Wednesday, July 29, 2009

The Start of School


Hanging out with Duke the Dragon


Splashing on the Water Park Dolphin



A fun-filled Splash Ball afternoon




Who's supposed to be guiding this plane?!




First day of Goddard School for Dylan


Things are continuing to progress along at home as the days pass. We originally had planned not to start Dylan at Goddard until August 17th, but he appeared to be getting bored at home and really missed Kyle, so he started school this past Monday. He looked so excited with his new lunch bag and sleeping bag. Kyle was also very excited to have his "Didi" finally going to school with him.

They are studying Florida this week, so it has been a week filled with fun Disney activities, the Alligator Tales man who told stories at school, swamp building and of course, Kyle's favorite activity: splash day. Dylan is slowly taking it all in. He had a rough morning yesterday when he realized that Mom was not attending school with him, but seemed to get over that fairly quickly. I think that the days are pretty long for him (7:15 - 5), so it will take a little more time to adapt. However, all of the kids in the class are very kind to him, and Kyle has been amazing in teaching him how to do things and the rules of the classroom. Kyle usually gives me the full progress report on both of them each evening! He has found his calling as the Father Hen.

As we did Boot Camp Potty Training with Kyle, we enrolled Dylan in Boot Camp Sleeping Camp last week!! Finally, late in the week, he spent one night by himself but then later wandered into the spare bedroom where he neatly tucked himself into the bed in there and fell asleep. The following night, he made it all through the night in his own bed and in his own room (yeah!) He has never looked back since. I think that he finally feels comfortable in his room. He and Kyle spend about an hour talking themselves to sleep at night. It's pretty funny, as Dylan is talking mainly in Chinese and Kyle is answering him in English (having probably no idea what he is saying), but they seem to have an excellent time together. They also usually entertain themselves with a light show from Kyle's circus spinner.

We continue to keep busy on the weekends. Two weekends ago, we went to Dutch Wonderland and had a great time in both the water park and on the rides. As Dylan is the daredevil, he had to ride some of the spinning, faster rides. He even wanted to ride the roller coaster, but was not tall enough. He and Kyle had a great time on any rides that they could do together. Kyle is also riding many more rides, in order to keep up with Dylan. He is slowly overcoming his fears which has been terrific. Kyle is also already planning our next trip to Disney World, so he can show Dylan all of his favorite rides there.

Last weekend, we went down to Cape May Beach. Unfortunately, the surf was so rough and the waves so high, the boys could only go in very close to the shore. We also forgot how rocky the beach line was (we miss Myrtle Beach sand!) They did a little bit of boogie boarding and then wave riding, but Dylan is still very afraid of the water washing over his head, so he hung back while Kyle did more swimming. They spent the majority of the day on the beach playing in the sand, watching boats zipping by, and advertising planes flying by. The beach was filled with seaweed, so they had a fun time planning with Dad and throwing it all around.

Dylan's English skills continue to increase. He only uses one word at a time, but he seems to really understand things that we are telling him and/or asking him to do. A combination of hand gestures also helps! He is already starting to count and has learned alot of his A,B, Cs. He makes Charlie read him Thomas the Train books nightly; I think that Charlie can recite the songs by heart now, so don't be surprised if you hear him break into one soon - ha.ha. Dylan also really likes cows, so we've had to do several visits to Freddy's Farm to visit all the animals that are out behind the ice cream parlor. I don't know if he had cows around his foster home or not, but he really seems to identify with them!

We are heading to MI tomorrow for a week to see my family and have them meet Dylan. We can't wait.

I am attaching some pictures here of some of our latest adventures!

Friday, July 17, 2009

Home Again























Hi all:

Lisa here (not sure why I have to post that, but Charlie likes us to "introduce" ourselves as we post - ha.ha)

It's been awhile since we have last posted. It took awhile to try and get re-settled upon our return home, after almost 3 1/2 weeks on the road!

