October, November & December 2010

The month of October was quite busy. It brought Andrew's first trip to Florida! Andrew got to meet John's sister Kim and her family. He LOVED getting to meet more cousins (he had already meet Catherine when she came to our house for his baptism) as well as his Aunt Kim & Uncle John. We took Andrew to the beach (he got to swim in the Bay) and to hit golf balls for the first time. It was nice spending time at John's parent's house and we got our last fill of sunshine for the year 2010.

We also took Andrew to a pumpkin patch near our house. He got to pick out pumpkins, play on a wooden tractor, pet some animals and go on a hay ride - he loved it! His friends Ty & Reed were there too and he really had a lot of fun playing with them.

There were 2 trips to McConnells Mills State Park in October. A friend of Laurie's from high school is a photographer and we set it up for her to take family pictures outside with the beautiful leaves. The first day we were supposed to meet, it was raining so we rescheduled for later in the month. We had the opportunity to go there (the weekend before our rescheduled appointment) with Laurie's parents to get some pictures with them. This turned out to be a very good thing because the following weekend when we were meeting Laurie's friend, Andrew was sick. We still had her take our pictures, but because he wasn't feeling well Andrew didn't really cooperate and we didn't get many good ones that day.

Andrew's MRI (to check out his optic nerve) was scheduled for Monday October 25 but because he was sick the weekend prior (with a fever that reached 104 degrees), we had to reschedule. The new date was set for Wednesday December 1.

The month of October ended with...yep, Halloween!! Andrew dressed up as a tiger. We didn't think that he would enjoy being in his costume, but he actually didn't seem to mind it. Laurie's parents came over to our house and her dad stayed at our house to pass out candy while we went around the neighborhood to Trick or Treat. We walked around with Andrew's friends Ty, Reed and Lucas - what a crew of boys! We think they had a good time and while Andrew didn't really "get it", he was a trooper :)

November was a fairly uneventful month. It was around the second full week that Andrew's hands and feet started peeling...this led to two things: 1. We diagnosed what was most likely the cause of the mysterious fever/sickness during a weekend in late October - hand foot and mouth disease and 2. he stopped sucking his thumbs!! It took us about a week to realize that he wasn't doing it anymore! We figured it was going to be a habit that we struggled to get him to stop some day but he stopped all on his own at 22 1/2 months old!!

Andrew and Laurie continue going to gymnastics every Thursday morning. Although he has his moments, he is definitely doing a lot better. He enjoys climbing over things and swinging from the bars.

We took Andrew to our local holiday "light-up night". He got to help daddy make a gingerbread house and decorate a cookie inside. Then we went outside and Santa rode in on a firetruck! Laurie & Andrew got their picture taken with Santa and John took Andrew up in the firetruck :)

The month ended with a huge Thanksgiving dinner at Laurie's Aunt Deb & Uncle Tom's house. Andrew seemed to enjoy all of the food (although that should come as no surprise) and have a really good time.

December was in one word - BUSY! December 1 was the rescheduled date of Andrew's MRI. BUT, he had a runny nose (with colored mucous) so Laurie called to find out if that was something that we should reschedule for again. The answer was yes...and, the first available date was January 10 - fingers crossed that there is no illness then and that the 3rd time is a charm!

John had 3 1/2 vacation days left for the year so he took a day off on December 8 & we went out to cut down our Christmas tree! There was a lot of snow on the ground where we went and Andrew insisted on being carried - it was Laurie's workout for the week considering it was mostly up hill to look at the trees and he weighed an extra 5 pounds with his snow gear on :) Later that day we took him to get his Christmas/2nd Birthday pictures taken and he did really well even though the studio was a zoo!

The next big event was Andrew's 2nd birthday party on Saturday December 18th. John's parents flew in for the event on Friday. The party turned out great and thank goodness we borrowed the Maschak family's bouncy house for the 24 kids that were there! It was a very special day for Andrew and we know he felt the love of all the friends and family that were there to celebrate his 2nd birthday.

Sunday the 19th Andrew's sitter, Becky, and her family hosted a holiday party for the families of the children she watches. Becky had a play planned for the children to perform which didn't exactly happen, but they all put on their costumes for a couple of photos.

John took Monday the 20th off so that he could spend some more time with his parents. They were able to visit until Tuesday morning when they flew to Chicago for Christmas. John also took a 1/2 vacation day that Thursday and went to gymnastics with Andrew & Laurie. Andrew loved having daddy there to show all of his tricks to.

