Conner comes home for Christmas Tuesday, December 12, 2000 By DANIELLE GATES RUSH Tribune staff writer It's a tradition as old as Christmas trees -- babyproofing the house to keep little hands from pulling down the tree or breaking Christmas ornaments. A barrier of toys provides that babyproofing at the Landseadel home just northwest of Kokomo, keeping 15-month-old Conner in the family room with his sister, Jenna, 5-1/2. While Barney the purple dinosaur sings on the television in the room, Jenna dances to the music, Conner wiggles on the floor and proud parents Matt and Anna watch from the sofa behind them. Being a family of four is Matt and Anna's best Christmas present this year, one they received during the summer, when they adopted Conner Elijah from an orphanage in Ukraine. The Landseadels traveled to Ukraine July 14 for the adoption, independent of an agency, after researching international adoptions on the Internet. They chose adoption after being unable to have children of their own due to Matt's successful treatment for testicular cancer during his junior year in high school. Jenna is Anna's daughter from a previous relationship. While in Ukraine, the couple went to a central adoption center in Kiev, the country's capital, where they were referred to an orphanage in the Korvohrad region to visit three boys. Anna said the first three boys they visited had serious medical problems they were not prepared to handle, so they returned to Kiev and received referrals for four boys in the Simferopol orphanage, where they met Conner. "We felt an instant connection with him," she said. On Aug. 5, Matt and Anna arrived home with Conner. Conner was 10 months old when he arrived in the United States, but developmentally he was six months old, Anna said. "Within two weeks he had learned to crawl, sit up and babble, and within a month he could stand. It's just amazing how fast he's progressed with loving care and nourishment. (His therapist) says developmentally he is on track with his age group," Anna said. He's also bonded with his new family, especially big sister Jenna. "He follows Sissy everywhere. He'll do anything she does, or he'll try," Anna said. Jenna, too, has made the adjustment from only child to older sister. "She's like a second mother," Anna said. She said Conner sometimes gets possessive when Jenna sits on her lap, and that Jenna sometimes needs playtime alone, but their daily schedule works most of that out. Jenna goes to kindergarten at Northwestern Elementary School for half the day, giving Anna one-on-one time with Conner. She makes time for Jenna in the afternoons after school. She's glad to be a full-time stay-at-home mom, having left her job right before flying to Ukraine. "I like staying at home. It's a nice change. If I were working I would have missed so much." Matt said Conner's milestones have come quickly as he's caught up developmentally with other children his age. "He's just flown through the stages that normally take months." Conner's first American Christmas will be busy with family visiting over two days, Anna said. They've decided when Conner gets older, they will incorporate some Ukrainian traditions into their celebration, so Conner can celebrate his heritage. They also plan a trip to Ukraine for the whole family when both children are older. Jenna stayed home with her grandparents during the summer so her parents could focus on the adoption. The Landseadels keep in touch with four families in Indiana who also adopted children from Ukraine, and plan to meet with them in the future. They hope to help other families interested in adopting through Ukraine, with their website, www.adoptukraine.com, which details their experiences, the cost of the adoption and how they raised the money. They raised about $9,000 of the $13,000 they spent on the adoption, including paperwork, home studies, passports, airline tickets and other travel expenses. Anna said the cost and time has all been worth the trouble to bring their baby home, because he's enriched all their lives. "It's just wonderful to have a baby, and a boy in the family." You can contact Rush via e-mail at danielle.rush@kokomotribune.com --end-- ©2000 The Kokomo Tribune. A cnhi Newspaper