylan at 11 Months

2008-09-13T22:57:00.000-07:00

In the last 2 weeks since my last post, so much has happened and has left me unable to keep up with anything.

Our great friends, the Herzogs threw a "Welcome Dylan" party at Santa Margarita Park in San Rafael. It was a wonderful day of fun. Dylan had a great time meeting everyone, hanging out with friends and playing with new toys.

For some reason, we couldn't get a good family photo. It seems none of us can coordinate looking at the camera at the same time.

He has managed to get everywhere using his combat crawl. He has gotten so fast, we finally accepted that we now have to babyproof everywhere. The other day, he discovered how much fun vertical blinds can be.

He finally decided he liked his rodeo rocking horse. We can't leave him on there on his own because he can't reach the stirrups and he still slips sideways but it won't be long now before I am sure he will decide to climb up.

At his well baby exam, he clocked in at at almost 24 lbs. He is in the 75th percentile in weight, 50th percentile in height and 90th percentile in head circumference. OK, he has a big head, but I hope that means his brain is growing well. He is doing great overall. His pediatrician says he is on track developmentally as well. We are really thrilled to hear all that.

I have also gone back to work and was torn up about leaving Dylan at daycare. Here we are on the first day. Dylan did great at daycare. He ate well, napped, and entertained. His new caregivers kept telling me he is such a good boy. When I picked him up that afternoon, he cried for a second when he first saw me and then reached out for me and started giving me the biggest smiles of relief. However, when he got home, he was the crankiest and clingiest we have ever seen him. I couldn't leave his side. I had to be in touching distance at all times or he cried. I guess you can say he is bonding well with us. The sencond day at daycare was only slightly better but he was still pretty overtired and cranky when he got home. I really second guessed our decision to put him in daycare. Not that we have too much of a choice, but it was hard. It is getting better, but I feel like he may have thought that if he let us out of his sight, we would leave him again for hours and hours.

He got a new crib because this poor little guy has outgrown his porta crib. He kept ending up in one corner and we kept having to move him. So, we finally gave in and decided to get him a new crib. He seems to like it a lot. He can't shake it as hard because there are no wheels on this one but he has learned to pull himself up and stand.

Overall, it has been a crazy 2 weeks of changes in the Lee household. And it doesn't show signs of letting up. Next weekend is Auntie Joanne's Bridal Shower in L.A. The following week is our appointment at the University of Washington. The the following week is his birthday party. Then the week after that is Auntie Joanne's wedding. Oh my goodness, we will be relieved when all this is done in mid October. Then we'll have a little breather before Halloween and the holidays. What have we done?

Brilliant Blogger (or Slacker in my Case) Award

2008-08-26T22:15:00.001-07:00

Both Gen (Our Fantastic Journey) and Jamie (My Heart is in Kyrgyzstan) gave me an award for Blog Excellence. I am ashamed to admit I haven't even finished my post from our last week in Kyrgyzstan but I will gracefully take the award anyway just so that I can procrastinate some more. Now I can work on this post instead of the catch up one that I have been meaning to finish.

With this award, I am supposed to answer these questions and nominate 7 more people of their Blog Excellence. Here goes...

A. Attached or single? Attached

B. Best friend? my husband, Bill

C. Cake or pie? Cake (I think, but it is a close call)

D. Day of choice? Saturday

E. Essential item? Dylan's snack bag

F. Favorite color? Black. It goes with everything

G. Gummy bears or worms? Chocolate covered gummy bears

H. Hometown? Born in the Philippines, raised in Los Angeles, established homestead in the San Francisco Bay Area

I. Indulgence? Blueberries (tons and tons of it when in season)

J. January or July? Both, January is ski season, July is rafting season

K. Kids? 1

L. Life isn’t complete without? Family and fine dining

M. Marriage date? November 29, 2003

N. Number of brothers & sisters? 2 sisters and 1 brother

O. Oranges or apples? Neither

P. Phobias? Bicycles

Q. Quotes? Do unto others what they would like done unto them.

R. Reasons to smile? Dylan, sunshine, beautiful weather, hugs from people I love

S. Season of choice? Winter

T. Tag seven peeps!

Suzanne (Straight Down the Mountain) http://straightdownthemountain.blogspot.com/

Kim (Bringing Home Lilyana) http://ourkyrgyzprincess.blogspot.com/

Shea (Tapsalteerie Farm) http://tapsalteerie.blog-city.com/

Lisa B (Fly Away Home) http://www.ladybug-baby.blogspot.com/

Clare (Welcome Leila) http://meetcamila.blogspot.com/

Tina (Hearts Wide Open - Adopting from Kyrgyzstan) http://imtina.wordpress.com/

John Wright (actofkindness Missions 1:27) http://www.actofkindness.blogspot.com/

U. Unknown fact about me? That fact shall remain unknown

V. Vegetable? Greens

W. Worst habits? Mindless Eating

X. X-ray or ultrasound? Ultrasound

Y. Your favorite food? Sashimi

Z. Zodiac sign? Pisces

Lastly, here is a photo of Dylan in his Cubs outfit that he wore to Grandpa's memorial service in Illinois last week. Grandpa was a huge Cubs fan so Auntie Kelly and Auntie Kay spent some time shopping for the little guy before we got there. He now has this outfit, a jersey, T-shirt and shorts ensemble and a windbreaker, all with Cubs logos on them. Nope, neither Kelly or Mary Kay got carried away whatsoever.

Good Times and Sad Times

2008-08-18T23:08:00.000-07:00

I have been meaning to finish my catch up post from our pick up trip. It's just that things keep happening that divert my attention. Last weekend was my baby sister's bachelorette bash in Las Vegas. I was really torn about leaving Dylan for 2 days, but only a catastrophe would make me miss her send off into marriedville. Plus Dad is fully competent to handle the little guy.

I had a great time being part of her entourage. It isn't necessarily my scene, but it was fun to get out and just be in the moment with the girls. I would write more details but you know the saying - "What Happens in Vegas Stays in Vegas" - so mum is the word. Here is a photo of us before our Friday night out. Use your imagination.

On a sad note, Bill's father passed away on Sunday so I booked an earlier flight and headed home a few hours early. Dylan and I are heading to Illinois tomorrow to join Bill and the rest of the family for Grandpa Bob's memorial service. I am very sad that Dylan never got to meet him. I think he would have found Grandpa interesting to say the least, and I would like to think that Grandpa would have fallen in love with Dylan the way everyone in the family has. I don't have an appropriate photo for this sad occassion, so I would like to leave you with a video of Dylan that I would like to think would have made Grandpa smile.

River Guide in the Making

2008-08-12T10:17:00.000-07:00

...and with new teeth to boost. Yes, Dylan's 2 bottom teeth are finally breaking through. We felt it with our fingers yesterday but today, they are actually visible. And I thought he'd never get teeth.

Dylan received a gift from our friends Allison and Lindzy even before he came home. It's his very own PFD (personal floatation devise or life jacket). We went to the ETC (Environmental Travelling Companions) office yesterday to pick it up as well as hang out with the staff for a bit. Of course, we were inspired to try on the PFD and it resulted in a full-on river guide dress up attempt. Here is our munchkin with his new PFD and a guide stick.

He has also learned a couple of new rules about rafting. In our standard Safety Talks, we always tell people not to let go of the t-grips of their paddles because of what or who these could hit. Dylan is demonstrating what could happen. Alternatively, he is also exercising the other rule, which is, "if you lick it, it is yours". So Dylan now has an ETC paddle.

Day at the Beach

2008-08-02T20:49:00.000-07:00

We were planning on going to Yosemite to go camping with Auntie Kay this weekend. However, we weren't sure if the fires there that are currently burning will make the air terrible for a baby to breath. So, at the last minute, we all thought better of it and decided not to go.

Instead we figured it would be a good weekend to try out his cute swim diapers. We headed out to Alameda's Crown Beach and met up with Suzanne and Steven who rode their bikes there.

This is getting redundant, but as usual, Dylan had a good time sitting in the water with Bill and playing in his sunshade. He even took his afternoon nap in the comfort of the sunshade and breeze.

B.A.K.E. on July 27

2008-08-02T19:58:00.000-07:00

Me, BAKE? Oh no, not that kind. B.A.K.E. as in Bay Area Kyrgyz Entourage. We are (for now) a small group of families who reside in the greater San Francisco Bay Area who have adopted or are in the process of adopting a child from Kyrgyzstan. We had our first gathering at Suzanne's house last Sunday.

It was a blast to meet everyone. I finally met people who until now, are email and blog buddies. I also met a bunch of cool people with whom I haven't been in contact previously. Our group seems great and it will be so much fun next year when a bunch more kids come home to their families.

Suzanne served Lugman and Shashleek and a bunch of us brought other stuff to share. And speaking of baking, I bought (instead of baked) a red velvet cake from the bakery down the street that I have been meaning to try. It is called the Sweet Potato Pie Company. Let's just say I will be bringing red velvet cake to many other occassions to come.

