The Story of Max

November is National Holiday month!!

2011-11-06T04:53:00.000-08:00

There are a lot of national holidays in Panama during the month of November: November 3 (Independence Day) and November 4 (Flag Day) are the main national holidays. On November 3, there was a HUGE parade, which showcased all of the public offices, schools, and other groups who wanted to be recognized (aka, protesters who wanted the limelight). It was mandatory for all schools to participate. All of the Directoras marched, and the call went out for volunteers to join. Around 25 students and over 30 facutly members decided to particpate as well. It was quite the show. The parade started at 8:45ish with all of the municipal offices, but the schools didn't go through until 1:00ish! It was a long, hot, sunny day. Then torrential dowpour! But fun, nonetheless, and thoroughly entertaining!

Waiting in the shade!

The National Band

Waiting with noise maker

Notice the water bottle? It was for the dogs!! Little showers for feet go a long way!

Tipico!!

A colorful "monster" steals children from the crowd!! Had to go chasing after them. All in good fun.

Can you imagine walking a parade in these shoes??

Some of Panama's oldest buildings

The Presidential Palace - the entire parade goes by the Palace and perform for the president.

Someone very important. Of course we can't see who it is because the windows are tinted. Is there anyone even in there? One would never know!

So cool!

The Directoras of Colegio Brader

Tipico

2011-10-21T11:00:00.000-07:00

Max and I went to see Brader's Tipico Dance performance. It was organized by one man, the school's upper school history teacher. He had about 90 students who VOLUNTEERED to be part of this. I found it absoultely fabulous and charming how students here get involved to celebrate their customs. A typical "tipico" is a series of dances that either involve a couple or lots of dancing pairs. Basically, the girl is flirtateous, and the boy tries to get the girl. The costumes are very elaborate, and in a real tipico, are usually made by hand, and are incredibly detailled and intricate. The music is loud and rythmic, which Max just loved. And as you can imagine, there is an amazing amount of "bling": the jewlery, the colors, the hair decorations. All are carefully put together to put the a best foot forward. It's very fun to see young people embracing it, and preserving a big piece of their culture.

Other than that, it's so amazing how life turns into regular routine no matter where you are! And that's exactly what it feels like right now. Get up, breakfast, Max and I get dressed, I leave, Katy gets Max on the bus, school, a combination of speech therapy, Spanish classes and going to the park or the gym take up our afternoons. Dinner around 6:30, bedtime by 7:30, quiet house by 8:30 - hopefully!! Of course everything is so much easier because of Katy! She and Max are quite the pair. Max loves her to pieces, but he also knows what buttons to push. Besides cleaning the house, and caring for Max, Katy does little things that mean the world to us: refills the lemonade pitcher, empties the groceries, and of course so many things. The list goes on and on. It will be VERY hard to switch back when we move back to the States. But for now, it is a lovely treat.

I am finding myself really missing the fall: the cooler weather, the shorter days, a good soup on the stove, rain boots, and yes, Halloween. I know Seattle is probably covered by that eternal rain cloud just about now, but I miss being able to be wrapped up in a warm sweater and drink a cup of tea aftet dinner. Sigh.

Here are some pictures of a recent weekend with our friend, Titi. I got to ride a horse!!!! Super fun.

A boy and his Spiderman kite!

Can this picture be any LESS flattering???

More observations

2011-09-27T10:56:00.000-07:00

Not a day goes by without me thinking: "Oh, I should write that down!" So here are a few random thoughts:

Avocados are actually juicy here! Blueberries are not. :)
Max: "Jess, are we going in for dinner?" (Instead of going out!)
I brought 7 shirts and pants to the ironing lady. It was $2.50!
This is the land of slow moving security gates. All of them are on a clicker system, and all of them open at a snail's pace! So any time you think you've made up time, and might get there only slightly late, forget it! You'll be stuck behind the security gate for a few minutes! :)
Speaking of getting somewhere on time, no need! No one is on time here. Max and I showed up for a birthday party the other day. The invitation read 10:30. So, the punctual American showed up at... 10:30!! Everyone else showed up around 11:30. Sigh... :)
Doctors here are cash only! In fact, lots of things are cash only, so for someone who NEVER carried cash, that's been an adjustment.
The local pharmacy wraps birthday presents for you for free! And they do a MUCH better job than I ever would!
Everyone calls teachers and administrators "Teacher" here, so I am "Teacher Yessi"! So cute!!

All for now! Lots of love!

Spanish is slowly kicking in

2011-09-20T07:22:00.000-07:00

Max is definitely making progress in learning Spanish. He is aware of the difference between the languages, that there is English (what Mommy and Max speak), and that there is Spanish, a language that others speak. He often times gets frustrated and, yes, sad, that people don't understand him. It's heartbraking at times, but he truly is a trooper and still enjoys hanging out with other kids at school. Now that he is showing awaress of both languages, I'll start introducing flash cards at home, so that he can communicate with Katy better. But communication has been his challenge from day one, so this doesn't seem like it's too unfamiliar to him. He is quite resourceful, and tries different ways to get his poitns across.

Something cute happened this morning. Max was playingwith some play dough, and was trying to tell me in what I now call Max-lish. Max: Jess, it's a -urle. Me: It's a squirrel?? Max:No, it's an animal that swims in water. Me: oh, it's a turtle. Max: yes, a turtle.He goes over and grabs Katy (our nany), and says: Katy, come look at my turtle. It's ananimal that swims in agua!! Unprompted SPANISH!!!!!! Yes!!!!!! I was so excited for him.

More beach.... I know - life is so rough!!

2011-09-17T06:41:00.000-07:00

We just had a week of vacation, so Car, Andrew, David, Harry (the dog), Max and I went to the beach for a whole week. I took Katy (our nanny) as well, which was great. We had a lovely routine: beach in the morning, pool in the afternoon, nap in hammocks in between.

Is there anything strange in this picture? Husky on a beach??? He loves it, though. Digs his own swimming pool!

Naptime... aaaahhh

Went to a small zoo in El Valle... mountain town.

Near El Valle - really beautiful

Andrew and Max

The mule can go anywhere and is great to transport tired toddlers back and forth from house to beach.

At the beach!

2011-09-12T18:53:00.000-07:00

Some more pics:

Punta Barco

Nothing better than digging at the beach

Husky at the beach... what??

At the Aquarium...

2011-09-12T18:47:00.000-07:00

A PB and J - good anywhere, anytime!

Looking out at the entrance to the Panama Canal

Out of the locks! Really big ship!

On a nature trail with our friend, Illeana

It's been a while

2011-09-09T09:28:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy few weeks here, filled with welcoming a new nanny (yay!!), buying some furniture for the living room (cha-ching$$), and basically having a busy week with school and life in general. It's been good. Here are a few pictures and observations about our life in Panama.

My morning commute

It's beautiful in its own way. My morning commute follows the Coredor Sur, right along the water. If you look out further (not in picture), you'd be able to see a dozen or so huge tankers waiting to go through the Panama Canal. The wait time to go through is 24-48 hours, so the ships just sit there for a while. As you can imagine, there is a huge pollution problem and you would never want to swim in this water, but it's beautiful anyway. The high rises that you see in the distance are a neighborhood of Panama called Costa del Este, and a very new suburb of Panama City.

It's hot!!!

This was one afternoon last week - 97°F. But we are entering the rainy season, with October and November being very wet around here. Streets aren't always constructed with run-off in mind, so there is a lot of flooding. Let's see how my little car does in big puddles!

Shower time at school

Max goes to El Jardin de la Cuadra from 8 until 5:00 M, W, F. T and Th we have speech therapy, so I pick him up at 2:45 in order to make our session by 3:30. Lots of traffic issues already at that time... On his full days, he gets a shower in the afternoon. Isn't that amazing?? Obviously with the weather being so hot, showering the kids in the afternoon helps cool everyone down and freshens everyone up! Everyday, he brings a "lonchera" (lunchbox) for his morning snack, then they feed him a lunch that they prepare, he takes a nap in his PJ's, he gets a shower and changes clothes again. I love it because we don't need to take another shower (unless he gets super sweaty again), and he's not all grungy in his clothes.

Morning meeting at Brader

Every morning, all 3-12th graders gather in the open court yard at Colegio Brader. This picture is of the younger kids gathering, because the older ones had exams all week this week. It's a big part of the school, with the flag raising, the national anthem, and a prayer (Catholic school).

A swimmer needs energy!! PB and J to the rescue!

Max loves to swim, and is not afraid of the water. If he's wearing his swimmies and his goggles, he is unstoppable - diving under by hanging on, swimming in the pool alone, jumping in, etc. I have to really be careful that he doesn't get too comfortable, and forgets his swimmies - that's happened once. I think it was more scary for mommy than it was for Max. "Why do I need air to breathe, Momma?"

I am learning more and more about Max. The other day we attended a book fair at this huge convention center right by our house. It was very crowded with lots of noise and activity. Sure enough, they had a Children's Area, with a jumpy house, some stages, and other children's activities set up. As we walk into this area, a line of children participating in a dance was snaking its way through the convention center. A grown-up extends a hand to Max and he takes it, and joins this dance line. With the crowd and the hustle/bustle of this area, Max and I are separated for a good 10 minutes. He is dancing, I am watching from the sides. He can't see me, but I can see him. This kid did not panic (like I think I would have, if a stranger who didn't speak my native language would have grabbed my hand and pulled me into an activity) and I can see him participating and trying to do the line dance correctly. Then, he gathered with the rest of the participants and got a little prize at the end. It was truly amazing to see him so confident and so comfortable engaging in something that was unfamiliar. Made me one proud momma! :)

We are at the end of our second trimester, and now have a week-long vacation. We are all going to the Beach House in Contadora. Aaaaaahhhh. Will update from there.

Some pictures from last weekend

2011-08-20T19:32:00.000-07:00

Here are some pics from last weekend. Very fun, and Max definitely got his "boy" time with lots of Carolyn's sons and nephews around.

Beautiful horse farm next to the Beach House.

A not-so-good moment

Some places in Panama

2011-08-16T21:18:00.000-07:00

Here are some places of interest in Panama. Click on the map.

So there I was...

2011-08-16T20:35:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was truly an epic day! It was a long weekend, so Car and her family, Max and I went to the beach house in Coronado, about 1 1/2 hours sout west from Panama City. We drove in two cars, because not all of us would fit into Car's car. So, I'm currently driving a Honda Civic, that is totally decked out for teenage sons: low riding, tinted windows, cobalt blue... NICE!! It's the family car of Maggie, one of the owners of Colegio Brader and a good friend. After two very relaxing days of pool and beach, we're ready to head back into the city. But as I start the car, I hear the deafening "click" of a dead battery. UGH. And wouldn't you know it, Car had an appointment in Panama City that afternoon, so we had no minutes to spare. After some quick thinking, Car drives off to buy some jumper cables, and sure enough, the car starts. Max falls asleep 10 minues into the drive, and we're saiiling all the way into the city. I follow Car all the way in, and split off to go to my apartment. All is well, right? Well....

To get to my apartment, I have to take Corredor Sur, a toll highway, with the main part a bridge that spans the over the water. Each side has two lanes, and only a few feet for an emergency lane. I miss my exit, and have to cross this bridge (think 520, Seattle people). I turn around and get back on to the highway. The on ramp has one of these guard rails that is supposed to collapse when tires go over it, and pop any tire that tries to back over it. They were fixing one side last week. They didn't fix it right. I drive over it, and sure enough, hear that all too dreaded hissing sound. I now have to pull over on the Corredor Sur with a flat tire. Thankfully, two maintenance guys come over and help me. In the meantime, I call my friend Tuty, to see if she can come and rescue us as well, even if it's just for moral support. She's on her way (so great!).

The car doesn''t have the correct wrenches, so they can't change the tire easily. Now a tow truck stops by. It turns out this is the Corredor tow truck - it's all he does! So now I am in good hands. Sign language and my pathetically limited amount of Spanish get me by. Tuty arrives. Max is still sleeping in the car.