The next big day was Christmas and Andrew's second birthday - all wrapped up in one day! We went to Laurie's church in Butler for the 10:30pm Christmas Eve service. Andrew stayed awake the entire service and we were able to wish him Happy Birthday after midnight. He slept in until about 9am and we were able to distract him with breakfast until Laurie's parents arrived around 9:30. We gave him his stockings (he got one from Grammy & BupBup too) and gifts from us before we took him into the playroom to see his kitchen from Santa. It was a huge hit and he LOVES playing with it! We hosted Christmas with Laurie's family and everyone came over around 11:00. It was a really great day - Andrew got so many fun toys and lots of love :)

On Monday December 27, Laurie took Andrew to his 2 year appointment with the pediatrician. He weighed in at 27 pounds and measured 32.5 inches tall. He has gained 7 pounds since we brought him home (an average of 1 pound a month) and has grown 1.5 inches! The doctor said he seems to be doing great and there were (finally) no shots needed!

The month ended with a couple of play dates with his friend Addie (a neighbor down the street) and his friends Ty, Reed & Julia. Laurie was off work for the last two weeks of the year and John took Thursday December 30th off as his last vacation day. We went out to dinner with our friends Andrea & Jon on New Years Eve while Laurie's cousin, Courtney, babysat the 3 (2 year old) boys - Andrew, Ty & Reed. She survived, the kids had a great time playing with Andrew's kitchen and it was a nice adult evening out to end the wonderful year that was 2010!!

August & September 2010

Well, August was not quite as busy of a month as July. It started off with a road trip to Maryland. John went to high school in Cumberland and his good friend Billy (who now lives in Colorado) was in town visiting his parents. Billy's wife Kerri, his sister Tracey, her husband and 2 daughters were there also. It was a really great day visiting with everybody and we think they really enjoyed meeting Andrew & observing is quite large appetite :)



On August 14, we took Andrew for a follow-up visit to the eye doctor. The doctor felt that there was just a slight improvement from May in his left eye (as a result of our patching efforts). We were hoping he wouldn’t need to dilate Andrew’s eyes but he did, so that he was able to hopefully get a better look at the optic nerves. He was indeed able to get a better look and decided that the nerve in the left eye looks “different”. Since he is not sure if the nerve is just “different” looking or if it’s actually under-developed (meaning it never fully developed before birth), he would like Andrew to have an MRI done. We were hoping this would be able to be done under the same anesthesia as his circumcision but the facility where the circumcision was done doesn’t do sedated MRIs. So, he has an MRI scheduled for October 25 at Childrens Hospital.

Andrew & Laurie started “climbing cubs” which is their mommy & me gymnastics class on August 26. Andrew’s friends Julia, Ty & Reed are in the same class. He is having a good time in the class and becomes a little more comfortable every week.

In August we also had a couple of birthday parties for little girls who turned 2 - Julia and Maeve. And in September we had a birthday party for our neighbor Addie who turned 3 and a family baby shower for our neighbors Kevin & Karah. Andrew had lots of fun playing with all of his new friends.



September 1st brought Andrew's circumcision surgery - a day that we were anxious to be over. We had to be at Childrens North at 7:45am. Once checked in, we were taken back pretty quickly and they took his vitals. There were several people in and out of the room until finally the Anesthesiologist came in - he was the one that we had to get permission from for one of us to go back with Andrew until he was asleep. He just happened to be Russian (sort of ironic) and we had a nice chat with him about St. Petersburg and Moscow. He told us that we should take Andrew out to the play room and see how he does before we decide if anyone will go back with him. We played for a little bit and then a nurse came to get him - before we knew it, they were walking down the hall for surgery and we didn't even get to tell him good luck much less go back with him! We went out to the waiting room where we anxiously waited for the doctor to tell us how it went. She came out about 50 minutes later and said that he was resting in recovery & that everything went very well. Not long after that, a nurse came out and said that Andrew was awake. We were taken back to the recovery room and he was crying as he didn't completely sleep off the anesthesia. Laurie switched places with the nurse who was holding him and Andrew fell asleep on her for about 45 minutes. When he awoke he drank two sippy cups full of apple juice and was able to keep it down. They took out his IV, gave us discharge instructions and we were free to go home! We came home and ate lunch after which he took an hour & 1/2 nap. He then played outside and was perfectly fine the rest of the day! Overall, he did a great job with everything and really was only ever fussy at diaper change time for a few days - - the doctor was right, it really was like it never happened!



Laurie took Andrew to his 18 month well visit with the pediatrician (even though it was at 20 months of age - due to insurance issues from visiting the adoption doctor) on September 8. He weighed in at 25 pounds and measured 32 inches tall - - that means he has gained 5 pounds and grown 1 inch since May 6!! The doctor said she is very impressed with his progress. He got 2 more shots (one being his flu shot) so he is now all up-to-date on shots until he is 4 years old!

