Labor Day Weekend

Wow! We had a busy weekend! Scott was off of work on Friday for a Family Day and the boys and I hadn't started school yet so....we took full advantage of our 4 day weekend. Friday morning Scott and I took Lilymei to get her passport photo taken. I forgot that she needed to have sleeves for the photo so we had to take a quick trip to the Dededo Mall in search of a short sleeve shirt. Once we had the shirt in hand (actually 2 shirts, 2 for $8.00) we had the passport photo taken and then headed off to the Department of Revenue & Taxation to have Lilymei's passport application reviewed and mailed off. Luckily, Friday was one of the 3 days of the week that the passport office accepts applications so we were good to go, after the supervisor agreed to try to mail it off without a social security number. Apparently, a foreign born child on Guam must apply and receive a passport before they can apply for a social security number. Scott asked the question of "Why? What if we never want to leave the island?". It's just policy for internationally adopted children. I don't care as long as we can get both the US passport AND the social security number without any problems!

Friday afternoon the base held their annual Labor Day Fun Fest with free food, games for the kids, a water slide, and raffle prizes. Drew was in full Cub Scout uniform handing out free popcorn for the first hour or two. Nate was making his rounds with a few Boy Scout friends and listening to the DJ. Lilymei didn't know what to think with all the people and the loud music but she perked right up when a little friend of hers brought her a whirly-bird to hold on to.

Saturday morning the boys were up bright and early; mowed their 5 lawns and then Nate headed to the Boy Scout House to work on some merit badges with the scouts. Scott and Drew, along with our friend, Mike, headed down to Tarague Beach for the USO camp out. They got the tent set up while I picked up Nate and the 3 of us headed down to the beach for the cookout. Lilymei ate well but after dinner she did NOT want to put her feet down in the sand. She enjoyed watching the waves and the guys playing beach volleyball but she was not going to get sandy. Lilymei and I headed for home at dusk and let the boys eat s'mores and listen to the karaoke all night.

Sunday after church we packed up the car and headed to the Hyatt hotel for a relaxing overnight stay. Lilymei loved the water again~yeah! We enjoyed dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, Al Dente, and had a wonderful night of sleep. The beds at the Hyatt Guam are soooo comfortable. Most of the hotels on Guam have the traditional Japanese bed (hard!) but not the Hyatt, thank goodness! Monday morning, Labor Day, we had a leisurely buffet breakfast at La Mirenda and then we headed out to the Hyatt Beach. We took advantage of the "water toys" and rented a paddle boat for a little morning fun. Lilymei was so relaxed she fell asleep shortly after we got started.....
We opted for a late check-out so we could have a bit more time in the pool and then have the opportunity to shower before heading for home. Drew has been driving us "crazy" asking to ride the SLINGSHOT. I had ridden this ride a couple of months ago with my friend, Natalee. Just to keep our sanity we pulled out of the Hyatt parking lot and right into the Slingshot parking lot. Drew was so excited. Nate agreed to ride with him.


The ride was short~about 60 seconds but the boys had a blast! One of these days I'll get Scott on there with me. I know Drew is planning to ride it again too!

Today we had EDIS (Educational & Developmental Intervention Services) come out to the house to evaluate Lilymei. She is delayed in her motor skills and communication development (we knew that). Next week we are hoping to meet with the speech therapist and the pediatric physical therapist. Once they evaluate Lilymei and write up their reports we are hoping to begin therapy. We can expect therapy to begin in 4 weeks, hopefully less. Right now we are to work with Lilymei, not to try to walk, but to get her to master crawling (she started "real" crawling just this Saturday) and to use her left hand more. We also need to keep her on the floor and help her to stretch to reach toys, etc to improve her balance. She is still wobbly and holds her arm out to catch herself from falling. They also suggested having her reach up overhead to strengthen her muscles and to put toys on the couch/chairs for her to reach for. We also need to keep a diary of the words that she can speak.

We are still waiting to hear back the results from Lilymei's CT scan. Now that the holiday is past I expect we will hear something before the end of the week. Tomorrow morning we are meeting with the audiologist to check Lilymei's hearing. We will post once we know any more details!

No News Yet

It's been a week since we've posted but we were hoping to put an update on the blog in regards to Lilymei's CT scan. We have not gotten any new info yet but I figured I had better put some new photos up before we start getting some phone calls and emails asking for more!

Lilymei checking out her hand....I don't know what she was looking at!

Just sitting in the laundry basket, waiting for Drew to take her for a ride.

Lilymei and Nate sittin' on the back porch, enjoying the morning in their pj's.

Updates!

Ready for church!

Cheese quesadillas at Margarita's are GREAT!  I love them.  I ate the whole thing!

Lilymei had her CT scan on Monday.  She did very well and tolerated the sedation with few side effects.  We have received preliminary results but we are awaiting the final analysis from a pediatric neural radiologist?? (something like that).  Right now what we do know is that Lilymei definitely has hydrocephalus and that she is still suffering from subdural bleeding.   Once we get the complete results we can get the MRI scheduled.  For that, we will have to fly 7 hours to Hawaii and visit Tripler Army Medical Center.  

Lilymei also had x-rays taken of her hips since she is very unsteady on her feet and not walking yet.  It looks like her hips are fine and we will need to continue to work with her on strengthening those legs muscles.  We are in the process of getting Early Intervention to come out and access her situation.  I'm sure she will be having therapy sessions beginning soon.  We will continue to post updates when we find out more details.

I can't get the video I wanted to load on the site tonight so I will leave you with a photo of our sweetie pie sleeping.....

It's Good to be Me!

It's been just over a full week since we have been home now and every day brings new experiences for Lilymei.  She has been to the clinic a few times, to church, shopping at the BX and the commissary (grocery), and Saturday night she went to her first movie on base~Wall-E.  She did very well and the boys were excited to finally get to see the movie.  

Lilymei has not liked her bath time at all.  Bath time prior to Thursday night consisted of two parents struggling to shampoo and wash her, trying to keep her from climbing out of the tub, all the while listening to her cry.  This week we had a breakthrough, and as you can see by the photo below, she actually cracked a smile.

We spent Sunday afternoon at the Hyatt pool.  We were taking a chance that Lilymei would do ok with the water since we had gotten a few smiles in the tub this week.  

Nate and Drew acting their normal, goofy selves in the pool.  

Look!  Lilymei has a big smile on her face WHILE she is in the water!  She's come a long way from the crying baby at the pool in Guangzhou.  After swimming in the pool we took the kids down to the beach.  The ocean water was sooo much warmer.  Lilymei sat for nearly 45 minutes playing with shells and coral at the waters edge while the tide slowly came back in.  We knew she would turn into a beach baby!  

Look at me in my Buckeyes t-shirt!  Thanks Maddie!  I love my piano too!!

Lilymei has had so many firsts this week.  We heard her say DaDa and Mom, and she can clap her hands.  She is trying to stand without any help from us.   Saturday morning Lilymei grabbed the fork out of Scott's hand and she proceeded to feed herself breakfast!  She was so proud of herself!  She gives us the cutest little smirk when she does something that surprises us.  

 

"Oh, it's good to be me!"

Isn't she precious?!

Wednesday night, while the boys were at VBS, we took Lilymei to our favorite restaurant, Al Dente at the Hyatt.  Scott ordered lobster (above).  Look at what Lilymei thought about all the great food....

"For me!? Thanks Baba!!

Lilymei is such a blessing to our family.  We just love her to pieces.  Please keep her in your prayers as we head to the hospital tomorrow for the first of many tests.