Gift of Adoption
11 years ago
Monday, October 24, 2005
Kissy Face
All is well here at the Millilo household. Andrew and I are feeling much better. Andrew is completely over the bronchitis and has finished his medication for the Giardia. What a task that was giving him his medication these past couple of weeks. It got to the point where Andrew would know that he was about to get his medication and would run from me...just like the kid in the Robitussin commercial. If the doctor this week for his check up gives a full bill of health then Andrew will get his flu shot on Tuesday. I'm sure he will be excited about that.
Fun with Andrew
The past couple of days Andrew has been giving Robert and I kisses. It's funny to watch him since he will clench his lips tightly together, stick out his chin and raise his eyebrows high as he is approaching you. Such a sweetheart. One day last week I was sitting on the floor playing with him and all of a sudden Andrew makes his kissy face and plants one right on me. It took me by surprise since he only used to blow us kisses before now. Well after he kissed me I reacted by saying "Awe"! He then walked away from me and turned around real fast and rapidly approached me again with his kissy face to plant another kiss on me. I was tickled watching him with the intent look on his face each time he went to kiss me. Since Andrew imitates us so much, it makes me wonder if that is the look that I make when I kiss either Andrew or Robert. Robert gets a kick out of Andrew as well when he goes to kiss Robert goodnight. It really tickles me to see Robert connect and bond so well with Andrew and visa versa.
Mr. Smilie
Fun with Andrew
The past couple of days Andrew has been giving Robert and I kisses. It's funny to watch him since he will clench his lips tightly together, stick out his chin and raise his eyebrows high as he is approaching you. Such a sweetheart. One day last week I was sitting on the floor playing with him and all of a sudden Andrew makes his kissy face and plants one right on me. It took me by surprise since he only used to blow us kisses before now. Well after he kissed me I reacted by saying "Awe"! He then walked away from me and turned around real fast and rapidly approached me again with his kissy face to plant another kiss on me. I was tickled watching him with the intent look on his face each time he went to kiss me. Since Andrew imitates us so much, it makes me wonder if that is the look that I make when I kiss either Andrew or Robert. Robert gets a kick out of Andrew as well when he goes to kiss Robert goodnight. It really tickles me to see Robert connect and bond so well with Andrew and visa versa.
Mr. Smilie
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
A Bit Under the Weather
This past week Andrew has had some health challenges. He had a bit of a cough and a runny nose so we got him checked at the pediatrician and discovered he had a touch of bronchitis. The doctor perscribed an antibiotic and we've been doctoring this past week. It's been a rough week for both Andrew and I since he has been waking up 3-4 times in the middle of the night coughing or with gas pains. Either of us has not had much sleep because of it. Last Tuesday when we got home from the doctors office, I was feeling nausious for about a day and a half and ended up vomiting up my lunch and dinner. Those 2 days were even rougher taking care of Andrew in the middle of the night. I'm not sure as to whether I had a stomach virus or something else.
The evening that I was feeling nausious, Robert and Andrew were in the office while I was cleaning up from dinner. When I finished in the kitchen I went into the office to see what was going on and discovered Andrew in a pile of old mail that covered the office floor. Robert let him practically turn the trash can upside down and play in the paper mess, while Robert was doing the bills. I took one look and said, "Oh Andrew". Mama feeling the way I did barely had the energy to deal with the mess so I sat on the floor with Andrew and taught him how to clean up his mess. Each time Andrew placed a piece of paper in the trashcan Robert and I cheered. Andrew thought it was the funniest thing and started cheering along with us, except his cheers were the loudest and longest of all. He would let out this squeal of a cheer and clench his fists together and grit his teeth as he was squealing or cheering after each time he threw away a piece of trash. It was the funniest thing.
This Tuesday, we had a follow up visit to the pediatrician, which said that he is doing better and his bronchitis has just about cleared up. The pediatrician went over the report and lab work that was sent to him from Children's Hospital and said that his titers from his vaccinations look good so we don't have to redo them and all of the bloodwork came out as a healthy as could be. The only issue he discovered were the positive reading from his stool samples for giardia, which are parasites in his stool/intestines due to drinking the water in Ukraine. He asked me if Andrew has had any vomiting, diahrea or stomach pains or nausia. I told him that he has had diahrea over the last day and has had some stomach pains (which I thought was gas pains). He then gave me a perscription for flagyl for Andrew to kill the parasites and said for both Robert and I to get checked from our family doctor for giardia. Even though we didn't drink the water while we were in Ukraine we could have gotten it from Andrew by sharing food and the same drinking glasses etc. Just when I thought the stool samples were over. Now that I think of it, maybe that is why I was vomiting and felt nausious last week.