We arrived back home on Friday, July 10th after flights from Honolulu to Minneapolis, another 5 hr. layover in Minneapolis (again not recommended for 2 three year olds especially when landing at 5 a.m. in the morning!), then on to Philadelphia. Luckily, we had in-seat movie/on-demand entertainment from Honolulu to Minneapolis, so Kyle and Dylan had fun trying out the movies and music over and over again. I also have one recommendation for NWA - don't put your flight attendant call buttons right at hand level for small children. Dylan thought it was fun to ring his about 20 times. I told the stewards repeatedly to stop coming to our row, but to him it was a game to get the light on!!

This week, we have tried to get back to a normal schedule again. On Monday, Charlie went back to work and Kyle went back to Goddard. Both were ready to get back on their own schedules again, even if it means a 5:30 a.m. rise.

Dylan is another story. He is having major sleeping issues. He and Kyle share a room, but he refuses to go to sleep at night. I have to be with him for him to go to bed, then it takes anywhere from 1-3 hrs. for him to fall asleep and for me to be able to leave. Then he will awaken multiple times in the night screaming and crying for me until I appear. I have taken to sleeping on the floor in their room off/on at all times during the night (yes, it is a little hard and lumpy!) Dylan seems to be afraid of something at night (probably just change and a big house now), but it makes us both walking zombies all week, as we are dead tired by Noon most days. Hopefully, in the next week or two, we'll be able to start weaning that behavior a bit. He also doesn't believe in naps most days, so today is one of his extra cranky days!

This week, we had 4 straight days of Doctor appointments ranging from the pediatrician, to the CHOP urologist to the CHOP international adoption team. Overall, he is in quite healthy condition (all bloodwork came back normal, all tests came back normal). He had all of his boosters again in the US, as the pediatrician doesn't fully rely upon the Chinese immunizations. He'll be scheduled for his CHOP surgery in September, to get those issues taken care of.

We are working on boundary issues on not running into the street, not putting magnets in the "on" stove area, not throwing things in the house at anyone. Yesterday, he was hanging off the laundry tub in the laundry room; I guess increasing his arm strength! He has alot to learn with just daily activities of what is allowed and what is not, but seems to be picking up things fairly quickly. He finally is doing much better at sitting in a chair for dinner at home or in a restaurant. He used to want to get up after eating, but now can sit for a few extra minutes. He did his first Brazzo run last night. He and Kyle must have waved to the waitress 10 times during the meal.

He now has "Tigger" and "Pooh" down very well from recognizing them on his Crocs, to his placemat to asking for the Disney show on TV with them in it. He wants it on all the time today, so we'll have monitor our viewings!! He is also walking around with a Leapfrog Alphabet magnet playing it 20 times plus a day, as he is learning the alphabet. He has a few letters down already, and is starting to count to 5 pretty well.

He has quickly adapted to the pets. Initially, he was very scared of our dog, Murphy and especially scared of the cats, Misty and Mocha. Now, he spends a lot of time saying hi to them and following them. He even takes pictures of Misty with his fake camera. The pets are not super appreciative of the noisy toys that are always "on" and the constant action in the house, but they are adapting pretty well. Misty even races the boys to their beds at night, and then sprawls herself out on their built-in bookcases.

This weekend, if the weather holds, we hope to do some activities outdoors as a family. Hopefully, that will help him burn some energy off. His attention span at this time is about 5 min. per toy or event, so that is a little hard to get used to (again).

We are still going through more pictures from China (appears that we took 600-700 of them) so we'll post a few more, once Charlie has time. I am going to attempt to post a picture of Dylan on his "bike" from China + a few other shots. We got these pictures back when I had the orphanage/foster parent pictures developed. I will assume that this is the foster parent's "bike."

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Tuesday Night Update - More Photos...

Hi there, C here,

Here are some more photos of the crew...

The boys mugging in Shenyang



In the Park in Dalian City (I think Dylan may have thought this horse was real!)



