Jeffry Dwight - Family - Timeline - The Happily Ever After

Here's the daily journal covering my adoption activities.

Timeline Index

The Decision

The Happily Ever After - 1

The Happily Ever After - 2

The Happily Ever After - 3

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Timeline - The Happily Ever After - Year 2
01 July 2005 - 30 June 2006

Fri, 01 July 2005

First "Meetcha Day" celebration; one year exactly since the boys and I met each other
Boys return from Omaha; big hugs at airport, big party at home

Mon, 04 July 2005

Boys saw their first-ever parade
Independence Day party with Caprice; boys happily blew stuff up

Tue, 05 July 2005

Depart for London, direct flight (9.5 hours) from Dallas
Big trip—three weeks travelling about the U.K.

Fri, 08 July 2005

"Adoptcha Day"

Wed, 13 July 2005

"Gotcha Day (Ukraine)"

Mon, 18 July 2005

"Gotcha Day (USA)"

Wed, 27 July 2005

Fly from London to Dallas, another 9.5-hour direct flight

Fri, 29 July 2005

Received immigration packets requested on 25 March 2005; no surprises, although Nicky's "complete" packet was a dozen pages smaller than Zack's, and also had some info blacked out for security reasons.
The only info in the packets that I didn't already have was the I600 forms I filled out in Kyiv, a letter from my social worker to BCIS, and the medical summaries done by the American Clinic in Kyiv just prior to getting U.S. visas for the boys.

Tue, 02 August 2005

After we spent five months on the waiting list, we finally got Zack in for speech therapy at Collier Center
Collier Center is the best resource in the Dallas area for juvenile speech problems, so despite hating to have waited so long, I'm pleased
Zack will go every Tuesday and Thursday starting next week
Nicky will go along (Zack's appointment is right after school, and I'll have them both in the car at that moment anyway) and participate a little
Not only is speech therapy a family affair because everyone, including older brothers, helps the patient, but Nicky himself can benefit from some of the exercises
Our therapist sounds absoultely fantastic -- in addition to being a speech pathologist, she has a background teaching actors from slavic countries to minimize their accents
It would be hard to think of a better combination of background skills for our therapist!

Mon, 08 August 2005

First day of Kindergarten for Zack
First day of first grade for Nicky
Daddy is looking for a freezer big enough to keep the boys frozen in time....

Tue, 09 August 2005

Zack starts speech therapy at Callier Center (actually, only testing for now; the therapy bits will start in a week or two)
Tasha (the therapist) seems great; very professional, very good with Zack, and very thorough

Tue, 20 September 2005

Three different people have told me recently that I don't update this timeline often enough
Most of the update information is in the Status Updates section, in narrative form
We're not doing a lot of stuff these days that requires a timeline per se -- it's more of a living our lives kind of experience
Of note, however -- Zack is astigmatic, correctable with lenses; we went to the opthamologist yesterday to verify everything and get a prescription; now I have to decide whether or not to let Mr. Destructo have glasses
The opthamologist suggested it might be easier to just go to an ATM, withdraw cash, and dump the cash into the wastebasket
On the other hand, if Zack will wear glasses without destroying them or losing them, they might help
His vision is in the range where it's entirely my decision whether or not to get lenses
I, um, ah, er, am still thinking about it

Tue, 27 September 2005

Zack gets his glasses.

Sat, 01 October 2005—Tue, 04 October 2005

Uncle Ken and Aunt Liz visit. Cousin David also stops by.

Thu, 06 October 2005

Picked up Len, a foreign exchange student from the Netherlands
Len will be staying with us for a couple of weeks; he's between placements and needs a place to stay

Tue, 11 October 2005

Daddy starts helping with the Literacy Links program at school.

Wed, 12 October 2005

Texas State Fair

Fri, 14 October 2005

Uncle Dan's first "Fun Friday" in Zack's class (unfortunately, it was cancelled at the last minute)
Field Day at school
Young Rembrandts starts; this is the annual after-school drawing class Nicky attended last year. He really enjoyed it, so we signed up again this year. Daddy has apparently volunteered, somehow, to help out at the classes
School movie night; about 300 kids and parents get sleeping bags and pillows and camp out on the floor of the school cafeteria to watch a movie—Uncle Dan and Len volunteered to help with setup and tear-down
After the movie, Nico's dad took Len to a high-school football game

Sat, 15 October 2005

Drove down to Glen Rose, Texas
First stop at Fossil Rim Wildlife Preserve; the kids got to see all sorts of wild animals very close-up, including an ostrich who tried to stick his head in the car window, deer and zebras who came right up to us, and dozens of beautiful hawks
Off to splash around in the Paluxy river and look at fossilized dinosaur tracks in the riverbed
Stopped at Tres Rios campground to say hello to a bunch of kids adopted from Ukraine who were hanging out there for the weekend