Here Daddy, give Sasha a kiss.
Last Saturday, Andrew was invited to his first birthday party for his cousin, Maria Clare at the Build-a-Bear store in the mall. He made his first teddy bear and Daddy named it Sasha (a common Ukrainian name). When we got home that day Andrew played with the bear for a while but played with the box the bear came in for the rest of the evening. He was dragging the box around the house with him the whole night. I was about to put the box on the back porch for trash and when I went out on the porch later with Andrew to chat with my mom on the porch Andrew took the build-a-bear box and played with it all night.
This past week, when I put Andrew in his crib for the evening I usually lightly rub his chest to relax him before he falls asleep, however, this week he has been taking my hand off of his chest and holding my hand until he falls asleep. So precious. Another precious thing he will do, when I have him in the shopping cart the past couple of days getting groceries and his medication, Andrew will take my hand and place it against the side of his face and then lay his head on my hand for me to hold his head and then he will smile at me when he is doing it. He the same thing when I was cooking dinner one night, he would whine to get my attention and I would bend down to see what was up with him and he would take my hand and place it against the side of his face and lay his head on it and smile at me. Such a cutie. Be still my heart. Such a precious little boy God has blessed us with.
This past Thursday was my birthday and I was so excited when Andrew gave me my first Mom present a necklace with a little boy charm on it with Andrew's birth stone in it. My eyes filled with tears of joy to receive my first "Mommy" kind of present from Andrew. Last Saturday, my mom, brother and sister came over to celebrate my birthday. The funniest part of the evening was when Andrew was sitting on my mom's lap while she was sitting on the floor and I was sitting about 5 feet away from them on the floor facing them. Andrew would point to me and I would slowly point to him back and make a noise as I pointed to him. He started giggling when he saw me react to him. So he would point to me again and then I would quickly point to him and make a louder sound and he was belly laughing like you wouldn't believe. He had the everyone laughing at him. Of course we played that game for about 15-20 minutes and I was able to get some of it on video. Andrew is quite the entertainer.
The evening that I was feeling nausious, Robert and Andrew were in the office while I was cleaning up from dinner. When I finished in the kitchen I went into the office to see what was going on and discovered Andrew in a pile of old mail that covered the office floor. Robert let him practically turn the trash can upside down and play in the paper mess, while Robert was doing the bills. I took one look and said, "Oh Andrew". Mama feeling the way I did barely had the energy to deal with the mess so I sat on the floor with Andrew and taught him how to clean up his mess. Each time Andrew placed a piece of paper in the trashcan Robert and I cheered. Andrew thought it was the funniest thing and started cheering along with us, except his cheers were the loudest and longest of all. He would let out this squeal of a cheer and clench his fists together and grit his teeth as he was squealing or cheering after each time he threw away a piece of trash. It was the funniest thing.
This Tuesday, we had a follow up visit to the pediatrician, which said that he is doing better and his bronchitis has just about cleared up. The pediatrician went over the report and lab work that was sent to him from Children's Hospital and said that his titers from his vaccinations look good so we don't have to redo them and all of the bloodwork came out as a healthy as could be. The only issue he discovered were the positive reading from his stool samples for giardia, which are parasites in his stool/intestines due to drinking the water in Ukraine. He asked me if Andrew has had any vomiting, diahrea or stomach pains or nausia. I told him that he has had diahrea over the last day and has had some stomach pains (which I thought was gas pains). He then gave me a perscription for flagyl for Andrew to kill the parasites and said for both Robert and I to get checked from our family doctor for giardia. Even though we didn't drink the water while we were in Ukraine we could have gotten it from Andrew by sharing food and the same drinking glasses etc. Just when I thought the stool samples were over. Now that I think of it, maybe that is why I was vomiting and felt nausious last week.
Here Daddy, give Sasha a kiss.
Last Saturday, Andrew was invited to his first birthday party for his cousin, Maria Clare at the Build-a-Bear store in the mall. He made his first teddy bear and Daddy named it Sasha (a common Ukrainian name). When we got home that day Andrew played with the bear for a while but played with the box the bear came in for the rest of the evening. He was dragging the box around the house with him the whole night. I was about to put the box on the back porch for trash and when I went out on the porch later with Andrew to chat with my mom on the porch Andrew took the build-a-bear box and played with it all night.