Big Brother showing Little Brother how to wear swim Goggles!




At the Medical Clinic in GZ just after D-man's Exam...
(We have an identical photo of Kyle when we first adopted him - same pose!!)



The fellas enjoying a quick lunch of Ramen Noodles in GZ.
It was very obvious that Dylan had had these before.
He got every last noodle out of the cup before he would hand it over!



Lisa made me take this one - It's Chairman Mao, in Shenyang.
(He was a lot taller than I thought!)



While we toured the Forbidden City in Shenyang, we stopped for a photo in front of the theater stage in one of the courtyards. This man insisted that he be in our photo, to the sheer entertainment of his group of touring friends. The most excellent MV took this photo.
There were more cameras pointed AT US in the Shenyang Forbidden City, than at any of the other sights during this trip.
A bit unnerving for young Kyle - no bother for the rest of us!



A great candid shot of the Mom's Boy's touring the Mansion of one of the Great Generals of the Revolution.



Yesterday, we took a drive up along the North Shore, making a giant circle of the Island. Our first stop was the North Shore Martketplace.

Here are the boys...



Of course, we stopped for Shave Ice at Matsumoto's, just down the road...



We had a really nice time - good weather - we visited a couple of nice beaches.
He also had lunch at the Turtle Bay Resort at the tip of the North Shore.
He took the highway (H3) back to civilization.

Today we visited the Sea Life Park (where the movie "50 First Dates" - chick flick - was filmed). The boys had another meltdown free day, and we drove home the LONG way. The Park is on the far eastern tip of Oahu, but we drove back along Kamenamena Hwy along the water - another breathtaking drive. Not to worry though, Lisa was there to make sure I kept my eyeballs on the road: "Watch the line!", "This guy's stopping!", Watch it - he's going to pull right out in front of you!" ...you get the idea.
Seriously, we had a really nice day. We supped at the North Shore Marketplace (Breaker's) and enjoyed smoothies from Jamba Juice down near the highway.

Here are some photos from today:

Just after the Dolphin Show, Mom and the Boys posed in front of the tank:



Kyle and Mom getting a chance to touch a live turtle (1 yr. old) while Dylan hung back...



Feeding the Giant Hawaiian Sea Turtles:



At the end of the day a truly miraculous shot of the family (given the fraying emotional state of affairs):



Here is a parting shot for all of you...last night's sunset as seen from our balcony.



With that I'm headed off to sleep...more stories and photos, soon...

Monday, July 6, 2009

R & R in Hawaii (Part 2)

...Jump down to my last post to see new photos...

Hi again.
I just wanted to get some of these posted before too long (and before anything happened with my connection...)

We are coming to you tonight (Sun. evening) from the Marriott Ko Olina Resort where we've been enjoying some well-deserved (and somewhat stress-free) downtime and family bonding time.

So at this point, young Dylan figures that he's been adopted by a wandering tribe of nomads, who only stay in one place for a few days before packing up and getting on another airplane for some new destination. He's been in more hotel rooms in the last two weeks than Lisa and I have in the last two years! Imagine his little brain trying to process what's happening...

We're hopeful that every morning he wakes up and sees all of us, at least he feels comfortable and that he can trust us to take care of him. There will be plenty of time later for routines and structure. Certainly not on this journey!

A few Disneyland notes...
In "Small World" a favorite of both D & K, every time Dad pointed to an item of interest, young Dylan would nod approvingly three times. It meant one of two things:
(A) - "Yes, Dad, thanks for pointing that out. I do enjoy looking at it."
(B) - "OK, Dad, that's enough pointing. I'm not blind, I'm just being polite."

There seemed to be a confusing (to me) overabundance of the "Stitch" character? Perhaps positive test marketing and focus groups were the cause - but the effect was a little disturbing - what the he** is "Stitch" anyway?? It's no wonder attendance is down...