Mon, 24 October 2005

Had Zack's ARD meeting this morning.
Zack qualifies for speech therapy, which isn't much of a big deal, except that in Texas, speech therapy falls under special education
So it's a big meeting, with everyone signing dozens of papers, minding federal and state rules about this and that, to make sure all the eyes are crossed and the tees dotted
Since Zack's case was pretty simple, and no one had any questions or disagreements about anything, it went quickly
The school and I get fat packets of paper, and Zack gets speech therapy at school for 60 minutes a week

Mon, 31 October 2005

Trick-or-treating went great!
Nicky dressed up as Batman, and Zack dressed up as Robin
Both boys were well-behaved all evening

Tue, 01 November 2005

It all caught up with Zack finally—the lack of sleep lately, the excitement about Halloween, all the candy—he had a first-class meltdown at dinner time
We're talking kicking, screaming, crying, windmill punching, really nasty talking—the whole works
I haven't seen a tantrum from Zack like this one since I first brought him home (it was daily back then, and seeing it again reminded me just how incredibly much he's improved)
The precipitating event was his having to leave the table after four warnings to stop rocking back in his chair
It took him most of an hour to regain control, after which he meekly finished his dinner and went to bed

Wed, 02 November 2005

Started a new thing to help Zack remember how to behave at dinner
He starts out with a smiley face on the whiteboard (eyes, nose, and mouth)
Every time he gets out of his chair, puts his knees up, or leans his chair back on two legs, I erase a facial feature
- He gets one free warning/reminder before I start erasing things
- If he loses all facial features, he has to leave the table and can't come back (dinner's over for him)
- If he keeps all facial features, he gets dessert
- Anything in-between, he gets to finish dinner and try again tomorrow for dessert
He was a completely different boy at dinner tonight! In addition to sitting correctly through the entire meal, he also spoke politely, used his napkin, and made eye contact while talking!
Part of this improvement was no doubt from his remembering last night's tantrum, but the rest of it came from the smiley face
He made a point, several times, of showing everyone how well he was doing
I, of course, made a point of noticing how well he was doing and telling everyone how proud I was of him
Instead of a continually-running fight throughout dinner to get him to behave, he was smiling and charming the entire time
Why didn't I think of a visual aid months ago?

Thu, 03 November 2005

Nicky started coughing at bedtime last night, and needed cough medicine to get to sleep
Both kids were coughing when they woke up this morning, but neither one had a fever

Fri, 11 November 2005

Len (the exchange student from the Netherlands) left today for his new family south of Dallas
Nicky cried buckets when he found out Len was leaving
Zack showed absolutely no emotion at all until after Len left, then he stood in the middle of the living room and bawled his head off

Sat, 19 November 2005

Nicky had his first sleepover last night
His friend Aaron came home with us after school and spent the night
The boys slept in tents in the kids' room, while Zack slept on the air mattress in my room
It was tough for Zack to go to bed while the older boys were still up playing games, but he was asleep (finally!) by 9:00
The older boys stayed up playing Monopoly until 11:00 (Daddy wasn't watching the clock because he was playing with them)
Zack woke up at 5:30, but stayed quietly in bed until 8:00
Aaron and Nicky woke up just before 8:00
We took Gozer to the vet (another ear infection, this time with a perforated eardrum, poor thing) at 9:00
We went to IHOP for breakfast (Aaron's choice), and the kids all ate huge mounds of pancakes
Aaron went home again just after noon

Thu, 01 December 2005

Zack turns six

Fri, 02 December 2005

Zack's birthday celebration went great—he turned six today.
I was half-expecting Zack to have a meltdown over the presents, the cupcakes, and all the excitement, but he was fantastic. He waited patiently (as patiently as any well-behaved six-year-old) for his party, didn't fuss or get grabby, shared his new toys with his brother immediately, played nicely after the party, and went to bed without protest.
This is Zack we're talking about here, right? Wow. He's growing up in more ways than one. Way to go, Z-Man. Daddy's proud of you.

Sun, 04 December 2005

I discovered why Aaron doesn't eat much at supper—he eats a lumberjack's breakfast.
Aaron's father wasn't feeling well yesterday, so an impromptu drop-by at their house turned into a sleepover at our house.
The three boys played well together all evening, stayed up late, and slept until 8:00 a.m.
Aaron ate a ton of waffles this morning, putting my boys to shame.
This afternoon I'm going to trim Nicky and Zack's hair, dress them up in funny clothes, and take the photo for our Christmas cards.
After that, we'll drop by the Clarks for a bit to try on some hand-me-downs for Zack (thank you, Sandy!), and let the boys burn up some energy.
They don't know it yet, but I'm also planning to get our Christmas tree today. We have this on the calendar for next week, but hey.