This past week, when I put Andrew in his crib for the evening I usually lightly rub his chest to relax him before he falls asleep, however, this week he has been taking my hand off of his chest and holding my hand until he falls asleep. So precious. Another precious thing he will do, when I have him in the shopping cart the past couple of days getting groceries and his medication, Andrew will take my hand and place it against the side of his face and then lay his head on my hand for me to hold his head and then he will smile at me when he is doing it. He the same thing when I was cooking dinner one night, he would whine to get my attention and I would bend down to see what was up with him and he would take my hand and place it against the side of his face and lay his head on it and smile at me. Such a cutie. Be still my heart. Such a precious little boy God has blessed us with.
This past Thursday was my birthday and I was so excited when Andrew gave me my first Mom present a necklace with a little boy charm on it with Andrew's birth stone in it. My eyes filled with tears of joy to receive my first "Mommy" kind of present from Andrew. Last Saturday, my mom, brother and sister came over to celebrate my birthday. The funniest part of the evening was when Andrew was sitting on my mom's lap while she was sitting on the floor and I was sitting about 5 feet away from them on the floor facing them. Andrew would point to me and I would slowly point to him back and make a noise as I pointed to him. He started giggling when he saw me react to him. So he would point to me again and then I would quickly point to him and make a louder sound and he was belly laughing like you wouldn't believe. He had the everyone laughing at him. Of course we played that game for about 15-20 minutes and I was able to get some of it on video. Andrew is quite the entertainer.
Thursday, October 06, 2005
Welcome to the Family Andrew - Baby Shower and Doctors Exam
Welcome to the Family Andrew!
Things have been busy..very busy here with Andrew. This week his schedule has been messed up since the weekend and the past few days hasn't had much of a nap during the days except for in the car or maybe an hour nap at home. He has been giving me some sleeping problems that we are soon to be resolving for nap time. We are working through it. He used to go down at least for one nap in the afternoon for about 2-3 hours. I could then get something done around here. He is quite the active little fellow and I'm right behind him most of the time.
Andrew is still excited even after the party.
Our family had a Welcome to the Family/baby shower over the weekend at my cousins house. It was nice to see everyone and we got some wonderful gifts to prepare the house for a toddler, which is great because our speed racer seems like is getting faster and faster each day. We want to thank all of you who contributed to all of the preparations for the party and for the BIG Welcome to the Family and love that you gave to Andrew. He was excited to be opening his FIRST presents. It was fun to watch his excitement as he was pulling off the wrapping paper of his presents with his Ukie cousin Allison that lives in Mickleton, NJ. We thank you all for all of your gifts. They all are a blessing to us and will make our transformation into parenthood much easier. Andrew especially loves his new books, puzzles and surprisingly his new HUGE monkey. I thought for sure he would have been afraid of it but when I sat the monkey facing him on his lap to honk his nose and to prompt Andrew to give the monkey high fives he took to him right away. Now he carries him around the house and lays on top of him with his arm around him. It's histerical, since the monkey is as big or bigger than Andrew.
My huggable monkey. Thank you Aunt Patt, and cousins Donna, Kim, Meredith and Mimi.
This week Andrew has had a few new changes. First of all he very much dislikes his diaper on and is this week has been pulling off his pants/shorts and socks. He would run around the house naked if you let him. No, no, no...not in this house he won't. I could just see his new paint job and floor covering via Andrew, if I did let him run around foot loose and fancy free. I have to pin him down in order to put his diaper and pants on him. What a wiggle worm he is. But the joy of our lives. Second, Andrew has been saying a few new words, such as Bye, Bye as he waves goodbye and yesterday when I answered the phone and said hello (to the telemarketer), Andrew said "Hawro" over and over again like he was a parrot.Another cute memory from this last week was the other day I was sitting on the floor and Andrew came up to me and straddled me as he was facing me. He started to blow bubbles with his saliva so I started doing the same thing to see what his reaction would be. Andrew then saw what I was doing and took his index finger to burst my bubble. When it popped I purposely jumped and acted surprised and the funniest belly laugh came out of Andrew. Of course he wanted to keep popping my bubbles and each time he would burst out laughing like it was the funniest thing he ever saw. I had to bust out laughing myself when I saw his reaction.