After $15 of tips (not bad!!), I am now following Tuty back into Panama to find a Bridgestone to get the tire fixed. I pull off the highway, and sure enough, have flat tire #2! Front tire this time. I made it about 2 blocks away to the tire place, and pull over on the side of the street. Another nice guy comes up to us to see if he can help. Yes, please! He asks me to start the car again and straighten out the wheel. Wait for it... dead battery! At this point, Tuty and I are bent over laughing.

But here is the great part, and something that I think I am learning about Panama. Where there is a will, there is a way. Instead of waiting for a tow truck (lots of money and seemingly too complicated), Tuty loads tire #1 into her car, and drives it to Bridgestone. At the same time, Tuty calls Casa Batteria, a mobile car battery repair service, to come and take a look at the battery. (I just stand on the side of the road, looking helpless.) A guy on a moped shows up within 10 minutes and fixes the battery - it was just a loose connection. He speaks English! :)

Now we can straighten the wheel so that the guy who is helping us can take off flat tire #2. He does. Tuty loads it in her car, and drives it over there, and brings back tire #1. Nice Guy puts it on, and we're off. But not without setting off the car alarm, which, of course, I don't know how to turn off because it's not my car. So, I'm literally limping to Bridgestonne with Max in the back seat (now watching a movie), and the car alarm is going off. To say that we turned some heads is an understatement.

But sure enough, Bridgestone exchanges both tires, cuts the cord to the alarm, and we're off. The whole thing, from me getting a flat tire on the Corredor, to driving away from Bridgestone, took about 90 minutes. I kid you not!!

We come back home to find that Ana, our nanny, wasn't home yet, and since she has yet to show up, we can safely assume that she's not coming back, either!! Ugh. Unfortunately, this is quite common here, and everyone shrugs their shoulders, and says: "Yeah, that's the way it goes."

But I have enrolled Max in his school on a full-time basis now, so he gets to be there until I get off from work. So, in some ways, we're back in familiar territory, and I think that's going to be o.k., at least for a little while. Then we'll try to find a nanny again.

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

2011-08-08T19:16:00.000-07:00

We have a new nanny, Anna, who is 20 years old, and very nice. Today was her first true day, so my friend, Tuty, and I came home from work early and helped orient her. Tuty was great as she is Panamanian, and knew exactly what to say to Anna in order for her to feel comfortable. This language barrier really sucks, and I'm really hoping to up my game in this area. But Anna is patient and speaks slowly, both of which help a great deal.

It's been amazing to watch Max get used to another new person. He likes Anna as well, and maybe it's just obvious how much he has had different people in his life taking care of him. He trusts her, isn't shy or hesitant, stays with her without complaining, and is basically happy to have he around. I'm so impressed; o.k., maybe I'm a little biased too!!

While Carolyn and I were driving to pick up Anna, the power steering in my new used car went out. That's the second thing that went wrong with this car in the last two weeks, so I basically gave the car back for a full refund. So that's been a bummer, but, as luck would have it, one of the owners of the school, Maggie, has a car that she ca loan me for a while so I have more time to look for one without having to rely on Carolyn to cart me around everywhere. I know it'll all workout! But that damn car seat is heavy, and I'm sick of trying to keep track of a different set of keys!! :)

I've been trying to sink my teeth into work, but am currently without a work computer. My official title is Director of Strategic Development, but at this point, I am still trying to find my way around campus. I did spend some time in 2nd grade last week, which was so fun, and I hope to do more of that this week.

It's wonderful to hear from our family and friends, so please keep the emails, phone calls coming. We're really not that far away!!

Its REALLY hot!

2011-08-06T11:46:00.000-07:00

Wow, I am just boiling, and Dummy over here decides to bake banana bread in the middle of the day. It better be worth it! Both Max and my bedroom are air-conditioned, and I moved the majority of his toys in his bedroom yesterday, so at least when he's home, he has a cool place to be. Luis, Carolyn's helper, also hung a cool chair from the ceiling, and Max loves to swing, hide and climb all over that thing. Very fun.

I have a maid. Yes, I do! Laura is 18 (!!) and comes from a part of Panama that is about 1hour outside of the city. It's amazing to have someone to clean and help you cook, and basically be at your side the whole time. If I want her to play with Max, off she goes. Or maybe, she prepares dinner so I can play with Max. It's also o.k. to take your maid to a playdate for them to take care of your kids while you actually get to talk to the parents. We did that last night, and it was more of a "normal" play date than one might think. The ratio of child to adults was higher for the adults, though, which was funny!

Max really likes Laura, and over this week has become quite attached. I feel good leaving him with her and can tell that they are quite the pair. He keeps asking why Laura doesn't eat when we eat, and why he can't eat in her room!! That part is hard for me. You entrust them to take care of your kids and basically be part of your home, but the lines of separation are very strong. Laura caught me doing dishes the other day, and the look on her face ... :)

AND here's the bad part, Laura is leaving again because she has a 3 month old baby that is being taken care of by her mom. She thought she would be able to work, but then changed her mind. I feel so bad for Max who has needed to make so many new adjustments, but he will adjust again to someone else. Carolyn and her friend Ericka (also my language coach!!) already found a new nanna, Anna, who will start tomorrow.

You usually don't advertise here, you basically just ask around. So we were lucky that someone else was available because Max only goes to school half day, and is home with the nanny after 12:00. It'll take some time to adjust but it will be so worth it in the end.

Wednesday, 8/3

2011-08-03T10:22:00.000-07:00

We are doing well. Here are some highlights:

Our boxes arrived yesterday. All 18 of them! Some of them looked like they had been through a tornado. How they made it to Panama I'll never know! Wait until you see the pictures. But I'm happy to say that all the things I had professionally packed made it just fine. I haven{t unpacked all, but so far, nothing is broken. Truly, a miracle!!
We still don''t have hot water, but honestly, that hasn't been as much of a problem as I thought it would be initially. Max is a trooper with taking cold showers. That process is a mixture of laughing and crying. Quite funny!
I bought a car (Hyundai Santa Fe, 2006), which, hopefully, will be ready today. We went to pick it up the other day, but when I drove home, the airconditioning wouldn{t work. Well, that's just not an option, so back it went.

(as I'm writing this, there is a torrential downpour going on right now. It's raining HARD, and in 10 minutes it will all be over, but the street will be flooded and crazy!)

He is also doing so well in school. His school is called El Jardin de la Cuadra, and his teachers' name is Teacher Angélica. She truly is an angel. She was a psychologist before, and now is a teacher. Max loves her, she speaks a little English, and really has made an effort with me and him. He loves going, especially now that he's being picked up by his school bus and Señor José, his bus driver. So great!
He's picking up some small Spanish words, like gracias and por favor - a great start!
I have started school, and doing some observations of classes to get to know the place a little first. My schedule is from 7:00 until 3:00, which is nice because then I can run errands before going home. But quite honestly, school has been the last thing on my mind as I've spent most of my time setting us up here. So now that we're settling, everything else can start taking shape as well.
Driving is a little crazy - you have to be somewhat aggressive and not afraid to use your horn. Quite different from quiet and peaceful Seattle!! :) And I{m getting better about learning the streets. I can pretty much get myself to the places I need to get to: my school Max´s school, the park, the pool, the grocery store, therapy, etc. I know I'll get lost at some point, which might actually be good! Traffic is horrible, especially during rush hour, but my route to/from school is against traffic, which is great.
We live just a few minutes from a large park that has an outside path (pretty and green - a little like Green Lake) with a huge playground as part of it too. I can imagine spending a lot of time there!! But I don{t think I can walk to the park, which is too bad, because parking there is crazy. The sidewalks are in such poor shape. When I tried to walk with Max in the stroller, it was like going 4-wheelin'! Quite an adventure. Maybe we'll have a better time when he's not in the stroller anymore. We'll see.
Today, I meet with a friend of Carolyn's. Ericka and I walk La Cinta, and speak Spanish. It's a great way for me to practice speaking Spanish and getting exercise at the same time. She is wonderfully patient with me!!

More later!

A big day today

2011-08-01T20:57:00.000-07:00

It was Max's first day of school today at El Jardin de la Cuadra. It's a cute school tucked away in a residential neighborhood about 7 minutes away from where we live. He is in a class with 16 other children and two teachers. Teacher Angelica speaks a little English and he as two students in his class who also speak a little English.

Soon, Max will get picked up by a bus, and driven to school by Sen. Jose, his bus driver. As the pics indicate, he goes to school in a red shirt (all his classmates wear red - the color of his goup), and with a lunch box - of course, Spiderman! All the students also bring a toothbrush and toothpaste, and brush their teeth after they have had their luncherra (snack).

Max goes to school from 8:30 until 11:30, and gets dropped off at the house again by 11:45.

Then his nanny, Laura, brings him upstairs, he eats lunch, takes a little nap, and then playtime with Laura. Of course we can't do that quite yet because our stuff hasn't arrived yet, but eventually, it will work that way.

I, in the meantime will have to be at work by around 7:15, until about 2:30.

More later!!

First day of school in El Jardin de la Cudra. SO proud of the Spiderman lunch box!

At the Dinosaur Exhibit with our new friends, Tuty (mom) and Nicole, also 3.

Riding the dinosaur at the Dinosaur Exhibit. Spideman can do anything!!

Going on a train ride in the mall!

Our first night in our new home!

2011-07-29T20:28:00.000-07:00

Tonight is our first night in our new apartment - what a significant evening! We spent the afternoon with a friend and her three-year old, and went to visit a dinosaur exhibit. Lots of noises, and sometimes too scary, but all was well, and everyone had a good time. Then we all went to the local mall (HUGE!!!), and rode the carousel and the train. Of course, Max was happy.

They dropped us off at our apartment, which I had spent the majority of the day preparing. Car, little David, Max and I went to the grocery store, bought a ton of stuff, and now it feels like we are home! Some furniture would help, but all in due time. We have beds and some tables and chairs. It'll be fun to set up our home from scratch.

We got a lot accomplished in the last few days: set up a local bank account (harder to do than I´d imagined), bought a car, got a cell phone, had my apartment connected to phone, internet and cable, bought TV´s and other electronics, went grocery shopping - Car and I are working off of so many lists, I can´t keep them straight. Car also found a nanny, Laura, who will start on Sunday night. Looking forward to meeting her.

Had some wine with other school administrators and the owners of Colegio Brader, and I am so excited to join their team. They really are good people, with their heart in the right place.

So now I'll enjoy my first night here in a new bed, a new apartment, in a new city, in a new country! WOW!

Nighty-night, everyone!!

Week one and two

2011-07-26T16:29:00.000-07:00

Here are a few observations of my first week and a half:
1. I have yet to meet a person who is unkind! Example: I was in the check out line of the equivalent of Best Buy, and struggling with Spanish (surprised??) when the guy next to me turns and says in perfect English: "May I help translate??"
2. I am taking Spanish lessons with a friend of Carolyn's. It's harder than I thought! My brain is tired after our sessions.
3. When a car needs a new battery, the battery place comes to your house and does it right there.
4. A personal trainer here costs about $15 per hour. :)
5. When you buy something from "best buy", you can't leave the store until they have unpacked whatever you bought and shown it to you for verification. Then, they pack it all up again, and load it in your car.
6. Everyone here is on a blackberry because texting is free with other blackberry users. So, no one emails anymore. Everyone texts! No iPhones... Ugh!! but I'm learning.

More later!!

Our new adventure: PANAMA

2011-07-21T05:46:00.000-07:00

So much has happened in the last year. Max is thriving as a three- year old, growing like a weed, asking "why" 250 times a day, and exploring his, ahem, independent side. The major news is that we have moved ... To Panama.

As some of you might remember, my best friend, Carolyn and her family live in Panama. A great opportunity to work at a school in Panama came up, and I was ready for a new adventure both professionally and personally. So, I rented my house, sold my car, and bought two one-way tickets to Panama City.

I'll be working as a "Directora" at Colegio Brader, preschool through 12 th grade, about 1200 students. I've been hired to be the Director of Strategic Planning, and will work with the school to help them chart out their next few years while also helping them cement their systems and procedures. It will be very exciting for sure.

Max and I have a big 3- bedroom apartment in an area of Panama City called San Francisco, right on th end of Calle 50 and will hopefully move in August 1. In the meantime, we are staying at Carolyn's place where Max is enjoying being the youngest sibling!!

