Will we ever catch a break??

No pun intended. Sam broke his arm - it is a level one growth plate wrist fracture, to be exact. Prognosis is great and he will spend the next 3 weeks in a cast. If all goes well, that is all the treatment that he will need. I have no idea how it happened - there was no catastrophic event, no big fall with lots of tears....... He told me on Monday that he had a boo boo. I kissed it and asked him if it felt better, he said yes and continued to play. This is an event that happens several times a day everyday (sometimes it happens following someone elses boo boo just because we like the attention) so it was no cause for alarm. Sam woke up Tuesday morning, very quiet and holding his arm. He said "ow" and held it up to me. It was swollen at the wrist up through the elbow. We called the advice nurse to get an appointment and she wanted to know what Sam says happened - then we have to explain that although he is 3, he is still developing the language, learning English and overcoming the fistula that has formed in his palate..... So we have no idea. She gave us a work-in appointment for the morning (code for Long Wait) so that I would not have to take all the kids to the appointment - Jack and Robbie are in VBS this week. I arrange with a neighbor to get them to VBS, and head off to the doctor. Our pediatrician referred us to a pediatric orthopedist. Sam was so brave. I know he has got to be so confused about all of the things happening to him. Ironically, we had a visit with the Craniofacial team last week and they told us to take the summer off. Dr. Thomas said that with the volume of his caseload, it was not a good thing that he could recognize me and did not even need to look at Sam's chart - it meant that we had been up there way too much recently. He said to take a break and enjoy the summer and come back in September and we would make a plan for the future. Now not even a week later we are facing medical issues again. It's funny. But on the bright side, we have more time for the orthopedist now that we are no longer traveling back and forth to Sc*ttish Rite.

Cleveland Zoo

Robbie and his best buddy Kevin

Uncle Zhou!
Karla from EAC

China Reunion

Every year our agency hosts a weekend picnic and party for all of the families that have adopted with them. We made the 12 hour drive (yes, I said drive) to Ohio (Suburban + 7 people + 1200 miles = a paycheck's worth of gas!) and made the most of every minute. Friday night was the China Party at EAC with food, moonwalks, a Chinese Raffle, jugglers, balloon animals,...... Lots of fun for all of the kids. Saturday was all day at the Cleveland Zoo. Several years ago we had our Wuhan Super Group tshirts made up for all of the families in our group (with Emma in 2005) that adopted from Wuhan, Hubei. Members of our Agency named us that because we were very lively and vocal and the first of our kind to be so close. We are close to every family in that group. And when we agreed to adopt Sam, I told Karla at EAC that I just knew one of the Wuhan Super Group was adopting too and sure enough it was the Duryeas. So now our families are extra close having 2 children adopted together. It was great to get all of the girls together but it was especially sweet to see Sam and Nathan get back together because they had lived together for 2 and a half years in the orphanage. Nathan was not even recognizable! He has changed so much! He has gained atleast 15-20 pounds since we got home in August. He was almost 3 and was even smaller than Sam in China. Emma really enjoyed the girls. It was the first trip where you can see their personalities coming to life when they are around each other. Emma kept talking about her China Sisters. We also got to spend time with Zhou, our travel guide and of course our dear Chris and Karla who helped make our adoptions come to fruition. After the zoo, we went to dinner in the flats of Cleveland. On Sunday everyone met at our hotel for breakfast and then we went to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Really great museum if you are ever in Cleveland. We drove to Kentucky that evening and then finished driving home on Monday. It was a whirlwind but we loved every minute of it. Two families from our group are going to stop by this summer on their way to Florida and we are so excited to get to host them in our hometown.

Sam and Uncle Zhou

Emma and JackieOur dear friends, Jane, Kori and Roxy - I have a feeling we will be seeing them more in years to come (wink, wink, nudge, nudge, Jane....)