Happy New Year!

I went back to work this week. Unfortunately, parental leave only lasts so long. I was given two weeks' paid parental leave, and I was permitted to use twenty-one of my accrued vacation days and to carry over the rest to 2009. Although I was not allowed to use more vacation time, I at least was home to celebrate Thanksgiving AND Christmas with my family--that was especially nice.

My parents arrived before Christmas and stayed with us until the following Sunday. They both commented on how much Jack had changed just since the end of November: he smiles and giggles all of the time now, and he chatters non-stop in a language only he understands. He points to everything as if to ask, What is that? He is very active and always doing something: climbing, dipping his hands into the dogs' water dishes, opening cupboards, and putting things in the toilet (note: must buy toilet lock). He throws things across the room, just because. He raises his arms to be picked up. He loves to throw himself onto the dog beds, both head-first and backwards, and roll all over them. He loves to crawl back and forth over the dogs themselves, and they allow him to do so without protest (but I swear they roll their eyes at me in exasperation). He's eaten dog food on more than one occasion. He loves to go outside and smiles ear-to-ear when I take him outside or open the car door to get him out of his carseat. Unlike Elizabeth, who would bury her face in my neck when it was windy, Jack closes his eyes, grins, and lifts his face to feel the breeze. He never protests when I lay him down in his crib for a nap or at bedtime (learned orphanage behavior, I'm sure). He loves music. He's transfixed by the television (Elizabeth totally ignored the television until she was over two years old) and LOVES the remote control. Must be a guy thing. He loves bathtime and screams when I take him out. He had his first bubble bath last night and was just fascinated by the bubbles. He very rarely fusses or cries--he really only cries when he is overtired, hungry, or thwarted from doing something he wanted to do. He loves to be chased and tickled! He loves to play peek-a-boo. He loves mandarin oranges and ice cream. He has the cutest bellylaugh, second only to his sister's. And these are only a few of the things we've learned about him in the last few weeks...

Jack had an appointment with the pediatric dental surgeon on December 16. According to the doctor, Jack's cleft lip also involves the bone that makes up the upper jaw, affecting his teeth. The cleft can either result in the teeth not growing in properly, or may even cause some of the teeth to be missing altogether. He may need orthodontic treatment to correctly line up his teeth. He may even need more surgery to replace the missing bone where the cleft spilts the upper jaw bone, which involves taking a bone graft from his hip to repair his jaw. This appears to be the reason that certain foods (like yogurt) leak from his nose. We will see him yearly and will decide what must be done closer to the time that his permanent teeth begin to come in (at round age 4 or 5).

He has appointments with the pediatric surgeon for his circumcision on January 6; with the cleft lip/cleft palate team on January 8; with the plastic surgeon on January 9; and with the pediatric cardiologist on February 2. More about that later.

I dropped my camera in my driveway in late October, on the way to Elizabeth's birthday party, I think, which damaged the button that let me go back and look at the pictures I'd taken. I took it to China and muddled through the trip. But, right before Christmas (perfect timing), I somehow damaged the flash, so I couldn't take photos inside at all. So, I took it to the camera shop where I bought it, and they in turn sent it back to Nikon to be repaired. Some or all of the repairs may be covered under warranty (fingers crossed). This means I will be without my camera for about four weeks--sigh. My mom left her camera at my house (thanks, Mom!), so I won't miss capturing those special moments.

I will try to post new pictures this evening!