over due post...

well it has been a while.. but to catch up on our wonderful sons. Aleks has grown about 5 inches in the last 2 years , putting on some weight so he looks really good..he attends preschool 3 days a week and is doing great. he continues to pick up on everything...loves to sing and play. We see the genetics doctor again in feb. then we will see how well he is actually growing ..other then a few ear aches he is doing awesome...(thanks be to God).
now on to Markus ... he will be having tubes put in his ears this month and the dentist hopes to do some dental work the same days if it works out..he will be going for an MRI at the end of the month to see how the lipomas in his spine is doing. the genetics doctor still says he is in the 50 percentile of 1 year olds on weight, 50 percentile of 2 year olds on height...and well his head has only grown about a cm in two years... he is not going to school yet momma cant let him go just yet...potty trainning aint happening ....
we went last month and met up with Young O. the boys best buddy from Estonia . it was great seeing them together again..O's family are wonderful people.it was great to actually meet face to face and be able to talk to someone who understands what you went through to bring the boys home and where they came from.

Grrr.. i need more hours in the day....

well we have had markus back to the childrens hospital and now he has several more appointments coming up in 2011... He is getting tubes in his ears in jan. the neuro doctor has set up a MRI on his spine to make sure it isnt getting worse.. and the cleft pallate we continue to wait and see..

more to learn about

well when we was at dollywood on saturday it was so hot everyone was sweating, well not markus but his skin was hot enough to burn you . we noticed that he was sweating so we had to cool him off. when we was home on sunday he did nothing but sleep and cool off.. he stayed hot til Sunday night, i thought he was getting sick again. but it was still where he had gotten so hot on Saturday.. apparently unlike aleks who has adjusted and started to sweat in our climate ..markus with his ACC may never figure out to sweat to cool down...his brain may not regulate his tempeture...this explains last year every time he got in the sand box his fever would spike at over 104....

its been a while

well i know it has been a while since i blogged. but finally a moment of rest to blog.We are happy that Arly has finally graduated and still doing good. for graduation she wanted a trip to Dollywood , so we went on saturday the boys loved everything....Markus maybe be small but he loves to ride the rides... Aleks enjoyed all the water rides , getting wet makes him happy...i think he is a fish at heart..

in other news. we got to the Doctor tomorrow to talk about Markus possibly have Pica( i think it is). His OT and ST think it might be a reason he will pick up anything non food and eat it.he wont chew food but he is learning..but if you give him some grass or even fuzz he will chew it up and eat it. He has even start picking up coins so now we have to watch him like a hawk..... Markus has been talking a bit more. babbling on and on at times...

recovering from surgery

well yesterday markus underwent surgery .. it ended up taking a bit longer then thought .. the doctor had to remove scare tissue and fix the previous surgeon's attempt to bring down the testicle .. (the first surgery was pre- adoption) .. our journey home was a long trip..our poor baby couldn't stop throwing up...i believe it was the pain medicine.. no more tylenol 3 for my boy..we are managing the pain with regular tylenol and motrin....today he has managed to eat applesauce and some yogurt...so we are on the road to recovery...

we did however now get a name for the lipomas throughout his nervous system.. PAI syndrome....he has a cleft palate , the massive lipoma from his nostril and the lipomas in the spine...although he doesnt have the lipoma in the corpus callosum ...he has agenesis of the corpus callosum...he also has a lipoma about the size of a quarter in his brain.. all these things make our son very special ..

more markus

Markus has really gotten rotten this week.. when we tell him to get his fingers out of his mouth he throws his glasses off. and laughs at you... He has started babbling like a a baby would if they were just learning to make sounds...He said Da-da although he had said daddy already but just as if it was his first word we praised him....tonight he was saying mom-mom as if he has just figured out how to say it....He is such a precious gift from God. sometimes i wonder what did i do to deserve such a gem...i know in my heart i couldnt love him anymore if he had our blood running through his veins...

markus

today we made a trip to the ENT and found out that markus nostril is healing great and there should be no other problems with it. it was nothing more then a lipoma , that was a big relief to hear. both boys did really well today on the trip since it takes around 3 hours one way. markus did however eat turkey , mashed potatoes and carrots.... did i mention he chewed a few times......yay markus you are momma's big boy...

a few things for us to get excited about :)

markus has started to improve he now not only picks up his sippy cup but he can do it one handed and put it back down again..also he has used the potty a couple times...he has discovered he has a tongue and loves to touch it...also he goes around babbling all the time...so he is learning it is just going to take time....We had him a big birthday party on saturday and he loved it.

markus becoming more vocal with his wants

well in the last few days i've noticed markus has began to babble for things and not just look at you.. it is hard to believe that this week he will be turning 5... i've noticed that over last couple weeks , he one hip is starting to turn in some as he walks..he has lipomas all down the inside of his spine so we are not sure if this is something that we need to worry about or if it is just simply he is walking oddly....we head back to NWCH next week to see the ENT for check up on his nose. the surgery has helped with his breathing but since the surgery , he grabs his head alot when certain noises are being made.

a few changes ...

here is markus with steve

markus

well i know i havent been blogging much but with the boys home now it takes up all my time...however i am going to start blogging again and doing a little less facebooking...with markus' condition of ACC(agenesis of the corpus callosum) i will be blogging to keep a journal on his accomplishments..I am learning slowly that everything he does is a giant achievement for him and although he is going to be turning 5 years old real soon. I as his mother am getting to see all his important milestones in life...i.e....walking ,crawling, sucking on a sippy,and even learning to chew.

from the begining of our adoption i have always known markus was meant to be ours..and i would never of changed anything about him ...God gave him to us and we love him just as he is ..I think once we had everything diagnosed( well up to this point) it actually affirmed the feelings that he was meant to be with us...... daily learning lessons arent just for my son......

i will be using our blog to now write about our family daily life living with a son with ACC ..and the achievemnts of both our sons.

time to remember..

a year ago today we was in tallinn . trying to get some rest for court tomorrow.who would of ever thought that two precious little boys could make so much difference in our lives. everything about them is exciting and new.

a long time coming

well it has been almost 11 months since we became the proud parents of the most precious boys God ever could of given us..today we went and got a haircut at the salon that my cousin owns.both boys sat still for her and it was really sweet to hear people say how cute they were. Aleks has really gotten good at speaking english and doing so well with everything. He has gotten so lovable and lets others love him back...major progress for him...Markus has a few delays to overcome but he is opening up so much . he is having surgery in feb. and hopefully he will stop having so many trips to the childrens hospital.