Easter 2013 In Pictures

The kids decorated eggs under maternal duress

A little Euchre among friends

Preparing for a feast

Homemade kozunak

Opening Easter baskets

Watching basketball

My beautiful boy

My lovely girl

Blurry, but I love them together

Oma and Rex on the drive home

What's New With Emilia

I know it's been way too long since I have posted an update on our little Bulgarian girl and there's so much to report that I don't even know where to start.

Emilia has now been home with us for 16 months which is the same amount of time that we waited for her referral.  Even though she is still tiny for her age, Emilia is growing.  I pulled out some pants the other day that were too long and too wide in the waist for her back in the fall and they now fit beautifully.  She is happily eating her food and keeps a close eye on everyone else's intake, too, in case there's something to be tried.  She still sleeps great at night and continues to nap in the afternoons.

Emilia's play skills have been improving.  She has several toys that she likes and uses to play independently or with adults.  Right now she's really into our bead maze and the jack in the box.  I have noticed rudimentary pretend play when she makes her jungle animals walk along the TV stand (yesterday I asked her if her giraffe could jump and she showed me it could) and when she picks up our phone, holds it to her ear and says something into it.  Emilia's willingness and ability to play with other kids in groups is also advancing which, in large part, must be due to her classes in the community.  She likes to dance Ring Around the Rosie with her friend next door and she can approximate the hand motions for The Itsy Bitsy Spider.  Emilia has learned how to roll sideways and to somersault forward as well as walk on a balance beam holding just one hand.  She can go up and down steps holding an adult's hand or reaching really high for the railing which makes me a bit nervous, but I know I have to let her try.

Emilia has been receiving Prompt speech therapy for about three weeks and her language has exploded.  Aside from a ton of conversational babble with great intonation and attempts to imitate what we say, she is using several words and terms clearly and in correct context.  Among them are oh-oh, wee, baby, daddy, mami (that's me), up, bye-bye, hi, eye, and ball.  Words that we recognize she is saying, but that no one outside of the family would really understand include gentle, ear, neck, thank you, eat, drum, boom, shoes, let's go, and balloon.  Maybe I shouldn't be surprised, but it amazes me that all of these words are coming out spontaneously in the right situations now.  It's like they've been in there all along and Emilia's brain has just been waiting for the muscles and nerves of her mouth and face to be woken up to cooperate.

In terms of receptive language, Emilia is doing so well.  I feel pretty certain that she understands everything that is being said to her directly.  She is even getting better at following prohibitive commands.  Emilia also reacts to things she hears when Craig and I talk to each other.  For instance, if we use the word funny, she starts giggling because she knows that's what you're supposed to do when something is funny.  Emilia can point to at least seven body parts on people as well as toy animals/dolls and she is making a connection between 3D and 2D.  For example, she calls her dolls baby, but can also show me the baby on the page of a book.  A few days ago, she pointed to the baby on the Pampers box and announced, "Baby."

Fine motor work is still low on Emilia's priority list and she continues to resist it to some extent when we focus on it.  However, under much protesting, she can now stack towers with small wooden blocks (sometimes she even adjusts the blocks if they didn't go on right) and place some pieces of her inset puzzle independently.  She can pull her own shirts off over her head, too, and easily move a loaded spoon from the bowl into her mouth.  She still needs help scooping though.  I don't know if I ever mentioned, but we think Emilia might be a lefty like her daddy.

We have started putting Emilia on the potty a little bit and she sits there quite happily, but thus far no business is happening.  She is one of those kids with super easy BMs and by the time you might notice that she is going, it's usually way too late to get her to the toilet.  She is a fast little pooper.  We'll keep working on it though with a very low pressure approach and attitude.

Overall, Emilia is in a tremendous developmental spurt, not to mention her emerging sense of humor.  She really is a comical little thing and tries to make us laugh all the time.  It's been a very rewarding period for us as parents and we couldn't be prouder of our sweet girl.