As usual, Dylan had a good time. So many smiling faces and so much attention. By 6 p.m., he was ready to go to sleep. Mommy wasn't quite ready to pack it up just yet, so we borrowed Matilda's (as in sweet Matilda who will be coming home soon to Suzanne) crib and he passed out cold. When Dylan and Matilda get older, Suzanne and I can tell them that Dylan broke in Matilda's crib before she even came home. Seeing Dylan in a full size crib made me realize it was time to move my big boy to one. Until now, he has been in a porta crib and he is really getting too long to stay in there much longer, but I digress...

So as with many first time events with Dylan, we had a wonderful time.

Question to My Blog Friends

2008-07-31T19:34:00.000-07:00

I am thinking of opening up my blog for public viewing again. Those of you who have been reading it over the last few months know what we went through to bring Dylan home. I am asking for your opinion whether or not you think I have written anything inappropriate for public viewing. Moreso, I want to make sure what I wrote will not make it worse for other PAPs if offiicial snoopers read it.

Fashion Show

2008-07-25T23:07:00.001-07:00

Dylan was annoyed but I had a good time!

Coast Guard Career

2008-07-22T15:19:00.000-07:00

Maybe Dylan can have a career with the Coast Guard. I think G-Pa (short for Grandpa) would like that. He would probably say that it all started when he bought Dylan this outfit. However, Grandpa Bob may argue that the Navy is better.

Or maybe a chef? Yep, Dylan loves this mixing bowl and spatula.

Or a comedian?

What about a baseball player?

In all seriousness, we play these dress up games with our kids and it reflects our hopes and dreams for their future. We are hoping they find something of interest and develop a passion. I can't help but think of Dylan's world here compared to what it would have been if he had stayed in Kyrgyzstan. This isn't about him having to be grateful for being adopted and having these windows open up to him. As a mom, I am just so thankful that he is ours now. We aren't wealthy or affluent in the highest of social circles, but what I know for a fact is that we will try our darndest to make sure opportunities are present and that we encourage him to pursue his passions (as long as it isn't serial murdering, or money laundering or something along those lines). And the fact is that in the short period of time that he has been home with us, so many people, aside from Bill and I, have also fallen in love him and will be there for him in the future to support him.

And oh by the way, I win the "Worst Mommy of the Month Award". Dylan fell from his changing table yesterday while I was changing him. I had one hand on him and the other hand reaching for his shirt and he rolled over and fell to the floor. He cried for a minute or two and then played like nothing happened. My stomach was just twisted up in knots for the whole day and even today. We went to the doctor just to make sure he was ok and he is. Nevertheless, I feel like the crappiest mom of all time. I am sure that all those other moms before me who have been to the Minor Injuries Clinic feel the same way. If I can manage to keep my son alive, maybe he will have a career of his choice after all!!!

Catch Up Post - Week 3 - June 7 to June 13

2008-07-18T23:18:00.000-07:00

Saturday June 7th: This week, it is all about waiting for documents so that we can all go home. I am very thankful that we are living in an apartment and not a hotel without amenities. We are at least able to function pseudo normally, like playing house, but well, not exactly.

Yesterday we discovered that Dylan has serious attitude when he has low blood sugar. For lunch we gave him a bowl of rice cereal and he stopped wanting it just before the bowl was empty. We got him to finish it but we both now realize that there was just not enough food in the bowl to start with. Little dude had one serious meltdown. Even with a bottle in his mouth he would cry. Slurp-slurp, WHAAAAAa-mutter-mutter-whaaa, slurp-slurp,WHAAAaaa-mutter,slurp. There was no pleasing the bugger. Finally after all sorts of holding, cajoling, and patience Dylan finally got enough food in him that he started smiling again. All of a sudden the devil had left Dylan and the little angel was back with us again.

A storm passed through Tokmok these last couple of days and the air became more moist and cooler than the last several days. Both Dylan and Charlie woke up with coughing with phlegm. OK, by storm, it was howling winds and just a little bit of showers, but the wind and lighting combined makes it feel really formidable.

We can't wait to get home for selfish reasons. We have had one heck of an experience here and overall, it’s not so bad. With our broken Russian and ability to use a calculator, we get by pretty well. The folks in Tokmok are nice and the Wrights are awesome. However, we are spoiled westerners and that is that blunt truth. We want our amenities. We want to be able to get things for Dylan, we want to feel more comfortable and we want to be able to email and surf when we want and not have to go two blocks to find that they don't have the computers set up.

The building we're staying in was built just before Peristroyka in the early 80's but it feels older and more worn. We have not seen a single mowed lawn – it just is not in their priority list. However, we did find that we had some local foliage growing around our landscaping that is "medicinal" in nature. Last winter was so cold many families put their dogs out so they wouldn't have to spend money feeding them or providing that much more heat. Now there are a bunch of stray dogs running the streets. Digging through the trash heaps that are in front of the residential building where people burn their trash. Yesterday Bill went to dump our bag of soiled diapers and there was a dead dog on the trash heap. We were concerned that it would start to really stink but when we went out a couple of hours later, it was gone. I thought for sure the Kyrgyz Animal Control truck had been there. Oh wait, I don’t think there is such a thing. When I later told John about it, he said, someone likely picked it up as it was dinner they otherwise would not have had. I guess you can call that Kyrgyz Animal Control.

The Deluxe Apartment in the Sky

Our local landscape

When is Garbage Pickup Day?

The Wrights run into so many issues where someone has one something unbelievable – like the father who tried to kill his wife to take his daughter as his next wife, or the oozing rotting corpse that is sitting in someone’s house because there is no money to bury the body. They do all they can to help folks who are caught up in this tribal mentality of the late 1400's and those simply are too poor. As well there are so many people here who look at the world around them and try to do all they can to make things better. We look at these folks: the Wrights, Sergei and Anya, Acel and Talent, Vlady and Tatyana, Jayne and David, and wonder if our hearts are capable of so much love and charity, as well as the ability to empower with the help that they give.

Vlady made Plof for a bunch of us tonight. We invited the Wrights, the Danners and Tatyana. All of us in a small two bedroom apartment – yeehaw. Vlady came over complete with the pot he uses and cooked us Plof. What a treat. The meat was a little tough, though that is no fault of Vlady. What a cool guy to offer to make this native dish for us. And the gathering was really fun. It is so nice to be so far from home yet feel a bit at home. But about the meat, in a country where meat is abundant, there is a lack of good cuts of meat. Trust me, there are no good medium rare steaks in Tokmok. Plus, with the electricity being so sporadic, it is really tough to trust that meat has been properly refrigerated.

Sunday, June 8: It has been so hot, and with Dylan and Charlie having their blowouts, we barely made it anywhere this week. We attempted to go to the park but didn’t actually make it there. We did make it to the internet café and the weather and tantrums prevented us from moving forward with our plans. I think that we are learning that we can no longer plan to do 4 or 5 things in one day. I wonder how I am going to do with this change once we get home.

Lazy summer day watching something on Mom's computer

Hanging out in diapers. I would have gotten scolded if we were still at the baby house.

Monday, June 9: Today, we actually did make it to the park, yes, the one with a pool and swings that are still working. With Kat and our stroller offroading the streets of Tokmok, we managed to get ourselves to the park where there was no shade. Charlie had an 'I am WAY too hot meltdown'. One could easily commiserate. Dylan surprisingly did ok at the park and even managed to enjoy the swing, cocooned in a blanket to prevent him from getting a sunburn. It was the major blowout while en route that caused him to have a meltdown. Becka said she saw us changing diapers on the side of the road. Yep, that was us, and yep, it was a full on clothing change kind of blowout. And yep, it was about 100 degrees outside. If it wasn’t for the fact that the adults are going stir crazy, no one in their right minds would punishing their poorly constructed, made in China strollers across the potholes, with their kids sitting in them.

Pooped out at the park

We decided we had to do something with this heat. After we came back to the apartment and hung out – tried to stay cool. We decided that donating a couple fans to an orphanage was just fine – as long as we use them first. Vlady came to the rescue and took all of us to the bazaar. We did some shopping for necessities like Pampers, wipes, soap, shampoo, and FANS. YES!! - FANS!! All they are doing is pushing the hot air around – but it still feels better than air that isn't moving. We also got two of them so we have one for each room for sleeping.

The internet place was connected so we sent emails with photos. I was able to catch up on emails with several people. However, when I got back and tried to set up to download photos from my camera to my external hard drive I realized it was not around. We searched around but realized that I left it at the internet cafe yesterday. I left it connected to the computer. ALL my stuff was on it, photos, movies, videos, documentation... everything! I grabbed my purse, shoes and Russian dictionary and sprinted to the internet café, heart pounding, hoping for the best but knowing it is probably gone for good. When I got there, I looked at the guy and tried with my best Russian to ask him if he saw my hardrive. I must have looked so panicked and he had no idea what I was saying until I said the work “hard drive”. At that point, he opens the drawer and pulls it out. I think I may have said “spaseeba” ten times in 10 seconds. What a nice guy. If were in Oakland, it would have been gone forever.

