Here are Catherine and her very good friend Dahlia on their way to farm camp last week! I think they had a great week there taking care of animals, cooking, doing crafts and being out in the country. Dahlia's mom will be giving me some more photos to upload this week.
In my last post, I think I mentioned they were caring for their own sheep this week. Catherine wonders if she can visit him.
We've had more doctor appointments (kind of the equivalent of paperwork in China in terms of frequency:) and we are making plans towards palate repair. Let me throw a promotion in here for the International Adoption Clinic at the U. I am so happy we have the International Adoption Clinic here at the U. Our MD there, Cindy Howard and the entire team are amazing people. Dr. Howard called me twice personally to give me test results in detail and help us navigate and coordinate various medical issues.
It looks like palate surgery will be in September and we have tacked on the ear tubes then instead of August 19th. We are waiting for final confirmation, so I hope it works out to be in September and not later. They would like to do a full ear exam on her and they can't do it when she is awake. If it is later, the cleft team would recommend we not delay ear tubes. Let me also promote the cleft team at MOOS.. they have been supportive since the time of our referral, providing us with information and answering questions via email along the way. Even looking at photos!
I think Teagan is really worn out from the number of visits we have head each week, sometimes 2-3, and I would like to minimize an extra procedure if we can. She has started having night terrors, and I hate to see that for her. We were probably up with her 5 times last night alone patting her back to sleep. I think her cleft lip surgery had a deep and negative effect on her given her total mood change at each Dr. appointment.
This is one of Teagan's new favorite objects ! It's very soft and feels like it is handknit (thank you Kristin!). One of her other favorites are the magnets on the refrigerator that you can see in the background (and they are on the floor too of course). You put the letters in the holder and you get a song " A, A!, A says A! Every letter makes a sound, A says A!" She can also press a button and get the alphabet. Although I can now hear this song in my head, every waking moment (not good), and the magnets are a mess, she loves them, and we love that she loves music and letter sounds. Ok, yes, the fact that we can cook in the kitchen with greater ease while she plays with them is also a major bonus!
Today she made a "compound sign" she did "again + please." Awesome! I've been working on please and was not sure she got it. What was she wanting again?
This bear in a the yellow raincoat! The bear sings "I am singing in the rain" when you press his arm. It was gift for Catherine from my Grandmother Duffy, but Teagan has taken it over it seems and loves to play the song again and again!
We have the magnets too, but thankfully the sound portion is out of batteries and has been long enought that I think our kids have forgotten it made noise at one time. They still love the magnets, and yes they are a mess!
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