aug 30 surgery... all went well

Dalia is asleep, it's 9:21 p.m. I'm relieved to say that her surgery went well today. No complications. Platelets normal, healthy. Brave girl. Dr. Laub repaired two pinholes in the back of her palate and one large hole up front. I won't go into the details here of how he did it... but I will tell you off-blog if you are interested. She was screaming when she came out of anesthesia... IV in an uncomfortable place, it took 4 adults to hold her down. Sound familiar? She was screaming for Mama and she called down when we arrived at her bed.

Took a bottle, slept, up, slept. Then, "walk" -- we walked down the hall and into the wonderful toy room she went. "Off!" i.e. put me down -- and she sat on the bouncing zebra with music. This was 2 hours after her surgery. Played more with toys in the room for a while - amazing sight to see this tough kid. Slept more, rode around in pink car, the red car and the blue chaise car. Ate 2 cups of ice cream and.... nothing came out through the nose!!! It's a first.

Now it's pain management and keep her full of liquids (soft foods). Home tomorrow.

Day care at Playlab starts next week!

Photos from Grandma Patty's - August 2010

Happy Birthday Dalia

For Dalia's birthday, her brother, Calder designed a colorful three-tier cake, made up of three of Dalia's favorite shapes -- heart, star and triangle. It was beautiful! He and Grandma Ginger baked and decorated it with colorful frosting, flowers and streaming ribbons. It looked festive in a Chinese way. Grandma Gin-Gin, Grandpa Ralph, Mama, Baba (Daddy), Calder, Henry, Blair, John and Virginia all came to celebrate. Truly a joyous occasion. I was thankful all day that this little girl has come into my and our lives.

She has grown so much since we met her on March 7th. Every day is a day to appreciate her! We gave her a Xi Yang Yang sweatshirt and matching backpack that we bought in Lanzhou, China, when we bought her some colorful sneakers. We kept it for her over the past 6 months. Good to see that even though Elmo is her new favorite, she still loves Yang Yang. ("Pleasant Goat" - her favorite Chinese cartoon character)

Dalia and I are at Grandma Patty's in Wisconsin. Today was a big day as she took a swimming lesson at the YMCA with 3 other little boys and their mamas, along with me. Ginger has taken her swimming in the Middlebury town pool - it's clear she's been ready for lessons. The Y kiddie pool is perfect, with a gradual ramp into deeper water. We kicked, we splashed, we submerged, we swam after balls, we sang songs. This may be the first class Dalia has taken. She was somewhat distracted by all of the action but I think she liked it. She loves to swim! She is leaning to blow bubbles in the pool water -- a huge step with her new lip. We'll return the next 3 days. She was the only Asian child in the pool.

She has been saying many more words, words with multiple syllables, and putting phrases together. "Hummingbird"; "Come back, sun"; "Grandma's house", "running shoes," "bathing suit", etc.

Her diet is rich in good foods - for dinner, she had salmon, hard-boiled egg, almond butter, a fresh peach, garbanzo beans, rice milk, water, and zucchini bread. She still loves popsicles and has learned to slurp.

She remembers names of people she meets and talks about them afterwards. What good company you are, Dalia!

1, 2, 3, go!

Dalia has learned this handy phrase. First picked it up while standing on the dock, watching listening to Tal and/or me look out at the pond, count down, and jump in. Now she uses it whenever possible! "One" is clear, then comes two beats, then "go!"

The good news is... she is back to her usual healthy, strong, funny self. She is trying new foods like almond butter, which she calls "ahm". She's having a blast every day, so busy playing outside in her sandbox, going into the pond occasionally, visiting the chickens in their newly renovated home - thanks to Tal, playing in the garden with Ginger, being held (and visiting chickens) with Ralph, going to the playground with Renee, picking and eating wild blackberries with Mama.

The not so good news is that her palate didn't close all the way -- there was a tiny opening which has since gotten bigger, after the surgery. So.. we will go back to Dr. Laub and Fletcher Allen for another surgery, outpatient if possible... (hopes not high) on August 30. Her platelet counts are normal now. However... she went back on the INH/Isoniazid medication for TB virus. We'll see later this month how her platelets are, hopefully still normal. She has endured many doctor visits and taking of blood.

I returned to travel for work the past 2 weeks, went to NYC for 2 nights last week and the week before. It was tough to be away, though I knew she was not missing me very much, as she was with her Dad and Grandparents. I walked in from having been gone and it for her was as if I had never left. I hope!

Will add more photos tomorrow.....