Our Journey to Carson

An Action-Packed Week!

Since my post on Monday, we have really packed in the activities! In fact, we go-go-go so often that Carson now wakes up and his first words...before we have breakfast, before he gets dressed and brushes his teeth...are "Mama...Bye-Bye? Vroom-Vroom?" That is his adorable way of asking me if we have big plans to head out in the minivan! Cute...but also annoying after the 175th time he asks!!!!

Tuesday, Daddy went back to work. While the bonding occurred with Kevin and Meggie instantly, Mama has been low on Carson's list pretty much from the minute we met. I told Kevin to go back to work to (1) save our marriage -- we've had a BIT too much together family time the past couple of weeks -- and (2) to force Carson to rely on me for once. Reality is if Carson got an answer from me that he didn't like (for example, "No, don't TOUCH it!"), he would turn to Daddy and Daddy would save the day. No wonder he likes Baba best?!

Our day went well, but Carson spent most of the day yelling through the house, "Baba? BABA??" We learned a new word that day..."work." Of course, he puts his adorable Chinese-English spin on it, so it comes out, "Baba at work-ka." Can't help but smile! Since he was suffering from Baba withdrawal, after his pediatrician appointment (fairly uneventful, by the way) we headed over to Daddy's work and then went to lunch with Daddy at our favorite Chinese buffet. A few pics from Carson's big day at Daddy's "work-ka"...

Meeting Daddy at the door
(sorry it's blurry, he was so excited to see Daddy that he wouldn't stay still!)

Checking out Daddy's cubicle...is that Mama in that picture??

Trying out Daddy's chairCarson was VERY interested in this robot...just HAD to touch it!

My guys, taking a stroll on the shop floor

Carson was VERY happy at lunch...the Chinese buffet restaurant we went to has the sticky rice like they had in China -- I haven't figured out how to make it yet and he ate it like it was his job! Poor guy...can't imagine having to switch your taste buds over to American food after only being offered Chinese cuisine your whole life!

Our friends from Church have been bringing us dinner every night this week (a girl could DEFINITELY get used to that kind of pampering!) and on Tuesday my friend, Wendy, brought her boys and we all ate together. Carson loved having boys to play with and really did quite well sharing his toys with Brendan and Caleb. Here, they all tried to squish into Carson's football chair...
When we eat, the last step before getting up from the table is to wipe your mouth and your hands. Brendan was eating very S-L-O-W-L-Y and Carson was getting impatient to get back to playing...so Carson kept taking Brendan's napkin and wiping his mouth for him! It was SO funny, sort of a "You're done, let's go!" message. Wendy and I couldn't stop laughing...by the time I thought to get the camera, Carson stopped doing it.

The pediatrician ordered a BUNCH of labs to check for diseases and also to measure titers for the immunizations Carson received in China. Carson and I went to the outpatient lab Tuesday evening after Wendy and the boys left (figured it was better to ruin his evening than to go in the morning and ruin a whole day). He was all personality and smiles when we arrived...even hugged the security guard as I was filling out paperwork in the admission area...but, boy, that was one tough appointment!

I am a pediatric nurse who has to put IVs in kids every day at work. I also hold kids while other nurses insert IVs, so I'm fairly familiar with the techniques to immobilize a child. I'm not even kidding you when I say Carson was, by far, the most terrified and difficult-to-immobilize child I have EVER encountered. When he saw the tubes for the blood -- not a needle, just the tubes -- there was absolute TERROR in his face. He screamed and fought as if he was fighting for his life. The nurse had to draw 9 or 10 tubes full of blood...it took four attempts to get all of it. He screamed and sweated for the entire time we were there...about 45 minutes! After the nurse's first attempt (when she just had me holding Carson on my lap AND immobilizing his arm), she had to get two more nurses to help me hold him! I was honestly afraid he was going to have a heart attack...I have NEVER seen a child so petrified in my life!

Since Daddy was back at work and Meggie was back at school (or "sa-cooool" as Carson puts it), Tuesday was the first day Carson and I really bonded -- I got lots of unsolicited kisses on Tuesday and we really had a great day. I was SO AFRAID I had blown that with this horrible visit to the lab. But, good-natured kid that he is, once the needles and tubes were put away, he accepted his stickers and a lollipop with a gracious "Gangk you!" and left the lab smiling and chattering...with his cheeks stained with dried tears. What a trouper! AND he and I were still friends...he kissed me as I was putting him in the car seat!