He will go to a small preschool,starting August 1. The school is mostly in Spanish but there are some English speaking teachers there as well who will hopefully ease his transition. In march 2012, once he's 4, Max will be at Colegio Brader with me,which will be great.

I am trying get us all set up here for the next few days, and of ocurse, would be at a complete loss if it werent for my friend Carolyn. She has been amazing in supporting us every step of the way, and trying to figure out all th details of starting up in a new and foreign city. But I can already imagine that it won't be foreign for long.

I am trying to learn Spanish which is very challenging at this moment. I had 6 years in school and some of it is comng back. Hopefully it will kick in soon!!!

I'll try to post more soon. Stay tuned!!

The Summer of Camping Adventures

2010-08-26T21:54:00.000-07:00

We've been doing a lot of car camping lately and Max has been hanging with some of his older buddies. Mason and Griffin have been showing him some boy tricks!! Here are some pics of our camping adventures this summer.
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MMmmmmmm... S'Mores!

Max goes hiking!

2010-08-07T20:57:00.000-07:00

Max and I went up to Mirror Lake a few weeks ago. Here is how it went... :)
Hike #1
Hike #2

Some pictures, too.

Max's Surgery #3!

2010-08-05T23:07:00.000-07:00

At the end of June, Max had his third surgery. This was to fix the fistula in his soft palate, and was a second attempt to the failed surgery of last April. Max walked into the hospital like a champ. He was on the cell phone and was dragging his slepp over suitcase like a little business man. He walked into the surgery unit, and cuddled up to the nurses right away, as if he's known them all his life. Someone asked if he knew them all. No, he didn't!

I ended up getting to be with him for the anesthesiology part in the surgery room, which was so great, because I could then picture exactly where he was, and could help him go to sleep, which he did peacefully in my arms. Max had an amazing recovery - he was eating ice cream three hours after the surgery. We got to go home the next day (after a sleepless night). He did everything he was supposed to, so no need to hang out there anymore. My mom was able to come for the week after the surgery, ready to help with anything that we needed. Since Max was doing so well, it ended up being a lovely stay-cation for us, and we were able to enjoy the week together.

So much has happened!

2010-08-05T22:07:00.000-07:00

It's been fun and busy. Max continues to love the outdoors. He has developed a love of carousels, has deepend his fixation with trains, has gone camping and has hiked! But best of all was his surgery in the last week of June, which, we all believe, has fixed his soft palate. He recovered beautifully this time, and all is still sealed up up there. He has even learned how to suck on a straw, something he couldn't do before. In addition, he receives speech therapy once a week and loves his speech therapist, Kalli! In fact, it's been really fun to observe how he's made connections with so many people. He loves to talk about his Tante Heidi and Griffin, Jemae, Rayy and Mason, his Uncle Hans, Grossmama and Grosspapa, Aunt Anne, Lala, and so many other people. Not a day goes by when he doesn't mention them at least once. He is surrounded by nothing but LOOOOOVVE! Enjoy the pics!

2010-03-26T21:19:00.000-07:00

So much has happened. Little Maxito has definitely entered "toddler-dom" - he has (ahem) opinions, and isn't afraid to voice them... loudly... :) He has a sense of humor - -running away from Momma is his favorite activity. If he could, spend ALL of his time outside, walking, playing, chasing the cat, playing with his trucks, he would!!

Since the second surgery in October didn't work (ugh!!) we're back for another surgery at the end of June. Max is also getting speech therapy once a week. The therapist comes to his daycare. He certainly understands everything, but is not talking yet. Hopefully soon!

Below are some pictures. :)

2010-01-02T20:20:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday, Max!!

Dec. 28th

Merry Christmas!!

2009-12-27T21:19:00.001-08:00

Max and my first Christmas was wonderful. My parents are visiting, and all are enjoying each other tremendously. Max is getting rightfully spoiled, especially in the fact that his birthday is only a few days after Christmas. January is going to feel very boring to him. :)

Happy Thanksgiving, and beyond...

2009-12-06T20:14:00.000-08:00

Over Thanksgivingm Max and I joined a few other friends in Twisp, WA where we rented a big house, and spent time playing games, reading, hiking, visiting the horses, and basically just hanging out. It was absolutely lovely. Max needed to get used to sharing his momma with other people, but other than that, he connected well with everyone and had a good time. It was so nice to get away for a few days, and basically just think about the next meal. :)

An update from the palate surgery: unfortunately, the hole in his palate came back. This basically means that we have to do the whole thing over again sometime next year. Besides that being a bummer, the second time you try anything like that, it only has a 50% chance of working because of all the pre-existing scar tissue. We'll see what our options are when we meet with the surgeon again in January.

In the meantime, we're heavily getting ready for the holiday season. We put up our lights today and getting ready for Max's grandparents to join us Dec. 21. Very exciting, and we're all looking forward to it.

Halloween is almost here!

2009-10-25T20:47:00.000-07:00

We went to a local pumkin crawl, and got to try out Max's costume for the first time. He is a panda bear this year, although people kept thinking he is a cow... hhhmmmmm.... He doesn't like the hat much, so it's lucky that I got at least one photo. Let's see what happens next weekend.

The Pumpkin Patch

2009-10-25T20:39:00.000-07:00

It's been two weeks since Max's surgery, and it's taken him some time to get back to his old self. For the past week, Max has been running a fever, so that's been a bummer for him. We went back to the dr, and they think it's not connected with this surgery, but rather a virus independent from his operation. But for the last two days, he's been fever free and acting quite normal again. Phew!!

Some pictures from the hospital

2009-10-19T20:03:00.001-07:00

Before the operation. We had to wait a while as the surgery before us took longer.

The last time he can suck his fingers for a while...

After the operation - poor little dude....

Napping in the hospital. I don't even know what day this was. They all started to blend...

Hugging his new favorite stuffed animal, Papa New Guinea.

Recovering

2009-10-19T18:04:00.001-07:00

It's funny to read the last post because we didn't end up leaving the hospital until Fri morning. 3 catheters later, Max finally was able to get his system working again and the drs finally felt fine about releasing us. I am so glad to have the hospital behind us. Even though it's a great place for when your child is sick, it's never fun to have to spend an extended time there.

Max, Carolyn and I had a good weekend. We took lots of walks, ran some errands, and basically took it easy. We did manage to go to a pumpkin patch, which was a lot of fun. Max did great, and continues to love little adventures. We managed his pain through ibuprofen and Tylenol, and he was content and mellow most of the time. Last night, he did have a fever, but he was fever free today, and even had some of his mischievous side back tonight. Let's see how tonight goes.

Carolyn left early this morning, and once again, I don't know what I would have done without her. She made sure to free up everything I had to worry about, so that 100% of my energy could go toward Max. "Hey Car, do you know where my wallet is?" "Why, yes, Jess, it's ..." "Hey Car, did you pack the ...?" "Yes, Jess, I got it!!" She was amazing, and words cannot express how thankful I am to have had her here for so long! Now, it's onward with recovery.

Still in hospital

2009-10-15T10:38:00.000-07:00

Max is still doing great, but we're waiting for him to pee on his own before we can go. We spent a second night in the hospital, which was a lot calmer than the first one. He doesn't seem to be in that much pain and we're trying to stay ahead of it. The drs think we should be able to go home by this afternoon. In the meantime, we're singing all sorts of water songs, running the faucet in the bathroom... anything!! :)

Wednesday morning

2009-10-14T08:21:00.001-07:00

Max had an o.k. night. He came out of recovery about 9:00 PM, and started crying as soon as he saw me. Poor little buddy.... He settled down, but around 10:30 the regular Oxycontin and Tylenol combo wasn't doing the trick anymore, so we put him on a morphine drip. He was in and out all night. Thankfully, Carolyn stayed in the hospital with us, and that made all the difference. We also had a hospital bed, not a crib this time, which allowed me to lie right next to him. He eventually ended up on top of me, and took little cat naps.

Now it's around 9:30 and he's sleeping again. He doesn't look as swollen as he did after his first surgery, but all of the swelling is on the inside of his mouth this time. We are hoping not to have to spend another night in the hospital and to go home later this afternoon. We'll see, but so far, so good.

Surgery!

2009-10-13T15:54:00.000-07:00

Despite doubting that Max would actually get to have this surgery today because he's had a cold, he was healthy enough to proceed. He is being worked on as I type this, with a possible end time in about 3 hours.

I picked up Carolyn from the airport last night - SO great to see her. Because Max wasn't supposed to eat anything after 5AM this morning, I woke him up at 4 and we ate a little waffle, drank some juice, etc. Then we went back to bed. He slept until about 8:00, which was so great! Then we putzed around at home (he took another nap at 10:30), and we were off to the hospital at 11:15.

When we got here, we checked into the surgical unit, where we met with his team, including the anesthesiologist, who cleared him for surgery. Everyone is so nice here and super helpful.

We just got a page from the Ear Nose and Throat Surgeon who put ear tubes into Max's ears. Everything went fine - he had a lot of fluid in his ears, she said so he should be able to hear better now. Hmmmm.... didn't think he wasn't hearing well. :)

So now we are waiting for a progress report from Dr. Birkfeld. He said his part should take about 3 hours, so, in addition to an MRI he's getting, Max should be in recovery by about 7:00.

We are spending one, maybe two nights in the hospital, depending on how fast Max can eat food. We'll see.

Pre-Op Appointment

2009-10-08T21:33:00.000-07:00

Max and I went to the hospital for his pre-operation appointment. If all goes well, and Max can stay healthy, he'll have his second surgery on Tuesday 10/13. The last one was mostly an exterior soft tissue fix. This one will be inside his mouth, and will patch up his soft palate. The surgeon will use tissue from his mouth and sew up his hole that extends from just where the bone/cartilage ends, down beyond his uvula. That area is called the soft palate, and is necessary for his speech development.

Max will also get some eartubes put in, since cleft palate patients are prone to ear infections.

Unlike the first surgery, this one will not be as rewarding visually. It was amazing how Max's face changed after he had his lip fixed. We won't be able to tell much at all with this one, and on top of everything, this surgery will be much more painful and invasive for him. We might stay in the hospital for two nights this time, depending on how well he can drink and eat food - that will be his ticket home.

I am planning to take at least a week off from work, and more if I have to. Max's Fairy Godmother, Carolyn, is also flying in for the occasion, and of course we are already surrounded by an incredible support team. In fact, Jemae, Vanessa and Heidi all took turns and came to the pre-op appointment with Max and me in shifts. It was incredibly helpful to have them take care of Max while I got to talk with the doctors.

So hopefully Max can stay healthy and we'll still be able to go ahead with it. (I kind of want to get it over with.) I'll use the blog to keep people updated on our progress.

Thanks for keeping us in your thoughts.

Hugs!

Some fun pictures

2009-09-27T21:23:00.000-07:00

Upcoming Surgery #2

2009-09-18T21:58:00.000-07:00

Max will get his palate fixed on Oct. 13. Below is a link to an interiew about Max's surgeon, Craig Bergfeld. I feel so fortunate to be at Children's and the craniofacial team - they are a great group.

http://craniofacial.seattlechildrens.org/about/stories/qa_birgfeld.asp

Back to reality

2009-09-06T07:43:00.001-07:00

Now that it's Labor Day weekend, it means it's back to reality. School starts on Tuesday, it beginning to rain, and all in all, it's feeling like Fall outside. But looking back, Max and I have had an amazing summer.

On a sad note, we had to say good-bye to Nona the Wonderhound. She'd been with me since was a puppy, and had a great life. She was 13, and was my constant companion. I will miss her so much!!

Max has discovered solid food, and is eating eating eating. He basically likes anything that feels good in his mouth, so now I am busy preparing different things for him, running it through the food processor, and freezing it in ice cube trays. It's been very fun.

He is twenty months now, and acting like it as well. He is mischievous, pushes boundaries, but comes back for a hug when he needs one. He's even helping to clean up. Let's see how long that lasts!! :)

What a great summer!

