Adoption, hospital, RSV and our puzzle master

Habtamu gets sick:

Habtamu survived his first sick visits at the hospital this week.  Wednesday night he was coughing a lot.  Then the next morning - he seemed to be improving-but by 11am he had labored breathing and a fever of 103.7.  The labored breathing scared me as he was also pale- I never knew he could be so "pale". His beautiful complexion was blotched with a white "hugh" that made me very nervous. 

I called the doctor for our first "sick" appointment that felt really serious.  At 2:00 we went into the doctors office and they started talking about admitting him tomorrow if this was not the peak of his illness and that we needed to return in 24 hours- in the meantime give him alternating doses of Motrin and Tylenol.  

Would you believe 24 hours later- this kid was wanting to jump around-and outside of a cough- you would have had no idea that he was so close to being admitted due to an inability to get enough Oxygen.  It's amazing!!!   

Sickness and Adoption:

They had to take a chest x-ray of H and I was excited to hear that they were taking an x-ray because it was yet another part of his past that if there were any "problems" the doctor would also find those. It's a weird excitement to know that you don't know your child's past and little things like an x-ray will lead further down that road of understanding.  The doctor walks in the room after reading the x-ray and says to me "how long has he been in the country" for no reason at all my heart starts pounding at this innocent question. OMG-Does she think I beat him- why would she ask that- what did the X-rays show- laugh- what are we about to discover from his past- suddenly- I dont want to know!!!   I carefully say 8 months- she says- hmmm, It looks like he has RSV - and it's not common to see this at his age here and he hasn't had a lot of respiratory difficulties in those 8 months so far-interesting. I breathed out a sigh of relief. Having no idea what RSV was- it was a better answer than well- he show signs of broken ribs in the past or anything.  It was ridiculous really- here I am in the room with my boy who is having trouble breathing and I am worried/excited about what they found on his x-rays.  I take a deep breath and say to myself.. uahhhhhhh Adoption. 

Our Puzzle master:
While Habtamu is home all day (he's contagious) along with Debritu-I've discovered a way to get some time to shower and or check my email-maybe next week I'll test my idea to see if this works for the long run by trying to make a phone call-laugh. 


When Debritu takes a nap I get out a 100 piece puzzle and give it to Habtamu to complete.. This gives me an hour to an hour and half of piece and quiet.. WOOO HOOO... The kid loves loves loves puzzles. 


We have a 300 piece puzzle he still hasn't completed it on his own-but I don't think it will be long before he's ready to do it.  Imagine- what I can do with all that "free" time when he's doing 300 piece puzzles. Bring it on Baby!

It all happened so FAST

8 months ago I became a new mom of 2 new little ones... Sometimes-It seems like the other day-we accepted the "referral" of a 14 month old "baby".

While I am still learning to answer to "mama" and "come" and "respond to help"

She is now- 5 inches taller, walking, talking (bossing), wearing big girl panties, using the toilet and wow -this past week she's been preferring to sleep.... in a "big girl bed".  It's amazing- every step of the way- we've rejoiced her accomplishments and yet.... where did the little girl that could fit in my arms and was sucking on that bottle go??

Tonight- we celebrate the move- from Crib to toddler bed.... and in between my tears I am thinking "you go girl"... Be all that you can! We love you.

Waiting for Daddy

First "family" cold... AaaaCccchhhhhhuuuuu

Well- we're just about finished with our last family cold. Denis got sick when we visited our friends house (on the way home) last week- and this week the rest of us have been down with the same cold.  Denis was miserable- like a little boy last week- and now this week- Habtamu, Debritu and myself have all been "below the weather". Which if you are from New England - is pretty darn low-laugh.  How did we keep ourselves entertained.

The kids got to see some Winnie the Pooh and their first Sesame Street Video's on Television.  Kako (Debritu) is now saying "Pooohhh" and "Elmo" at the Television-laugh- so quickly they learn since TV is at a minimum at our home under "normal" circumstances. We practiced our coloring and lettering, and then letters, colors and numbers again and again :-).  Habtamu is struggling with his little d, little p and little b currently.
We're playing with our puzzles and other "sitting" games.  Kako  keeps wanting to take baths-laugh.  She's running into the bathroom saying "shower" or crawling into the bathtub.

To prove that I'm nuts-We've brought the little kid bikes into the house (?) and we're keeping sugared up on juices and then "sitting some more"...  The crock pot is "fully employed" making us our dinners... can you say Chicken soup and more chicken soup??

I'd take a picture of the big box of tissues-- or our big red noses-but decided a few simple words would be fun too...after all- a picture of me as a sicko on the internet- hmmmm. yuck-laugh.

So AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHCHOOOOOOOOO ... and don't forget to take your vitamins-laugh.

Hugs and "sniffles",
Kim

Habtamu has an Adventure with Dapper Dan

Habtamu had a project with school- it is like Flat Stanley only instead his name is Dapper Dan. This weekend was his assigned weekend to have Dapper.  Lucky for DD it was a family vacation weekend.  So, we took him to our friends house on Long Island.  This also happened to be our first adventure taking our children to a friends house.. (heart pounding if you are not use to travelling with children and "suddenly" have 2-laugh).

I was handed a back pack and once we were on their first boat ride- We proudly started taking pictures of the Lion back pack Habtamu brought home from school.  Later -while on the boat- we saw Habtamu holding a teddy bear and we were panic'd.  Habtamu- Where did you get that bear? Etc.. Etc... After all it was Habtamu's first time on a Ferry too.. He pointed to his back pack and we learned...Dapper Dan was not the Lion Back pack.. but a cleaver little Bear hidden inside.

Here is Dapper Dan's Story.

Habtamu removed me from my Lion Back pack and introduced me to his family. We took a vehicle ferry to Long Island.

The next day we went to a Karate Class. The friends we visited go to Karate on Saturday mornings. Habtamu and I went with them and participated in the class. I watched but Habtamu ran around with the kids.

(I cannot get rid of that darn big space below-scroll down)

Then we went to the Zoo. At the zoo we saw Llama, goats, pigs, donkeys, birds and cows.Then we were at the Zoo-Debritu slept most of the time and when she woke up she sat in a puddle landing with a big splash. It was very funny and the whole group laughed.  Mom spent a little time in the bathroom under the hand dryer- drying Kako's pants. We finished this long day at Chucky Cheese-where Debritu was afraid of the "bad kitty" aka Chucky Cheese-laugh.

The next day - I risked my life at the zoo by going into the shark tunnel- but on the other side of the tunnel we saw some pretty Tropical fish.  This day was Martin Luther King Jr's Holiday so we learned about Equality.

On Tuesday- We got out the vote and learned about democracy!

On Wednesday, I Dapper Dan return to school with Habtamu. I've learned a lot this weekend, had much fun with two different families, learned about Equality and the fight for Equal rights in this country and how that fight continues today.  We also learned about Democracy and how important it is for citizens of a country have a right to choose their leaders.. directly or indirectly.