Wednesday, we went to visit my dear friend, Paula, and her son Malachi for a play date. To say that the boys had fun would truly be an understatement. Paula has so much to teach me about being the Mama of a wild and crazy boy! She created a free-for-all, wrestle-fest, tickle-party, scream-like-loons atmosphere for the boys that made me feel old and crotchety in comparison. A few pics...

The boys running around in the bubbles
(yes, Paula put the bubble machine on the entertainment center and let 'em at it...claims it's the only way her carpets get shampoo'd!!)

Paula wrestling with Malachi...
while Carson screams and beats her with a Nemo balloon!Malachi standing still long enough for one quick pic...
then back to Balloon Wars!!
(Never could get the boys to stop moving long enough to pose together!)
Carson and Malachi attacking Paula in Wrestle Fest!

Needless to say, Carson was asleep in his car seat before we got out of Paula's subdivision!! Unfortunately, on the way home from Paula and Malachi's, we had a tire blowout on the highway! Thankfully, it was a rear tire and I was able to maintain control and get out of the lanes of travel...not something you want to happen with a four-year-old in the minivan! So Carson got to enjoy the perils of sitting on the highway, waiting for rescue. Super fun!!

Thursday, Grandpa B. stopped by for a visit...Carson was THRILLED!!! He got really excited and seemed to remember Grandpa...or "Gram-PA!" as he calls him...from the weekend. They were so cute together...and it gave me time to do a load of laundry while they played.

A little after Grandpa arrived, my friend Nikki and her girls, Brooke and Quinn, showed up for a visit. Again, Carson did well sharing his toys...and he would have shared whether he liked it or not 'cause Brooke is a strong-willed young lady who made SURE she got her share of the fun! Nikki and I almost cried, this was so cute...
...our young geniuses, reading a book together!! Isn't that ADORABLE?? Carson also took good care of Quinn (who is 7 months old) and kept bringing her toys as she laid on the floor. What a gentleman!

We decided to take the kids to lunch at Chick-Fil-A and let them play in the indoor playground. Brooke was very brave, climbing up and sliding down the slide. Carson spent a lot of his time whining and pouting. In his defense, there were a LOT of bigger boys in there who were being quite wild. Since that was the case, the girls in the playground decided to play a game of stay-away-from-the-boys. So, every time the boys would come near Carson, they would growl and shout at him (sort of a "Come-on-and-join-us!!" kind of shout). Every time the girls would come near Carson, they would shriek and run away. Poor Carson didn't know what was going on...these kids were all acting way too crazy for his taste!

Friday morning, Carson had an appointment with an orthopedic specialist. The good news about Pretzel Boy...the doctor doesn't want to do surgery, at least not yet. Carson will be fitted for ankle-foot orthotics (AFOs) -- splints that will fit inside his shoes and help to direct his feet the way feet SHOULD work. He will also be starting physical and occupational therapy as soon as I can get him in...should be a HUGE help! All-in-all, the doctor was pretty impressed with what Carson COULD do and really not too worried about what he couldn't do, leg- and foot-wise. We're going to try the AFOs and therapy and see this doctor again in three months.

As far as his arms, though, the news was a little worse than I expected. As I've said before, Carson will use table edges, arm rests, or his knees to prop his hands up to eat. This is his preferred way to drink from a sippy cup...
...sitting it on the table, then pulling it toward him as he kneels or bends down so gravity will help him get a drink. We've been trying to encourage him to use his arms and pick the cup up...in fact (horrible parents that we are), we've been telling him he's being a lazy boy when he drinks off the edge of a table.

The orthopedic doctor suspects that Carson has either muscle or nerve damage in his arms that makes active bending of his arms impossible for him. He can tolerate passive bending...if I push his arms to a bent position...but he simply cannot power his arms to do that basic bending movement! We got a referral to a neurologist who will test Carson's arms to figure out why he cannot bend them...but the orthopedic doc said typically there is nothing they can do to fix this. Wow. Didn't expect to hear that kind of finality! Of course, Carson is one determined little guy who figured out at a very young age that table edges, arm rests, and knees are great props for his eating efforts...I'm thinking OT and PT are gonna teach him amazing adaptive methods that he never dreamed of!