2009-08-21T16:15:00.000-07:00

We're having a wonderful summer. It's so fun to see the city through the eyes of a one year old - wading pools, street fairs, bike rides, and other adventures have been so great! We've also been lucky enough to take some trips, like sailing with some friends:

and going to Panama to visit Carolyn and her family. Max is a well-traveled boy!

It's July Already - How Did THAT Happen??

2009-07-02T21:22:00.000-07:00

I am truly embarrassed that I haven't updated the blog for over a month. Believe me, it's not because nothing has happened. As you can imagine, we've been quite busy.

Max and I have been together now for 5 months. I have to keep reminding myself of that fact every few days as it seems like he's been with me forever. Our routines are so well established and life just seems "normal". I often have to pinch myself that all is going so well, and I try to appreciate every day, since tougher times could be upon us any time. Not that I'm waiting, but it is reality.

He is now 18 months old, and is just thriving. He is more vocal, although he's not speaking any words yet. We have begun using some sign language, and it's been great to use that as the very basic level of communicating. He knows "more", "gentle", "books", "bath", "water", and other ones as well. And then there's always the opportunity to make up his own ones. :) And yes, just like any toddler, he has a will of his own, and when things don't go his way, he'll let you know about it. We are currently working on not hitting Momma when she has to take something away. What's a sign for "time out"?

Medically, he still has his nose tubes in, and they'll probably stay in for another month or so. The surgeon wants to keep them in as long as possible, and since they're not bothering him, it makes sense. His scar is going through its "ugly" stage by being more red and puffy, but that's normal. We have to massage it every night (ask Max how he feels about that!!), and we TRY to put the silicone patch on as well, but that's been more difficult lately.

His next surgery will most likely be in October. This surgery will take care of the inside palate, and the surgeon said he has quite the challenge ahead of him as the openings are unfortunately very big. Whereas the result of the first surgery was more satisfying, the palate surgery will actually be more invasive and painful for him. I'm dreading it, but we'll get through it just fine.

Max has also begun to see an occupational therapist, who is guiding me through helping Max develop his eating skills. He is still mostly drinking all of his food. Pediasure is his favorite, with a yogurt smoothie a close second. But this boy also likes flavor, so making more flavorful soft food is a goal for this month. I'll take any suggestions you might have... :)

Our first session with the O.T. focused on having Max eat crackers that easily dissolve in his mouth. He currently bites off little pieces, plays with the cracker in his mouth, and then spits it back out. Sometimes he gags, which, despite my accelerated heart beat, is actually a good thing for Max to trust, as he's learning what his body can do to help him process the food. The goal is to desensitize his mouth a little and get him to accept solid foods. We'll see the OT every two-three weeks.

On the fun side, Max and I have taken a road trip to Montana, have ridden our bike together, have gone to concerts, and are basically excited for a great summer. My work hours are a lot shorter than during the school year, so that allows me to pick him up from day care, and then go do something fun before his 7:30-8:00 bedtime.

I promise to do another update soon. :)

Memorial Day Weekend

2009-05-27T20:38:00.000-07:00

Max and I enjoyed our first Memorial Day weekend. It was truly nice to be able to take a deep breath and not have to rush off in the morning. We enjoyed a music festival, we did some house projects, we saw some friends, and we went sailing for the first time with our friends Brent, Heidi and Griffin. Nothing like a one and three year old on a boat together. Entertaining for sure!!

It's also been a month since his first surgery, and he is just healing so well. His scar is visible if you know what to look for, and he is still wearing his nose stints, which we'll try to keep in there as long as possible to have his cartilage reshape. We clean his nose with saline solution, and also put a small silicone strip on his scar to help with the healing process. These are little events he does NOT enjoy (I'm sure it's really sensitive), but we get through them o.k.

Of course there are little memories made every day, and I wish I had time to write them all down. Here are some fun ones to remember: Max has been starting to drink out of a glass. No sippy cup - he's going for the ultimate test right away. That's been very fun to watch. Also, the last part of our bedtime routine involves me singing him some songs while he's lying in his crib. Now usually, he would start to cry when I would leave. Now, however, he waves good-bye before the second song is over, almost like "yeah, o.k., I know this one already. You can leave now, Momma!" He has discovered the volume control on my clock radio, and loves to turn it up full force... at 6:00 A.M. Then, when a song is playing, he starts to dance, swinging his hips back and forth, and looks back at me as if to say "Oh yeah, check out these moves..." And lastly, his transitions at morning drop off have lost the red-face crying episode. Now we enter the room, sit for a little bit together, saying hi to some of the kids, I say goodbye, and he reaches for his teacher, Cathy, without tears. When I pick him up, however, it's still the same laughing fest as before. I hope we never loose that!!

Mother's Day... and Beyond

2009-05-17T22:19:00.000-07:00

Mother's Day marked the end of the honeymoon - our three month maternity leave. We had a great day at a beautiful beach off the Kitsap Penninsula, where Max and I, along with our friend Mary, took a long walk among the tide pools of this huge beach. It was truly lovely, and a great way to end this chunk of time together, besides the fact that it was my first Mother's Day. Sniff...

On then with the reality of our lives. Max is part of a day care just up the street from us. Besides a traumatic drop-off, he has a great day with lots of explorations and connecting with other one-year-olds. When I pick him up in the afternoon, he is, as they say in my family, completely cooked! Now that the days are getting a little longer, we are able to enjoy some time outside, taking Nona on walks, or, if I'm feeling really ambitious, going running. In any case, bed time is around 7:45, and he is ready!

His mouth looks great! We had out two-week post operation check-up on Monday, and were told that his scar is healing great. However, it will start to look worse than it does right now as it's continuing to heal. The surgeon gave us some silicone patches that Max is supposed to wear as much as possible. We try, but with Mr. Droole, it's very difficult to make anything stick to his mouth. Of course, that whole area, along with the nose stints, continues to be very sensitive; he does not like it one bit when I touch his scar. Can't blame him!

So our next step is to continue paying attention to how the scar heals. Then, in about 4-6 months from now, we're due for surgery #2, which will deal with the inside of his mouth, and closing the big gap he has in his palate. More on that later, I'm sure!

Great recovery

2009-05-04T09:45:00.000-07:00

It's amazing to think that we have been home less than a week. Max is doing so great. His lip is healing very fast. The outside of his lip (under his nose) is actually held together by glue, and it's slowly dissolving, along with the stitches underneath it. His face isn't as swollen any more. His nose stints are staying open, thanks to some frequent squirts of saline (he doesn't like that at all!!). But best of all, he isn't touching his face at all, so he doesn't need to wear the Frankenstein arm braces as much as I had thought. He mostly wears them at night, when he's bound to suck on his fingers, but during the day, he's free. That has definitely made the recovery more pleasant.

Here are some pictures I took a few days ago. He looks even today. :)

First Surgery... check!

2009-04-30T20:51:00.000-07:00

Max had his first of three surgeries on Tuesday. They basically fixed the outside of his face, connecting the lips, and shaping his nostrils with nose stints. Here is the play-by-play!

We arrived at the hospital at 12:30, had a series of appointments with the surgeon, the anesthesiologist, and nurses, all of which were helpful and informative. At 1:45, they took Max, which was really hard! And then came the three hour wait.

My friend Jemae was with me, and hooked me up with some of my favorites: a Symphony bar, Odwala protein juice, coca cola gummy bears, and an Outside Magazine. I was set. The hospital gave me a beeper while we waited, and when it went off to let me know there was an update from the nurse, I jumped!

I got to be with Max in the Recovery room. He was just waking up when I walked in, and he tried to smile! Melted my heart away, I tell ya! Then we went up to our room, which we shared with another family whose 3-month old baby had just had her lip repaired as well. Hans joined us later with some food, and both Jemae and he were able to stay until about 9:30. Such good friends!!

Then the night began. As expected, it was a little rough, not only because Max was cranky, but mostly because he was hooked up to all these tubes and machines, whose cables kept getting tangled when I held him. And when they didn't pick up the right information, the alarms would go off, and the nurse would have to come in and fix things. I lost track of how many times that happened that night. Max is also wearing these velcro sleeves that are preventing him from touching his face. He'll have to wear these for the next two weeks.

But around 5:00, he turned a corner, and was more alert, and happier, even taking his bottle. By 8:00, I took him on a walk in a hospital stroller (no more machines!!); truthfully, I need a cup of coffee! At 9:30, we were seen by the nurse practicioner, who told us we could go anytime I felt comfortable. Great, except that Max decided to take a really long nap (which he so deserved), so we didn't leave until 2:30.

Once home, Max was back to his usual business, although a little more subdued. He slept great last night, only waking up twice for food and more meds. Today was also a great day, although his face is more swollen today (something the doctors warned us about). He is still on several different pain killers, mostly Oxycodone, baby Tylenol and Motrin. I'll continue these until the weekend, and then see how his pain is doing.

Thanks for all your warm wishes and thoughts. He is truly a trooper!!

Watching TV on Saturday Night....

2009-04-25T20:57:00.000-07:00

I kid you not, just a day after I found out Max's surgery will be on Tuesday, there was a infomercial/fund raising show about cleft lips and palates. This particular show was put on by Operation Smile, but many of us have heard of additional organizations, such as the Smile Train. Both organizations are amazing, in that their doctors voluntarily go to third world countries and perform cleft lip and palate surgeries on thousands of needy children.

There I was, crying like a baby. Of course I'm nervous about Tuesday, but I was also struck how lucky Max and I are to live in this environment where such surgeries are almost a given. Many of the children I saw in this video suffered tremendous social ostracism and traveled hundreds of miles to be chosen for this surgery. I'm sure you can imagine the difference these surgeries make in these children's lives. It's truly fantastic.

So, as you're thinking about Max on Tuesday for his first surgery, I'm asking you to also think about these children who have it much harder than Max, and who depend on these volunteer organizations to change their lives. I hope you'll join me and make a donation (of any size!!) to one (or both) of these organizations. Max's fellow cleft lip/palate pals will thank you for not letting this facial deformity interfere with the opportunity to have a normal life.

Here they are again:
Operation Smile
Smile Train

The First Surgery

2009-04-25T13:52:00.000-07:00

Max's surgery has been moved up to this coming Tuesday. There was a cancellation in the surgeon's schedule, so they called to see if we were interested. At first it was quite a shock to even think about it being so soon (his original date was June 23), but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. It works out perfectly with my two weeks that are left in my maternity leave, and getting it done sooner rather than later also made sense. So here we go!

We'll have several pre-op appointments on Monday where we'll meet with the nurses, the surgeon and other hospital people, and then we're on for Tuesday at 2:00. Max and I will spend the night in the hospital, and will be home on Wednesday. My friends Heidi and Jemae are fabulous and will come with us to parts of our hospital experience. Phew! Plus, we are surrounded by people who want to help, which feels absolutely wonderful.

So, send us good thoughts, and I'll post more info when I get it. :)

An Update

2009-04-14T21:10:00.000-07:00

Time is just flying, and Max is doing so great. Since we've been back from visiting the grandparents, we've had more doctor's appointments, a Baby Introduction Party, first times with baby sitters and many more experiences.

But to back up, I don't think I told about Max's baptism yet. Max was baptized at a lovely church near his grandparents' house. My brother, sister-in-law, and nephew were there as Max's Godfamily, while Carolyn is the Godmother. It was a really nice intimate ceremony, performed by the Church's Deacon. It lasted about 30 minutes, and Max was a trooper through all of it. After the ceremony, we had a nice little gathering at my parents' house with family and friends.

Dr. updates: we went back for our 6 week check-up once we got back home. Max has moved to the 13th percentile in weight (he started at the 3rd), and the dr was happy with what she saw in Max's overall development. She wants us to see an occupational therapist now, to see if we can teach Max the actual motor function of how to feed himself. He is currently still getting all of his nutrition through a yummy combination of baby food and formula, and it might be time to get to the a new level in that department.

Another exciting event has been that we have scheduled his first surgery for June 23. They will operate the outside first, connecting the lips and reshaping the nostril. We'll spend a night at the hospital and be back for the palate surgery 3-6 months after the first. With the June surgery comes a series of pre-operation appointments; sometimes it feels as if the dr appointments could be a full time job!