Mon, 05 December 2005

Dental checkup and cleaning for both boys this afternoon
No cavities, everything in order

Tue, 06 December 2005

Told Tasha the sad news today -- no more speech therapy for Zack at Callier. Our last appointment will be December 20.
Zack is making such fantastic progress with speech! I'm not sure if that means it's okay to drop the therapy, or if it means we need to keep doing exactly the same thing, but $$$ come into play at some point, and we've reached that point.
Zack is receiving speech therapy at school, and we're doing all the same exercises at home. We'll try without Callier Center for a while and see how it goes.
If he stops making progress, or can't get past a particular problem, then we'll hook up with Tasha again.
After today's session with Tasha, we went to the mall, did the Santa's Lap thing, and bought new Christmas PJ's.

Fri, 16 Dec 2005

Nicky's birthday party was quiet and happy—he turned eight today.
As with Zack's birthday, we had a small dinner at home with just family.
Zack did a really good job helping make the day special for Nicky, and not worrying about only Nicky getting presents. Again, such a change from last year!
I tried to make Nicky promise that eight would be it, no more growing, but he just laughed and said he couldn't do that....

Sun, 18 Dec 2005

wonderful

Tue, 20 Dec 2005

Holiday parties for both boys at school
Last Tasha day—the boys were sad to say good-bye

Wed, 21 Dec 2005

Half-day of school; kids get out at noon, and winter hols begin
Everyone wore jammies or goofy shoes to school

Thu, 22 Dec 2005

Boys went to Ben's house for the morning and lunch
Ben is Zack's friend, but there were a bunch of older kids there too, so Nicky went along
Ben's mom said the boys were extremely well-behaved and polite the whole visit, and that she enjoyed having them
Way to go, boys!
Clarks were supposed to come to dinner tonight, but Dane got sick yesterday afternoon and they cancelled just to be safe; we'll reschedule for next week sometime
Nicky broke his glasses this afternoon, so I put him in his spares
Fifteen minutes later, Nicky's spare glasses were broken
Investigation revealed that Nicky's been trying to adjust the frames by himself, with the predictable results (what do you think happens to plastic and metal after being bent back and forth a hundred times in five minutes?)
Put him into his spare spares (old prescription) with a stern warning to refrain from trying to adjust the frames in the future

Fri, 23 Dec 2005

Guess who broke his glasses today?
Take 5 points if you said Zack; subtract 5 points if you guessed Nicky
Seems watching Nicky adjust his frames gave Zack ideas, but the admonition to refrain from such behavior zoomed right by without notice

Sat, 24 Dec 2005

Every family needs traditions of some sort. In our family, the boys get new jammies every Christmas, but aren't allowed to wear them until Christmas Eve. We also open exactly one present on Christmas Eve, just before bed (with enough time to play with whatever it may be).

At 10:30, the boys are sound asleep, visions of sugarplums no doubt dancing in their heads. Tomorrow morning, we'll open stockings, eat breakfast, open some presents, then take a play break. After a snack-lunch, we'll open the rest of the presents, then settle down for a turkey dinner late afternoon.

Sun, 25 Dec 2005

The boys slept until 6:30—not bad, considering
They got their stockings (Santa didn't leave coal after all), and opened them in my bedroom
After stockings, they found that Santa had left a couple of bunnies in the living room!
We ate breakfast, then opened about half the presents
We opened the rest of the presents after lunch
Santa brought Uncle Steve a live lobster; Steve was pleased, the lobster was not
Turkey late afternoon (the boys dressed for dinner in some of their new clothes)
Bed at (believe it or not) 6:30—the boys were zonked

Mon, 26 Dec 2005

Zack woke up around 3:00 a.m., wanting to play with his new toys
Even though he was still very sleepy (and overtired, notwithstanding going to bed an hour early the night before), he just couldn't get back to sleep
I spent the time from 3:00 until 6:00 saying, "Shh! Don't wake your brother!" and "I don't care if you sleep, but you need to lie down and close your eyes."
We survived until dawn somehow, when Nicky could no longer sleep through Zack's noises
The boys played with their new toys all day
Aaron dropped by for a while in the afternoon to say hello and inspect the loot
Bed was close to on-time, and this time Zack slept like a stone

Tue, 27 Dec 2005

More playing with toys in the morning (duh)
Dropped boys off at the Clark's in the afternoon
Had to bodily carry Zack out of the Clark's house ("I want stay here!" "I want play those toys!") after dinner

