Dancing machine!

Max just can't stop dancing!!! He's a dancing machine!!! :-)

The "Ballroom" dancers vs. The Jitterbuggers!

Max and Luci "Ballroom" dance while Sonja and Drew look like they are doing the "Jitterbug" at The Chinese New Year party!

Sunshine, cattle rustlers and the little joys of everyday life!

We recently had contact with some relatives, who live in the far reaches of Northern Canada. Sunshine and light is somewhat scarce these days there. I was telling Sonja that her Auntie who lives way up near Santa ;-) says that they don't have very much sun right now. An hour or so later Sonja, as usual, wanted to do crafts (even though we did them earlier in the day) and I told her she could. She decided she wanted to paint (no surprize there, paint markers, all the fun messy stuff). I asked her if she wanted to paint a picture for this particular Aunt and she said "Sure!". Above is the picture she painted. It's a picture of "Aunt Suzi and her fadder" but they are both sun's.

Aunt Suzi complete with sparkles!

Aunt Suzi's "fadder". He too is complete with sparkles!
I'm sure this isn't the sun you miss so much Aunt Suzi, but maybe it will still brighten your day!

P.S. Give a little sunshine to Uncle Skip too!

Max and his "masterpiece"! I think the forehead paint is a look he seems to be into these days!

Max's incision line is healing well but I have noticed a thickening to his left nares and also the left side of the lip suture. I know scar tissue is ging to form there. I only hope he doesn't form a nasty keloid. I apply mederma to the incision line and massage it as directed by the doctor. I know in time, any scar tissue that forms will relax and stretch. If there is any keloid formation, he will more than likely have to undergo more surgery when he gets older to revise the incision. I guess we'll cross that bridge when we get there. For now, things are going great! He's verbalizing much more than before the surgery both coherent and incoherent. It's almost like he's seeing what he can do with his new lips etc! He's making little noises we've never heard before. Another thing he's decided he'd take up is whimpering like a puppy. He does this while crawling on his hands and knees and will take his hand and "paw" you like a puppy begging for something. I wonder where he picked that up from?!? It couldn't possibly be Sonja!

Anyways.... below are a few pictures of Maxie.

Well, our sprayer on our kitchen faucet wasn't working very well so Dan decided to see what the problem was. He thought initially that it was something in the sprayer itself but that turned out not to be the case. We went to the hardware store and bought a new faucet and sprayer set. I love it and the sprayer seems to have much more force but it's a much better set than our previous one. Here Dan does a little handyman work while Maxie helped with the tools.

Passing tools to Daddy is tough work and the kids seemed to have worked up an appetite. Oreo cookies, as you can see, was the snack of choice.

"Here Daddy, You're working hard" "Eat Papa Eat!!!!!!"

While I was sanding down the walls in the bathroom, Dan kept the kids busy. I came out to find Sherriff Sonja caught herself one bad ombre' ..... Dangerous Dan, the cattle rustler. Sherriff Sonja had the situation totally under control and Dangerous securely behind the baby gate!

Here you can see her tough steely looks.

Dangerous Dan is foiled again. Wha....wha....wha.......

Dangerous Dan's sidekick, "The Nibbler". Don't let the baby faced looks fool you! He's known best for his deadly secret weapon.........knock out diapers!

Until next time.......

Today (Jan 17th), I met with Max's treatment coordinator and speech therapist to discuss how Max is doing and what changes are needed to help Max progress further.
Max has been getting therapy at home for less than 4 months. In that time, his scoring has increased 6 months overall!!! His receptive language had increased 7 months and his expressive 5 months.

Currently, Max is only getting therapy once a week. We discussed an increase to 3 times a week and hopefully, that will be implemented very soon. I'm hoping that the increase in therapy will help Max to progress at a faster rate than having it once a week. Let's hope that's the case although I'm pleased with his progress thus far!

In other news......