The Internet Cafe where the honest people are.

Chillin' with Dad at the Internet Cafe

Tonight we were just hanging out, enjoying the fans and this sweltering night. Karen called to check in about if Saule had called about our travel dates to Kazakhstan. I then called Saule who informed us that everyone waiting for Kazakh visas had to be in Bishkek th next day because the Kazakh Embassy would not give their visas to Saule since everyone was in Kyrgyzstan. They want to give the visas to each person personally. The only reason we found this out is because we called her. She said he lost our number. So I wonder what would have happened it we didn’t call her.

Once we got over the frustration, we called John and he again came to our rescue. (No, he isn’t our coordinator or travel agent, but he may as well have gotten a portion of the fee we paid). He arranged for a bus to pick us up the next day. And we figured that since we were heading to Bishkek anyway, we may as well make it a day of shopping. As a bonus, Vlady is also coming along as our interpreter. So I can’t say it enough, but we are so glad the Wrights have befriended us. We would have been so stuck so many times in the last few weeks if not for them.

It was so hot this afternoon at 4pm that we decided to move the fans into our bedrooms and take naps. At 7:30 Dylan had still not waken up. We needed to give him his formula so I just gave it to him while he was sleeping. He started drinking his bottle without waking up. Sound asleep this little boy had his hands wrapped around his bottle and was drinking from it. Sound asleep – he was holding onto his bottle and feeding. But when the bottle was gone he had a tantrum – still sound asleep. We refilled his bottle and gave it to him, not knowing hat else to do. Bill believes that he was sleeping and had no idea he was feeding – he was just dreaming something and having a tantrum is part of it. So Bill picked him up and tried to wake him. He blew on his face gently a few times and he woke up. It took a while for him to come around but he finally smiled and the demon was gone again. I was so thrilled to see his smile. I was so worried that Dylan would freak out all night or something. I held him for an hour after that and then Bill and I played with him some more.

Having Kat here with us has been helpful as far as going through our ordeal as first time parents. Kat has plenty to deal with having a daughter who wants to go home (I don't blame her – we want to also) and a new son who is testing his boundaries and getting used to yet more new people around. But she has been taking time to talk to us and ask us how we are doing with all this new stuff. She has listened to our fears and offered advise and words of encouragement. It is nice to have that available to us. It’s like chocolate covered cherry on top of the cake to acquire true friends through life’s trials.

Tuesday June 10th: Dylan has a rash on him that we believe is laundry soap related. The rash is on his belly and back of his head and a bit on his face. Where his diapers are he has no rash. So apparently we now have to use the baby soap and hand wash his stuff. I wonder if our clothes will make him break out too?

We are going to Bishkek today. We have had a lazy morning and are moving slow in attempting to get started. This morning Bill was on his way to the trash dump, (we can smell that they are burning it this morning) and he ran into a couple guys from this building on my way down stairs. It is 9am and they are drunk already. They met a woman and got in their car and drive away. When he Kat and me about this, I relayed John’s recent experience with a woman who they were helping by providing an apartment for her and her children, all expenses paid for 6 months, plus a job at the orphanage. She refused it because the deal was reliant on her not seeing her alcoholic boyfriend who is also father to her 3 children. This guy shows up every four months or so and cleans her out of food, money and emotions, then runs off again. Although I know it happens everywhere, I can’t help but feel sad for her children due to the choices she has made. Her decisions will probably cost her her children.

Bishkek was fun but it was also very exhausting. We went to the Metro for lunch and ran into Saule and another PAP from Pennsylvania, Ann. She is on her first visit and here for only a couple days. She expects to return in July. I hope that works out as she expects. She has been emailing with Suzanne who we expect to be here in the next couple days. Suzanne is on her first trip as well so she wont want to go to the mountains with us as it will take most of the day. I am sure she would rather spend a couple hours with her little baby. I hope we get to spend some time with her but given that we are kind of sequestered in Tokmok, by the lack of immediate transportation and constant blowouts, I am not sure when we are going to be able to spend time with her.

The Metro serves American fare, burgers, fries, pizza, etc. The food was decent, Bill had a burger which was ok and I had spaghetti which kind-o sucked. Bill tried Ann’s pizza and said it wasn’t that good either. Olivia, Karen and Ted’s daughter had chicken fingers. They are shaped just like a human finger but larger. They seem to be very literal about this. I guess those were OK. I forgot to get a review from Olivia. After all, she is 3 years old.

Wednesday June 11th
After we went to Zum for shopping. We spent 3 hours there – way too long in Bill’s opinion. While we were on our way in, some of us had to buy soms outside of Zum. In the meantime, Olivia and Jia had a great time rearranging the numbers on the board that displayed the exchange rates for the day. That was hilarious because none of the adults realized what was happening at first. The people from the foreign exchange place weren’t amused, but we sure were.

All 3 hours we spent on the 3rd floor where the handicraft stuff are sold. Dylan now has a new felt hat and vest and mommy has a new hat. Daddy already got as hat from Saule on the first visit. I also ended up buying a beautiful designer scarf pour moi. And a bunch of stuff to bring home as gifts both for our families back home and for Dylan as he gets older.

Dylan had a total meltdown after 2.5 hours of shopping. Bill would have if he could have. Bill was actually glad for Dylan's meltdown – it got us out of there for 25 minutes. Not glad that the little guy was so hungry he had a tantrum – but glad he got us out of there for a bit. Let’s just say Bill and I are getting good at the stroller diaper changes.

After Zum we went to the Kazakh embassy to get visas. We were told to meet at 6pm. We were a bit late but that did not matter as the embassy folks were not open yet. There was a line of people out from waiting for visas. When they finally opened the door at 6:45 everyone just rushed the doors, so the line was a waste of effort. It was nothing short of pandemonium. I think it must be similar to what the day traders go through at the New York Stock Exchange. Saule pushed her way in and made sure we got through as well. All visas gathered we got back on the bus for the long ride back.

Thursday June 12th: Today the only plans we have is dinner at Megapolis at the invitation of Jayne and David Schooler. Dylan woke up at 5:30 this morning – I guess he is a morning person, which neither Bill nor I are, Bill less so than me. We waited until 5:50 to feed him and gave him a bit extra in his bottle. But apparently that was not enough and he started whining. Ivy gave him a little bread to calm him and it worked. But definitely noticed that Dylan has food issues.

Dylan has been getting better at sitting up – or at least saying in the sitting up position after we put him there. He can roll from back to front and visa-versa easily. He has the roll down but has not really moved onto trying to crawl or lift up onto his knees yet. He appears happy to either roll to what he wants or just do without. And he really is getting spoiled by attention, which is not a bad thing considering he has been living in an orphanage since birth. If giving him love is spoiling him, I guess we may be bad parents. In all seriousness, I am concerned about this but we decided not to worry about it until we get him home and settled.

We hung out all day. Kat, Charlie, Jia and Bill went up to the store and internet cafe. They were supposed to get Krack (this is their version of Pringles, which seems like it was all we ate for snacks these days), and yardbird at the Cmak and Mud (the label looks like “Mud” but it really says “Muf” which may not be better) for our clothes. The Cmak did not have either Krack nor yardbird and the store across from the Internet Cafe neither had Mud nor Burp for dishes. Oh the challenge of Tokmok living.

Dylan was getting more and more irritated and his rash got worse. Ivy and I did not go out to dinner with Jayne and David because we felt Dylan wasn’t well enough. We called John who gave us Dr. Tatyana's phone number. She was nice enough to come over and check Dylan out. She suggested we stop the formula and stick to rice cereal mashed potatoes and boiled children's milk with plenty of electrolytes. She also suggested Benedryl for the rash and asked us to stop using the honey salve she originally prescribed because he could be allergic to the honey.

During the night Dylan started crabbing again and we did not know what to do for him until we noticed he had a diaper full of squirt. The poor boy has diarrhea as well as a rash and fever. His tummy must be aching. So we are focusing on getting him fed every 4 hours of cereal and electrolytes and changing him every 20 minutes. He blew out 3 diapers in 20 minutes last night. Today he has gone through 4 diapers and it is only 8 am.

I arranged for the group to go to the Burana Tower and the mountains, a similar itinerary to what Karen and I got to enjoy on our first week in Kyrgzstan. Vlady took care of the shashleek, John arranged for the bus, and I ran some errands to buy cookies and bread for our picnic. It was a really fun day. I didn’t go up the tower this time because I was holding Dylan and I wanted Bill to be able to go up the tower. I got to walk up the mound at Burana with Dylan in the Ergo carrier. He was asleep the whole time. I collected a couple of rocks for Dylan.

