Doctors, Doctors, Doctors

We've been so busy this past week with doctors visits. Aaden has been cleared as a very healthy little guy but all they had to do was a bit overwhelming. 4 doctors visits, bloodwork galore, 7 vaccinations, & stool samples in less than a week made him a bit of a cranky boy and I don't blame him. He ended up with a rash and low grade fever for 3 days after the vaccinations. The doctor said it was a heat rash but it happened on the coolest 3 days and started the day after all his shots so I'm skeptic that it wasn't related. The good news is he gained a pound in 4 days! The doctor was very proud of him for that. He is still very little between being premature and in an orphanage setting but he is thriving now :)

Now we have 6 more appointments in the next couple of weeks. I guess this is the usual when children first come home from Russia but I didn't realize it until we got into it. He has to go to 4 specialists just because he hasn't had much medical care and he was in an orphanage setting. All his tests came back normal so we don't suspect anything but they want to make sure. Then we have Early Intervention and another peditrician appointment too. The poor little man is getting sick of being dragged around and poked and prodded all the time but we should be through most of it by the third week in July. Luckily his rash and fever finally went away yesterday and he has been feeling better.

Otherwise, Aaden is still doing great. He loves getting out of the house and actually cries to go out the front door at least once a day. Again, the reading I did said the opposite of this. I was prepared to have to stay home most of the summer while he adjusted but he just can't get enough of going for walks, going to the mall/shopping, and even restaurants. He loves to visits our friends and family too as long as it's not too much of a crowd. We are looking forward to visiting Grammy & Grampa at the Lake for the first time next week!

Happy 18 months, Aaden!

Today Aaden turned 18 months old. Our first milestone together. I'm sure he didn't get a birthday cake for his first birthday so we decided to give him his first piece of cake today. Boy did he love it ;)

Happy Days Again

We had a rough few days early in the weekend with Aaden. Everything you read says that the children will go through a grieving/loss period but it always says around the first few days with you. We thought we had passed that since Aaden had been so happy but I think he just had a delayed reaction. He was inconsolable on Friday and Saturday. He was a sad little guy and no matter what we did we couldn't get him to smile for more than a minute before he pouted or cried again. But he seems to have gotten through it just in time for Father's Day. He had a wonderful day with his Daddy. Here are some new photos from the last few days:

Aaden's first few days at home

I've already told you how great he's been. Here are some photos of Aaden at home:

With his big brother Ryan

1 week and 1 day

Well, I wanted to do a 1 week post but yesterday came and went and I somehow never found the time. It's amazing that Aaden has already been with us over a week. We are starting to settle in now at home and we are all getting more used to the time changes and getting on a schedule. He really is a good sleeper so that helps. He has learned so much in a week and you can really see the changes now. Just to brag a little, here are all the things my little guy learned in under a week:

-How to eat solid food. He had only had soft food but is now a champ at eating cheerios, goldfish, animal crackers, and bread. We're still working on the fruit, he's not really sure about the textures and tends to spit them out.

- How to zoom around the room without falling all over the place. We were told he couldn't walk but he started the second we put him down in our hotel room although he was quite wobbly and got tired after a half hour or so. Now he runs around for hours in the morning and barely falls down and never seems to tire.

- How to sleep on his own. At first he would only fall asleep in our arms but now he is able to fall asleep in his crib after being home only 2 days! His parents are really proud of him for this one because it means we get more sleep too ;)

-How to hang on when being carried. At first it was like carrying a stiff board. He would keep his legs straight and not hold onto you. We had some sore backs from carrying him those first few days. Now he has gotten the point to hook his legs on you and hold onto your arm. My back thanks him!

- How to high five. This is one of his favorites and makes him giggle all the time.

- How to stack things. He loves to stack his cars, plastic cups, anything he can get his hands on. He is quite good at it too.

-How to drink out of a sippee cup. He thought it was a toy at first but now loves it.

It's so amazing to see his confidence now as he explores his new home and the world. His eyes are brighter, he is much stronger, and he laughs even more now (maybe cries a little more now too but that's okay). He has really opened up and adjusted very well to all this change. Better than I could have ever imagine. We are so lucky to have him.

Pictures, Pictures, Pictures

The Big Day - June 2, 2008

5 minutes later while waiting in the car...

