Hello

Hi, Well, its been a very busy 3 months since Dylan joined us at the end of August. We have realised that 1 child is a lot of work but 2 children is more than double the work. There is very little 'down time" as between Zoe & Dylan we are kept jumping. If one is sleeping the other needs to be fed, or bathed or paid attention to and all this doesn't include cooking and doing bottles. Dylan has not helped matters as we can only rely on Zoe to take a nap since he doesn't seem to like to sleep much during the day, his saving grace is that he does sleep well at night. Zoe has adjusted well and except for missing our undivided attention a little, continues to amaze us with her development. She is now riding a bicycle, (with training wheels) and in the first few days, mastered the knack for steering and our house has now become her riding track when we can't take her outside. She does really well avoiding the furniture and going down the corridors. Her vocabulary continues to expand and she surprises us with all the words she picks up and uses in the correct context. We now hear, "Well, actually ...." and " I didn't realise.....". She is also picking up the kiddie slang so we also hear "Tanks" for Thank you, "Mudder" for mother and just now she said "I drank all my orange juice, I was tirsty." She is also singing along to the radio in the car and her favourite song is 'Big Girls Don't Cry" by Fergie. Needless to say, I showed my age, as I knew none of the top 40 songs she has picked up. I have now resorted to listening to the radio station that plays these songs so I can keep up with her. She has really taken on the role of big sister and Dylan has become No. 1 in her affections. She stands in front of him while he is in the swing and sings songs to him, which gets her big smiles from her brother. Dylan continues to grow and was 14lbs last week Tuesday. He is now smiling and cooing and holds big conversations with you. He is in awe of his big sister and already looks as if he can't wait to follow her around. He hasn't settled into a strict routine, except to eat every 3 hours from his first morning feed and to sleep well at night once we manage to get him down. For some of you this will be news and for others it will be an update as we have not been able to let everyone know what is going on. Dylan was diagnosed with Craniosysnostosis of the Sagittal suture, which is a very fancy name for the fact that the two skull bones on the top & sides of his head have fused together at the top. Even though the bones are normally interlocked, they are not supposed to fuse together until you are 2 years old or even older as the most brain growth and therefore growth of the skull occurs in the first 2 years of life. He has a slight ridge running from the soft spot at the top of his head going backwards to where the top of the head starts to slope down. This has caused his brain and therefore his skull to grow in length from front to back and not as much in width. His head looks like the bottom of a rowboat when viewed from above or like a mango seed when viewed from the side :-). As he gets bigger, both the back of his head and forehead would continue to bulge abnormally, which could pose both health and social problems. Daddy, Dylan and I went to Miami for a week where he was examined by the Craniofacial Team at Miami Children's Hospital and Dr. Anthony Wolfe and Dr. John Ragheb will be performing his surgery on December 5. The surgery is expected to take about an hour, during which they will remove a 1 to 1 1/2 wide strip of the skull where the fusing has occurred. They will then insert U-shaped springs which will lie flat on the top of his head (just under the skin), these springs will slowly push the sagittal skull bones apart into their correct position. The brain and skull bones bulging at the front and back of his head would then automatically correct themselves over time. The springs would then be taken out after about 6 months and all being well he should not need any further treatment. We will need to remain in Miami for 2-3 weeks after the surgery and are planning to return home the weekend before Christmas. This has all made for a very busy maternity leave as not only did we have to organise Dylan's passport and Cayman visa waiver, but we needed to apply for Derek's Cayman Permanent Residency and Employments Certificate (which has been granted) and his US Visa (as it expired last summer). Derek has been granted an emergency appointment for his US Visa on November 21 and we are trying to work out the logistics for him to travel to Jamaica for the interview. I have returned to work, 3 weeks early, as they allowed me to postpone this time until December so I can remain in Miami with Dylan after the surgery. In addition, all of us have been quite ill with chest colds. I am now on my 3rd course of antibiotics as I have been sick for over a month and could not manage to get rid of it. Both Dylan & Zoe have also come down with chesty coughs. Zoe seems to have gotten rid of hers but Dylan's is still quite bad and he is now on a 2nd course of antibiotics as the first treatment didn't seem to help. Hopefully, he can manage to get rid of it and be in good health before the surgery. Derek has been a pillar of strength as he has had to deal with the kids a lot as I tried to rest. He is quite tired, as I am, but is hoping to catch up on some sleep when he goes to Jamaica. We will try to keep you updated but it gets difficult at times. Our home phone number has also changed and is now (345)945-8608 We hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and New Year.

Love, Karen, Derek, Zoe & Dylan