The picnic at the mountain was nice. It was great to get out of the heat for a day. Julie said this is the first time she has gone where she did not have to watch over others. Usually, she is there taking the kids from the orphanage for an outing so she is camp mom. She held Dylan while we fed him and then guess what? Dylan had a major blowout and we had to change all his clothes as well as wash myself in the stream. It was real messy. The shashleek was really good, best meat we have had in Kyrgyzstan. It is a welcome change to have grilled meat. Vlady also made a special cake for us. It is made with layers of cake and then a condensed milk based filling in between the layers. Yummy! Bill said he was more from this meal than he has been since arriving in Kyrgyzstan.

I like Miss Julie!

Cell phones don't work in the mountains. Oh well, I'll just eat it.

Friday June 13th : 7 sleeps and a plane ride meaning ****one week and we go home****

Last night Dylan pooped his pants 4 times – once was a complete overhaul it was so messy. This morning the poor kid is suffering. We think they may all have giardia. We don't have any medication to deal with it. We are just suffering through, just waiting to go home and have western medicine help us.

We were scheduled to go back to Bishkek to show up at the U.S. Embassy with Saule, as a gesture, more than anything. At the same time, we should be picking up their Kyrgyz passports as well. Ted and I were scheduled to go when we got the call from Saule this morning. She told us that Dylan and Charlie's passports are wrong so we have to wait an extra day. She does not think this will cause us to miss or reschedule our flights but we will be tight for time. The Danners will be on schedule because Claire's passport is fine. It turns out that after she waited a couple of hours, she was able to get it all straightened out and none of us have to go to Bishkek after all. When in Kyrgyzstan and with Kyrgyz adoption in general, I have learned not to rely on Plan A, or Plan B, for that matter. I think we must be on Plan W by now. So we are back on track again whatever that track may be.

We are all exhausted and Ted and Paul, Karen’s nephew, came over and volunteered to go diaper and food shopping for us. What a sweetheart. He went to Narotni the new western style grocery a few minutes away and restocked our diaper supply as well as our fridge. Again, how nice to be here on this adventure together. On multiple times, we really have been each others support. Here is just another example of that.

Our well-used diaper station

I had a really hard realization today. It seems we were starving Dylan without knowing it. We are giving him too little liquids and too little calories. We were fortunate enough to speak to an American doctor today about Dylan's condition and she told us what to look for and what to do. We need to feed Dylan at least 48 ounces of formula in 24 hours and alternate electrolytes between feeding. He is dehydrated and he wasn't getting enough calories. Coupled with what she thinks is a virus, this is how Dylan ended up being in bad shape. For the next several days, she was adamant that we need to focus on nothing else but rehydrating and feeding him religiously and round the clock. I can't believe we did this to our little guy. I can't even begin to look at myself in the mirror right now. He is VERY sick and regardless of how we fed him, he probably had a stomach virus, but limiting his intake wasn't helpful whatsoever. How could we have known??

What is Dylan Eating?

2008-07-15T20:35:00.000-07:00

Oh My, I'm glad it is 2008

2008-07-05T18:55:00.000-07:00

I found this on Tina's blog and decided to see for myself how I rank as a 1930's wife. Yikes!!

As a 1930s wife, I am
Very Poor (Failure)

Take the test!

Happy 1st Fourth of July to Dylan

2008-07-04T22:06:00.001-07:00

What a wonderful 4th of July we have had today with family and friends.

Our friend Sue invited us for this hike at Castle Ranch Park and it turned out that we had a party of seven altogether. We started the hike (Dylan's first) with him riding on dad's back on a baby backpack. Bill was a really great dad trucking up the steep pitch on the first 30 minutes of the hike. We didn't actually plan on hiking that trail. We were supposed to meet up with a hiking group but we showed up late so the seven of us winged it and found out later that the trail the group took was much gentler. Dylan enjoyed himself thoroughly, looking around, enjoying the mild weather, and blowing raspberry bubbles that I am sure mostly landed on dad's neck. This went on hitch free until it was time to feed him. Thank goodness for the Ergo carrier. It was mom's turn. He rode in front of me and sucked on his bottle while we were hiking and he seemed to really like that too, so much so that he took a nap shortly after and just kept on sleeping until we got to the vehicle at the end of the hike.

Then this afternoon, our friend Stephanie came over to just chill out with Dylan (and Bill and me - is there such a thing anymore?) and have some 4th of July dogs and other yummy stuff. Dylan was of course on his best behavior, loving all the attention. Then around 5, this little boy got to spend some quality time with Auntie Kay and Uncle Tom and we ate some more stuff. Dylan got so much attention today, he went to bed at 7:30, which is absolutely perfect for mom and dad because we got to clean up, reflect on the wonderful day we have had, and just sit spend our own quality time with our computers :)

Leaving the house, he looked a little uncertain about this contraption.

"I love to hike, especially when Dad does all the hard work."

"I don't think you are going fast enough, Dad."

No need to stop for breakfast, he eats while Mom hikes.

Enjoying the picnic table

Relaxing on the ride home. Hiking is hard work.

Catch Up Post - Week 2 - May 31 to June 6

2008-06-30T21:31:00.000-07:00

Aside from our regular twice a day visits, this week was all about waiting for June 5,which is Gotcha Day. Kat and her daughter Jia started counting them by the number of "sleeps" for each night that we would have to spend before the date we bust the little munchkins out. We originally thought that we were going to be able to take them out of the orphanage on June 2, but as the date drew near, Saule told us that the Tatiana wasn't comfortable letting them go before the official 30 days of the wait period. Saule said something about Tatiana being afraid to be responsible to the government of Kyrgyzstan if something happened on those days that we would have had the kids off the record. We were disappointed but then again, as I have written before, when in Kyrgyzstan, one has to learn to be flexible with expectations. I guess the good part about this is that Bill will be there for Gotcha Day. I know he was a bummed when we thought he was going to miss it because his flight didn't get it until the 4th.

Oh yeah, the 30 days... Let's just talk about that for a minute. That 30 days was happening unbeknownst to us. We were holding our breath for May 28, which was the date we were last told everything would be final. We thought court was happening on that date and that the judge has waived the 30 days that is customarily imposed. When we called Saule on May 28, Karen and I were met with a surprised response as to why we were calling about court. Saule acted as if May 28 was something we dreamt up. She says there is no court on May 28. Court was done as of May 6. How on earth could we have missed that?? Oh yeah, could it be that this information was never mentioned to us beforehand?

That afternoon Karen and I sat around the apartment during our break between the morning and afternoon visits and suddenly, she perked up her head from our laptop and said, "you know what this means right? They are ours." We both realized the implication of that conversation with Saule and after the irritated and stunned reaction on our parts about information that never jives, we realized the positive implication. Yes, we both kind of started to tear up at that point and wished we could have called Kat who was in transit at the time to let her know what we just found out. Other than the anticipation this huge event of a day, we managed to have some fun as well. We were allowed to visit the kids during the weekend so we were indeed happy about that.

On Saturday, May 31, Kat and Jia arrived and that brought a lot of excitement to the apartment as we now had a 3 year old in our midst. I took a chance and brought some bread for my toothless munchkin and he seemed to really enjoy himself gnawing on it. I was just afraid he was going to choke on it as the piece got smaller. This afternoon was also a first. Dylan sat up and balanced on his own hands without toppling forward or sideways. His back isn't quite upright yet and he seemed to have never sat up on his own before. As far as I am concerned this was progress.

We had lunch at the only restaurant in Tokmok where we actually can manage to order. Thanks to John, we had a translated menu. I tried Manty which are steamed large dumplings filled with ground meat and onions. I asked Vlady to surprise me and order me whatever he is eating. He ordered Manty for me but I think he may have ordered french fries for himself. Too bad we didn't bring our Heinz 57 ketchup with us.

About the Tokmok caregivers:

There is a caregiver named Rayhan who seem to make Dylan giggle instantaneiously. I can tell that he gets positive attention from her and that he really likes her. I can also tell that she is kind to him. Whenever she sees us during the visit, she stops and makes a face at Dylan and he just beams at her.

There is another caregiver there whose job it is to massage the babies. His name is Ulan and he asked Tatiana, the director if I would permit him to get a photograph of Dylan. He was the one who gave Dylan a massage last week. He seems to really like Dylan too. Basically just miming and pointing to words in my Russian phrase book, I gathered that he thought Dylan was doing well. I would later find out that he is going to be learning English in September so he was very eager to try and communicate with me. At the end of the week, we gave him a Russian-English dictionary to help him along. I also gave him the CD that contains the photo of Dylan and him that he requested. At first I was suspicious as to why hewould want a photo of Dylan. Julie suggested that he may have gotten attached to our little guy. He asked for the disc a few days ago but with all things that do not jive over here, I am suspicious of everything. What did I really think was going to happen anyway? I guess I am a bit paranoid. Anyway, Julie suggested that maybe it would make me feel better to give him the photo on the last day. I thought that was a great idea and did just that.

