Saturday, November 27, 2010

Santa Clause Is Coming To Town

It's been so much fun teaching Sofie about Christmas and Santa and all things holiday.  We've been watching Polar Express...which she loves. Her favorite part is near the end when Santa Clause comes out to his sleigh and all the elves sing "Santa Clause is Coming to Town".  This is her version...I tried to catch it secretly but she caught me.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sofieyan/5211876273/

So Santa did come to town yesterday!  He was here to partake in the Festival of Lights.  Sofie waited all week to tell him what she wanted for Christmas and when the time came...she hid behind me.  She decided that Santa is "scwarwy".  But we had a blast taking in all the holiday cheer...wine tasting, food, entertainment, music and the lighting of the town for the holiday season.













We hope you are having a festive holiday weekend!

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Happy Thanksgiving!

So, so much to be thankful for this year!  Our beautiful daughter...finally becoming a family of three...our wonderful family...good friends...and all of our new friends we've met along the way.

Wishing you a day full food, football and family fun!  That's how we'll be spending ours...












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Friday, November 19, 2010

For Your Friday Viewing Pleasure

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sofieyan/5190371336/

Some Answers

When we received Sofie's file to review back in September of 2009, there was little information regarding her special need.  She was diagnosed with a limb difference (right limbs shorter than left, missing digits) and there were some photos and measurements, but not much else.  We of course had her medical information reviewed by a pediatrician who specializes in reviewing international adoption files but again, there was not much for her to look at.  We knew that her condition was not one that fell in to the "minor, correctable" category and honestly, we were totally comfortable with it all.  We knew in our hearts she was our daughter.

Sofie's pediatrician referred us to Shriners Hospital for Children in Sacramento and we are very fortunate to have been accepted to the orthopedic program there.  After several hours of x-rays and consultations on Tuesday, we have some definitive answers.

First let me say what a trooper Sofie was.  She was so anxious about this experience but let the doctors do what they needed to and of course charmed the socks off of everyone.  And I can't say enough about how professional and compassionate and human the staff at Shriners are.  It is a very special place.

Sofie has what is called Fibular Deficiency (she is missing her fibular bone), which is what we suspected.  The good news is her arm has all the bones and she does not appear to have any syndromes associated with this condition.  The doctors were amazed at how well she functions...amazed.  The head ortho doctor commented that "she must not have read the manual".  We also discovered that one of Sofie's fingers on her right hand only has the phalanges and is sort of "floating".  But again, they were very impressed with how well she uses the hand and there is really no recommended treatment.

We were given some basic information about treatment options for Sofie's leg and will go back in February to meet with the head of orthopedics to further discuss them.  The concern is that the length of her leg inequality will increase as she grows, which could lead to scoliosis and hip problems.

We do have the option of doing nothing now and waiting to see what happens as she grows.  Anyone who has met her will tell you that this limb difference in no way slows her down.  See video below.  As a matter of fact, most people we meet don't even notice there is something special about her.  She can run, jump, climb and play just like other kids her age.  And seriously, who can make it past this face...?


Video:


http://www.flickr.com/photos/sofieyan/5040660486/

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

And Now It Is Fall

I love fall.  It is by far my favorite time of year.  I love when the air turns cool and crisp...the sunlight looks just a little bit different...as do the clouds and the sky.  I love to dig out my jeans and sweaters and boots.

We are so happy to live in a place where the weather actually changes with the seasons and trees show their colors. Sofie and I ventured out with the camera this afternoon to capture some of the beauty in our little town.  Of course I had to capture some shots of my little beauty too.

This is Rex, the town horse...Sofie stopped to feed him







Then we headed to our favorite spot in town...the garden















Next we strolled along looking for pretty trees...













My next photo outing will be to capture all of the colors of the fall grape vines...they are amazing.

Monday, November 1, 2010

More Halloween

We headed to the little Halloween carnival here in Yountville yesterday to meet up with some of Sofie's little friends.  We thought we might go out for a bit of trick or treating then hand out candy, but little tootsie seemed to be coming down with something.  She was running a fever and more than a bit "off" (you can just tell by her face in these photos!), so we decided to stay home.  Fever is gone, but I think she has a cold so we are just taking it easy today.

A few photos from the carnival...

Sofie with Mia and Theo




Our friend Juliette...she was a monkey or Monkque as Sofie says




Mia was the cutest little duck




Playing with Felix and Theo