In the meantime, Max is following some commands, and learning some basic signs in Sign Language. I figure it couldn't hurt to teach him a different way to communicate since speech might be a little farther down the road still. He is also showing signs of toddler-hood!! Yes, we're talking about the stiff back when getting into stroller or car seat, "crawling away", some separation anxiety, and basically showing us his willful side. :) Momma is reading lots of "how to" baby books!!

But all in all, life is grand, the Emperor is so much fun, and I'm enjoying every minute!!

Some pictures from visiting the family!

2009-03-30T18:47:00.000-07:00

Grossmama and Grosspapa

A bath in the sink, just like home!

Look who's peaking through...

First time with horses and with Uncle Jeppe... both were great!!

We Have WALKAGE

2009-03-22T19:41:00.000-07:00

Today, Max walked. He's been doing the "hang onto Mommy's fingers and toddle along" thing for a while now, but when Uncle Hans came home this afternoon, held him for a moment, then put him down on the kitchen floor, he zipped right along over to Jessi, a good 10 feet of solid one-foot-in-front-of-the-other.

I know, baby steps (literally), but this was WALKAGE, not to be confused with "three or four steps then kiss the floor." Incidentally, we quickly tired him out by passing him back and forth, and soon after, it WAS three or four steps then kiss the floor. But before that, he walked.

So Max is quickly becoming ambulatory, which, of course, is very cool! But it also means Mom's gonna have to get quicker in the chase as the little man ramps up his game and puts some speed on.

Here's a subsequent trip across the kitchen, admittedly not *quite* as cool as the very first, but lots of fun, nonetheless! (Turn your head or your computer sideways for optimal viewing angle (in other words, there is no video editing software in the house!).

Consultation at Childrens Hospital

2009-03-16T20:46:00.000-07:00

I haven't written for a while - so sorry! Max and I are doing really well. We are settling into a nice routine. Max gets up around 6:30-7:30 AM, has a delicious breakfast, plays with his toys, goes on an outing with Momma and Nona, comes home for a snack and a nap, spends the afternoon either playing or on another outing, eats again, and goes to bed around 7:30. His meals are currently a combination of toddler formula, a little oatmeal cereal, and some baby food mixed in. He loves yogurt, banana, apples, peas, butternut squash, carrots, etc. Thankfully he is not a picky eater, and gulps it all down in a bottle.

We've seen several doctors already. Our first visit was a regular Post Placement Adoption visit where he got most of his shots, needed to give some blood (ouch), and basically get checked over. At that point, he was in the 3rd percentile of weight which we've been working to increase ever since. His highest score was in head size, which was around the 30th percentile.

Then Max had an ear infection, so back to the dr we went! He was quite the trooper as he endured 10 days of antibiotics. He's all healthy again, and we're all happy!

Today was our consultation appointment with Children's Hospital. We met with four different medical people: a pediatric doctor, a social worker, a nurse, and the surgeon. All of them were so nice and accommodating. We are truly lucky to have such a great hospital in our city!

To summarize, Max will probably have at least two surgeries for his cleft lip and palate. The first surgery can hopefully be scheduled before I need to go back to work in May. The actual surgery will last about 3 hours, and will include connecting the outside soft tissue of his lips and his nostrils. You and I have a circle of muscles around our mouth that lets us pucker our lips, suck a straw, say the "oo" sound, etc. Max doesn't have that cirlce. His musles end at his left nostril, so the surgeon needs to disconnect it from where it currently is, and connect this muscle group to where it should be, plus connect the lips, of course. He will also reshape Max's nostril. The cartilage is so used to being flat that he will probably have to get a silicone tube placed into his nostril to help reshape it. We will probably stay in the hospital for a night, and then have about a 5 day recovery period.

The second surgery will probably happen 4-6 months later, and will focus on the palate. Here, the surgeon noticed that, even though Max has a unilateral cleft lip/palate, his palate opening is actually quite big, similar to a bilaterail lip/palate. Max isn't helping things by putting his fingers in his mouth (his version of sucking his fingers), which is making the opening even bigger. Therefore, the second surgery will actually be a lot more detrimental for Max. I don't know a lot about the details here, and will wait until we have to have it to find out more.

So how am I feeling? I was so thankful that my friend Heidi (Griffin' s Mom) came to the appointment with me today. It was so helpful to have her hold Max so I could interact with the doctors, fill out paper work, etc. Thanks, Heidi!! Overall, I'm feeling similar to how I felt boarding the plane in Beijing. It will be a long road, but we'll get there! And there just isn't a choice here - he has to have these surgeries. So we just move forward, and get them out of the way.

In the meantime, I get to focus on his overwhelming cuteness factor, which seems to be getting greater every day. He is so close to walking, and is enjoying himself tremendously. He laughs a lot, eats a lot, poops alot, sleeps plenty, and hates hates hates getting his teeth brushed! He loves his buddies Griffin and Mason, loves Tante Heidi, Jemae, Ray, Laurie, Kristin, Anne, Uncle George, and adores his Uncle Hans. The list goes on and on, and will especially increase next week, as we're off to see his granparents, aunts, cousins, and more friends!!

Watch Out!

2009-02-25T12:18:00.000-08:00

When I look back and see some of his first pictures , it's amazing to me how much Max struggled to be on his tummy, lift his head, and have that coordination. He hated it. It makes the video below even more amazing!! Max has been practicing walking with me for quite some time, but was always hesitant to try it with the help of anything else but Momma. Until two nights ago.

What you don't see in the video is how excited HE was about his accomplishment - the smiles, the giggles, the joy all came "off camera", but were definitely there!! It was such a great moment for him. Way to go, Max

.

We also had our first doctors appointment yesterday. We went to the Center for Adoption Medicine where they specialize in working with adopted kids. Overall, the news was all good. Yes, he's delayed in all of the areas one would think (growth and developmental), but he's adapting well to his new environment, is sleeping well, is bonding with me (sniff...), and is basically a happy baby. He is showing great progress, and we'll be back there in 6 weeks to continue keeping track of his growth. He got some shots and had some blood drawn, which wasn't pretty, but it was necessary. We also got that important referral to Children's Hospital so that we can proceed with scheduling his cleft lip/palate appointments.

After that, we went to school, so that he could meet some of the faculty and students. It was so great to see everyone, and our visit was really special. We spent time in one of the Kindergarten rooms, and they got a close look at his lip, and of course had many wonderful things to say. One of my favorite lines was: "Ahh... he smells like... China!" It was so cute to see the kids so excited to welcome him. Now we need to make a plan of how to visit all of the classes. Max will love all of the attention, and won't be shy about showing off his crawling skills.

Cruisin' Around

2009-02-19T19:18:00.000-08:00

Today, Max had his first "mountain experience", and of course, the Little Emperor did great! He loved the car ride, enjoyed about 60% of the snow-shoe, and almost fell asleep in the car on the way down. It is now almost 8:00PM, and he's been sleeping since 5:00. My night is doomed! :)

It was a beautiful, sunny day (also something that Max isn't used to in China), so my friend Kristin and I headed up to Cabin Creek, off of I-90. We putzed around on some cross county trails, and both agreed that our actual snow-shoe walk should at least be longer than our car ride up there. Max enjoyed the way down, tried to fall asleep at our lunch spot, and was snoozing on the way down. I think he had fun... I think. :)

Here are some more pictures of Max.

And here's a video of him crawling. It won't be long now for him to be REALLY crawling. Then everything will change again! :)

Home

2009-02-16T12:10:00.000-08:00

It's been several days since my last "confession" :). Carolyn left on Saturday morning. At that point, we were exhausted, both from the plane ride, the jetlag, and the overall excitement of the last few weeks, so saying goodbye was very difficult indeed. But Max and I spent our first day alone taking walks, having a first play-date with Mason and Ray, and continuing to catch up on sleep.
It's been so fun to introduce him to the neighborhood. I've lived here since 2000, so people know me as the owner of Nona, the cute black dog with the snaggle tooth! Well, now I'm the mom of Max, who by the way, can give Nona a run for her money with his own snaggle tooth. For now, his cleft lip is making his front teeth grow mighty crooked.

This morning as we stopped by our favorite coffee shop. I had Max in the sling and wrapped up in my big down coat, and Nona on the leash. We've been going to the same coffee shop for quite some time, and I am certain that they don't know my name, but they sure know Nona's. And wouldn't you know it: I have my new son strapped to my body, and the entire conversation was about Nona's snaggle tooth! I'm glad she's still receiving the attention she deserves. :)

Max is definitely an extrovert. He brightens up when people come visit and when he can be with others. He's made many friends already, and it just warms my heart how much love surrounds this little man!!

I'm so lucky!!

Thank you, Jessi and Max - from Car

2009-02-13T22:59:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone. It’s Car. About 6 days ago, I asked Jessi if I could write the last entry of the blog. Those of you who know me will be not surprised that I have written most of this already in my head --- while in vans and hotel rooms, seeing the sights and waiting in airports, walking quietly with Max and in a crowd of thousands, laughing and talking and crying, as I sit alone and in a big group. To be honest, I have had 3 breakdowns already today knowing that my part of this journey is coming to a close. To think that I can get through this without tears is crazy.

Jessi is my best friend. We’ve known each other for 24 years and I feel incredibly lucky and special to have shared these years and especially this amazing and beautiful experience with her. Blessed. I feel blessed.

I am a mom of 4 and I can’t remember a time in my life when I didn’t know that I would be a mom. David and I have created a family whom I cherish and love with all that I am.

To love is completely is selfless. And parenting is selfless. Adopting a child is beyond selfless. Aside from the official part of the process, the compassion and interest and unconditional acceptance of a child who comes to you with a history that you will never know completely, and to embrace it and all that follows is selfless.

I told Jessi today that her ease at being with Max from the 1st moment did not surprise me. I know she would be a wonderful, patient, gentle, and loving mother. She is that and so much more. Max is meant for Jessi and Jessi is meant for Max. He belongs to her, and she to him.

These last few weeks have been some of the most intense, emotional, joyful and wonderful of my life. Thank you all for being such an important part of Max’s beginning …

And, Jess, thank you for choosing me to join you in this. The absolute wonder in your eyes each time you look at Max makes me smile with all my heart.

And, as you said to me last week, “Car, I don’t have to give him back.”

No, you don’t. He’s yours to keep.

We're Home!

2009-02-13T01:13:00.000-08:00

What a journey!

I am currently writing to you from the floor of Max's playroom, with Max happily engaged in the Rollercoaster game and checking out his new digs on his tummy. It's been amazing to see him more comfortable scooting around on the floor. Soon he will be crawling full on, and he's also not far from walking. Oy!

As you know, we started out on Thursday morning in Beijing. After saying a bittersweet goodbye to our friends Dawn, Kevin and Quinn, we took the shuttle to the airport. Did I mention how amazing Beijing's airport is? Huge, clean, unbelieveable! Our flight to San Francisco was so smooth. It helps when you meet the flight attendants on the train over to the terminal. They take care of you even better then! And of course, Max's cuteness factor helped as well. The flight wasn't too crowded. Max had his own seat, so that helped him (and us) get some space to sleep, eat, etc. He slept for a few hours and was easily entertained the rest of the time. He did great.

Once we landed in San Francisco, we only had 60 minutes to get to our next flight, and we still needed to go through immigration and customs. That was a bit stressful, but again, we made it just fine. It's been interesting to compare the American and Chinese security checks. In China, they basically went through all of our carry-ons, took stuff out, scanned it, re-processed it. When they found a questionable item, they tagged it and identified it on the computer screen, then linked it to our ticket. They found things I thought I had lost, like my nail clippers! All is done in a very efficient, courteous, almost militaristic manner. In America, it truly seems more like they're herding cattle. What are you supposed to hide in your shoes anyway? Moo! :)

When we landed in Seattle, we had a welcoming committee with a banner and everything!! It was such an amazing feeling - we are SO glad to be home. Laurie, Heidi, Griffin, Jemae and Kristin - thank you for making our re-entry so special.

And so one part ends, and another begins. It is now 2:20 AM on Friday, and Max is back to sleep. Carolyn is staying until Saturday morning. That will be a difficult good-bye, as Max will miss his Lala, and I will miss my backbone. We will enjoy today, though, and make the most of it.