Overall, I want to write this so I can remember how kind the caregivers are in Dylan's group. I can't say that the caregivers from the other groups are also as kind. I have heard differently, so I feel very very fortunate to see that those who I did meet are wonderful. Of course, each one has a different personality, and handle my presence differently but when you looked at each one of them individually, there is nothing for me to complain about. One woman was out walking one of the infants around and saw me sitting on the wood benches along the inside wall of the play area. She offered me a pillow to sit on. Another time, there was a caregiver who sat and tried to talk with me a while while she was also out walking an infant around. I had my Russian book that was geared towards adoptive families and she and I went through a few pages of it with her reading the Russian words to me and teaching me how to pronounce things and then she would read the English and I would help her with it. We had a pretty good time. Yes, once in a while, they would come over to bust my chops about putting Dylan on the "cold" floor and taking sweaters, hats and socks off him, but they meant well. They believed that the wind caused the babies to get sick so even when it is 95 degrees out, Dylan would be dressed in 2 or 3 layers and when I got him to myself, I would peel of the layers and be on the lookout for the fashion police. At the end of the visits, I am constantly handing them random pieces of clothing that I had not managed to put back on him as our time together drew to a close. I am sure they think I am nuts but being that they asked me when I would be leaving with him, they probably let me be knowing that in a few days, I will be taking him out of there. But in all seriousness, he is so fortunate to have such loving caregivers. On Sunday, June 1, I got to feed Dylan some ice cream. While we were sitting around, someone came by with a huge bag full of individually wrapped ice cream and handed each one of us one for each of the babies. Dylan ate a little bit and then lost interest. It is vanilla with swirls of fruit flavoring. I ate the rest. It wasn't terrible but not great either. Today, he also learned the concept of holding his bottle also and he is starting to do assisted situps to get himself up. I got concerned when I noticed that he had marks on his skin that look like little boils. I think it may be scabies but I am not sure. I am paranoid after all that I have heard from other families. hope they are just insect bites or a rash.

Monday, June 2, was a really full day. The swing was a hit. One of Dylan's caregivers handed us a swing to attach to the door posts to the play area. Dylan was sleeping so Charlie took a turn on it first and loved it. When it was Dylan's turn. I didn't know how he would do since he can't sit up on his own very well. Apparently, even when he is leaned to one side, he can have a really good time anyway.

The afternoon was a bit more challenging. It seemed Dylan was not feeling well and kept fussing. He wouldn't really eat much of what I brought him. His nose was runny and he coughed some more. He also felt a bit hot to the touch. It was extremely frustrating to see this and not know how to hold him better. I sang to him and still he would not go to sleep nor stop being cranky. I just didn't really know what to do. It hurt me deeply to stand there holding him and not knowing how to make it better. I brought him back at 6 and he smiled at the caregiver. That stung in a big way and sent me over the edge crying. I feel like I have no business being Dylan's mother. I'm in over my head. I know this isn't true but it seems Dylan may be getting better care from the orphanage workers than me. This is just so out of my league. Kat, Karen and Ted were all very kind and tried to reassure me that I did great with Dylan. I just can't get over the fact that I can't help my little guy.

Kat and I made a salad and pasta dinner at the apartment and had Karen and gang over. It was great to have a real salad for a meal. Did I mention that we got a great big bag of fresh lettuce from John who also got it from someone else who had grown them from seeds? Once you go to Kyrgyzstan, you may understand my excitement over seeing this amount of fresh lettuce. We were eating the leaves like a snack.

I left the gang at around 7:30 to head over to John's for girl's night. I am supposed to teach and help these girls make some jewelry. It seems that the universe had plans for me when I decided to bring my old wire wrap and pearl jewelry with me to Kyrgyzstan for no other reason than perhaps I can use them there. What??? I haven't touched this stuff in at least 5 years and then I got a bug up my butt during packing and slipped them into one of the pockets of my suitcase. Julie thinks Jesus may have had something to do with it. I'm not the religious type but whatever it is, it was bizarre in a great way.

Girl's night at John and Julie's was a blast. Emma and Becka massaged the girl's feet and painted their nails. When I got there, Christina gave me a massage on my hands and back. It was very nice to have a little treat after a really tough day with Dylan. Jewelry making with the girls was a blast. Julie bought all these colored stone beads and we broke them apart and made earings and necklaces with them. John went to the bazaar earlier in the day to buy more needle nose pliers for the girls to use. Luba, one of the girls from the Orlofka Orphanage and Christina, one of the translators, also liked the eyeglass chains. I had to shorten one of them for Luba but I am glad I was able to do that because I know she is having a love/hate relationship with the idea of wearing glasses that she really needs. John made some fried calzones using the dough that they make the round nan bread out of around the corner. Then, he followed up with ice cream with custard and pound cake. He truly loves doing things for these children. Next, the girls got ready for bed, which in this case, is on the living room floor of John and Julie's place. A movie with the Rock was put on, dubbed in Russian. All the voices were dubbed by one guy and the delivery was monotonous. Bekah really didn't like it at all. I think it is just hilarious.

Jewelry Making 101 with the Orlofka Girls. We were all having a great time.

Tuesday, June 3, this morning Dylan wasn't in much better mood than yesterday afternoon. It seems he is still coughing and having a hard time in general. I am really worried. We were all playing on the floor on top of our blanket when Guljan asked Maria (Ellie's mommy )'s translator to tell me that he has a cough (no duh) and that he is on antibiotics and so I should not put him on the floor because he will get cold. It is 90 degress outside. Whatever. I said OK and picked him up. Only, that my back is hurting now and I realy needed a break. Plus, he didn't seem to want to be held much. So I laid him down on the changing table that had an activity center on top of it. He seemed ok for a little while and then started to fuss again and reached up to be held. I wish he would let me hold him lying down but he does not seem to like that at all. I also gave him a bottle of water and he seems to like it but doesn't know quite how to use it too well. I got his shirt wet. I put him in the swing and he calmed down a bit and fell asleep. I pulled him out and held him while he slept. When I dropped him off and laid him down on his crib, he started crying. I picked him up for a few seconds and he seemed to chlll out. I knew I had to go so I laid him down gently. He opened his eyes, saw me, smiled and reached out his arms. It just broke my heart that I couldn't pick him up. I started to walk away with tears streaming down my face and it seemed the poor guy is used to people walking away that he just sucked his thumb and tried to suckle himself to sleep. I never want to do that again. Soon, I won't have to.

This afternoon, I found Dylan asleep and in the same clothes from the morning. Same diapers too! I motioned to the caregiver that I wanted to change his diaper and she didn't seem to mind at all. So I used their changing table and changed the little booger. I am glad they have gotten so used to seeing me and have learned to just leave me be with the baby. As for Dylan himself, he seemed to be much worse. He is coughing more, listless, nose running and overall just not doing very well. His eyes were puffy and I was told later on that he cried and cried and cried after I left this morning and that is why his eyes are very puffy. This is so hard to know that he is sick and I am not sure what kind of medical care he is really getting.

At dinner, we again went to Megapolis (again) and tried a couple of new things. Pilmini which is like a tortellini stuffed with meat and swimming in what looks like butter. Also lamb and onions which was ok. The lamb is cooked with all the fat attached to it. While at dinner, I asked Tatyana, Vladi's wife who is a doctor, if she could take a look at Dylan on Thursday and she said she definitely would. I am so glad. I can get here to see him and then perhaps then call Dr. Bledsoe to see what she suggests.

Bill is getting in at 5:15 tomorrow. I can hardly wait. He will be so excited to see Dylan. I just wished the baby wasn't so ill right now. It will be very hard for Bill.

June 4, Wednesday was the day Bill finally got to see his little boy again. When we got to the orphanage, I went to see if either Tatiana or Guljan were around so I can let them know that Papa is finally here. I also needed to let them know that he will be visiting on his own this afternoon. I am going to Bishkek with the gang. We planned on going shopping and meet up with Saule to go over paperwork.

It was very cool to see dad with Dylan. Bill looked overwhelmed (probably more from jetlag as well) but very happy to hold our little guy in his arms. Dylan still looks small when Bill holds him.

This afternoon, we rented a bus to take us to Bishkek. Acel also came along to translate for us and thank goodness for her kindness. If I hadn't mentioned it before, she is one of my favorite people in Kyrgyzstan. There is a photo of 2 girls from my "continued" catch up post from the previous week. Acel is the mother to those 2 girls. Vlady was originally going to come with us to Bishkek and I was going to make Bill take a cab to the orphanage that afternoon. John called Acel the night before to see if she can come with us to Bishkek so that Vlady can stay in Tokmok to drive Bill to the orphanage and the bazaar if he wished. I was so happy when she agreed.

