Answers and explanations

First let me say thank you to you all for your advice and support. I really REALLY appreciate it. To answer some of your questions...

According to my fabulous Pedi- H-Pylori is tested for with blood. We haven't drawn their blood yet due to the fact they are so small and dehydrated. We are waiting for a little bit so when we try to draw blood we will actually get some blood. I would hate to traumatize them and not get anything.

Charissa- It was your pic of Ivanna with socks on her hands that gave me the idea about putting mittens on Bohdan.

Bohdan isn't sucking on his hands, he is biting them. He nails and fingers are all messed up. The cuts and callouses are still healing. Not to mention his finger nails are split due to his continued biting them. I have tried to give him a paci. That was torture. I have tried other chew toys of all sorts, teething tooth brushes, even an empty bottle but he won't have any of it. He will chew on his tongue which I suppose it better at this point. Small steps.

We know Yuri's throw up cry. Josh actually caught him before it last night and got him to the sink before it happened. Yippee! One less load of throw up laundry. Problem is that it was at least 2-3 hours after he ate. I'm trying to keep him upright but you would think I was torturing him. I fed him in the bounce and then gave him toys to play with but the toys were thrown and that dear sweet child lost it. If I didn't know better I would have thought there was electric current running through the bounce. I switched him over to a walker which is where he is self destructing right now. I say self destructing because he has thrown all the toys I gave him and is jerking his head back and forth trying to hit it on something while grinding his teeth. Now he is shaking his head back and forth. The walker does have a toy bar with music buttons that he is hitting with his hands and head. I think that is the only thing keeping him in there. I'm not sure it is going to be possible to keep him upright for 30 minutes to an hour after a meal.

Yuri is a hard egg to crack. The most we have come up with is that he wants to be in total control. Which would make sense being that for his whole life it has been him against the world. He is happy to see us and even claps when he is happy but that generally only has to do with a bottle. He HATES to be held and throws himself backward. I will try to hold him in my lap and rock and maybe hold his hand but the way he reacts you would think it was causing him pain. He fights diaper changes, nose wipes, face cleans, anything. and I'm not talking about a normal little boy fight. I mean it is the end of the world. He completely fell to pieces last night because he saw the other boys playing with a toy and he couldn't have it. When I say fell to pieces, I don't just mean fussing or crying, that would be a relief. I mean fussing and crying while looking for anything to hit or knock over including but not limited to bottles, bounces, toys laundry baskets, etc., while on his way to the wood floor to rub his head. Even though I don't allow him to do this he has rubbed all of the hair off the sides of his head. A lot of it came off during the flight home.

I'm trying to build trust with him but it is very hard considering even the normal day to day stuff send him into orbit. I am trying to softly talk him through these necessary evils so he will get used to them. It is hard to play with him with toys or with the other boys because he only wants to throw the books and toys and gets upset and flails if he can't. Which isn't fair to the other guys.

Please keep this little one in your prayers. There is something going on in his little body and I wish he could tell me. I do think he is very smart and will learn quickly once we can get whatever is bugging him sorted out and/or understood.

Things are getting better slowly as we are learning the boys cues and they are settling into their routines. It would be much easier right now if no one was sick. Both boys are very smart and test their boundaries often just to check to make sure they are still there. I think this is a good sign and shows that they are learning and I firmly believe that boundaries build security.

Gotta go!