Back in Beijing

2009-02-11T08:38:00.000-08:00

It's been a long day! Max woke up at 5:00, and Mama started the bad habit of having him sleep in her bed. But it bought me two precious hours. Both Car and I have been feeling a little under the weather - we're both fighting a cold - so the extra sleep was great. Then, packing up everything to be ready to depart was truly an accomplishment. As usual, Car was amazing that way and deserves more than a medal. A podium in Max's room perhaps, where we will leave fresh flowers and gifts on a daily basis to only make a dent in thanking her for all she has done for us this trip :). It's days like today that I am convinced I could NEVER have done this by myself.

We left Gaungzhou and drove to the American Embassy where little Max Qian Christiansen became a U.S. citizen. We were sworn in by an American Consulat and got his IR 3 visa, which means that as soon as he steps foot out of that plane, he's an American. He currently has a travel visa, and his passport will arrive in the mail.

I got a little mushy during the oath. It's been such a long road, and I was so glad to have Max with me, that even when I write this I get all teary eyed. Now, granted, I cry at Hallmark commercials, but I am so thankful to finally have the little Cutie Patootie (as Judith calls him), that it still overwhelms me at times.

This is a picture we took just before we went through security in Guangzhou. I just want to say how wonderful all of our guided have been throughout this trip. Charlotte, Michael and Cordelia really went out of their way to make sure we had everything we needed, and were so sweet! Here's an example: Max has been on Chinese Nestle formula, but we couldn't find it in Guangzhou. So Cordelia called Charlotte in Beijing and she went out and got it for us. Way beyond the call of duty! I look forward to staying in touch with them, and having them enjoy watching Max grow up. They contributed so much to this process. I truly thank them from the bottom of my heart.

We got to Beijing really late - it's past midnight here. The three-hour flight was fine, Max did great. He didn't sleep, but enjoyed being entertained by his Mama and his Lala. Now he's sleeping in his crib, and we are re-packing some bags we left with Charlotte in Beijing. Not such a stringent weight limit on our bags - phew!!

So tomorrow, we will leave here around 10:30. We can't wait to see everyone, and be back home. Only one more sleep, and then Max get so start his new life in Seattle!

Lots of Pictures Today

2009-02-10T05:47:00.000-08:00

Another busy day in Guangzhou - our last full one. The Little Emperor decided to wake at 6:30, and thank Buddha that LaLa and Mama had found a Starbucks by now, so off we went. After that, it was time for breakfast where we met up with Mike and his daughter, Lee Chin, Dawn, Kevin and their daughter, Quinn. It's been amazing to watch how Lee Chin is slowly coming out of her shell. She was interacting with her Dad, grabbing things, and basically being a typical one year old. Very heartwarming for all.

Because Mike and her were leaving today, we decided to take some photos of the children on the Red Couch. There are actually several of them at the White Swan and it is customary for all adoptive families to take pictures of their children on the Red Couch. It was amazing to see the size of some of these groups who are traveling together. The biggest one we heard of has 12 families - that's a lot of people! Our good-bye with Mike included many promises to stay in touch, especially for the sake of Lee Chin and Max, who will hopefully one day understand and value the fact that they come from the same orphanage. We will surely see Mike, Lee Chin and the rest of their family very soon.

After that, we had to stay in our hotel room so that Cordelia could reach us as she was trying to resolve some last minute things at the embassy. An hour in a small hotel room is basically torture for Max, and it took all we had to entertain him. :)

After that, it was free time, and Car and I putzed around the area, shopping and getting foot massages. Aaaahhh... even Max enjoyed one from Mama!

In the afternoon it was more pictures on the Red COuch, this time in his special outfit. He is a little emperor after all. Based on the outfits of all the other adopted kids, people really gussied up for this event!! :)

Now it is time for us to pack our suitcases one more time as we end our time in Guangzhou. Tomorrow we will have a swearing in ceremony at the Embassy, collect our visas, and head off to the airport where we'll fly to Beijing.

We really enjoyed our time here, but we are also really looking forward to coming home.

Blessed in the Buddhist Temple

2009-02-09T00:58:00.001-08:00

We had some official business to do this morning. I spent about one hour filling out some paperwork. I was told by our guide to come without Max, so Carolyn and Max spent some time together. First I questioned why she didn't want Max, but later I understood - the paperwork was very detail oriented, and for some reason, complicated! It brought up all sorts of anxieties for me in regards to having to have the right form, checking the right box, etc. At one point, Cordelia turned to Dawn and me and said: "Be serious! Concentrate!" Talk about bringing out my test-taking fears!!

Then we were off to get our visa picture taken. Afterwards, we went to get our medical check-up. Both Car and I were pleasantly surprised at how clean the medical office was. We had to do three stations, and we were done. Max, of course, did brilliantly!! :)

Then it was fun time. We decided to visit a Buddhist Temple, The Temple of the Six Babyan Trees, where we were all lucky enough to get blessed by three Buddhist monks. It took about 5 minutes, was very rhythmical, and involved us getting sprinkled with holy water. It truly was special. Not that I know that much about it, but we were told that the number three is a very special number in Buddhism. We were right below three statues of Buddha, all made of solid copper, weighing 10,000 tons each. One stood for the past, one for the present, one for the future. The pagoda has 9 stories, odd numbers being lucky numbers. This particular pagoda is called the Flower Pagoda, because the various roof lines face upward, much like a flower.

Today also marks the last day of the Chinese New Year, and the beginning of the Lantern Festival, which is comparable to American Valentines Day. The Temple was especially busy today because people wanted to start their New Year off positively. Lots of incense was being burned.

Today was a really busy day. Only three more sleeps and then we're home!! Good night, everyone!!

Reunited in Guangzhou

2009-02-08T05:39:00.001-08:00

Today we were reunited with Kevin, Dawn and their new daughter Quinn. We met them in Beijing before we all left to go to our province to pick up our children. Qinn is absolutely adorable. We had dinner with them as well as Mike and Lee Chin, his one-year old daughter. We met Mike in Chongqing at the Central Affairs Office. Lee Chin and Max come from the same orphanage, and it's very cute to see them together.

Our morning was spent touring a lovely park with Cordelia. She is very warm and friendly, and we are so lucky to have her here to help us. The park had a lot of interesting vegetation, and the usual Chinese flair - lots of colors, music, noise and people.

Just two tall Caucasian women hangin' out in a park!

After pushing me uphill, Cordelia is now helping me downhill.

Tomorrow it's back to work. We meet with Cordelia to do some paperwork, then have a series of appointments. Good night from Guangzhou!

First day in Guangzhou

2009-02-07T00:29:00.000-08:00

We had a great first day in Guangzhou. It's definitely not so smoggy anymore, and it's much warmer - about 75 degrees. Lovely, Carolyn says!!

Max did not want to sleep last night, and was happily gurgling to himself until about 11:30, but then slept until 7:30. He is truly a great sleeper. In fact, more and more I realize how lucky I am to have Max do so well. We noticed it when we went down to breakfast.

As soon as we stepped off the elevator, we saw other American families with Chinese babies. The hotel is known to host these families as we're all waiting for the last step with the American Embassy. We were definitely seated in the "American" section of the restaurant, literally surrounded by other adopting families. Now Car and I have felt a little isolated since Chongqing, so both of us, the social butterlflies that we are, are greeting our neighbors, trying to make small talk. But looking around, we realize that most of these families seem as shocked as the babies they are adopting. Some of the babies haven't eaten in a few days, and of course, the new parents are really worried, and it showed. I hope it will all smooth out for them. We'll definitely keep track of them over the next few days.

We did meet one Dad from San Francisco who we briefly saw in Chongqing. He has little Wei Wei, a girl from Max's orphanage. He and his wife adopted a baby girl four years ago, and are back for #2. He is traveling on his own this time, and it was great to talk with him. I'm sure we'll be talking with him some more; we want to keep track of the kids since they come from the same area.

Cordelia, our new guide, met us at 10:00, and we walked around Guangzhou (yes!) . It was so great! We walked through busy local streets, where vendors were selling crazy things like live scorpions, snake skins and other obscurities. Then we reached the Pearl Market, and yes, we supported the local economy once again. Cordelia also took us to a small bead shop, who were really happy we stopped by! :) While the hotel is on a small island, and seems almost tropical, you walk onto the mainland and you're in the middle of a busy shopping scene and vendors. Really great contrast. Cordelia suggested a great place to get a foot massage. Again, just want to do our part in supporting the local economy. $10 for 70 minutes - we can live with that. :)Max had a great day. He sat in a high chair, he is grabbing for more things, and is getting more comfortable by the day. He loves to be outside, walking, and can sleep in the greatest of noises; in fact, he prefers that to his quiet crib. Car is walking him through the hotel as I write this. We're putting a lot of steps on the pedometer!!

Made it to Guangzhou

2009-02-06T06:26:00.001-08:00

Getting our beauty rest before our first airplane ride...

We said good-bye to Michael, our guide.

We traveled quite in style today. For some reason (I credit the cuteness factor of the baby) we got upgraded to first class. That made the trip so much more enjoyable :). This picture was taken before Max decided to throw up all over Mommy during take-off!

Off to Guangzhou

2009-02-05T20:54:00.000-08:00

It's 1:00 PM on Friday, and today is our last day in Chongqing City. Michael is picking us up in a few hours to go to the airport, and fly to Guangzhou. Guangzhou is about 100 miles north of Hong Kong, so it will be quite warm there; Car will certainly appreciate that! Before we take off, we'll also receive Max' Chinese passport, which we'll obviously need to travel with him.

As much as Chongqing was the Chinese part of the adoption process, Guangzhou is the American part. There, we'll need to meet with the American Embassy, be interviewed, have a medical exam, get his American travel documents, etc. We'll apply for him to be an American citizen, so basically he'll only be Chinese for about a week.

We'll be met by another guide, Cordelia, who will shepard us through this process. I have been so impressed with the guides we have had so far. They are very caring, and responsive, and basically make themselves available to you at all times. It's very reassuring to know you have someone to call in case things go wrong.

Car noticed (quite shockingly) that we haven't really spent any money in Chongqing. "Jess, we haven't shopped!" We're told that Guangzhou is quite the shopping central and I think Car is ready to experience the vendors again. The questions is, are the vendors ready for Carolyn?? :)

We'll be staying at the White Swan Hotel in Guangzhou (http://www.whiteswanhotel.com/), which is supposed to be quite nice. It's where all the American families stay who are adopting babies. It'll be nice to meet some other people who are going through the same process.

We have Saturday and Sunday to tool around a little, then we'll be in appointments Monday through Wednesday. We'll fly back to Beijing on Wednesday night, meet our first guide Charlotte again, and fly back to the States on Thursday. I'm looking forward to seeing Charlotte. She usually only gets to see families BEFORE they adopt - not many of them come back to Beijing.

Day Four

2009-02-05T04:06:00.000-08:00

I took some pictures of the sunset yesterday. The fact that we could actually see the sun was big news at breakfast this morning. This is the view from our hotel room. We're on the 31st floor, but you wouldn't know it because it's been so smoggy that we haven't been able to see anything. We are all looking forward to taking some deep breaths back home. :)

Today was sort of a mixed bag. The Little Emperor still was not feeling very well this morning, and he was very cranky. He is sleeping a lot, probably because of his cold but also because there is just so much to get used to! So, he had a 2 hour nap after breakfast. But we are finding out that he LOVES to go out, so our little outings are ones that he really enjoys. In fact, all we need to do is press the elevator button, and he calms right down. It's very cute.

So today we went to City Hall and the Three Gorges Museum. Chongqing is known to be the entrance to the Yantzee River, third largest in the world. A few years back, the Chinese decided to build a dam in an area where three gorges merged. This is now a very famous area, not only because of its previous beauty, but also because it was one of the biggest building projects in China for a while. The flooding of these gorges dislocated about 1 million people. Lots of interesting facts about this project - I think I actually read about it in National Geographic a while back.

Then we drove to where the Yantzee enters Chongqing. Max fell asleep in the car, so Car had her picture taken on her own. Another lovely, clear day in Chongqing!! :)

The afternoon went a lot better. Max took a big nap when we got back, and was feeling a lot better later in the day.