The trip to Bishkek was good. We were a little pressed for time because we needed to have lunch and then meet Saule at her office to go over paperwork. So after a hurried lunch at Fat Boys, we headed over to meet with Saule. She had us come to a building where there was space for her to use to conduct meetings. I guess she used to work for the people who still lets her use the space whenever she needs. Relationships go a long way in this country.

As soon as we parked and opened the door of the bus, a pregnant lady approached trying to sell some beaded jewelry. Mostly, she was begging for money. She was very insistent and you can tell that she is very poor. She would not take no for an answer. Acel kept telling her "Nyet" and something else and we also kept saying no. I am glad for that because I was tempted just to give her some soms but later found out that this is an organized thing. These ladies work for a pimp who controls all who beg within a certain area. Whatever they get, these pimps end up with most of the money.

We spent some time at the bazaar trying to get some stuff for the munchkins. Acel translated and bargained for us so it was quite a productive time. We didn't get a chance to spend a lot of time at the Tsum but we managed to get a couple of things before the 3 year olds could no longer handle the stimulation and we decided to call it a day, though not before we got 4 kilos of candy and 3 cakes to bring for Gotcha Day tomorrow. We got home so late that I thought Bill would be upset at me for coming back so late, especially because we hadn't seen each other in 2 weeks. But when I got to the apartment, he was fast asleep. And speaking of sleep, one more "sleep" and we get our babies.

Thursday, June 5, GOTCHA DAY! Today is one off the happiest days in our married life as it is the day that has been eluding us for the past severla months. It is finally Gotcha Day. We got to the orphanage today and Guljan brought out the log to sign Dylan out of the orphanage, both Bill and I teared up as we signed the log for Dylan. Saule was running late so in the meantime Guljan talked a bit about his bronchitis and his eating schedule before she had to kick us out so she cold have a meeting with her staff.

Vlady and his wife Tatyana were there with us so we understood most of what was said. It was kind of Tatyana to show up to look at Dylan because I had mentioned to her that he needed some medical care for his coughing. When Vlady showed up to pick us up and she was there with him, I realized that she has taken time out of her day to go with us to the orphanage so that she can take a look at him and then ask them questions if need be. When we got there, she saw Guljan and they started talking. They were friends from the old days. I think she said from medical school. How cool is that?

We went in to where Dylan was and Bill grabbed Dylan as I peeled his name tags from his towel cubby and his crib. We had to hang out and wait for Saule to finish talking to staff about other kids. Finally, we took pictures with Guljan and Saule and crossed the gates of the Tokmok Baby House to the outside world carrying our kids. It was surreal but a moment I had envisioned for the past 2 weeks. It finally happened! We hopped into Vlady's car and I wondered how he would react being in the car. He was looking around with his big brown eyes and never cried once. What an amazing little creature.

This is me walking out the orphanage gate with Dylan in my arms. Yeah!!

Our gang plus Guljan, the assistant director.

We then went to where Ted and Karen were staying so Saule could talk to us about the next steps which is the trip to Kazakhstan to go the the U.S. Embassy. Bill took Dylan upstairs away from all the noise because he was getting tired by now. This was his first nap away from the orphanage. Bill said that when he woke up he was uncertain about here he was for a second, then he turned around and saw Dad laying next to him. Bill smiled and said,”hi”, and he beamed a big smile. This, we will find is a typical Dylan wake up, he wakes up in a good mood.

Bill and I fed him rice cereal with bananas s soon as we got back to the apartment and let him have water because it's so hot here. Then a few hours later he drank 8 oz of formula. A few hours after that we gave him 4 more oz of formula. We took him to visit the Wright family and while we were there he had major blowouts. No matter what anyone tells you, projectile poop isn't very much fun at all. It is downright nasty. Bonus points if it lands on mommy. We took him back to the apartment instead of going out to dinner with everyone else. We took the opportunity to test out the SnuggleTub. Dylan seems to like baths. He was amazed at first and not certain of what was going on. But as with everything else he was very cool with it and seemed to enjoy it as well. I think he just likes the attention.

We had celebratory cake after everyone came back from dinner. The Wrights came over and celebrated with us. It was cool to feel like you are among family even so far away from home.

This has been a big day for us – we are a bit overwhelmed but every minute we spend with our little guy makes us fall in love with him over and over again – all day.

Oh and today we found out just how much Dylan digs his own reflection in th mirror. He can be entertained for hours just watching his own reflection.

Friday, June 6 is our first day with Dylan after Gotcha Day. We are learning so much about him each minute. Last night we put Dylan on the floor on some mattresses and pillows so that he doesn't fall off the bed. This kid only woke up once during the night and we fed him 4 ounces of formula. He was asleep until 6 am. He was also happy all day until about 6 pm when we had our first serious meltdown. I think it is because we fed him too little food at 3 pm. We only gave him a small cup of rice cereal mixed in with some powdered formula and by 6:30, he was a different baby. He was screaming uncontrollably. Neither Billy or I could comfort him. Kat thought we could give him teething pills. That didn't help. We also gave him some Mylicon drops but I am uncertain if that helped at all. We were finally able to give him enough formula between screams to successfully fill his little tummy. Then in a few minutes, happy baby once more, as if absolutely nothing happened.

This morning, we also saw Dr. Tatyana, Vlady's wife. She checked out both Dylan and Charlie because both these boys were having blow outs and Dylan is still coughing. She prescribed some electrolytes, some other capsules that needed to be mixed in with formula and another type of powder that is supposed to help calm the diarrhea. The most interesting part of this is the salve that I am supposed to make using honey, alcohol, some other bottle of something, and lamb fat. I have tried all the others except the salve. I think Bill will have to go with Vlady to get this lamb fat tomorrow. Nevertheless, Dr. Tatiana gave us a bottle of Vlady's honey to use. I want to try and use it for cooking if nothing else as I have heard of nothing but good things about this honey. Also, Vlady seems to get stung by bees a lot when he goes to the mountains. I wouldn't think of wasting a drop. He says he sleeps really well when he gets stung. He reassured me that he was not allergic. OK.

Lastly, I had an opportunity to play dress up. Thanks to the Wrights for egging me on.

Catch-up Post - Week 1 - continued

2008-06-28T22:30:00.000-07:00

I completely forgot to post about a couple of the memorable experiences from this week, along with some interesting photos.

On Tuesday evening, after the orphanage visit, we were invited to join the Wrights in their weekly routine of cooking for and spending time with the Tokmok orphanage children. This is the other Tokmok orphanage where the babies go after they turn 4. It is about a block from the baby house.

John made hamburgers and salad for the kids and brought them there already cooked. The orphanage has a kitchen but during this week (it would later change), electricity goes out at 11 am and comes back on at 3 pm at our apartment complex. Other areas may experience a different outage pattern. I am not sure how it works exactly, only that John said that when enough people don't pay their bills on time, the neighborhood or the complex that shares that same power grid gets shut off. Imagine that. Nevertheless, this is the reason John cooks everything at home in the afternoon and brings everything over to the orphanage ready to serve.

When Karen and I got there shortly after 6 pm, we were met at the gate by 2 lovely girls. One of them looks to be about 12 or so and the other one younger. I later found out the older girl is one of the 2 Nastia's who live in the orphanage. She was going to be adopted very soon and is going to the U.S. I can't recall the younger girl's name but they each said "hello" and each took our hands and led us to the room where everyone was starting to get seated at the long table in the room where dinner was to be served. They made some room for us and brought another couple of chairs and soon, we were just part of the gang of diners filling our hungry tummies with the yummy food John made.

Some of the kids had 2 or 3 hamburgers. They had such hearty appetites. While at first pass I couldn't imagine that their little tummies can hold that much food, I later realized that this treat doesn't come along all the time so they are definitely taking advantage of this when they can. I can't say I blame them. John seems to know this and has made more than enough food for everyone. They also enjoy the soda's quite a bit.

The one thing that I did take notice is that John is standing inside the kitchen serving the meals over the little window that resembles that of a drive-through fast food joint. He looks like he is working very hard. Along with the sweat on his forhead was the joy on his face. That was another priceless moment for me. At the table, Julie and the girls were having a great time interacting with the munchkins. We talked about what came after dinner, a fun game of baseball, ok, more like whiffle ball, but the kids don't know that.

I met the director of the orphanage, and her assistant. Through Natalia or Natasha (I still can't recall what she prefers to be called), Jayne's translator, I got to converse with her a little bit and tell her about our journey to Kyrgyzstan to bring home our little boy. I found out that her niece has been to the U.S. and said she liked it here a lot. I also got to learn a little bit about some of these children and what life is like for them. I saw where some of them slept and some of the art projects they get to do and display on the board. I also realize that many, if not most of them will live there until the system no longer allows them to do so. I believe that age is 16. I went home that night and couldn't quite wrap my head around the day's experience. I just had to let it be.