We are thankful for the downtime here in Hawaii. The Tokyo layover was brutal. Meltdowns were plentiful (we had 6 hours to kill!). In general, airports were a challenge, juggling Strollers, three carry-on bags, Starbucks Coffees, and oh yeah...two squirming three-year-olds! As soon as we get home, Lisa and are will be putting the4 finishing touches on our new Cirqe-du-Soleil juggling act - look for it this fall in a theater new you.

The last days in GZ were fun - you know about the Zoo...
But we forgot to tell you about the RATS.
No fancy cages, carefully planned exhibits or expensive habitats - just rats!
Running free and enjoying the zoo - just like us.
Miss Helen, not sure of the degree of OUR OWN domestication asked: "Have you ever seen a Rat up close?"
Perhaps the rats were running to stay one step ahead of the feral cats we also saw patrolling the shadows behind the cages and exhibits!

It must be cultural, because both boys have a keen sense of smell!
Did we mention that GZ was hot?? On our many walks we wandering behind several restaurants, and the stench of garbage was heavy in the air in some places.
When encountering any foul odor, Kyle, ever the diplomat, blurted out "Something Stinks, Daddy!" Almost at the same instant (without even knowing what Kyle was saying...), Dylan's little hand shot up so that his fingers could pinch his nose shut!

Hawaii has been fun so far. We've been staying close to the hotel, eating breakfast at the nice Buffet, and Lunch & Dinner out. We've hit Zippy's (don't laugh - Special K ate his entire pizza, while Lisa and I choked down a Grilled Cheese and burger, respectively) which is a local favorite, and Pizza Hut (same as it ever was...).

Last night we watched 4th of July fireworks (shot off from the "Wet-n-Wild Hawaii") from the Home Depot parking Lot across the highway. There were about 30 other carloads of people that joined us!

The hotel has a nice pool and there are four protected and sheltered lagoons nearby with sandy beaches for swimming and fun.

Last night was not a good one for K-man (bigtime tantrum at Bedtime, one for the record books). So as Dylan began acting up at Dinnertime tonight, Kyle says, "Dylan's not going to start with this tonight, Mommy!" The epitome of the pot calling the Kettle black!!

This afternoon we visited the Dole Pineapple Plantation where we had a nice morning. We took a narrated train tour of the working plantation that thrilled both Kyle and Dylan. We picked up a couple of small items on the way out and took the long way home. Mission accomplished - about halfway down the foothills, they both fell asleep. The quite time was priceless for Lisa and me...

We continued to drive right past the resort and on up the west coast of the island, just to keep the quiet time going. We also snuck a couple of McD's sundaes on the way - please don't tell the boys - they didn't even wake up!

We'll try to catch up with more photos soon.

Tomorrow we're driving up to the North Shore to have a day out with a picnic lunch.

Good night all.
C

Sunday, July 5, 2009

R&R in Hawaii...

Hi everyone, C here.

Before I start writing, some long-promised photos...

Dylan & Kyle in their 4th of July gear!



The family in front of the Dalian SWI (Dylan's Orphanage)



Kyle & Dad goofing around on a skateboarding sculpture at the Dalian "at the sea" Park:



With Buzz Lightyear (of Start Command) at Disneyland Hong Kong:



At the GZ Zoo in front of the Bear Exhibit:



Mom & Dylan at the GZ Zoo



Dad & the Guys at the GZ Zoo



Mom and the Men on the HKD Carousel



Mom & K-man at the top of the Pearl Tower in Shanghai (just prior to Mom's breakdown - she's very afraid of heights!)



TODAY at the Dole Pineapple Plantation here in Oahu:



I'll continue in a moment...

C

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Hong Kong Arrival

Hi all:

Lisa here. Contrary to what some of you may have thought that I am sleeping or baby-sitting the kids all of the time, I finally have a few minutes of free time. I am in the Bistro area of the Marriott Sky City Hotel in HK and it's beautiful. The hotel is brand new and we have a great room with a view. I was trying to arrange for our boarding passes tomorrow via the internet, but no such luck (what has been easy on this trip so far - NOTHING!!). There are no "open" seats, so I guess we'll need to re-arrange once we hit the airport in the a.m. It's going to be a long day -- we fly from HK to Tokyo at 8:20 a.m. and then we have about a 7 hour layover before leaving for Honolulu on an overnight flight. We also gain a day going back into the states, which is kind of cool.

