What a Life Changing Experience!

First--I must apologize for taking so long to update the blog. What a whirlwind it has been. Let me just say that the trip home was 31 hours, and a really bad experience, but Kai (Aidar) was a great traveler, and we couldn't have been happier with him. We owe HUGE thanks to Marsha and Ray for picking us up at the airport and driving us home. And, of course, to Shannon and Rachael for lending us the car seat for the ride home. We now call him "Kai", but we kept "Aidar" as his middle name, and often call him a combination of the two.

We've been back for one and a half weeks, and you would think that this child grew up in the States. He acts like he has been going to church, playgrounds, the mall, restaurants, the doctor, etc. every day of his life. He is a happy, happy little boy, and everyone is impressed at how well he is adapting. He isn't doing very well with the dog, however; he is terrified of Boo. But, I can empathize. It's like us moving in with a ten foot bear, and having someone say "It's OK. Look, he's a nice bear." Yeah, right!

Kai's sign language skills are growing every day. It is great that he can communicate with us almost as well as we can communicate with him. His favorite sign: "EAT!" The doctor has already put him on a diet. He is is underweight for his age, but weighs more than 95% of other children his height. We're giving him a lot of fruits and vegetables, and letting him burn it all off by playing--something he probably didn't get to do very often at the baby house.

Karis is a phenomenal big sister. She wants to help Kai with everything. Sometimes he gets irritated with her trying to help him do things he has been doing for years (like walking), but he is a patient little boy and loves her attention. He absolutely adores her, and gives her hugs and kisses when she sits still for a moment.

She couldn't wait for him to come home with us so that she could take him to Build-A-Bear. She went to town there and built a bear with every accessory she could find in the store--shoes, socks, a dress, purse, coat, you name it. Kai chose a dog (surprisingly, since he is scared to death of our's), but then started choosing Cinderella dresses and silver purses for it. John just shook his head. John was able to convince him to buy a NASCAR shirt for it, and Kai chose a camouflage hard hat, which didn't match, but was more masculine than a silver purse. I thought he might at first be going for the "Village People" look.

He has gone to see both his pediatrician and a member of the Cleft Team at Duke Hospital. His pediatrician is going to run a few more tests, and it looks like we will have to have all of his immunizations again, since Kazakhstan did not give us complete records. The Duke Team feels he should see an orthodontist first to see if the three segments (both sides and the front) in his mouth can be better aligned before he has surgery. We're not sure how long this will take, but we're concerned about his baby teeth falling out and his permanent teeth coming in before surgery. I guess it's one step at a time, though, isn't it?

We're so glad to have the major aspects of the adoption over with. Thanks to all of you for keeping up with our story and for your prayers and well wishes! More to come shortly.