5 weeks @ home

I finally made it back to work and have almost gotten back in my “groove”. Isabella has quit mentioning her tooth, which means we might not need the crown after all. Lori has another 11 full days with the kids at home and on the 24th, they will start preschool and she will go back to work. They’ll attend a local public Elementary school and we’ll use daycare services to drop them off in the morning and to bus them to and from the school for a month. My parents will be here at the end of September all the way to December 1st and they'll happily undertake those responsibilities for a while!

We almost scheduled all the appointments at the hospital with the exception of a couple that we decided to wait on (speech evaluation and Occupational Therapy). With speech it’s just too early and we’re going to see how they progress once in school. We’re working with Isaac on basic sounds. His comprehension seems on par with his sister’s and we were told that it’s not unheard of for kids his age (even those with upbringing in regular family settings) to have similar speech delays. As for O.T. we think they’re doing fine. Isaac is now able to put his pull-up on by himself and is capable of putting on his own T-shirts as well as taking them off. We will discuss this matter with the pediatrician at the upcoming visit in a few weeks. The most important appointment was with a Neurologist, but unfortunately they can’t see us until January. So in the meantime we scheduled an EEG and MRI and our pediatrician will evaluate the results with the neurologist as we await our turn. These are tests that have to be done anyway, together with another blood test which we’re getting done next week.

Speaking of blood tests…LabCorp messed up and lumped Isabella’s blood samples with Isaac’s, rendering both their samples useless (about 6 a piece). So we had to redo them all; not so “Convenient” as their website states.

On August 1st, we met the Bush family. I think I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again just in case: reading their blog was a pivotal moment and was probably the main reason we pursued Ukraine. They were extremely nice to hang out with and we enjoyed a relaxing lunch at Cafe Express. And I’m sure we’ll have other occasions to meet up! They were very kind to give the twins some gifts and they enjoyed them a lot. Isabella walks in Emma’s shoes (“tatki”) everyday and Isaac frequently picks Lucas’ hooded shirts to wear when we go out! Here’s a cute photo of the group on a hot Saturday afternoon.

A couple weeks ago I went to register the kids for their Social Security numbers and we got them last week. We have also sent in the consulate registrations and are now waiting to receive the Certificate of Citizenship.

Last Friday (August 7th), Isaac had his first US seizure. It was over in under 10 minutes and was quite mild. We’re hoping that with all the tests and hospital visits, that they’ll be able to adjust/change his medications to hopefully put an end to them.

My colleagues at work were very generous and gave the kids a lot of gifts (special thanks to Ashlea, Mark, Laura and Bill). Here they are having fun unwrapping gifts in what feels like Christmas in July/August!