Tomorrow, we're in the hotel until about 4:00 PM, then we're off to the aiport to fly to Gungzhou. We'll get there around 8:00, and Cordelia will meet us there. We are staying at the White Swan Hotel, which, I guess, is where all the American families who are adopting babies stay. Car and I are both looking forward to it as we've met several families who will be at the White Swan when we'll be there. Also, we might not stand out as much as we do here - it'll be nice to be a little more anonymous. We shall see.

Here are some more pics! Lots of hugs from Chongqing!

Tiger Exhibit? What Tiger Exhibit!

2009-02-04T00:08:00.000-08:00

Every day brings new adventures and today did not disappoint. First of all, Max had another good night last night, sleeping from 7 until about 5:30. His cold got a little worse last night, so we gave him some Motrin, which seemed to work its magic. When he woke this morning, he had 101 degree fever, and he wasn't feeling so great. So more Motrin, and another 2 hour nap. When he woke up again he was happier, so we went to breakfast.

After breakfast, Max was still feeling o.k. by then and his fever was down, so we did what any American family would do - we went to Wal Mart!! :) It was, of course, huge!! We went there to buy more diapers, more formula, some more outfits (now that we know what size he is), and chocolate. Basic survival gear :).

Afterwards, Max was still doing great, so Michael took us to the Chongqing Zoo, which is known for its panda exhibition. The Chinese are very proud of their pandas - it is their national animal, much like the American eagle is ours. At the panda exhibit, people were very excited about the pandas hanging around - it was almost like Shamu at Sea World. Parents waving, kids excited. It was cute. It was obvious that they felt very proud to have these animals.

Did you know that there are only about 800 pandas left in the world? They eat over 40 pounds of bamboo, and are actually not very social animals. They like to be left alone. Pandas give birth to one or two panda cubs, which are the size of a mouse at birth. Pandas live to be about 20 years old when they are in captivity, 25-30 years when they are in the wild. (That was for all you students out there!!)

We then proceeded to the tiger exhibit. But people weren't really paying attention to the tigers. We seemed to be more of the exhibit than the tigers! Chinese are very curious. Older Chinese women, in particular, have no qualms about coming up to you, check on your baby to see if he is dressed right, talk with you, approve or disapprove, etc. And that's just what happened.

One woman started examining Max (who was sleeping at the time), and, whum, we were surrounded by a dozen curious people. It can get a little weird to be the center of attraction and people tugging at you, tugging at Max, and talking to you. As Americans, we are not used to being so up close and personal with strangers. However, people here do not have these social boundaries or rules - they will come right up to you and interact, no matter if you speak their language or not. I have yet to meet an unfriendly Chinese person! That's what makes these scenes so sweet. They are all so positive, optimistic, and hopeful. But I was grateful that I had put a hat on Max!

So after all of that excitement, it was back to the hotel, eat some lunch and another nap, this time for Mom and Max!!

What adventure will we have tomorrow??

Day Two

2009-02-03T02:11:00.000-08:00

First of all, thank you to all of you for reading this blog. The response has been overwhelming, much like this entire process. We won't be able to respond to all the comments (both here and the emails), but know that we are reading everyone, and love hearing from our families and friends half a world away. They mean so much, so please keep writing to us.

It seem so odd to write Day Two - don't worry, we won't keep this up forever, but it is so fun to share with all of you all that we're experiencing.

Max slept through the night, from 8-6:30, and we spent the morning going down to breakfast, walking (of course), playing on our bellies (something he definitely needs), and nursing his cold. He is eating well, napping/sleeping well, pooping (almost had to evacuate the room!!), and loves reading books. It was a really nice morning!

Remember the Pomp and Circumstance that was missing from yesterday's Gotcha Day? Well, we experienced it today. At 1:30 Michael picked us up to go back to the Civil Affairs office, where we would get our "Red Folder". The owner of the orphanage and Max's caretaker were there as well to sign the rest of some papers. Max was sleeping the whole time. To be honest, I didn't quite understand what this day meant - a lot gets lost in the translation and my brain seems to be only working at about a 50% capacity (once gain, thank God for Car!!). But there I was, up at the podium with the Director of the Civil Affairs Office, taking an oath. Then I had to put a red finger print on documents I had signed the day before, and even take one of Max's fingers and put his fingerprint on his name. Basically, Max is now officially mine, according to the Chinese government. Good thing, 'cause I'm not giving him back!! :) Notice anything unusual about the American flag? We didn't have the heart to tell them...

So now what happens is that we wait for his Chinese passport and notary papers to come in on Friday. Once we have these, we'll head down to Guangzhou, where we'll deal with the American side of the adoption process.

Max is now sleeping for the night. We ended up giving him some meds for his cough. Let's see how this night might go. Good night, everyone!

Finally!!

2009-02-02T04:35:00.000-08:00

Wow, it's been so long since I've wanted to write this blog entry. We are sitting in our dark hotel room with last minute NEw Year fireworks going off in the distance, and there is a baby sleeping in the cribnext to my bed. What an amzing day.

It all started out with meeting Michael to sign some papers, exchange mucho dinero, and go to the bank to make the $$ transfer to the orphanage. Then we had to wait. Car and I played cards... we never play cards, but today we did.

Then, at 1:30, Michael picked us up again and we drove about 20 minutes to the Civil Affairs Burea, went to the 8th floor, stepped out of the elevator, and there they were, the owner of the orphanage, the care-taker and Max, waiting for us in the lobby. In my mind, I had imagined it to be so much more ceremonial, but it was very simple. No crying baby, no drama as I'm reaching for the baby, no sobbing care-taker. It was all very cordial, and happy and efficient.

We all sat down in this lobby (we were the only ones adopting at that time), and started talking to the owner and the care-taker. It turns out that they had had a long ride on the train, and that Max has a slight cold. I put Car in charge of taking pictures/videos, and we had made a list of questions to ask the care-taker. Since we had Michael there to translate, all the questioning went great. We found out basic things, like how he was abandoned, who gave him his Chinese name (the owner: his name means "strength"), his medical history (no allergies, has received all of his shots, his schedule, etc. We got out "family picture" taken, the director got her picture taken with Max, and that was it! THe whole thing took about 40 minutes.

"So, Jess, what'd you do today?" "Oh, I got a baby... how about you?"

We went to the hotel, undressed the Little Dude, and gave him a bath. Not his favorite thing, but he took it all in. Then we walked and walked and walked, up the room, down the room, up the room, down the room. He did not like it when I sat down. Once he fell asleep in my arms did I sit down, and we had some quiet time. When he woke up, we walked some more. He's fascinated by the mirrors in our room, so that kept us entertained for a while. By this time, Car had fallen asleep (she has been working really hard keeping me afloat!!), so we had some more quiet time, which was just fine by me.

By 6:00 Car and I were quite hungry, so we got ready for our first outing. Diaper change: check. Bottle: check. Toy: check. Baby sling: check!! In fact, once Max was in the sling, he came alive. It was so cute. He became a lot more interactive, and relaxed a little (his little body had been so stiff up to this point). We went down to the restaurant, and Max began to charm the entire wait staff, who, of course, quite rightfully so, ooohed and aaaahed all over him!! It was great. We went back upstairs, Max took a bottle, another diaper change, read some books, and now he's sleeping.

So here I sit, in a dark room with my best friend and my baby sleeping!! It doesn't get much better than this!

But let's wait to see what our night will be like. :)
I am ready.

Enjoy some pictures!

In Chongqing

2009-02-01T04:43:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,

Car and I are in Chongqing City, but not without having some adventures. First, we (well, Car!!) had to repack our bags at the airport because of weight restrictions. Then, after saying a temporary good-bye to Dawn and Kevin, our traveling buddies, we worked our way to the gate. We weren'tbeing called up to board, so Car had the good idea of asking the agent what was going on. Turns out they had moved our gate, and because we don't speak Chinese, we missed it!! So we basically had to run to our other gate, which of course was way on the other side. But we made it.

We landed in Chongqing and were met by Michael, who drove us to the hotel. It's not as cold here as it was in Beijing, but it's foggy and rainy. We can't figure out whether it's fog or it's air pollution - that remains to be seen. Chongqing is HUGE!! It has over 30 million people, is the entry to the Yantzee River. We got all settled into our room, unpacked, and rearranged the furniture to accommodate a crib, which the hotel brought up for us.

Car and I then went out to dinner to try one of Chongqing's delicacies, which are these hot pots. It's almost like a fondue, but with chicken broth and spicy broth together in a pot. Then you boil a variety of things in it, like fish, noodles, chicken, sausages, etc. It was an... uhm... interesting taste. I'm glad we tried it. :)

We then went back to our room, and had birthday cake, ordered by Michael, our guide. Very sweet of him!!

Car and I are both still jetlagged, and have been waking up at 4:30, so going to bed around 8:00 does not sound bad to us at all. Besides, tomorrow is promising to be a big day!!

We'll meet Michael at 9:30, where I have to sign a bunch of paperwork. Then he'll pick us up at 1:30, and we're off to the Civial Affairs Office, about 10 minutes away from our hotel.

Big day tomorrow!

Beijing, Day 2

2009-01-31T05:48:00.000-08:00

Today was another great day. Our guide Charlotte is really taking great care of us. We left this morning and drove to the Jade Factory, where we got our own private tour of the place, along with our own private sales women!! Boy, these people are good. Of course Carolyn and I had to buy something.

After that, we continued on to the Great Wall. WOW, what a place!! Super crowded, because it's the last day of the Chinese New Year, so the first section of the Wall was hard to climb. It's actually quite steep, and you get a nice little workout going up. All the steps are uneven, so you also have to be careful not to trip. Car and I continued on and on - she was quite the trooper - and we made it to the top of this particular section. Of course, the further we climbed, the fewer people there were.

When you're up on the Wall, you truly get a sense of awe! How did these people build such a majestic structure so long ago? And it goes on and on and on. You can see in these pictures that the air quality is quite bad. The haze is quite evident, and a lot of people choose to wear masks over their faces.

Funny translation!! Speaking of translating, it's very cute how parents encourage their younger children to practice their English with us. Today, I spoke to at least three young girls, all of whom asked me what my favorite food is - almost like they're reading it from a text book. Very fun!

After the Wall, we drove by the Olympic Village. That Bird's Nest and the Water Cube is something else!! All of that area used to be farm land, and has been sitting empty since the Special Olympics were completed in September. It's now one of Beijing's major toursit attractions.

Then we got to participate in a tea ceremony. Did you know that China has over 300 types of teas? And in China, tea is bought raw, only in a tea house. All the bad tea ends up in tea bags. Hmmm - I think I've done it wrong all these years.

Our next stop was Tian'anmen Square, a place that can pack 1 million people. It's not only considered the center of Beijing, but also the center of China. It leads up to the Forbidden Palace, and also contains Chairman Mao's Mausoleum. We didn't get to see Chairman Mao, but it's constructed much like Ho Chi Min's Mausoleum in Hanoi, Vietnam. Apparently, the now pickled body of Mao is lowered into a freezer every night.

After that we went to the Silk Market, where Carolyn gave the vendors a run for their money as she bargained alongside the best of them!! They didn't know what hit them! :) And to end this long day, we went to a Chinese Acrobat show.

Now we are packed once more, and leavng tomorrow morning for Chongqing. It's a short flight - about 1 1/2 hours. We'll be met by another guide, Michael, who will not neccessarily be a travel guide, but rather will focus on helping the adoption process along. Now we'll get to the REAL reason we're here!!

I love the fact that you all are reading the blog! It's fun to stay connected with you this way!! Stay tuned for more news from China, and let me know what you think.

Hugs to all.