We left Guangzhou around 11:30 this morning, arrived in HK at 12:30 and bolted to our hotel, which is literally 5 minutes from the airport. Then we grabbed a cab and went over to Disneyland, which was about 15 minutes away. It was kind of a "rush" tour through the park, after very long days in Guangzhou. The temps were in the high 80's at least with very high humidity. Based on those factors, no real lunch and no naps, we only had a few mini-meltdowns!!! Dylan, in particular, is now at the stage that he cannot leave Charlie's sight or hand. He wants to be carried alot, so poor Charlie was roasting in the heat, carrying Dylan and a backpack!!! Then, at certain times, Kyle decided he needed only Charlie, too (can I say that was tons of fun?!!!) Anyway, Dylan LOVED the rides. We did the Jungle Cruise, Small World (both were enthralled with that), Pooh (another fave), the Carousel (Kyle actually got on that twice!), Buzz Lightyear, Dylan did flying rockets and I took Kyle on the race cars (that are electric here, so no gas smell!) The boys also loved Mickey's Philharmonic show (the 3-D show). The highlight was probably when Buzz Lightyear appeared, took Kyle's hand and walked him over to the picture area. Dylan was initially crying, but then thought "hey, this is pretty cool" so we got a decent picture. Overall, it was a fun trip. It was actually pretty crowded today vs. the last time that we were here.

The boys are doing very well together most of the time. Dylan has to do EVERYTHING that Kyle does - he is learning really, really fast in terms of just doing things and also speaking. He will even repeat Kyle's sentences at times. He is very funny and very smart. If one of us disciplines him, he will immediately go to the other parent. He also has a look that definitely says "if looks could kill." He will definitely be one of the athletes of the family; he can climb anything and everything and he is very strong. He does not like to hold hands and walk normally, so that is a super challenge. He is either pulling an arm or laying on the ground, running off or crying to be held. That will take some time to get used to, I guess. Kyle definitely likes being the big brother and was extremely helpful especially today, when we needed someone to grab a stroller or push it or hold a bag. He is really super with that when we run out of extra arms!!!

Dylan is definitely potty-trained, but is still wearing pull-ups for now, until we can get on a regular schedule. He has learned to say "potty" quite clearly or just do the dance!

Well, must run for now, I am dead tired and we have a super long day ahead of us tomorrow.

Will catch you all when we get to Hawaii!!

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Our Last night in GZ...

Hi everyone,
C here...again.

Mom is upstairs trying to settle K & D into a slumber before it's tool late.

We leave the hotel tomorrow morning at 9AM headed for the airport, and a late morning flight to Hong Kong.
We expect to have enough time to dump the bags at our hotel and head off to Hong Kong Disneyland for a few hours.
We think we'll have enough time to have a full day, since they are open late.
(PS -  Don't tell Kyle or Dylan - it's a secret.)

We're a bit sentimental about our second trip to GZ and the White Swan.
The first time around, there were 10 other families and things always seemed so hectic.
"Do we have everyone?" "Does everyone have their babies & Passports?"
Today we'll be visiting _____".  There really wasn't a lot of downtime.
This time around was much more laid back, we got a chance to get off the island to the Zoo, but most of the rest of the time was family time, for us.  It was good bonding time and fun time, especially at the pool.  But this time it was just different, maybe not dramatically better or worse, but different.
Lisa would probably say that we were bored at times but sometimes that kind of empty time is good if the alternative is go-go-go.
Anyway, although we're sad to leave such a nice place, leaving means we're heading homeward.
This is a good thing.

