The Land of Narnia

Two of my boys are in an amazing production of the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.  We were privileged to get to take some pictures during dress rehearsal the other day.  No. 1 Son is playing Father Christmas:

Notice - he has Minions :')

as well as an evil wolf:

The Evils ready to attack

The Artist was sooooo excited to be cast as Edmund:

Susan, Edmund, Lucy and Peter

At one point, the wolves attack Edmund - how perfect is that for the brothers?

As you can tell, the battle scenes are pretty intense.  I'm proud to say the No. 1 Son had a small part in choreographing them.  And The Artist actually gets to kill a panther (okay, not actually).

If you're in the area, I hope you will come see the production this weekend.  You can get tickets at CYT Chicago's Website - just click here.

We have a Toddler!

She can actually toddle now!

Zoe decided today was a good day to start walking for real.  Check this out:

Go Zoe!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Today is my birthday, so we're heading to the Museum of Science and Industry - my favorite museum in Chicagoland.  I love hanging out there with my kids!

I wanted to give a quick update on Zoe's surgery yesterday.  It was very quick  - about 10 minutes from when they carried her away to when the doctor came out to talk to us.  The clip of her tongue-tie went very smoothly, and it doesn't seem to bother her, though I will keep the ibuprofen at hand.  But coming out of anesthesia was not her favorite thing - she cried for about 45 minutes.  The only thing that made her calm down was daddy talking to her about her brothers and sister.  That made her take a deep breath and stop crying for a minute.

The sounds she makes already sound different - clearer.  Especially her "d"s.  I'm so glad we did this now instead of waiting to see if it would affect her speech.

The Park plus Medical Updates

The weather has been beautiful the last couple of weeks, and we made our first trip to our local park a few days ago.  Zoe was excited to see the brightly colored playground, but wasn't entirely sure about exploring it.  It's hard to have a toddler who can't toddle - she wants to explore but can't take off and run around.

So smart girl enlisted the help of big brother and tried out the slide.

I think she liked it :')

She also met a new friend.  Some friends who traveled to adopt little B a couple of months before we did met us at the park, and they tried out the slide together.

There was a certain amount of normal toddler circling and eyeing each other, but I think they will be good friends.  And doesn't B have the cutest little snowsuit!

Now whenever we pass a park Zoe points and wants to get out.  I'm sure we will be there a lot this summer.

We realized two weeks ago that Zoe has an oddly shaped tongue when she sticks it out.  Depending on how far, it is either square or heart shaped.  So after a little internet searching we confirmed that she is tongue tied.  This means that the little tissue connecting the base of her mouth to the bottom of her tongue is attached too far forward, limiting the use of her tongue.  It explains why certain sounds are difficult, and why drinking from a cup is so messy.  It also explains the occasional drool.  A quick trip to the doctor confirmed it, and another quick visit to an ENT doctor and we have a surgery scheduled for early Monday morning (7:30 to be exact).  They will clip her frenulum, releasing her tongue to move freely.  They tell us it's minor surgery, and that she can eat basically normally right away.  Skeptical me will have the Tylenol ready.

As for Zoe's foot, we have gotten multiple opinions, and are carefully considering and praying about our next step.  We are debating a Symes amputation with a prosthetic vs. limb lengthening.  The biggest factor in our decision is the future functionality of her foot, which highly in doubt.  Please pray for us as we consider our options.

In the meantime, Zoe LOVES shoes.  She loves to have them put on, then take them off and play with them, then have them put on again.  They're even more fun on the hands!

 

Tired baby!

More Than We Knew Before

We received a surprise in my email box today.  A photo of our Zoe in her crib at the orphanage.  It was in with several photos our friends sent, and it took us a little while to realize what we were seeing. 

The room is bright, Zoe is well bundled and warm, drinking a bottle and looking right at the camera. There are pictures of flowers and Disney princesses above her bed.  And she is strapped down with what look like strips of cloth keeping her still.

It is so hard to imagine our little princess, so full of movement and curiosity, laying flat on her back staring at pictures of flowers for even a small portion of her life.  And yet.  And yet there she is.  This explains why one side of her head is flatter than the other - she was turned to see the beauty hanging there to her left, just out of reach.

Well now Zoe has real flowers, and beautiful clothes like those princesses on the wall.  But there are other children in the pictures, and my heart is breaking for them as well as for her.  So I pray for them, that their Mamas and Babas will come and get them soon, and that in the meanwhile someone will give them a kiss and a snuggle to let them know that they are not forgotten.