Surgery

Ezra had surgery this morning--little man surgery.

 

Even though it was definitely necessary, it was hard to let him go into that operating room... knowing how much pain he would be in and how confused he would be when he came out of surgery.

 

 

They let one of us stay with him until he fell asleep, before they wheeled him into surgery.  I wanted to (and the nurse assumed I would) but even though I knew it was minor surgery, the though of seeing him go to sleep and being wheeled into the operating room made me tear up (what doesn't these days!)  I didn't want Ezra to be anxious so we felt it would be best if Shawn stayed with him.

 

 

It was hard to see him in the recovery room in so much pain but unwilling to cry.  He reverted back to some previous behaviours (shrugging at every question and attempt we made to comfort them).    I kept trying to tell him it was okay for him to cry.  I told him that 'mommy cries all the time'. Even though he wouldn't cry, we'd randomly see a tear roll down his cheek and his pain was so evident on his face.   

 

The only reason we took a recovery room picture was because the only thing he was interested in doing was taking pictures and looking at them--I think it took his mind off things a bit.

It's hard to tell in these two pictures, but, unprompted by us, he was trying to smile for the pictures.

 

 

 

 

But, no surprise, by the time we got home with him he was happy,laughing, making typical Ezra faces, farting up a storm (which in turn caused more laughing), and even some running.

He's walking kinda funny, and will for for a few days, but he's a trooper.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A full body experience

It's true, no matter how hard you try, finger painting is a full body experience. 

 

To be honest, I can't stand messes (and I'm not a neat freak... so I don't know what that makes me).  I often shy away from things because of all the clean up or potential damage it can do to the house.  And I don't like this about myself. 

 

 

Today I decided that the boys needed some messy fun and so we took the mess outside!

 

 

We started out with paper, but we could all see this coming.

 

 

 

 

So play time, messy time and bath time are now all taken care of--and I'm leaving the mess out side for God to clean up sometime!

 

 

 

Wasss sat?

"Wasss sat?" or, "what's that?" as the rest of us say.
This is what I hear all.the.time.  I know, I know, he's learning all sorts of new things, but when he's pointing at something and asking 'wasss sat?' without even looking at anything I'm pretty sure he's not curious.  And yes I know he just wants communication and attention, blah blah blah.  I think as of 1:25pm I have already heard this about 75 times or so (seriously, no exaggeration).  I was pretty patient with it the first 30 times or so... but once we've reached the 50th-60th time I'm now officially on a time out.  Not him, me.  I'm not mad at him or anything... just apparently reached my 'wasss sat?' tolerance for the day.  that's all :)

And as I go to my happy place, I leave you with some fun pictures at the splash pad.

He makes me laugh!

Liam is the best for making me laugh. 
I was trying to practice a song for Worship on Sunday and Liam thought that he could add something to it.  So he grabbed his kazoo and played along with me... with so much gusto that I just had to sit back and laugh.. and laugh.

And a family bbq + grandma's exercise ball = a challenge

I love laughing.  I need to laugh.  I am a lucky mom :)

Where it hurts

I went to wake Ezra up from his nap today.  I rubbed his back, as usual, until he opened his eyes.  Rather than stretch his arms up for me to pick him up, he turns onto his belly and looks past me out of the playpen mesh.  I got down on my belly like him and touched my forehead to his.  He sat up, turned around and put his back towards me. 

Message received. 

Do you ever wonder how on earth children know what gets us the most?  It’s almost funny… but it’s not.

Learning

Since we've been home, I've been trying to find where Ezra's at (learning) so that I could properly teach & play to his level.  He's very smart--the nuns were right, but on many things he's very behind.  I think I've finally got a clue as to where things are at for him.  Anything where he would have needed to see or read about or be taught, he is very far behind (colours, shapes, names of animals) because he had never seen a cow, dog or duck before.  However, with the tactile practical skills, he is right on (eating with a fork without spilling).  I tested this theory with some dollar store stuff and it was so much fun to see him do well.  He did the best with this cardboard shoelace sewing thing (who knows the right name for it... but I remember these from when I was little).

It's so excited to have an idea now of where he's at.   I feel like I can provide appropriate options for him to enjoy and learn. 

This past week-end, our church hosted a family fun day at the local park (with a bouncy castle, dunk tank, face painting etc.).  It was so much fun!

This is Ezra with my best friend Katherine.

Liam was so excited to go in the dunk tank--he got dunked a ton of times and came back up every time :)

Over and over I am so thankful that God placed us here, in this church and with these people whom I have come to absolutely love. 

Just taking a swing at our friend's farm.

Hair Cuts, Door Climbing, Tea Towels

It's been a good few days.  Lots of outside time and hair cuts for both the boys (way to go Shawn!)
I had to distract Ezra while Shawn was cutting Liam's hair, so the little pool toys + the camera did the trick.  He LOVES posing for the camera.

And finally a half decent picture of the two of us.

And as for Liam, he's just climbing the walls.... I know, it corny, but I couldn't resist.

Ezra, on the other hand, likes wearing tea towels and jogging pants on his head... some days, he'll wear them all morning (I can understand wearing underwear on your, head... but a tea towel???!!)

The Specialist.. arg!

I took Ezra to a urologist yesterday and OH MY, the doctor was so frustrating.  When the doctor came into the room he started talking to Ezra and of course Ezra responded with English, because he’s used to answering all the same generic questions.  After the simple questions, I told the doctor that he only spoke Kinyarwanda and not English.  But of course, what do I know… I’m just his mom.  So the doctor asked Ezra “do you understand me?” and Ezra said yes.  Mind you, if he had asked Ezra if he wanted his arm cut off Ezra probably would have said yes that that too.  

So the doctor started asking Ezra how old he was and Ezra just repeated the doctor’s words.  This happened twice so I finally told the doctor that Ezra was three and the doctor looked at me like I was an idiot and said “I know that!”.  *sigh*  Then he kept going, asking Ezra how many birthday’s he’s had—Serisouly???? They don’t do that in orphanages!!!  If the doctor had given me the chance to talk, we could have avoided such frustration.  The entire appointment had one ignorant frustration after another—the doctor decided that it was his job to start teaching Ezra how old he was, how to count and how to hold up 3 fingers (I’m so glad, because I’ve never thought of that).  The entire appointment felt like the doctor knew more about all kids, my kids, and that it was his job to communicate Ezra and that I was a nuisance.  Don’t get me wrong, I love people taking time with my children, teaching them, loving on them… but this just felt different.. condescending.

This all made me REALLY appreciate our family doctor!

And now, on a lighter note, some starwars battle photos--staring: my children