IAC 247 Results

The following referrals were issued in IAC Session 247 which was held on February 21, 2013:

1) German dossier from March 2009 referred a male child aged 2 years and 10 months

2) Dutch dossier from January 2010 referred two male children aged 4 years and 1 month & 3 years and 2 months

3) Swiss dossier from February 2010 referred a female child aged 3 years and 9 months

4) French dossier from February 2010 referred a male child aged 3 years and 10 months

5) German dossier from March 2010 referred a female child aged 3 years and 10 months

6) Irish dossier from March 2011 referred a female child aged 3 years and 7 months with features in health status and a family history

7) Italian dossier from June 2011 referred a male child aged 7 years and 4 months with features in health status

8) Italian dossier from February 2012 referred a male child aged 8 years and 6 months with features in health status

9) Swedish dossier from April 2012 referred a male child aged 1 year and 10 months with features in health status

10) US dossier from December 2012 referred a waiting child (#1913) with a profile on the MOJ site

11) US dossier from February 2012 referred a waiting child (#1087) with a profile on the MOJ site

12) US dossier from February 2012 referred two waiting children (#784 & #1240) with profiles on the MOJ site

13) US dossier from February 2012 referred a waiting child (#1940) with a profile on the MOJ site

14) US dossier from February 2012 referred three waiting children (#1863 & #1864 & #1865) with profiles on the MOJ site

Miss B Is Home

I am so happy to let everyone know that the beautiful teen for whom I advocated last year just arrived home from Bulgaria with her new parents.  They were able to pick her up in time to celebrate her 15th birthday as a family.

I am so thrilled for the three of them and completely in awe because Bozhi's parents have decided to open their hearts even wider and are in process of adopting Bozhi's best friend and her friend's younger sister as well.  They will soon have a house full of teen girls.

Welcome home, Bozhi.  May the road ahead be filled with love, laughter and endless opportunities.

When You See Us

When you see us in public with our son, please don't

Stare

Let your children stare or point

Make rude or uninformed comments

Be afraid

Be embarrassed

Pity him

Pity us

When you see us in public with our son, please do

Smile at us

Say hi

Ask if you must

Look beyond the scars and behaviors

Accept him

When you see us in public with our son, please know

This is hard

This is worth it

He is trying

We are trying

He loves us

We love him

"If a man loses pace with his companions, 

perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer.  

Let him step to the music which he hears, 
however measured, or far away."

~Henry David Thoreau

Picture Of The Day

Sorry this is blurry, but it made me laugh out loud when Craig sent me this photo from his way home:

He called it "Precious Cargo."  Secured in Emilia's car seat is our delicious Chipotle dinner.

Frugal Mama's Clothes Recovery

I don't think it's a secret that I am a pretty frugal person.  I grew up in East Germany where the motto definitely was "Waste Not, Want Not" and where we often spent weeks, if not months, looking for a purchase.  Even though I am in completely different economic circumstances now, that mindset will, to a certain extent, always be with me and guide my choices.

For example, check out these clothes.  The Old Navy jeans fit Rex perfectly and were brand-new with tag.  I paid 50 cents for them.  Their only flaw?  A factory defect of a torn knee.  Frugal mama's fix: a two dollar iron-on patch.  The dress is Carter's from a yard sale.  I don't recall what I paid, but very likely $3 or less because that tends to be my rule of thumb for single items of clothing.  The problem?  Three small, but noticeable stains.  Frugal mama's fix after washing options failed: a few dollar's worth of adorable iron-ons and voila.

Call me crazy if you will, but I am kind of proud of my frugality which I came by honestly in the GDR.

IAC 245 & 246 Results

The following referrals were issued in IAC Session 245 which was held on February 6, 2013:

1) Italian dossier from January 2009 referred a female child aged 5 years and 11 months

2) German dossier from October 2009 referred a female child aged 4 years and 11 months

3) US dossier from January 2010 referred a female child aged 3 years and 7 months

4) US dossier from January 2010 referred a female child aged 2 years and 3 months

5) Spanish dossier from March 2010 referred a male child aged 6 years and 8 months

6) US dossier from April 2010 referred a female child aged 2 years with features in health status

7) Italian dossier from May 2010 referred a female child aged 5 years and 11 months with features in health status