Today was Dylan's "swearing in" ceremony, which was done at the US Consulate in downtown GZ.
I remember the walk from the bus into the building for Kyle's ceremony very clearly.
It is still a difficult emotion to explain - the moment that you see Our Flag in a an official capacity, in a foreign country.
(I probably wrote about it in Kyle's blog - since it was a first time experience...)
It's pride...it's comfort...it's English...it's a whole lot of things rolled into one.
You really need to be here to experience it first-hand.  My descriptions would not do it justice.

Our guide MJ assisted us into a large waiting room with 20 or so windows at the front (much like bank teller stations.)
We were first off the bus and, because we were traveling alone with our guide, we were able to hustle inside to be first in line.
Lisa handed over our US Passports, the agent behind the glass figured we looked enough like those horrible photos that he let us sit down.  It took maybe 20 minutes for the other 40 families to get seated and situated.  It was heart-warming to look around the large room and see a very broad mix of people, all proud as could be and all here for the same reason.
Lisa took Dylan's oath this time, since Kyle and I were permanently attached 2 and a half years ago.
She did wonderfully and as quick as it started, it was over. Short - Yes...Profound - Absolutely.
She leaned over to me and as we looked at each others' moist eyes, we pecked out a quick kiss.
It was a great experience this time as well.
The boys were oblivious and we were quickly yanked back to reality as Kyle was trying to tell us that Dylan had just dropped a raisin on the floor and picked it up and ate it. "Goss!" shouted Kyle. (i.e. "Gross")
I'm surprised that raisin hit the floor at all, given the way Dylan is with food!

A funny Dylan story...

The past few times we called to speak to Grandmom & Pop-Pop Lockhead ("the ones that live next to us" as Kyle likes to call them), I have emphatically tried to have Dylan right by the phone to say his name for them.  Wanting to please us, he has noticed that when we were on the phone with GM & PP, he stayed near the phone and shouted out "Dylan Lockhead", in his little Dylan voice.

After bath time tonight, Lisa asked me to call housekeeping to get two fresh new towels for the morning. As I sat near the phone ready to call, I saw Dylan and Kyle playing with their Play-Doh across the room.  I tuned my back to dial, and no sooner did I finish dialing did I hear loudly from over my right shoulder "Dylan Lockhead"!!

Apparently, due to Pavlovian conditioning, any time we pick up the phone for any reason, Dylan see it and makes his way quickly to the handset to offer "Dylan Lockhead."  Lisa and I laughed for 10 minutes as we took turns picking up the phone to a chorus of "Dylan Lockhead".

Very funny.

We had dinner tonight at La Dolce Vita again.  Good meal, reasonable prices.

On the way home we had our final night of "stroller races" on the 11th floor of the White Swan.
The hotel is shaped like a flattened diamond, with the elevator bank in the middle.
The hallway is continuous and circles the floor.  So no matter which way you turn off the elevator, you can still get to our room.
(We're about 3/4 of the way down one of the legs of the diamond.)
For the last few nights, as soon as the elevator doors open on 11 (hopefully no one is waiting to get on!!) Dad grabs the stroller and passenger has has for that night and races the "long way" to the room.  When I say races, I really do means RUNS (to both Kyle's and Dylan's delight).  Mom goes the short way, sometimes trots, but most times just walks quickly.  It is really a lot of fun for the whole family. Like it was tonight, it's usually a tie, but by my count, Kyle was ahead for the week.
Congratulations Special-K!!

It taken me an hour to pound this episode out, so I need to get moving.
Sleep awaits.  Flights and a Big Day tomorrow.  Tomorrow night in Hong Kong.
The next day is a travel day from Hong Kong to Tokyo (long Layover!) then on to Honolulu and the US of A.

I am hopeful that we'll be able to post some photos once we get to Hawaii, since we've been stockpiling them!

I'm not sure when we'll post next, but until then we hope everyone has a safe couple of days and we'll talk to you when we talk to you.

Thanks for following along.
C