After our orthopedic visit, we headed over to the main hospital to visit my department. Carson was, of course, a HUGE hit! He was hamming it up with everybody and got stickers, lollipops, and more attention than a spoiled boy needs! He was hugging people, giving high-fives, sitting on laps...basically working the crowd with his usual charms! We meant to have a quick visit...ended up staying for TWO HOURS!! When we visited my friends Jamie and Sherry in the mobile MRI trailer, he very quickly found the toy drawer. Jamie was trying to steer him toward playing with boy-friendly toys...no dice. He HAD to play with this...
Oh, you can't see it? How 'bout a close-up...

...yes, folks, he wanted the Barbie doll with the purple stilletto heels!! (I'm sorry, Kevin, we REALLY tried to discourage it!!) Ever the boy, though, Carson ended up using the doll's legs as a gun and shooting Jamie repeatedly in the face, which made the stillettos fall off and cracked him up endlessly...so, really, he made the doll into a boy-friendly toy after all! Too funny!!

Friday night, Kevin's family had a shower for us. At first I thought it was weird to wait 'til we got home to do a shower...but it WAS fun for Carson to be there and get to meet everybody! He really had a great time...especially opening presents and making a mess with gift bag stuffing and wrapping paper!! A slide show of the evening's festivities...

In case you missed it, yes, my in-laws decided to get my four-year-old son a MOTORCYCLE!!!!! Yikes! Here's a very blurry pic of him riding it with cousin Alex helping him steer...
...while Mama tried very hard not to have a HEART ATTACK!!!! He may have to get a little more controlled on that thing before I can watch again!

This morning, Carson spent a couple of hours with Aunt Debbie and Uncle Brandon...I worried that he might cry or have a fit. Nope! He actually had a great time (especially since Uncle Brandon is a four-year-old in a grown man's body, so they played GREAT together!) and it was a good experiment to see how he would do with a babysitter. Debbie took some pics...if she e-mails them to me, I'll post 'em. (Hint, hint, Aunt Debbie!!)

Sleep is still not going well...whenever Carson rolls over in bed and wakes himself up, even a little bit, he'll cry. It makes for many bleary-eyed visits to his room throughout the night! Thankfully, he naps in the afternoon...so if we have a bad night, Mama naps too!! In Carson's defense, he's only been in the U.S. for nine days and I'm sure it's got to be rough on his little body to adjust to the 13 hour time difference!!

He's picking up more and more English words and starting to work pretty well with our routines at home. Unfortunately, since we had outings EVERY day this week, his routine has included craziness as well. We're going to try to tone that back BIG TIME this week and just have some quiet days with Mama...I think maybe we'll have a Play-Doh party and see how he likes making a mess!

A few funny stories from the week...

• When Carson washes his hands (which he used to HATE), we chant a little song I made up. So we "Rub-rub-rub!" the soap, then we "Rinse-rinse-rinse!" in the water, then we "Dry-dry-dry!" with the towel. (OK, so I'm no lyricist, but it gets the point across and makes handwashing more fun for him!!) The other day, after getting off the potty, Carson said, "Han wush" (aka "hand wash"). It took me a second, and I looked at him quizzically trying to figure out if he was speaking Chinese or English. He looked at me as if I were a complete moron and said, "Mama...rub-rub-rub, dry-dry-dry!" Duh, Mama!!
• When Carson goes potty, we always praise his efforts with, "Good boy!" At the orthopedic clinic on Friday, I had to go to the bathroom. We went into a stall together. After he did his business, I sat down on the toilet to do mine while I was adjusting his pants. When he heard me going to potty, he tilted his head sidewise, smiling and squinting his eyes, and said, "Goooo bo-wee!!" Too funny!!
• When Carson has his teeth brushed, he always has to show Mama. My response is always, "Oh, how beautiful!" and he laughs. Now, when he sees me brush my teeth, he'll demand an "Eeeeeeeee" so he can see my pearly whites...and respond with, "Ah, how booooo-eee-ful!"
  

OK, this post is bordering on the Great American Novel, so guess I'll sign off for now! Oops..almost forgot the traditional ending...

Sadly, this is the only pic of my kids together this week...the weirdness of big sister is spreading to silly little brother!! Thanks for checking in!!