Max, as you all know is two. He decided a few months ago that he was going to take full advantage of the whole "terrible two's" thing. He loves Sonja but loves to agitate her even more! Yesterday, they had a bath after craft time, due to Max being covered with paint. In the bathtub, Max kept grabbing things from Sonja's hand. Every time she had something, he would take it. Sonja kept her cool pretty well for a while, but after several items were taken, Sonja, in frustration says "Maxie needs to go back to China!" This coming from the same girl who was so happy to see her little brother after his surgery. I told her that I wish she wouldn't say those things. I told her that I would cry very hard if Max or she, were to go back to China. After a few seconds of silence, Sonja said "I think I cry too Mommy" I thought that was pretty introspective for a 3 year old.

Since I'm on the subject......
The other night, we were all at the dinner table. In the background, the T.V. was playing in the other room and it was audible in the kitchen. Dora was on and was, of course, using and saying Spanish words. Dan asked Sonja and Max "How do you say Hello in Spanish?" After a few seconds, Sonja responds "Ola"! Then I asked Sonja "Well, How do you say goodbye in Spanish Sonja?" She thought for a few seconds again then said "How do I know. I Chinese!" (O.K. ya little smart Alec.).... I guess she told me! I'm not sure why she said that as she does know how to say goodbye in Spanish. She'll often add "Muchachos"(sp?) at the end, I guess to jazz it up a little. I can't believe some of the things that come out of her mouth! Where she comes up with some of it is beyond me.

Oh.....I just remembered this..... not quite insightful, but pretty hilarious! First a little background....
Sonja and Max have quite a few toys. Well, to be honest, they have too many toys (as most kids in America do these days)! I have tried to maintain some sense of organization but it is challenging at times. I keep little zipper bags from pillowcases, sheets etc and use them for smaller toys that may go together such as doll clothing, furniture etc. Sonja was given two sets of cabbage patch minis and the pet care center from Aunt Becky and Uncle Dean, which Sonja loves. Well, to keep it all together, I put them all in a zipper bag and they just barely fit in but they must be arranged just right. After Sonja was finished playing with them and started to play with a different toy, I told her she must put her other toy away. She tried and tried and tried but just couldn't quite get them all in. Finally, when she thought she couldn't do it she brought it all over to me and said "Mommy can you help me?" I said I would and proceeded to put all of the items in the bag and zip it up. Sonja then took the bag from my hand, wrapped her arms around my neck and said "Mommy, You're a genius!!" Wow!!!! Obviously, it doesn't take much to impress her! She may think that now, but in a couple of short years she'll think I don't know a thing! I guess I'll savor this time while I'm still "a genius" (what a kid).

The Man with the "magic" hands!!!

This is Max's craniofacial pediatric plastic surgeon, Dr. Tatum. I can't say enough about what a wonderful job I think he did. This picture was taken about a minute after Dr. Tatum removed the "button" sutures from Max's nose. Max tolerated the removal very well.

There was a Chinese intern observing Max's post op evaluation and then left immediately after, giving us a wave goodbye as he left. I wonder if he is learning so he can return to China and hopefully help children like Max? I certainly hope so.

Max will see Dr. Tatum again in a few months when he returns for a team evaluation. The team will evaluate his speech, dentition, facial structure and symmetry, hearing and social-emotional development among other things.

After Max's appointment, we went to the mall to get a bite to eat and, of course, ride the merry-go-round. I did a little shopping for the kids and then we all headed home.

Max is healing well and is looking better every day.

I would like to thank everyone who kept Max in their thoughts and prayers. It's appreciated very much. We are truly blessed to have such wonderful families and friends!!! WE LOVE YOU ALL!!!!

Boogie woogie Maxie boy

Maxie dancing like crazy only 3 days after hiscleft lip, palate revision and nose reshaping. You just can't stop him!!!!

Max is home!

Sonja comes home to see Max for the first time since having his cleft lip/palate revision surgery. I edited it to cut down on the "dead air" space (yes, there was more!)