6 weeks later

Well its hard to believe we've been home 6 weeks already. Truthfully, it feels like Owen has always been here, isn't that weird. It took us at least 2 weeks to be truly right with the jet lag. Everything up to Dec 19 was a blur for me personally, as I had to jump right back into my human resources studying, projects, and then write three finals. My marks are ok (knock on wood, still waiting on the results of the finals) which amazes me as I did most of it in a fog. And often covered in baby goober! Oh yes, there was that little thing called Christmas. We were soooo unprepared. Next year will be better, I promise! Who knows what Owen must be thinking about all of it, or as my friend puts it, "I love this Canada, I just get here and everyone has parties and presents all of the time, woo hoo!" Owen took it all in stride and had a great time, he's very social thats for sure. Big sister Rae-Lynn is working on her jealousy but I suspect that one will take awhile. She enjoys Owen's company MOST of the time. Things are much more stable now. Owen sleeps through the night now, and we have a pretty established schedule. Now that I am finished with school, I am able to focus my attention on the kids, which is a relief. They do keep us busy!

On the medical front, we jumped right into the line at Chedoke and Owen's surgeries are getting under way. He has already seen a surgeon, developmental specialist and an ENT doctor is soon to come. His lip closure surgery is scheduled for Jan 11. Owen's palate surgery will follow approximately March once his lip is fully healed. Then speech therapy begins. We can't wait to hear what he has to say, as it seems like it will be alot! Owen manages to communicate in his own way. We taught him basic baby sign language and he has his own sort of language that is pretty clear (example, hopping up and down when he wants his bottle, pretty clear eh?).

Reactions to Owen's appearance have been mostly positive. I admit I was a little bit nervous bringing Owen out socially for Christmas and around town but everyone has received him very well (thank-you!). We have had the odd uncomfortable "walmart moments", usually with other kids, but they are the exception. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that many of our friends have been researching cleft and are very curious about it. So, we are going to track Owen's surgical procedures on this blog for those who are interested. I'll start today by posting some before pics in a separate posting. The thing that has us most nervous about Owen's surgery is not the procedure itself but the recovery. He has to be in arm restraints (that keep his elbows from flexing) for 2 weeks, and likely will be miserable. o boy. So here we go! stay tuned!