Saturday, July 19, 2008

My Sleeping Angel


Daddy was right about you my sweet silly boy. You do like to occasionally sleep with your eye open. Don't worry my child, just rest and trust that you can close that eye. I am glad that you chose to close it when I gently stroked your eyelid down. Now you can sleep in complete peace now that you are in loving hands.

This is what I did at nap time and he fell asleep tonight with his eye shut. I truly don't think he has a problem at all....... I think he was just waiting till he felt safe before he would shut his eye.

Doesn't he look peaceful? His little snore is very cute too.

If you are wondering why the sock is on his hand, I had to make my first big mommy decision about him. Remember how I told you that he sucks his hand? While it is incredibly cute, it is making his hand look very raw and painful. His whole hand is chapped and has cracks in the crease of his thumb and first finger. His nail on his index finger is also badly deteriorated and I think that it has a fungal infection. So today I started putting Neosporin on his hand and thought this sock might help him to stop sucking his hand. So far so good, but I do feel for the little guy who I know finds great comfort in this. I hope that I am making the right decision and that this doesn't traumatize him to much. On the flip side, we have given him a bottle, and while he cannot suck from it, he finds great comfort holding it and biting the nipple which then squirts the liquid in his mouth.

32 comments:

Torina said...

Awww, he is so cute! I'm so glad he is home and safe. He has a wonderful life ahead of him!

debi9kids said...

Such sweet pictures of him sleeping so soundly. You are right. He just needed the safety of your home.

Mama Seoul said...

So wonderful that he is finally home!

Chelley said...

Wow this little man has melted my heart he is so cute!!!

Kathy and Matt said...

He looks so sweet and peaceful!

I'm so glad you're all together again.

Praising God for the wonderful blessing he's provided Dennis, your family and all of us who've had the pleasure of praying with you on this journey.

Anonymous said...

I just found your site via Kimmie's site "Over the Moon with Joy". My cousin has a "syndrome" where she was born without much of the structure of her face ~ no outer ear, no functioning eye, few bone structures, missing teeth and part of her jaw. She is one of only a handful of people in the world with this. It reminds me of her when I see your Dennis.

After many years of surgeries and reconstructions, she is now a healthy and thriving 30 year old woman ~ and a joy to our whole family!

Just an FYI, the hospital that helped with the reconstruction the most was one in Detroit, Michigan. I don't know the name of the hospital, as this was many years ago, but I'm sure you've already heard of it.

You have a beautiful boy! Congratulations!!!!

Unknown said...

It's great to see pix of your whole family in one place! Congrats, it seems that he's adjusting just great.

Gudl said...

Welcome home sweet boy!

Kristen said...

Aw, that just made me cry with happiness. Safe at home. You can close your eye sweet Dennis. That was a beautiful post.

Kevin and Tammy said...

Moma knows best you know. I am sure you have made the right decision. He is adorable.
Tammy

Karen Combes said...

I have fallen in love with your sweet son. He is so gorgeous and precious! He looks like a happy and content baby in your home and in your arms! Congrats on this blessing!

Anonymous said...

so glad to see Dennis in a loving home... it must be so incredible to him to feel your love and have so much attention & care coming his way after not having that his whole little life.

and it says VERY good things about you & John as parents that your other kids are so excited about him and that they love him so much despite his "owies." that they love & accept him already says that they have been shown how to love & accept.

have you thought about something else Dennis could use for "comfort"? i know most parents would smack me for saying this but do you think a pacifier would work, so he can suck on something and have it near his face without damaging his skin? or is there anything that came home with him that has the scent of where he came from? no doubt you did the right thing in putting that sock in place, as his mother of course it's more important for you to protect him... i'm just wondering if there's anything else that might soothe him just as much as sucking on his hand did.

praying for all of you...

- michelle (D.C.)

kdliberty said...