On Thursday, I got to tag along and go for an afternoon outing with the kids from the Orlofka orphanage. The Wrights were taking them to the Burana Tower and the mountains and Karen and I had the wonderful opportunity of joining them. We hopped on Izar's bus along with John, Julie, Sergei, Anya, David, Jayne, Natalia, Christina, Acel and her gorgeous daughters Melody and Davina.

Here are Melody and Davina, the 2 cutest girls in Kyrgyzstan. Did I mention that Melody translates Russian and Kyrgyz to English and vise versa? If you can speak 5 year old, she can translate.

At the Burana Tower, we met up with the Orlofka kids who arrived in their own bus accompanied by the Wright girls, Emma and Bekah. When their bus pulled up, one by one, a kid emerged from the door. The bus wasn't very big so when kid after kid filed out I wondered how many they can squeeze in there. After a short water break we all headed for the tower.

The Burana Tower is a very historic site. The tower itself is a lookout post. What you see now is not the complete tower. The top portion has been destroyed over time. Within the city walls used to coexist peoples of 4 different religions, fire worshippers, Christians, Moslem, and Buddhists. There were no signs that they had any kind of conflict. Their city was right on the Silk road. When Genghis Khan showed up to pillage, he encountered the walls around this city and chose not to go through. He went around and the citizens of Burana were never touched by the conquest.

Here is how you get to the top of the tower. The light on this photo came predominantly from the flash bulb on my camera. It was close to pitch dark for most of the climb. Once in a while you get to a spot where there is a lookout hole and a little bit of light is coming through. The steps are also not the average height you would expect. They are about knee height. The kids with their short legs were working very hard. So were the out-of-shape adults like me.

Here is a 360 degree view from the top of the Burana Tower:

The Burana Tower Museum

The Museum Store

A spectacular view of the tower and the surrounding mountains.

The gravestones at Burana

After this, we headed to the mountains, about 45 minutes away, had it not been that Ezar's bus broke down due to some kind of radiator leak. Half of the kids stayed and half the adults went on the first trip. Julie asked me to go with Sergei and some of the older kids so that we would have some supervision if some of them wanted to hike up to the top of the waterfall. So, I transferred over to the other bus and off we went.

Here are a some of the kids on the bus.

Not 20 minutes later, this bus also broke down. There is no cell phone service here and we were a bit too far away from the other bus to hoof it back. I wondered what would happen next. Fortunately, the driver said it was only a transmission problem. Only? What? Is he kidding? So then, he also said he can fix it, which to his credit, he actually did.

The way up to the falls is this beautiful drive along a small river. Cattle and horses can be seen along the road and coralled within some of the properties. The river was not quite big enough to raft on but it was just gorgeous white water and what seemed like layers of mountains. The mountains in front of you were lush and green, marijuana being one among other native foliage. At the farthest of the layers were tall snowcapped mountains. I recall it being this type of layered look no matter from where I saw them. It was breathtaking to say the least. It would have also made a great camping spot. All it needed were some trash bins. They were nowhere to be seen, but it was evidently needed judging from the garbage left behind by other visitors.

When we got there, Vlady and Tatyana, his wife were already there starting the coals for the shashleek. They also had their family samover already going. It was great to see him there, a familiar face. I was introduced to Tatyana and spent a few minutes speaking with her. At that moment, I did not know how much I would end up appreciating and liking this woman over the course of the month. I just knew that the conversation was pleasant and she is a very warm and gracious human being.

I went with Sergei and 3 other boys to the top of the waterfall. It wasn't that long a hike but it just went at a constant pitch up. After you crossed the stream (which is actually the top of the waterfall) it kept going up some more and the terrain becomes dirt instead of rocks. It only went up another few minutes and the trail ended at a small cave. Of course, the way down is much harder that the way up. I took my time because I didn't want to die on an outing on my son's pick up trip. I made it down ok and John and Julie got there soon after with the other van. The van seemed to have gotten fixed.

John set up a flushing porta pottie in a tent and that seemed to be a novelty with the kids. I helped fill a couple of jugs of water with a very cute boy name Akibek and brought it back to John to use as toilet flushing water. In my view of things, bushes would have worked great too, but I get it. If you have such a fancy porta pottie as such, why settle for bushes?

Vlady made his special tea using his family's samovar that is generations old. It is a brass pot that has an inner chamber where you lite some wood to keep the water hot. The water chamber actually wraps around the inner chamber. There is a spout at the bottom for dispensing the hot water. You mix that in with the tea that has been premade and is in concentrated form and you have a very wonderful tasting tea. I later also found out that the fragrance comes from some plants or herbs that Vlady gathers up from around the area when he gets there. I'm glad he knows what he is harvesting. I would have either poisoned myself and many others, or perhaps caused some interesting hallucinations, had this job been left to me.

The feast with shasleek then ensued. Shashleek is basically a Kyrgyz kabob, skewered with oil dip sticks. I believe we had beef shashleek, with a piece of fat on every stick. Yummmm... Yes indeed, these dip sticks work beautifully as skewers.

The mat was laid out, the bread broken up and spread around. There were onions, tomatoes and vinegar dressing, as well as a bunch of cookies in the shape of cell phones and fans that the kids enjoyed with pop and the adults with Vlady's tea.

The way I was told to eat shashleek was actually to tear the bread in the middle to make a like a pita pocket and then you stuff it with onions and tomatoes. Then you took the skewered meat and wrapped the bread around it. You grab on and slide the skewer out and voila, a sandwich. You then sprinkle some vinegar onto the meat and you have a beautiful shasleek sandwich to enjoy.

The way the kids devoured the food was fun to watch. It was more like a feeding frenzy. I love when people love food. It was great fun to watch.

The afternoon spent with John, Julie and the kids were nothing short of amazing. I missed Dylan tremendously but it was well worth the break. The Wright family is simply undescribable. I don't know anyone who has bigger hearts than this family and I feel so very very very fortunate to have met them and spend time with them.

While I catch up, some Dylan Cuteness

2008-06-25T00:56:00.001-07:00

Catch Up Post – Wk 1 – May 23 to May 30

2008-06-22T22:59:00.000-07:00

I am finally home and have time and a consistent internet connection for some catch up posts.

I left for Bishkek on May 23 and after a small luggage fiasco that cost an extra $100 and a very uncomfortable stint at the Moscow Airport, I finally arrive in Bishkek. I was very very relieved that as soon as I came out of the baggage area, all bags with me, I saw smiling faces waiting for me. Karen who was to be my roomie for the next 2 weeks, and those of John and Julie Wright. I have never met these folks in person, but I immediately felt the warmth and familiarity. Because they were there, I also didn't have to deal with the pushy cab drivers.

We head out to Tokmok and find out that we are going to be living in what equates to a penthouse apartment in Beverly Hills in Kyrgyz standard. We are on the 4th floor and have a great view of the mountains from our bedrooms. We also have hot water, a flusing toilet, a laundry washer and a full kitchen. This is a nice home away from home.

After a gourmet hearty breakfast complements of John, we found out that the director at the baby house was not around since it was a Sunday. Because of that we couldn't see the babies. Instead John showed us some local sights and we head out to the bazaar for some shopping and local culture.

The bazaar was a blast, even to overwhelmed and tired travelers. The colors and the energy were spectacular. There were rows of spices, produce, candy, cookies, houseware, babyware, live plants, animals, bread, You name it, you will likely find it at the bazaar. There were also carts scattered around the bazaar that offered frying food, choro (the local drink). There were people on foot, on bikes on some motorized bikes that of some sort that pulled carts of stuff around and just an all over buzz of energy. All this was happening even around closing time at the Tokmok bazaar.

The following day was a BIG day for both Karen and me. John arranged to have Vlady, the husband of the local doctor, Tatyana to drive us around for the week. We are going to repeatedly be grateful for Vlady's help for the next few weeks. When we finally got to the baby house at 10, Saule our coordinator was there waiting for us and talking with the other Tatiana, the orphanage director. After what we have endearingly called “how's your mama”'s with Tatiana and Saule, we finally got to see our babies again for the first time in months. I had butterflies in my stomach but it was soon gone after they handed Dylan to me. Then I couldn't stop the tears from coming. He looked so much bigger than when we held him in December. He was still very cute and easy to smile. I fell in love all over again.

The Tokmok orphanage is a gated complex with several separate buildings one each side of the main path. Dylan's group was the first building on the right as you entered the property.

Dylan is just adorable. He is all smiles and giggles, a totally happy little guy, that is until he sees a camera. Then, he gets the stunned look on his face. He makes raspberry noises and bubbles with his mouth when he doesn't have his hand in it. He smiles back at you when you make funny noises to him and kiss his cheeks and tummy. He also likes to be held up in the air. It was unbelievable how totally all smiles this munchkin is. He only got fussy if you didn't move around with him after a few minutes.