Wed, 28 Dec 2005

Daddy's 47th birthday—the boys got Daddy electric vibrating slippers
Half the kids in the neighboorhood were here in the afternoon—word of the bunnies had finally gotten out
I lost count somewhere around six kids, and besides they were moving too fast to enumerate accurately; the best I could hope for would be an approximation based on their heat, like counting molecules in a bottle
Aaron ended up staying after the other kids left
The boys slept in boxes, using stuffed doggies for pillows (very cute, but you can imagine how well it worked in practice)
At 10:30, had to take Nicky out of the room until Aaron fell asleep

Thu, 29 Dec 2005

At 5:30, Zack tried to rearrange the sides of his cardboard box; he persisted until he woke the other two boys, at which point there were more giggles than boys in the boxes
At 8:00, they got up for breakfast and resumed their pillow fight from last night
At 9:30, they'd managed to eat one or two bites of breakfast and knock over everything in the living room with pillows

Thu, 29 December 2005

We had to say good-bye to tbe bunnies today.
Not only did both Uncle Dan and I have allergic reactions to them, but Zack just isn't quite old enough to handle them yet.
Although Zack could probably learn eventually not to squeeze the life out of the bunnies, not to throw them across the room, and not to step on them, I'm not sure the bunnies would live long enough to let him finish learning.
Zack's crowning achievement, however, was trying to sell the bunnies to a neighbor today (for two bucks each, which would be two bucks for four bucks (if the bunnies were both male - something we never did determine)).
He's just not ready. sigh
Both boys cried piteously after the rabbits left, but their tears only lasted a few minutes.

Sat, 31 December 2005

Zack started on glasses #2 today
Bought a fish tank yesterday, got it all set up, and dropped some fish in today.
The boys are all excited about their new pets (to which we hope no one is allergic), and like the tank.
One of the fish didn't survive the trip home from the fish store, so the boys had the opportunity to salute, hum taps, and learn to flush a little friend.
Nicks played at Aaron's today for several hours, while Dane, Alex, and Nico played over here with Zack.
Tonight, the boys will get up just before midnight to share a toast and celebrate the end of 2005.
Tomorrow morning will mark exactly 18 months since the day I met them.

Sun, 01 January 2006

Nicky's sleeping over at Aaron's house tonight—this is his first time away from home overnight
Zack is sad because a) he genuinely misses having Nicky within touching distance (their usual degree of separation), and because b) he thinks he's old enough to sleep over at Aaron's house, too
He's not old enough, but more to the point, he wasn't invited
Hard lessons all around....

Mon, 09 January 2006

No matter how hard I try to persuade Nicky to remain frozen in time, he persists in growing up
Today he noticed that his lateral incisors, #D and #G, were a bit wiggly
Baby tooth #D gets replaced by adult tooth #7, while #G is replaced by #10 (the lateral incisors straddle #8 and #9, which came in last summer)

Tue, 10 January 2006

Nicky home sick (cough) yesterday and today.
It started over the weekend, and by Monday morning it was obvious he shouldn't go to school.
No fever (except 1 degree up Monday mid-afternoon for a brief period), and no other symptoms of illness, so not going to the doctor just yet.

Wed, 11 January 2006

Nicky still home sick; still no fever; took him to the doctor anyway
The cough was indeed viral, and already clearing up
But he also developed an ear infection, so is taking Amoxicillin
And Daddy developed strep throat overnight, so Daddy is taking Zithromax
Zack remains unaffected by all the germs. Today he played at Brandon's house after school, and was pleasantly surprised to find his friends Ben and Jake over the for the afternoon, too
If Nicky is still afebrile in the morning, he goes back to school

Fri, 13 January 2006

Injury day today
At lunchtime, Zack walked straight into the veritcal bar separating the school lunchroom doors
He has a puffy brow and cracked skin on his upper cheek (looks like I beat him)
Nicky, not to be outdone, decided to fall down and land on his elbow right as school was letting out
He gouged out a hunk of flesh and jammed his humerous hard enough to numb his arm for several minutes

Thu, 26 January 2006

Nicky lost two teeth today—#D at school, and #G just before going to bed
He's learned somehow (certainly not from me) about the Tooth Fairy
He put his teeth under his pillow, confident that something wonderful would replace them during the night
When I asked him what the Tooth Fairy would bring (hoping to find out what I needed to do), he said he didn't know—"Maybe a wonderful present!" he said
When I was a kid, my mom did the Tooth Fairy thing a couple of times (I knew it was her, so there wasn't much point in it), and I got a quarter per tooth
My handy-dandy inflation calculator says that same tooth should be worth about $4.00 today
On the other hand, I could be really really mean and give him a new toothbrush and some toothpaste....