He is truly is a sleeping angel. I am so glad he found such a wonderful home. Zinc and Vaseline mixed 50/50 should heal his hand up much better then the Neosporin. Zinc/Vaseline is a wonderful mixture and should heal him in a matter of days. However, it can be a little messy at times.

liesel said...

I can't read your blog without crying. He looks so squeezeable. I'm so glad he's home and loved at last.

Annie said...

Well - isn't THAT parenting in a specific nutshell? There is not a day that goes by where I am not trying to balance two goods. Or figuring out if what might be a "bad" is actually a "good". Well, he's asleep and hopefully he can get so much comfort from loving family he won't need his fist.

Gerard y laura said...

que felicidad debe ser contemplar el sueño de vuestro hijo, por lo menos en vuestro hogar, dentro de muy poco tambien nosotros disfrutaremos de ese momento, muchas gracias ¡¡¡¡ por compartir en este blog vuestra experiencia porque nos ha llenado de emoción, y a través de nosotros también ha llegado a otras personas, otra vez gracias por tener tanto amor que dar a Dennis y a los otros diez, que no es fácil. Un abrazo muy grande de los tres, Sasha está disfrutando junto con nosotros de vuestro regalo, lo llevará en su mochila cuando viaje,

Nancy said...

He is adorable! Welcome home, Dennis!

Anonymous said...

Oh, what a sweetie. There's something so vulnerable and trusting about a sleeping child. No matter how mad I get at my kids during the day, I turn to mush watching them sleep when I check on them for the last time at night.

Amy said...

Christine and John....
I am so glad that both are back with your family and Dennis is doing so WELL! He is such a cutie and is so blessed to finally be with his family!
Congratulations!

Amy

Anonymous said...

OMG, I'm in love, too. He is so precious looking! I bet he feels so safe and secure now that he is REALLY HOME :-)

I agree with the recommendation for the zinc & vaseline mixture, however I also wanted to share that 1/2 Mallox (sp?) & 1/2 desitin can also work wonders. If all else fails, I'm sure your Ped can prescribe a nice ointment to help speed the healing.

God bless you guys, lots of hugs and kisses for sweet little Dennis!

Maria and Family said...

I am so happy for you guys !!! What a beautiful little sweetie all cuddled up sleeping :) I love the pics of the whole family lovin on him :) Blessings!!
Maria

Anonymous said...

I am sooooo happy he is home! I loved following your journey. What an amazing opportunity for growth (for all of us)! Congratulations on your bouncing baby boy!!

Sara said...

He is absolutely precious!! What a sweet sweet little boy you have.

Matt and Carla Morgan said...

Ah! There is nothing sweeter than a sleeping baby! How precious that he's already beginning to trust and closing his eye to sleep!

cm

Troy and Rachel said...

So glad Dennis is home with you! All children are angels when they sleep!!!

Jen said...

He looks so peaceful. He is right were he is suppose to be. Your family is in our prayers.

Anonymous said...

OK. It's almost noon in Atlanta. Time to wake him up. I want to see that little darling and his family in action. Precious! I'm enjoying this story more than I can say.
Hugs,
JB

Connie said...

Sis, with all the love and attention he is getting now for comforting, we will hope that he has completely forgotten about needing to suck on his fingers to comfort himself! I really love his laughter!

Deanna said...

Such a sweetie...I can't even IMAGINE the joy you all are feeling to have him HOME and sleeping comfortably!!

Truly amazing....

I hope he has a WONDERFUL week getting to know all of you!!!

Thank you for keeping such wonderful updates for all of us!!

~Deanna

Jill (& Bob) said...

If you think he has a fungal infection, you might want to try a tea tree oil soap (Jason Naturals makes a great one). Tea Tree oil is a natural antifungal so it should be gentle and safe for him!

Mike & Tara said...

The girls look so happy to be helping out with Dennis! What a lovely family!

Anonymous said...

I´m very stirred wiht your story.You are a great person. Conratulation from Buriana (Spain)