The rest of the week was all about coming to visit twice a day. By Day 4 it just broke my heart to put him down on his crib before I left for the morning or for the evening. I just couldn't wait until we get to walk through the orphanage gate with him in our arms.

As for the visits themselves, I would get there around 10 am and he would either be getting disposable diapers put on him or he would already have one one because the caregivers were expecting me to show up. At 12 noon, I would have to bring him back for feeding time. They fed the babies some kind of rice porridge with bread broken up into the bowl and then some ground meat is also added to it. They are also given cups that had either water or black tea in them. They would sit Dylan on the chair with his arms also pinned to his side and then tilt his head back and shovel the food down his throat. I tried to do this for a couple of days as the caregivers thought I would like to do feed my child. I can tell he didn't like this at all. I could not stand the force feeding ritual and I would purposely leave before the food was ready. I simply refused to have Dylan associate me with this negative ritual. We were allowed to come back at 4 pm to 6 pm to visit again. At the end of this visit, they would also let me feed him a bottle. I liked that much better and would stay to enjoy this special time with him.

As for the Tokmok life, life is definitely interesting. At first, I was looking for what is different to life at home. After a short while, it became about what couple of things are similar because the truth is that most things are so different.

There are herds of cows crossing, or more like walking the roads. They do this 2x a day, once in the morning to pasture and then back home in the afternoon. There is a shepherd who takes everyone's milk cows for a fee. It's a lot like dog walkers an paper delivery combined. On the way back, the cows just drop off as they get to their houses and I suppose at the end of the route, the shepherd is left with no cows but his own (if he has one).

There are grocery stores and smaller neighborhood stores where one can pretty much get whatever they want. Nothing too unusual aside from the actual local foods we aren't used to seeing. The challenge is finding the items you need all in one store. It isn't unusual to go to 3 different stores on a small errand to find a couple of household items.

Toilet paper is an interesting commodity. The local toilet paper comes in quite interesting colors and has the texture of the crepe paper streamers we use to decorate our kids' birthday parties. I can't imagine wiping my delicate behind with it, so we usually opted for the more expensive kind in white that came in 4 and 8 ply. OK, we never bought the 8-ply. I just couldn't imagine needing 8-ply either.

Toilet paper is quite expensive, compared to how cheap everything else is. We got a package of a dozen small rolls for $7 while you can eat at the town's finest restaurant Megapolis for 120 soms including tip. That is $3.50. John described the place as M&M for Missionaries and Mafia as those are the only people who can afford to eat there.

The cars on the road actually aim for you as you walk around town. Yes, do not assume they will not hit you in order to avoid a pothole. if the sidewalk has smoother pavement, then they will get first dibs on it. If you see a car coming at you, go into the nearest pothole to avoid being the next road kill.

Manhole covers are practically non-existent as they are stolen and sold for the metal. This is same with swings at children's parks. The only one that still has swings on them are the ones where a security guard is paid to watch the place.

Outside our apartment complex is our dump. We don't have a view of it but when we visit with the Wrights, we get to witness the sad reality. There are people rummaging through the dump. They look for food to supplement their diet. Some of these people aren't homeless Rather, they do not make enough money to feed themselves. It is a reality check for spoiled Americans such as myself. I am definitely more thankful for my life the the things I take forgranted.

Overall this week was full of ... well, ... everything. It was just full and I am appreciative of the opportunity for this experience.

Coming Home

2008-06-21T11:23:00.000-07:00

On our way home to the USA. The trip home was nothing short of adventurous, more like difficult. Dylan had many many blowouts and was airsick. Mommy got projectile poop and vomit all in the same 24 hour period. Isn't that exciting?

Our last sleep in Tokmok.

Sleeping while dad goes online at the Moscow Airport.

Sleeping on the flight home.

Coming Home

2008-06-19T02:44:00.000-07:00

I am so excited to be packing to finally head back to the US. We leave tomorrow at 6:30 am and will be on US soil on the 20th around 5 pm. I have to admit that there are many things I will miss about Kyrgyzstan but I am never more excited to come home as I am right now. My time here has been precious, what an adventure of a lifetime. I met loads of great people who I know will be like family in our hearts for the rest of our lives. We got the privelege of a small glimpse into the Kyrgyz life and that will be so valuable to share with Dylan later on.

I will have to backfill the posts from this trip when I get home but for now, wish us bon voyage and no diaper blow out incidents. The next post will be on US soil. Yee haaaa!!!

Gotcha Day on June 5

2008-06-07T19:38:00.000-07:00

How happy do we look? Need I say more?

Some Peace

2008-05-30T20:36:00.000-07:00

Settling in with our daily life here. Nothing exciting and new. I'm just coming to terms with how things are. The fact that everyone does things differently even just in daily life somewhat helps me come to grips why agencies have to treat each family's situation differently. Once I accepted that, I am more at peace. The fact is that the agencies have one common purpose, to find homes for these babies. Otherwise, I would continue to go nuts about why we are now only getting to see our baby again when we travelled back in December. I'm just happy to get to hold him while I am here, regardless of how the details get worked out. I hope all you blog friends who are reading and waiting find some peace in knowing that.

Living the Dream

2008-05-28T20:22:00.000-07:00

I am finally able to figure out how this all works. The language barrier is kind of harsh. I will write in more detail when I get home but, for now, in short.

Our apartment is great. John and Julie and his family are wonderful to us and we are in the Beverly Hills part of town. When we have water and electricity, life is even more grand. The bazaar is alive and fascinating. I am loving the experience, all of it.

Dylan is doing well. He is much bigger and heavier than in December. He is ferociously gnawing at stuff so I guess he is teething. He also has a cough. But otherwise, he is a happy baby, he smile and giggles quite a bit. It is so so so cute. He is starting to recognize me and get more comfortable. He reaches out for me when I see him and he falls asleep in my arms. I am glad we have this bonding period with him before we take him away. His caregivers are extra nice and we are so fortunate. Here are some pics. I will try and post more later.

Going Freakazoid With A Big Smile

2008-05-23T00:07:00.000-07:00

I have never in my life spent 4 days packing, shopping, repacking, shopping, checking off a list, shopping, repacking... you get the picture.

I am utterly exhausted yet I have the biggest smile on my face! There are all sorts of crazy emotions that keep running through me and I am just going for the ride. I worry about the flight and if I get there on time. I worry that I will get to Tokmok and will not be allowed to see Dylan. I worry that my husband won't get his flight preferences. I worry that I will gain weight sitting on a plane. I know, I am a freakazoid but I am happy to admit it.

I must have just been so overwhelmed this last couple of weeks. Ever since I booked my flight (even before knowing we can take Dylan home on the same trip), I've been going 1000 miles an hour trying to get EVERYTHING on this wanna be exhaustive list done. I tried to tie all the loose ends at work so that I don't leave anyone in the dark. I made a list of things I had to buy for this trip. I arranged all the necessary documents for single parent pickup only to get the good news on Monday that we can actually pick him up. So, back to the first version of paperwork I went. Last weekend was also jam packed with activity. Kayaking on Saturday, running Bay to Breakers on Sunday. Well, all this came with steep price. I LOST MY WEDDING RINGS AND I AM TRULY BUMMED ABOUT THAT!!! I put the rings in my pocket on Saturday because carrying kayaks with rings digging into your hand just hurt too much. I took them off and put them in my shorts pocket. Then I changed out of them out in the parking lot and probably dropped them there. I can't recall who said this to me but it went along the line of "that's ok, you lost your rings but you are getting a baby". I guess that person is right. Even though the rings have tremendous sentimental value, it is no match to the fact that a month from now, he'll be home.

The outpouring of love is incredible. I guess I sometimes forget that I'm not in my own little world all by myself. There are so many people who have been waiting for Dylan to come home, even people I don't know and have never met. My co-worker's husband, another co-worker's mom, my blog friends are always asking about Dylan. My friends are also only slightly less excited than me. The day I posted the good news, I got several instant comments, emails and phone calls. Both Bill and my family are going bonkers about the news. They are all rooting for this kid to come home to his forever family. I am just stunned at the community around me.

Our friend Lamar made me a care package and gave it to me over my last sushi dinner for a very long time (oh yes, I worry about that too). It had all sorts of goodies like chocolates, trail mix, tuna, wasabi peas, red vine, dried fruits, etc. etc. I just love her. I will think of her when I eat good chocolates instead of crappy airplane food. She is excited for us and this adventure and we are thrilled to have her to share this with also.

So before I go to bed on this last night before I fly out, I contemplate this journey and where we have been. It has been a long road to Dylan but all that doesn't seem to matter now. I have a huge smile on my face and my heart is all a twitter knowing that our journey with Dylan is just beginning. Good night everyone. Until the next post from Kyrgyzstan...