My mom and I took Andrew to his visit to the International Adoptions Pediatrics Specialist at Children's Hospital yesterday. We met with Dr. Abigail Farber and her Occupational Therapist, Michelle and her assistant. They were WONDERFUL! Andrew was evaluated by the Occupational Therapist which said he is absolutely precious and is doing excellent developmentally for being just adopted from an orphanage. They were surprised and shocked when I told them we were over in Ukraine visiting him for a month and a half everyday for 5 hours a day and quickly understood why he is doing so well developmentally. They said he is right on developmental level for his age and both the doctor and the occupational therapist were eating up his adorable personality. I was surprised he wasn't shy around them like he usually is to strangers. As soon as they started evaluating him, the therapist put a mat and then a sheet on top of the mat on the floor and Andrew walked right over to the sheet and sat down and was ready for play. I watched his reaction and smiled when she placed the mat and sheet on the floor, since we did that every day at the orphanage before we started feeding him and playing with him, as well as I still do it now in front of the couch in the living room before we play or read books. When the doctor asked me how Andrew reacts to a toothbrush in his mouth I told them that we have been teaching him to brush is teeth and that I make a "SSS ...SSS...SSS..SSS sound when I show him to move the toothbrush back and forth over his teeth. Just then, Andrew immediately put his hand to his mouth (like he was holding a toothbrush) and smiled as he moved his hand back and forth motioning that he was brushing his teeth. Everyone in the room busted out laughing at him and said that was a very clear answer to our question. The doctor said that he is 19.4 pounds and 28 inches tall, which comes out on the growth chart as the 5th percentile for his age and size. She said that is from lack of nutrition and will quickly grow now because of his new diet. After evaluating him and the doctor examining him (which she said all of the items that were on his medical records were false and untrue), which we already knew, she sent us to the lab for blood work. What a battle that was holding our strong wiggle worm down as he horrifically cryied, while they were trying to drain some blood out of his veins. Mommy and Nana were just about in tears ourselves. After the third stick they finally filled the tubes they needed to fill and we were out of there. While they were draining his blood, my mom diverted his attention for a bit by showing Andrew the picture of his Daddy that I have saved on my cell phone. Andrew stopped crying for a bit and started to babble something to his Daddy's picture. What a stressful day for all of us it was.
The doctor also sent me home with 3 packs of little bottles to collect samples of his poopies to check for parasites (due to drinking the water in Ukraine or playing in the dirt and not washing his hands and then putting them in his mouth). They said to place the samples into the plastic jars and fill to the red line and then shake the jar (with the lid on of course) to mix it with the liquid or preservative until it is completely mixed and then pack them in bubble wrap and mail them back to them. How nasty is that. I just hope and pray that those packages are not crushed by other packages when making those special deliveries. It wouldn't be a pretty site or smell if it did.
When we got to the van I gave Andrew his lunch and we stopped by Catelli Brothers to visit our extended family. I was shocked at how friendly, social and pleasant Andrew was after that ordeal at the lab. I guess he was just so happy to be out of there and meeting new friends. Everyone loved Andrew and Tony Catelli gave him his first golf lesson with an official Catelli golf ball of course. Tony had so much fun with him I think he might want another little one of his own running around his house again. I'll have to mention that to his wife Ellen....maybe she would want another little Catelli running around their home again as well. Hehehee!! It was great to see everyone and spend some time visiting with our extended family members.
More pictures of Andrew from the last week. www.kodakgallery.com/PhotoView.jsp?&collid=59592185309&photoid=49592185309 More pictures of Andrew from the last week.
Things have been busy..very busy here with Andrew. This week his schedule has been messed up since the weekend and the past few days hasn't had much of a nap during the days except for in the car or maybe an hour nap at home. He has been giving me some sleeping problems that we are soon to be resolving for nap time. We are working through it. He used to go down at least for one nap in the afternoon for about 2-3 hours. I could then get something done around here. He is quite the active little fellow and I'm right behind him most of the time.
Andrew is still excited even after the party.
Our family had a Welcome to the Family/baby shower over the weekend at my cousins house. It was nice to see everyone and we got some wonderful gifts to prepare the house for a toddler, which is great because our speed racer seems like is getting faster and faster each day. We want to thank all of you who contributed to all of the preparations for the party and for the BIG Welcome to the Family and love that you gave to Andrew. He was excited to be opening his FIRST presents. It was fun to watch his excitement as he was pulling off the wrapping paper of his presents with his Ukie cousin Allison that lives in Mickleton, NJ. We thank you all for all of your gifts. They all are a blessing to us and will make our transformation into parenthood much easier. Andrew especially loves his new books, puzzles and surprisingly his new HUGE monkey. I thought for sure he would have been afraid of it but when I sat the monkey facing him on his lap to honk his nose and to prompt Andrew to give the monkey high fives he took to him right away. Now he carries him around the house and lays on top of him with his arm around him. It's histerical, since the monkey is as big or bigger than Andrew.
My huggable monkey. Thank you Aunt Patt, and cousins Donna, Kim, Meredith and Mimi.
