High Fives in the Hallway

Here is Peng Peng "helping" us get all our instruments and music together for our church service.  He LOVES to sing and play along when we rehearse.  

These past six months have been a bit of a blur.  I can't even fathom that it was only six months ago that I held our sweet little boy in my arms for the first time.  It was Labor Day, September 1st, when he officially became ours.  In some regards it seems as though that was only yesterday, but mostly it is like he has always been with our family and I can't even picture what life would be like without our little monkey. 

 I feel like in many regards we are through the worst of it.  We have had so many doctors appointments I have an entire 1 1/2" ring binder filled with doctor summaries, evaluation reports, medical follow-up suggestions, height and weight information, food recommendations, and so much more.  Even though we have been through his second surgery ever, first with us, we do have at least three more to look forward to over the next ten-fifteen years, our next one being when he is four or five most likely.

Sadly though, we are also through the best of it.  In six compact months we have had over two years of firsts.  It has been such a joy to watch as Peng Peng shows delight and wonder in all new activities and adventures.  He brings such a joy whenever he enters a room.  I just wish I could freeze time, or at least fast forward to summer when I can be home with the kids again all the time.

The other day I had Peng Peng at my school while we were waiting for AJ and Abby's karate to finish.  He was pretty restless this day, so it was more enjoyable for him (and for me) to walk up and down the halls before big brother and sister were ready for us to leave than it was to sit quietly in the gym and watch the two practice their Katta.  When we turned the corner we passed Kids Company walking in a straight and pretty quiet line.  What does he do?  He runs up and gives a girl in the front a high five.  Then all the kids stick out their hands and he runs up the line giving each boy and girl a high five and yelling "YAH!" to each and every one.  It might have caused a bit of a rowdy scene, but I had tears in my eyes from both the laughter that escaped me as well as the pleasure in witnessing the joy one tiny boy brings to so many.

Something else pretty special about this boy is his love for praying.  I am not sure if he has any clue of what we are doing or talking about, or even who we are talking to, but when we sit down to eat he is the first to put his hands together.  He will then yell at and point at whoever does not put their hands together in prayer.  Usually any given meal we pray two to three times.  He can say a pretty clear "Amen" too (minus the "m") :)

These past two weeks have been filled with more dr. appointments and follow-ups with therapists.  We finally got our test results back from the GI specialist, and the only test that came up positive was Peng Peng is not absorbing glucose and fructose well, which could be a possible cause for some of his digestive problems.  So, our struggle now is to find foods 1. high in fat and calories  2. dairy free (his tummy can't process it well due to giardia this fall and probably most of his life)  3. work on sucking from sippy cups or drinking from cups while getting it fast enough he can consume enough calories  4. low/ no fructose/ glucose (which is tricky when trying to consume high calories).  

The birth-three OT from our school district, who is also a good friend and an amazing lady, gave some really great suggestions for his muscle development and motor skills as our wild child seems to be craving some deep pressure and has low core strength.  He loves rough-housing and part of the reason for this might be his body is craving this pressure.  

Next week we go to see our family doctor who will now take over the growth department of our medical journey.  He will closely monitor his height and weight development.  If he can start growing, then we are on the right path.  If not, then we need to go back to GI and have a scope done to see if there is some medical piece we are missing with his development and frequent tummy aches.  Our family doctor delivered Abby and has been with us since I was pregnant with AJ, so I feel like he will be in great hands.  The shorter drive is pretty awesome too.

Peng Peng can now point to and attempts to label body parts.  He knows his tummy, eyes, ears, nose, hair, tongue, teeth, and mouth.  He is learning the sounds animals makes in speech therapy and LOVES to sing along to "Old McDonald".  We have a kareoke machine that him and Abby love to sing songs on with the microphones.  They play the drums, piano, and tambourine while they sing sometimes too. It might be pure chaos sometimes, but I wouldn't trade it for anything (other than maybe a pair of sound-proof headphones). 

Who, me?

Current Signs (bold new):  all done, apple, aunt, baby, ball, balloon, banana,  bath, bear, bike, bird, blanket, blocks, boat, book, brother, brush teeth, bubble, bug, candy, car, cat, cereal, cheese, clean up, coat, cold, color, come on/ here, cookie, cow, cracker, dad, diaper, dog, down,  drink, duck, eat, egg, fish, flower,  frog, go, grandma,  grandpa, hat, help, horse, hot, hot dog, hug, I love you,  jump, laundry,lion, milk, mine, mama, mine/ my, more, monkey, music, orange, pig, play, popcorn, potty, pray,  shoes, sister, sit, sleep, snow, socks, slide, swing, thank you, time out, vacuum,  wait, walk, wash hands, water, up


Life is good, but I never imagined it could be THIS good.  These three can play together for hours on end.  They might not always get along, but their love for one another is deep and strong and I so greatly enjoy watching them grow alongside one another.