Mon, 13 February 2006

Both boys sick today—low-grade fever, headaches, and rash
Fifth disease is the most likely culprit, especially since friends of theirs are now in the rash stage

Sat, 18 February 2006

Nicky had his second sleepover at a friend's house last night
Zack did pretty well this time -- no crying, only a little whining, right to bed on time
Nicky had a wonderful time, of course
He stayed up far too late, and slept most of the afternoon today

Mon, 20 February 2006

Zack started speech therapy at Callier again today
He'll be going (with Nicky) on Mondays, and (without Nicky) on Tuesdays
In addition, his school teacher is trying to work out an after-school tutoring arrangement to get him some one-on-one assistance with basic Kindergarten skills

Tue, 21 February 2006

Nicky has learned the word "wiener"
sigh

Tue, 28 February 2006

Zack started a croupy-type cough last night
Yay! Just in time for spring break...

Fri, 03 March 2006

Left for a week in Hawaii during school's spring break

Tue, 07 March 2006

Nicky lost his seventh baby tooth (#Q, lower jaw, left of central two teeth; #N, the corresponding tooth on the other side, has a very small wiggle)
He and Zack were playing with a towel, and Nicky was holding the towel in his mouth when Zack pulled hard
The tooth was loose already, but got significantly looser after Zack's tug
It hurt for a day, then popped out without any fuss at bedtime
Nicky was pleased to find that Hawaii's Tooth Fairy was on the job

Sat, 11 March 2006

Arrived back home around 5:00 a.m.—the boys slept in until noon! This is the longest period of quiet I can remember!

Wed, 26 April 2006

Annual "well child" checkups today
Both boys are as healthy as horses
Zack is a bit behind the curve for American-born children of his age and height
No health problems with either boy

Thu, 04 May 2006

Six-month dental checkups today
Nicky has one more baby tooth to lose (his eighth) before long, then it will be a couple of years before anything more happens
Zack still hasn't lost a single baby tooth, but his six-year molars are coming in fine, and one of his bottom teeth is just the tinest bit loose
Zack will proably lose his first tooth this summer, and Nicky his last one this fall
No cavities or problems with either boy!

Wed, 24 May 2006

Last day of the 2005-2006 school year today
Zack is no longer a Kindergartener; next fall he will become a first grader
Nicky celebrated his last day of first grade by falling down and skinning both knees and an elbow on the school playground during recess. His left knee was gouged pretty badly.

Mon, 29 May 2006—Wed, 21 June 2006—The Great American Road Trip

Day 1	Mon, 29 May	Lunch and swimming with Gary, Josh, and Joseph in Hamlin, TX
Day 2	Tue, 30 May	Carlsbad Caverns
Day 3	Wed, 31 May	Rosewell, White Sands, Missle Range
Day 4	Thu, 01 June	Zack's Half-Birthday (6.5), Lunch with Jonathan in Albuquerque, Petrified Forest, AZ
Day 5	Fri, 02 June	Grand Canyon
Day 6	Sat, 03 June	Grand Canyon
Day 7	Sun, 04 June	Assignment of Indian Names, Mesa Verde
Day 8	Mon, 05 June	Mesa Verde
Day 9	Tue, 06 June	Canyonlands, Arches, Utah
Day 10	Wed, 07 June	Salt Lake City, Antelope Island
Day 11	Thu, 08 June	Yellowstone
Day 12	Fri, 09 June	Yellowstone
Day 13	Sat, 10 June	Yellowstone
Day 14	Sun, 11 June	Jackson Hole (slept in Driggs, Idaho)
Day 15	Mon, 12 June	Casper, Wyoming
Day 16	Tue, 13 June	Devils Tower, Mt. Rushmore
Day 17	Wed, 14 June	Wind Cave, Evan's Plunge
Day 18	Thu, 15 June	Badlands, Denver
Day 19	Fri, 16 June	Nicky's Half-Birthday (8.5)
Day 20	Sat, 17 June	Campout in Ken's back yard
Day 21	Sun, 18 June	Father's Day, Casa Bonita's for dinner
Day 22	Mon, 19 June	Garden of the Gods, Pike's Peak
Day 23	Tue, 20 June	Capulin Volcano, TX
Day 24	Wed, 21 June	Home!

Sat, 24 June 2006

Clarks

Mon, 26 June 2006

Resume speech therapy with Tasha at Callier

Tue, 27 June 2006

Ben and Jake spend the afternoon with Zack
Bethany visits with Nicky