Beijing Day 1

2009-01-30T14:39:00.000-08:00

Hello Everyone,

Our first day in Beijing was great fun. We were up early, took a walk on empty streets, then met our guide at 9:00. We drove to the east entrance of the Forbidden City,and toured the compound. THis place is HUGE!! Outer courts, inner courts, over 9000 rooms, secret passages, lots of traditions, and so much more! It was also very crowded since Chinese New Year is still in full swing, but people kind of just rolled with it. I have to laugh, because obviously both Car and I are two tall caucasian women walking amongst everyone. I can't tell you how many times Car has been asked to be part of a picture, or how people stare when we walk in. It's like in the movie "My Cousin Vinny" - oh yeah, we blend!! :)

It is so incredible to think that we are finally here! It catches me off guard a lot. We might be listenting to our guide, and all of a sudden I am jolted back to the reality that soon soon soon I'll be bringing Max home. We are certainly enjoying this part, but the best is yet to come!

We're here!!

2009-01-29T03:27:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,

It was a smooth day of traveling. Heidi brought us to the airport, we flew to San Francisco, then 12 hours to Beijing. The plane was not crowded at all. In fact, Car found a row of seats and took a long nap. I didn't sleep much, but am feeling fine.

Beijing has an incredible airport!! I could see my face in the floor - clean, big, and empty! I swear we must have gotten our luggage within 15 minutes of leaving the airplane. The airport was completly empty because of the Chinese New Year, so that part was really easy.

When we left the secure part of the airport, we met Charlotte, our guide. We ended up having to wait for another couple to arrive - they were coming from Chicago. Their names are Kevin and Dawn, and they are adopting a 2 1/2 year old girl. We will be together with them in Beijing, then travel to our provinces separately, then meet again in Guangzouh.

The whole gang and our luggage squeezed into a van, and drove to our hotel. We're staying at the Wangfujing Grand, a lovely hotel with an authentic Chinese feel. We're on the 12th floor, and we have a view of the Forbidden City. Pretty amazing. Right now, there are fireworks going off periodically because of the Chinese New Year celebration.

Car and I have settled into the room, and will venture out to get something to eat before crashing. I am ready to sleep now, that's for sure!

Tomorrow we are meeting Charlotte at 9:00 for a tour of TianAnMen Square, the Forbidden City, and other sights. I can't wait. This is definitely the easy part of the trip!

Good night everyone!!
:)

We're off!

2009-01-28T04:41:00.001-08:00

Hello Everyone,
The day is finally here, which seems monumental. Car arrived here on Saturday, and we've been basically going gangbusters to get ready for today. I worked until yesterday afternoon, and Car ran errands while I worked. She is amazing!!

My send off was incredible! It started, of course, with one heck of a baby party that my friends gave me. That one ended with five of us standing in line for fries and shakes at Dicks at 2:30 in the morning. My school's parents, the awesome teachers, the administrators all celebrated our departure! That was a really nice way to connect with everyone, receive hundreds of hugs and many more well-wishes. Thank you all for your warmth and support. By the way, I couldn't do all of this without you. You are so much a part of this!!

One thing Car was able to track down was a special feeding nipple that goes on a bottle for a cleft lip/palatte baby. Children's Hospital just gave us one. We'll see if Max needs it, or if he has figured out how to feed by now.

Backs are packed (3 - pretty amazing!), lists are crossed off, rides arranged - we're good to go. We're catching a 7:45 flight to San Francisco, then to Beijing - 12 1/2 hours. Phew!! It's a good thing the plane ride is so long. Once in Beijing, we'll be met by our guide and then also another couple who is traveling with us. At least that's what the itinerary says; I was told to be flexible... very flexible... as plans tend to change.

So now, we're off. I'll write to you once we're in Beijing!!

The Travel Itinerary

2009-01-22T20:54:00.000-08:00

So, as we're preparing for our trip, I know a lot of people will be thinking of us and where we are. Here's the plan:
Thursday: fly to Beijing
Friday and Saturday: tour TianAnMen Square, the Forbidden City and Summer Palace, and the Great Wall.
Sunday: fly to Chongqing
Monday: Get Max
Tuesday through Friday: a series of appointments, and tour the panda house at the Chongqing Zoo. Fly to Guangzhou.
Saturday through Wednesday: City tours and medical appointments, interview with U.S. Consulate
Thursday: Fly to Beijing, San Fran then home!!

Woo woo!

Got the travel approval today!!

2009-01-16T20:21:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,
It's true - I got the travel approval today, which means that Carolyn and I can travel on the 28th, which is just under two weeks away... gulp!!

I'm just going to gush about Carolyn for a little bit here. If she reads this, she'll be embarrased for sure, but it's totally worth it. Carolyn is my best friend from college who lives in Panama with her husband and four awesome children. She and I try to see each other every year. Sometimes I fly to Panama (I tried for XMas this year, but didn't make it because of a huge snow storm that shut down the city for several days). sometimes she travels here, and sometimes we meet somewhere in the middle. Every time we meet, it's an adventure!! Car has to travel to San Francisco first to get her visa, then travel up here. Very complicated, and I can't believe she will do this, all to help me out!! She is truly amazing, and I am so greatful to her and her family for their support in this endeavour!! Thank you!

So we will follow the agenda that I indicated below, leaving on the 28th, and coming back on Feb. 12. I'm sure I'll post more soon.

I'm so happy - it's really happening now!!
:)

Happy Birthday, Max!!

2008-12-30T22:09:00.000-08:00

December 28th was Max's first birthday. Heidi and Griffin (3) came over to toast Max with a cup of hot chocolate, and a hearty rendition of "Happy Birthday". Griffin is just getting used to his future role of "Big Friend", so we read a book about how Max came to be, and how I will soon bring him home. He had lots of questions!! :)

It looks like Carolyn and I will be traveling from January 28th through February 12th. We are working on getting our travel visas, which is more complicated than we had initially thought. It turns out that Carolyn (bless her heart!!) will have to fly from Panama to San Fransisco, spend a few days there with her niece and get her own travel visa at the Chinese Embassy. Then, she'll fly up here on the 24th, and we're off on the 28th.

Our itinerary looks like this:
Jan. 29: Arrive Beijing- tour of Beijing
February 1- February 6: Picking up Max in Chongqing City
February 6- to Guangzhou for US processing
February 9: US CONSULATE APPOINTMENT if confirmed
February 11: depart China and return home

Of course, none of this is confirmed yet, so we'll see. In the meantime, I'm in the process of rearranging my house, collecting "stuff", and basically getting ready. It's so much fun!!

Thanks for all your thoughts!

Finding Ad

2008-12-17T21:19:00.000-08:00

I contacted a guy in Utah who sent me Max's original Finding Ad, which is a newspaper ad that is placed in the local newspaper in hopes of contacting family members or even the parents of abandoned orphans.

Here is what it says:

Name: Qian Xiu Zhuang

Gender: Male

Birth Date: December 28, 2007

State of body: He has a cleft lip and palate

Date arrived at Institute: January 1, 2008

Finding date: January 1, 2008

Finding location: At the gate of the Qianjiang District Civil Affairs Bureau, Chongqing City

Characteristics of body: He has a cleft lip and palate

Items found with him: Nothing

Pretty neat to put together some of these pieces.

Letter of Confirmation

2008-12-10T21:51:00.000-08:00

Hello Everyone,

I got my Letter of Confirmation today, which is big news. I'll go down to Tacoma tomorrow to sign it, so the agency can return it to China on Friday. Based on this event, I'll probably receive my permission to travel in 2-3 weeks, which will give me a better idea of when I'm actually going to China. Good progress today - all in babysteps!!

Thanks for all your good thoughts!!
More to come, hopefully soon.

Someone else is getting really excited!!

Cleft Lip and Palate Information

2008-12-06T17:50:00.000-08:00

While I'm still waiting for the Letter of Confirmation, I thought I'd take a moment to share some information about Max's cleft lip and palate. I've gotten a lot of information about it from the Cleft Palate Foundation, which is a great website meant to educate about cleft lips and palates.

Basically, Max was born with a hole in his mouth. The process of fusing did not finish in the womb. The hole doesn't hurt, and will be fixed through several surgeries.

No single cause of cleft lip and palate has been identified, however it is believed that the majority of these issues appear to be due to a combination of inherited facotrs (genes) in combination with certain environmental factors. Clefting occurs very early in the pregnancy, and represents a problem over which a mother has no control. Cleft palate is one of the most common of all birth defects, and seems to appear in all racial groups. However, the combination of cleft lip and palate seems to appear most commonly in Asians. Approximately one out of every 700 to 750 infants born in the U.S. has a cleft lip and/or palate.

Feeding, of course, is one of the major concerns with cleft lip/palate babies. According to his growth numbers, Max has figured out how to get enough food in his belly. He is exhibiting good numbers, although by American standards he is in about the 10th percentile of growth.

We will travel with a variety of nipples and bottles that are available for a baby with cleft lip/palate. In general, babies with cleft need to be in a semi-upright position, and need to be burped more frequently. We'll figure all that out soon, hopefully.

Max will need a series of surgeries. Childrens Hospital in Seattle will be the place we'll get it fixed. We will meet with a craniofacial anomalies team that includes representatives from medicine, speech and hearing. dentistry, and psychosocial departments.

Usually, the cleft lip will be fixed first.

Sometimes it can be done in one stage, but often two separate surgeries are needed. Usually, the hospital stay is just one night, and Max will go home with some stiff gloves on his hands so he won't mess with the stiches.

Palatal surgery is done between eight and eighteen months of age, and usually involves a hospital stay of one to three days. They'll fix the soft palate first, which involves some incisions around the outside of the soft palate and stretching the skin to fuse the two sections. Hard palate surgery could involve some bone grafting, and might have to wait until hishead has stopped growing. Since we don't know the extent of his cleft lip/palate, a lot of this will obviously be decided once he's home.

Children with cleft lip and palates have increased risks of having ear infections, and therefore it's quite common for them to get ear tubes during the first two surgeries. Also, we'll need to stay on top of Max's hearing as that is often problematic for kids with cleft lip/palates. Once he starts speaking, we'll also keep track of his speech development, and because of the palate issues, Max might need some speech therapy.

Hopefully that answers some of your questions. Of course I'll keep you all posted on the next steps.

Introduction

2008-11-24T22:16:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,
I have finally reached the point of getting to keep all of you posted on my adoption process. It's certainly been a long, bumpy road for me, and I'm thrilled to be at this point.

On October 22, I got THE call from my adoption agency that I was matched up with a little boy in China. His Chinese name is Qian Xiuzhuang - Qian (pronounced 'jian' for the city in which he was born (Qianjing), and Xiuzhuang because it's a nice name (according to the report I received :) I've decided to name him Max Qian Christiansen.

Max was born on December 28, 2007. He was found at the Civil Affairs Bureau of Qianjing district of Chongqing City on January 1, 2008, and was sent to the Social Welfare Center of Qianjiang District fo Chongqing City, his current orphanage.

Here is a map of China and the municipality of Chongqing.

SWC of Qianjiang is about 8 hours drive from Chongqing City. It's a big building that sits on top of a hill, and looks quite mysterious! In 2006, it took in as many as 200 children, 160 of who were 10 months or younger. I'm not sure how many babies it holds today. There is usually a 15:1 children to caretaker ratio, 8:1 for babies. Because of its large numbers, it has also established a foster care system, where local families take in up to 4 babies.

Here are some pictures of the orphanage:

Here is the front of the orphanage.

Babies sleeping.

Babies in these walkers. Anything familiar about the picture on the wall? (Same one Max posed on for his 7 month picture!)

When Max and I got matched up, they sent me a report from the orphanage of what Max's life has been like for the past several months. He has a routine that involves normal sleep and eating habits, and according to officials, he has normal physical and mental development.

As you can see, Max has a cleft lip and palate, and I'm finding out a lot about the different levels of surgeries that area available these days. Children's Hospital in Seattle is a fabulous place that is well known for repairing cleft lip and palates. Find out more about this condition here. We'll see a craniofacial team at Children's as soon as we return home.

Speaking of taveling, I'm not quite sure when we'll be heading over to China, but it looks to be between mid-January and March. I don't think we'll actually travel to Qianjiang, but will meet Max in Chongqing. Maybe a trip to his birthplace is one for the future. Lots to do between now and then. I'll be traveling with my friend Carolyn, who, besides being a most amazing friend, will keep me organized and focused!! I couldn't do this without her!

So, hopefully I'll get to write another update very soon.
Stay tuned!

:) Jessi