8)  Italian dossier from May 2010 referred a female child aged 2 years and 9 months with features in health status

9) Italian dossier from June 2010 referred a male child aged 7 years and 8 months

10) Italian dossier from December 2011 referred to male children aged 6 years and 11 months & 8 years

11) Italian dossier from April 2012 referred a female child aged 6 years and 3 months with features in health status

12) French dossier from April 2012 referred a female child aged 6 years and 6 months with features in health status

13) Italian dossier from October 2012 referred twin brothers aged 9 years and 5 months

14) Italian dossier from November 2012 referred a male child aged 9 years

15) US dossier from January 2013 referred a waiting child (#514) with a profile on the MOJ site

16) US dossier from January 2013 referred two waiting children (#1887 & 1889) with profiles on the MOJ site

17) US dossier from January 2013 referred a waiting child (#1018) with a profile on the MOJ site

18) US dossier from January 2013 referred a waiting child (#1862) with a profile on the MOJ site

19) US dossier from February 2013 referred a waiting child (#1691) with a profile on the MOJ site

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The following referrals were issued in IAC Session 246 which was held on February 14, 2013:

1) Spanish dossier from February 2010 referred a female child aged 3 years and 6 months

2) US dossier from May 2010 referred twin sisters aged 3 years and 8 months with features in health status

3) Italian dossier from June 2010 referred a female child aged 3 years and 6 months with features in health status

4) Dutch dossier from September 2010 referred a female child aged 3 years and 6 months with features in health status

5) US dossier from October 2010 referred a female child aged 7 years and 7 months

6) Italian dossier from January 2011 referred a male child aged 3 years and 11 months with features in health status and a family history

7) Italian dossier from January 2011 referred a male child aged 7 years and 5 months

8) Italian dossier from September 2011 referred a male child aged 6 years and 8 months with features in health status

9) US dossier from October 2011 referred a waiting child (#1944) with a profile on the MOJ site

10) French dossier from May 2012 referred brothers aged 5 years and 7 months & 6 years and 10 months with features in health status and a family history

11) US dossier from June 2012 referred twin brothers aged 2 years with features in health status

12) Italian dossier from December 2012 referred a male child aged 9 years and 2 months with features in health status

13) US dossier from December 2012 referred a male child aged 3 years and 3 months with features in health status

Look Who's Talking Now

After 15 months of us waiting, hoping, wishing and working, in February Emilia was finally ready to venture into the world of speech.  It just happened one day when we were playing ball and I kept using the word and suddenly Emilia repeated "baw."  Since that day, Emilia has added a number of new words that she is using consistently, including bee (baby), ba-boo (balloon), up, hup (hop), appuh (apple), and boo (shoe).  A few days ago, she spoke her first sentence: she picked up Craig's sneaker, showed it to me and said, "Dada boo."

Meanwhile, I had suspected for quite some time that Emilia's muscles in the jaw, tongue and cheeks have low tone as evidenced by her continuing struggles with chewing solids and apparent inability to form certain sounds (note the predominance of Bs and Ps in the above list of words).  I also detected some signs of apraxia in her language development because the gap between her receptive and expressive language has been quickly widening and she is lacking precision and consistency in her use of spoken language.  If you remember, I used to mention how she could clearly say a variety of words, but only once and then we would not hear the word again for a long time, so very inconsistent.  The few words she has been using consistently over months have not been precise.  For example, eat has always been "eee" and no matter how I modeled and tried to get her to add a T at the end, it just didn't happen.  I can tell that Emilia struggles with motor planning because she clearly has the intent to make meaningful sounds now, in imitation and spontaneously, but simply cannot not form certain ones.  "L" and "la" are examples of such impossible sounds where she really attempts to move her tongue to get them out and just can't.

As you also know, Emilia has been attending weekly speech therapy at our local children's hospital for six months.  We have seen no progress from these sessions and the therapist has not adjusted her approach to try and meet Emilia's needs differently.  I even mentioned the apraxic qualities I was recognizing in her speech without receiving any actionable response or advice.  I was frustrated and began looking for a new option.

