Garrett's 5th birthday!

2 years home!

So, the past 2 years together have flown by!  Garrett recently celebrated his 5th birthday and is growing so much! I have debated about starting kindergarten in the fall, but have decided to wait another year.  He just had a tonsillectomy/adenoidectomy to prepare his throat for an upcoming surgery to help improve his speech (a pharyngeal flap procedure that will help his palate close in order to create the sounds of pressure consonants).  I want him to have the best possible start to school, and having the ability to speak more clearly to his teachers and classmates will go a long way I am sure. It makes me happy though that for the most part, even strangers are able to understand a good majority of his speech.  He has enjoyed swim lessons this year and playing with his good buddy Max at Grannie's house while I am at work.  He and Alma are constant playmates (as well as kicking each other under the kitchen table mates) just as siblings should be!  He is such a healthy guy too- only one minor ear infection since he has been home with us.  We have been having quite a busy summer already, and looking forward to our annual camp out next month before time for Alma to start middle school already!  Happy summer to you all!

Garrett's 4th Birthday

Home One Year

It's been a busy year! At the end of May, we celebrated Garrett being home with us for one year already- how quickly the time flies by!

He is doing great- so healthy and happy! In the spring, he got a special orthodontic device (just like a little retainer) to plug the hole left in the roof of his mouth and help with airflow and speech. It is hoped that eventually, the hole will be able to close on its own, but if not, when he has his next big surgery after braces it can be surgically closed. He has seen the speech therapist since the beginning of the year and is working on articulation of consonants, and lately is stringing more words together in sentences. It is still difficult to understand him when he is talking about something out of context- it took me about 10 minutes to get that he was trying to tell me about a banana slug in the garden one day! His comprehension of English was so fast- within 6 months, he understood basically everything any other American 3 year old would understand! My big hope for him right now is that within the next year, before starting kindergarten, his speech will be much easier for others outside the family to understand.

Alma continues to be a fantastic big sister to Garrett, for which I am so grateful.  They fit together like 2 peas in a pod.  Of course they have their sibling moments, but 99% of the time they have a great time together.  This was one of my most unexpected joys- how easy it has been to go from one child to two in the grand scheme of things (after the first few months of adjusting of course).  I expected Alma to have a difficult time sharing my attention, since she had been an only child for so long, but this has not been an issue, much to my surprise.  Even when he's being a pesty little brother, she has a good time with him!

He just celebrated his fourth birthday, and what a great time he had swimming with his little pals! So thankful to have him in our lives.

9 Days Post Surgery!

So, Garrett's surgery went well last week. He is still recuperating, but getting back to his old self little by little. He still needs plenty of rest, and suddenly having a nostril to breath through is a little tricky at night, but over all, he is doing great. I am hoping it all stays together the way it needs to in order to continue healing well over these next months.  I am amazed what his surgeon was able to do with so little lip tissue. He will be on a pureed diet for a few weeks, and keeping everything nice and clean is a challenge, but he is tolerating things much better than I would if it were me!

5 months

So, we celebrated our 5 month home date on Halloween!  The time is flying by. This upcoming Thursday, Nov. 8th, Garrett will have surgery to repair his cleft lip and palate! We are all anxious and excited to get it done.  I am hoping all will go as planned and he will have a smooth recovery with good pain management.  I just can't imagine his little face afterwards...  Last week, Alma and I both had the same dream that we were seeing him after surgery. It was so cool!
He continues to adjust fantastically to his new life, and is developing so well, I am always just amazed.  Over the last month, he has been speaking lots!  He understands pretty much everything, and is always able to get his point across with words, sounds and gestures. Once he has his palate repaired, he will start speech therapy. I expect he will be quite a talker! When I started back to work, he started staying with my mom during the day, with no issues whatsoever! We say goodbye at the goodbye window, and he always has a great day playing with the other children there. When I come home he runs to the door shouting "mama"!!!! I never imagined he would just fit right into all of our lives so easily.  Even Alma is still a wonderful big sister, after the novelty has worn off.  I still surprise myself when I talk of my "children"- I have 2 now! Thankfully, he is a wonderful eater, enjoying spanikopita, chana masala, quesadillas, and most of all- noodles/miso/tofu.  He still is unable to go to bed without me being in the room until he is asleep, and he is still a crazy roller/mover in his sleep.  There are still often times that I can't close the door to go to the bathroom or take a shower without an audience.  But his temper tantrums are now few and far between, and he is a happy, spunky typical 3 year old.  I can tell, sometimes he gets tired of kids asking about his mouth and taking a closer look to see "what's that little meatball?".  So, he's at just the right age to get his mouth repaired- and move on! Think good thoughts for the 8th!!! I will keep you posted when we return.

5 months home