First Night with Mommy & Daddy

Nap Time

Hanging in Moscow

U.S. Embassy Day - June 6, 2008

Finally - Coming Home! June 7, 2008

Home Sweet Home

After a long day of traveling we are finally home with Aaden! He did really well for a 1.5 year old that was woken up at 2am to go to the airport and then travelled all day. The 8 hour time difference is throwing us all off (if you wondered why I'm posting at 4:45am) but he slept from 5pm-1 and then I just got him back down again at 4. Hopefully tonight we can get him to sleep at a later time so he can start sleeping during the night.

It's so great to finally have him home with us and try to get ourselves into a "normal" life. Hotel living with a baby is not always fun. Yesterday Aaden met 3 of his grandparents (my mom & dad, and Michael's mom) and he was charming them already. Later on today he will get to meet his big brother, Ryan. I can't wait to have us all together. I know Aaden will just love him. Ryan is just like his father. They are both kid magnets. All Ryan's little cousins just love him so I know Aaden is going to be quite taken with his big bro too.

Hopefully I will be able to download pictures of Aaden from this last trip later today and get them up on the site. I will do it as soon as possible because I know many of you are dying to see them. It was just too hard to do in Russia this time because I never had enough time. I was too busy chasing after my son :)

Saying Good-bye (for now) to Russia

It is 8:30pm here and we will be leaving the hotel in 6 hours. Michael and Aaden are upstairs fast asleep. They already make a great pair ;) We had the US Embassy appointment and got Aaden's Russian passport today so we are all set to travel. Our flight takes off in Moscow at 5:30am and we arrive in Boston about 16 hour later. It's a long way for a 1 year old that didn't get a whole night's sleep but I hope he does okay. It's been good just the three of us as we get to know him but we are ready to be home and to see everyone. Saturday afternoon can't come soon enough now!

Russia has been a great experience and I loved both Bryansk and Moscow. We have spent so much time here in the last 2 months that I will miss it. The people and the towns are beautiful. Getting to know our son here was amazing and Russia will always have a special place in my heart. But we will be back when Aaden is old enough. And maybe that time we'll get to see St Petersburg too.

I'm going to try to join Aaden and Michael and get a little sleep before our flight. I will see you all soon and I can't wait to introduce Aaden.

Back in Moscow

It's been a long 2 days but everything is still going well. We had to wake Aaden Tuesday night at 11pm to take the midnight train back to Moscow. We arrived here at 5:30am on Wed. He did well and slept most of the train ride but was a little off yesterday because we couldn't get him back on his sleep schedule after all that. He had a few minor melt downs but who can blame him with so little sleep and his whole world turned upside down. We just hung out in the hotel room yesterday with him and played. He is starting to trust us a lot more now. It is amazing how you can start to see the change in him. When he would get upset yesterday his little lip would quiver and he'd start to wimper, then he'd come to me and sit in my lap and suck his thumb for a minute or two. Then he'd get up and play and be okay again. He had a little more trouble falling asleep yesterday but Michael has the magic touch and was able to sooth him to sleep each time.

The doctor came to the hotel this morning and checked Aaden out for the US Embassy. Everything went fine except he came at 6am so we had to wake Aaden again. Luckily, he fell back asleep on Michael's chest when the doctor left. He does love his sleep ;) It's suppose to be rainy today in Moscow but we are hoping to get outside with him for a little while. There is a park next door to our hotel. Then we have our US Embassy appoint at 2pm Friday and we leave here very early Saturday morning. We can't wait to get home and see everyone!

Together. Forever. At Last!

Yesterday we picked up Aaden and he has been amazing. We were prepared for some major meltdowns given that he didn't really know us but he has been such a brave little guy so far. He slept most of the 2.5 hour car ride back to the hotel on me but kept reaching his hand out to put on Michael's arm too. It was the sweetest thing. I wish we could have gotten a picture of that.

He was giggling within 5 minutes and really hasn't stopped much since. He really has been all smiles. He also slept from 10pm-7am last night and then took a 2 hour nap today. We are both amazed at how well he is taking this all in. I hope it lasts :) The best part is the orphanage told us he couldn't walk yet because he was too weak. Well, we no sooner got into the hotel and put him down and he was running around. We weren't expecting it so we were shocked but of course so proud of him. He was very proud of himself too as he had a great big smile on his face as he ran around exploring.

Tomorrow we leave for Moscow and have appointments on Thursday and Friday. Then we will head home on Saturday. I will post more in Moscow because we will have internet in that hotel. Bye for now!