Adoption Picnic

One of the reasons we chose our wonderful adoption agency, Holt, Int, was because it offers various activities for families before, during, and after your adoption is long over. This weekend was the annual Holt picnic in our town. It was held at a nice local park. We took lunch, played in the park, and got to meet so many wonderful families. It was a lot of fun to meet families I had met online through our agency forum. There was a great turn out, despite the extrememly hot weather.

Grayson was so sad after lunch because he could see the pool from the playground. And that was his focus. How much longer do I have to sweat before I get to go to the pool?

Once in the swing, Neylan was happy. (I was so bummer when I looked at my pics from the day. There is a nice smudge on my lens in all of my pics)

Seriously Mom. It's 227 degrees out here and there is a pool just a few feet away!

The whole gang!

All the kids

Now on to the fun part- for Grayson anyways. Neylan did a great job too. He loved the little fountains, as long as he was in charge. He did NOT like it when a little girl came up and threw water in his face.

We don't typically get to actually go to a pool like this, so this mama still has a few things to learn when we do. Like, take water toys. Many of the other kids had toys, so Grayson, being the social butterfly that he is, was not shy to go up to the other kids and ask to play with some of their toys. We stayed in the water for about 2 hrs and swam right through nap time today. Really, the water was the only place to be today in this steamy weather.

Then and Now

Four weeks ago today we picked you up in Korea. Your life began with a new forever family. You never acted scared or nervous, you just came along for the ride. You have done an amazing job adjusting to us and your new home. You have changed in so many ways in such a short time. I never want to forget where you came from and how far you've gone.

Then, you were very quiet and still
Now, you like to make noises and move all over the place

Then, you had never (or so it seemed) put anything in your mouth
Now, you are able to get anything you want in your mouth (edible or not)

Then, you were eating very little solid food
Now, you want to eat every solid food you can get your hands on, even if it makes you choke!

Then, you liked playing in the water
Now, you're ok with water, but tend to shy away more

Then, you seemed to really like electronics and technology
Now, we know- you LOVE technology

Then, you were TERRIFIED of your crib

Now, you sleep well in it. Most all night and a couple naps a day!!

Then, you weren't so sure about that person we told you was your brother

Now, you still are not so sure about him. And the feeling is mutual! One day, one day!

Then, you hated grass

Now, you still hate grass, but are making progress. One second at a time. (I think you're up to tolerating for about 10 seconds now!)

Then, you didn't know you had a family that loved you so much already

Now, you are adjusting and settling in with us. You come to us when you want something, especially to be held. And, you are a true mama's boy!

Then, we loved you

Now, we know you better and love you even more!

First Annual Check-Up

(I accidently put this post on the wrong blog and it messed up my dates. Everything is fixed now)

Neylan had his first trip to the doctor last Wednesday. Both kids checked out fine and did a great job.

This big boy is 25.2 lbs (51st %ile) and 32" tall (95th %ile)

Grayson is so big, he graduated to the big people scale. He is 28.2 lbs (30th %ile) and 33" tall (20th %ile)

Did you catch there's only 3 lbs and 1 inch difference in these two!

And, since Grayson is such a big boy now, he no longer has to wait for the doctor in a diaper- he gets to wear a gown!!

Four shots later, we headed home

Little did we know how much trouble those three shots Neylan was given would cause. He started feeling bad on Wednesday night and began running a fever. He had a hard time going to sleep and woke up frequently. Enough that Adam was kicked to the couch and Neylan took his spot in our bed. That was one sleepless night. The round of ibuprofen and round of tylenol were not cutting the fever and he was moving around like he was in a lot of pain. His head and trunk were on fire. Finally, the 3:30 dose of ibuprofen began working and once he was completely stripped of all clothes, he was able to sleep a bit.

Thursday, the real mess started and continues today. We are now on day 5 of icky, dirty diapers. I will do my best to keep the gore out of this post, but folks, it's bad here. The smell especially!! I called the doctor on Friday to talk through some things and try to get something eliminated. She said that likely this was caused by the shots or the fever and not to worry about lactose intolerance, which was another concern. But, I'm stumped. Why has everything been ok for the last 3 weeks until these shots were given? So, the first thing we are doing is eliminating dairy (Since 90% of Asians are lactose intolerant, we thought this was a safe move). He's been on milk-based formula in Korea (which we just found out has very little lactose in it), milk-based formula here, and cow's milk. And all was just fine. But, there's something just not right. So, I switched over to soy milk yesterday afternoon and the evening went well. But, today, there have been 6 explosions- the worst leading Neylan straight to the bathtub and the sheets straight to the washing machine! He's a lot more fussy, clingy, and not acting like the happy kid we were seeing emerge last week. So, maybe it's not the lactose. I'm going to give it a few more days before I call the doctor again.

WHAT'S GOING ON?????

We made a HUGE mistake!

All the boys lined up for haircuts yesterday morning. Grayson went first, while Neylan watched. Last time I tried to trim a little around his ears and the back, it was not a good experience. So, he watched to get himself warmed up. Then Adam somehow convinced me that Neylan's hair would look just fine if we cut it with the same clipper guard we use on Grayson. Becuase Grayson's hair always turns out fine. Well, not the story with this kid! It looks horrible. We had to shave off inches of his beautiful hair once it was started. And this mama is very sad. Hopefully it grow back VERY fast. We now know that he will need to have long hair to be as cute as possible!

Neylan, meet your extended family!

Our second set of visitors arrived last Wednesday. Nana and Granddad (Becca's parents) and Great Uncle Chris and Great Aunt Linda (Becca's aunt and uncle) came into town today from TN and GA. Neylan warmed up quickly to everyone and his cuteness won them over. We had a great weekend with everyone.

Uncle Chris and Neylan

Granddad and his boys

Aunt Linda and Neylan

Nana and Neylan

Our next visitors, Adam's parents, will be here soon.