On September 11 we took Andrew to his first airshow. Laurie thought that he might be afraid of the Thunderbirds but he seemed fascinated by all of the planes - much to John's delight!



We had our first post adoption visit with our social worker, Rita on September 19. She came to our house and was very excited to meet Andrew. He showed her many of his "tricks" and she said she very much enjoyed playing with him. Her report was great and she gets to come back in April to visit us again :)

We’ve had many people ask us if Andrew is talking a lot. So, we decided to share a list of words he says on a regular basis. He has gotten very good at repeating words back to us but here is a list of commonly spoken words: uh oh (his first word), mama, daddy, ball, bye, dirty, hot, one, two, three, book, yes, bad, wow, turtle, truck, whoops, more, hi, no, love, wet, dry, messy, neat, dust, up, down, juice, milk, grapes, cheese, home, bath, snack and walk. He also says Ty & Reed (our friend's twin boys), Nini (Laurie's grandmother), Mike (his babysitter's husband), Bec (his babysitter's name is Becky), for Grandpa he says "Butt or Bupp" and for Grandma he says "Ma" - we are continuing to work with him on those last ones :)

In addition to these words, he also makes animal sounds for the following animals: cat, dog, cow, duck, lion, tiger and bird. He also knows that Sammy is a cat and Meows when you ask him what Sammy says :)

July 2010

Well, July was definitely a very busy but wonderfully fun month. The month began with a family turkey dinner at Nini's (Laurie's grandmother) house. Andrew ate lots of turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing and applesauce. Grandpa Morrow took great pleasure in feeding Andrew not one, but two pieces of Nini's coconut creme pie. The next fun event was the Regatta on the 4th of July. Laurie's parents and brother, Dave, came with us. Andrew got to see some speed boats and eat his first funnel cake.

The beginning of July was also when Laurie returned to work. She is now working two days a week and Andrew goes to a home daycare at the end of our street. He has been doing very well there and seems to enjoy it. Laurie is finding that two days a week is a nice balance as it gives her some adult interaction time out of the house and makes her appreciate her time at home with Andrew even more.

John was in a wedding on July 10 in Las Vegas so we packed up and the three of us went to Vegas for the weekend (from Thursday to Monday). Andrew did really well on the airplane (he's a pro now) and was a trooper the whole weekend. It was extremely hot while we were there (between 100-110) degrees but we still walked around the strip a little bit and spent some time outside. John's parents were there also for the wedding so it was nice to spend some time with them. The wedding was beautiful and we wish Doug & Leslie a lifetime of happiness.

The week we returned home from Vegas, Laurie took Andrew to a surgical consult for his circumcision. The doctor said that it's a simple procedure that will take 30 minutes with a recovery time that is generally 2 days. The surgery is schedule for September 1 and we are not looking forward to it but we know he will be ok.

PPG (John's employer) hosted a night at the Pittsburgh zoo for PPG employees & friends/familes. We took Andrew along with Laurie's parents. He had a great time seeing all of the animals and even got to pet a lizard! Grandma and Grandpa Morrow had a great time too watching Andrew's reaction to everything.

The remainder of the month was spent visiting with friends. Andrew got to meet Ava, Carson, Danica, Brady, Cole, Nick & Ben (all children of Laurie's work friends) as well as Layla, Alyssa & Chad (children of Laurie's college friends). Laurie had a great time visiting with everybody and Andrew had a blast meeting his new friends.

June 2010

Ok, change of plans...we are going to do our best to update the blog every month with the highlights of what we did the previous month. Life is way too busy to update every week and does anyone really want to hear what we did every day? ;)

At the beginning of June, Andrew got to go bowling for the first time. We had the 5th annual Wil Morrow bowling event (a yearly event in memory of Laurie's brother who was killed in a car accident on April 28, 2005) on Saturday the 5th and Andrew had a great time. With the help of his daddy, he got to roll a ball down the lane and actually knocked down some of the pins. As usual, it was a great day with family and friends!

