Sasha's Surgery and other random January happenings

Hi All-

So Sasha's surgery was last week. It went really well. I will try to post some cute post op pics but my laptop died so I am rolling a new one and need to get all the pics together on this one so I can post them... 

Anyway, he was a total trooper. At first he was really not sure at all- very nervous and scared but the doctors gave him some sort of 'giggle juice' and he went to town, drunk as a skunk and giggly as all get out. He basically skipped to the OR after that. The surgeries went well - about 1 hour total in surgery and then 3 hours in recovery before we could see him. That was the hard part- waiting to see him! We had a great private room though and had brought all sorts of things from home- his blankie, teddies etc and we set the room all up for his arrival. He was pretty out of it and upset all night but he survived with Papa by his side. I went home and stayed with Ana because she wasnt able to sleep with someone else- which was totally fine. She did great with her first 'alone' babysitting with first Anya and then Beth. She was an angel.  

The next day we went and picked up Sasha and Papa and we were all happy to get the heck out of there. His recovery has been pretty seamless- he did have pain the first few days but was pretty much himself the whole time, just a bit cranky. I think the 'pika' surgery was harder on him (and Papa) than the tonsils for sure. But the drs said we had to do it and he is happy that his pika looks like Papa's and baby Will's and baby Harley's now- he is very into being like the babies in the family... Right now he is running around in his new Frog boots (they look like frogs) and pretending to be a frog dinosaur so I would say he is better. :) 

Both kids have some jealousy of the babies that are around- Ana even told us she was "mad it took so long for us to find them" which was sad but pretty cute. It started a good conversation anyway about how we had been searching for them for a long time and that we were so happy when we found them and came as fast as we could. She seemed to get that. She really likes talking about the baby home and what it was like and what is different here and how this place is better because it is a home and she found her mama and papa etc. Supposedly this is all good in terms of attachment so we help by showing pics of the BH etc. I am not 100% on if this is the right plan. Sasha seems to care less about the past- he seems to have forgotten most of it but maybe he is just too young. He is also less sensitive in general than Ana so it may be that. 

Also, we had our first post placement (6 months) the other day and that went well. The kids were nice to the lady and other than showing off for her (which they do for new people sometimes) it was just fine. They were upset after it was over because Ana was worried the lady was coming to talk about sending them away but once we got that all cleared up we were all fine and happy again. I wish she wasnt so worried about stuff like that but I guess it is normal and a phase. 

Other than that we have had a relatively quiet January. Lots of indoor play due to rain and surgery and cold but the last couple days have been nice. My laptop dying has been big in my world but I am mostly over it. 

Other milestones this month: 

-Sasha learned to ride his tricycle. He had been having pedaling issues and they are over- he is speed demon. 

-Ana is staying dry through the night (99%). We are planning to move her to no pull ups at night very soon. This is exciting on many levels. 

-Sasha is also staying dry most of the days so he is going from pull ups all the time to underwear FT! This is sort of less of a big deal as he is pretty dry all the time so the pull ups are not a big deal really but still it is exciting!

-The kids survived their first babysitting and survived. And Mama and Papa got to have dinner together for the first time since we came home. We had Anya over and the kids were great- they got to watch Calliou and stay up till 8:30 when we came home and it was great all around. Apparently they were good and we got 3 whole hours to just talk to each other and be together which was amazing and so very very needed. Six months is a LONG time to never ever be alone for a meal together. We need to plan 2 of these a month I think! Now our plan is to get them more comfortable with more than just Anya or Beth- we cant just have 2 people we rely on constantly, that is not a feasible long term plan but for now it is awesome. 

That is enough for now, I will try to post soon. :) 

SKB