This week Andrew has had a few new changes. First of all he very much dislikes his diaper on and is this week has been pulling off his pants/shorts and socks. He would run around the house naked if you let him. No, no, no...not in this house he won't. I could just see his new paint job and floor covering via Andrew, if I did let him run around foot loose and fancy free. I have to pin him down in order to put his diaper and pants on him. What a wiggle worm he is. But the joy of our lives. Second, Andrew has been saying a few new words, such as Bye, Bye as he waves goodbye and yesterday when I answered the phone and said hello (to the telemarketer), Andrew said "Hawro" over and over again like he was a parrot.Another cute memory from this last week was the other day I was sitting on the floor and Andrew came up to me and straddled me as he was facing me. He started to blow bubbles with his saliva so I started doing the same thing to see what his reaction would be. Andrew then saw what I was doing and took his index finger to burst my bubble. When it popped I purposely jumped and acted surprised and the funniest belly laugh came out of Andrew. Of course he wanted to keep popping my bubbles and each time he would burst out laughing like it was the funniest thing he ever saw. I had to bust out laughing myself when I saw his reaction.
My mom and I took Andrew to his visit to the International Adoptions Pediatrics Specialist at Children's Hospital yesterday. We met with Dr. Abigail Farber and her Occupational Therapist, Michelle and her assistant. They were WONDERFUL! Andrew was evaluated by the Occupational Therapist which said he is absolutely precious and is doing excellent developmentally for being just adopted from an orphanage. They were surprised and shocked when I told them we were over in Ukraine visiting him for a month and a half everyday for 5 hours a day and quickly understood why he is doing so well developmentally. They said he is right on developmental level for his age and both the doctor and the occupational therapist were eating up his adorable personality. I was surprised he wasn't shy around them like he usually is to strangers. As soon as they started evaluating him, the therapist put a mat and then a sheet on top of the mat on the floor and Andrew walked right over to the sheet and sat down and was ready for play. I watched his reaction and smiled when she placed the mat and sheet on the floor, since we did that every day at the orphanage before we started feeding him and playing with him, as well as I still do it now in front of the couch in the living room before we play or read books. When the doctor asked me how Andrew reacts to a toothbrush in his mouth I told them that we have been teaching him to brush is teeth and that I make a "SSS ...SSS...SSS..SSS sound when I show him to move the toothbrush back and forth over his teeth. Just then, Andrew immediately put his hand to his mouth (like he was holding a toothbrush) and smiled as he moved his hand back and forth motioning that he was brushing his teeth. Everyone in the room busted out laughing at him and said that was a very clear answer to our question. The doctor said that he is 19.4 pounds and 28 inches tall, which comes out on the growth chart as the 5th percentile for his age and size. She said that is from lack of nutrition and will quickly grow now because of his new diet. After evaluating him and the doctor examining him (which she said all of the items that were on his medical records were false and untrue), which we already knew, she sent us to the lab for blood work. What a battle that was holding our strong wiggle worm down as he horrifically cryied, while they were trying to drain some blood out of his veins. Mommy and Nana were just about in tears ourselves. After the third stick they finally filled the tubes they needed to fill and we were out of there. While they were draining his blood, my mom diverted his attention for a bit by showing Andrew the picture of his Daddy that I have saved on my cell phone. Andrew stopped crying for a bit and started to babble something to his Daddy's picture. What a stressful day for all of us it was.
The doctor also sent me home with 3 packs of little bottles to collect samples of his poopies to check for parasites (due to drinking the water in Ukraine or playing in the dirt and not washing his hands and then putting them in his mouth). They said to place the samples into the plastic jars and fill to the red line and then shake the jar (with the lid on of course) to mix it with the liquid or preservative until it is completely mixed and then pack them in bubble wrap and mail them back to them. How nasty is that. I just hope and pray that those packages are not crushed by other packages when making those special deliveries. It wouldn't be a pretty site or smell if it did.
When we got to the van I gave Andrew his lunch and we stopped by Catelli Brothers to visit our extended family. I was shocked at how friendly, social and pleasant Andrew was after that ordeal at the lab. I guess he was just so happy to be out of there and meeting new friends. Everyone loved Andrew and Tony Catelli gave him his first golf lesson with an official Catelli golf ball of course. Tony had so much fun with him I think he might want another little one of his own running around his house again. I'll have to mention that to his wife Ellen....maybe she would want another little Catelli running around their home again as well. Hehehee!! It was great to see everyone and spend some time visiting with our extended family members.
More pictures of Andrew from the last week. www.kodakgallery.com/PhotoView.jsp?&collid=59592185309&photoid=49592185309 More pictures of Andrew from the last week.
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