The next big event was Andrew's baptism. This brought many of John's family members to our house and it was wonderful to see them. John's parents and our niece Catherine arrived late Thursday the 10th. Jimmie (a wonderful friend of the O'Rourke family) arrived on Friday followed by John's sister Jen (with her husband Todd and their 2 kids Colin & Sarah) and his sister Chris (with her husband Russell and their 3 kids Grant, Brynn & Marin) on Saturday. We had a lot of fun visiting and playing with everyone. Sunday, June 13 was the big day and he did a great job. We had him baptized at First English Lutheran Church which is where Laurie grew up and was also baptized. He behaved well in church and didn't cry when the water was put on his head. After church, everybody came back to our house for a party. Andrew got to spend the beautiful day with wonderful people including cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, great grandmothers, friends and of course his loving parents :)



The month of June also included Andrew's first birthday party for our neighbor Cayne, a weiner roast at great-grandma Nini's house, meeting his new friend Brady and helping to co-host a summer picnic with our friends the Maschaks. He had so much fun playing with all of his new friends.



Laurie took Andrew to a follow-up appointment at Dr. Springer's office on the 22nd where we found out that Andrew now weighs 22.2 lbs (so he has gained 2.2 lbs since being with us)! The developmental specialist said that he is doing so much better than she expected him to be doing. He is learning things quickly and developing amazing problem solving skills (which she witnessed).

The month ended with a lot of illness though. Laurie had bronchitis, John had sinus and ear infections & Andrew had pink eye (over a 1 week period, we all had an antibiotic in some form). As if that wasn't enough, the stomach flu went through the neighborhood but only Laurie got it (thank goodness).

Overall it was a great month with a lot of special memories!

Home Update #2

Last Wednesday was a beautiful day outside. Laurie and Andrew ran some errands in the morning and then in the afternoon they went swimming with the neighbors. He did great in the pool and ended up being in there for almost 3 hours!

Thursday was another beautiful day so Laurie took Andrew swimming with her friend Sarah & her two daughters (Lydia & Julia). She thought a couple of hours swimming before nap time would make him sleep longer - no such luck..he only took a 50 minute nap! Sarah's girls took 3 hour naps! Sheesh!!! In the afternoon great grandma "Nini" came over to visit again. Andrew was in a great mood and showed Nini all of his dance moves - she loved it!

Friday morning Laurie took Andrew shopping and then they met her friend Tara & her son Cole for lunch. Andrew enjoyed meeting his new friend and they both had their moments of silliness during lunch :) Cole is getting ready to be a big brother as Tara is expecting twin boys next month!

Saturday was John's 32nd birthday. The day began with John and Laurie taking turns getting some things done around the house. After nap time, Laurie's parents came over to babysit so that we could go out for John's birthday. John chose to visit Taipei for dinner and then we went to Ross Park mall so that John could get fitted with a tux for a wedding he is in. Andrew ended up doing great with grandma and grandpa. They had a lot of fun playing and they said he was a good boy :)



Sunday we both took Andrew swimming again. The thought of tiring him out before nap time was there again but like Thursday, it didn't work - the child simply is NOT a good napper! When he woke up we drove to Butler for dinner at Laurie's parent's house. On the way, we stopped at Laurie's friend Kimmy's house and Andrew got to meet his friend Levi and see Leah again (she came to the airport with her mommy when we got home). At grandma & grandpa's house, Andrew got to play with his Uncle Dave, Aunt Maggie and their dog Harpua again. Grandpa took Andrew out to the porch swing and he seemed to enjoy it. He did not, however, like the grass. He made a horrible face anytime we made him walk on it and was only happy when grandma brought out a blanket for him to sit on and brownies to eat (they are very familiar with his favorite dessert). This was the day that he started saying "uh oh" - it is said about 1000 times every day now :)



On Monday we spent most of the day at home and John entertained Andrew while Laurie got some things done around the house. This day was a bit challenging because the weather did not cooperate with nap time (VERY loud thunderstorm) and because of the noise, Andrew took a zero minute nap! That meant he was quite crabby the rest of the day. We went over to Laurie's Aunt Deb & Uncle Tom's house and visited with Uncle Tom's family who were there for a picnic. Andrew enjoyed playing in Aunt Deb's tupperware cabinet and sharing a banana with their bird Jasper :)

Tuesday morning Laurie took Andrew for a walk with her friend Andrea & her boys Ty and Reed. After the walk we stopped at Andrea's house and the boys played for a little bit. Andrew almost fell asleep during lunch but as usual only took a short nap. After dinner, we all took a trip over to our friends' house (Sarah, Phill, Lydia & Julia). Andrew played in a sandbox for the first time and although he often tried to eat the sand, he didn't like the way it stuck on his hands. He also got to play in Lydia's Barbie Cadillac Escalade and she took him for a ride around the yard.



Today was mostly spent at home playing except for a trip to do some grocery shopping. Andrew was in a very silly mood and "talked" the entire time in the store. Everyone we passed smiled and quite a few made comments about how cute he is - we, of course, agree with them :)