Enter Prompt Therapy.  Believe it or not, in our metropolitan area of over two million people, there is only one single provider for this type of speech therapy, so it took several weeks to even get Emilia in for an evaluation.  We finally completed the evaluation last week and Emilia is a great candidate for Prompt Therapy.  Prompt, unlike other speech therapies, uses precise tactile cues to teach the neuro-muscular structures of the face and mouth how to properly form sounds.  These movements, with practice, get wired into the brain, so that motor planning to produce sounds unassisted becomes easier over time.  I am very, very excited for Emilia to start weekly (or even twice weekly if we can work the logistics) Prompt sessions.  The therapist believes she has great potential and that we should see real progress within a month of attending therapy and supplementing with a home program.  Fingers crossed and I'll keep you posted.

Here's a little video from Emilia's first session today to give you an idea of what Prompt looks like in action:

Over the weekend, I attended a Prompt parent training course and after learning even more about the method, now I think it may be something to try with Rex as well.  The first step is to have him evaluated, so I hope to get an appointment for him soon.

Consignment Cornucopia

Every March, I get really excited for the annual consignment sale at a local elementary school.  Yesterday was the day. I was there right at 8:00 am, just in time for them to open the doors.  The people that show up this early for this sale mean business.  They arrive with laundry baskets and giant garbage bags and cardboard boxes that they intend to fill.  I merely had a large cloth grocery bag, but don't be fooled, I am a serious shopper, too.

Unlike in previous years, with my mom here this month, I was able to sort through the kids' clothing totes and get a firm idea of what's missing for this summer and next winter. Rex was in dire need of shorts and short-sleeved shirts while Emilia was pretty much covered for everything.  So, my priority was Rex this time around.  I bought him 9 pairs of shorts, 5 t-shirts, 1 long-sleeved shirt, and 1 nice sweater.

Emilia got 3 shirts, 2 dresses, 2 blouses, 1 skirt, 1 set of pajamas, 1 sweater, and 1 other top.  Some of this loot will fit this year and some next.

I also bought myself a shirt and a pair of shorts.  I never realized they had adult clothes, too.

And my grand total?  $42 for 30 items of clothing which is less than a buck and a half per piece.  Go consignment and go me!

This & That

Last week my Mama aka Oma arrived for a month-long visit.  The kids and I did some fingerpainting which I then turned into a welcome banner for the fireplace.  It looks really cute.  Sorry it's hard to read and please ignore the mess on the mantle.

I have a mile long to do list to tackle while my mom is here and can entertain Emilia during the day.  I plan to focus on one task per weekday.  Yesterday I cleaned out the pantry, re-arranged it, and created a shelf that's dedicated solely to GFDF.  My favorite part though is the new bulk spice area.

And just for fun, here's what's music to our ears these days:

Rex Is Four

Last week we celebrated Rex's fourth birthday.  I can hardly believe how fast our little boy is growing up.

Rex's birthday fun started at school where it happened to be swim day.  His teachers took him down the big slide for the first time and he loved it.  He wanted more and more and went down the slide at least eight times, smiling from ear to ear.

Is this the same little boy that just over a year ago
screamed bloody murder at every bath time?

For the afternoon snack time at school, I sent in a GFDF chocolate brownie cake and fresh fruit.  The colors of the fruit represent the Armenian flag.  Maybe it's needless to say that the platter came home completely empty.

Rex got to wear the birthday button and the birthday crown and then promptly took it off.

For more birthday festivities, we went out to eat with a small group of family.  Rex behaved great at the restaurant.  All he asked was to sit with his handsome daddy.

Afterward, we went to a bounce place where everyone had a blast.

I made some Rice Krispies treats balls as favors for Rex's cousins who joined us for our little outing.

The last birthday hurrah was my re-creation of Rex's favorite pizza, Dewey's Green Lantern.  I made a GF crust and used a GFDF cheese substitute.  All other ingredients remained the same: pesto, mushrooms, minced garlic, marinara, and artichokes.  And yes, this was a big hit with my not-so-little little guy.

And here he is, our beautiful, curious, determined, hard-working, joyful, beloved four-year-old son.

"And your certain good looks are just one teensy part of the you-ness galore of your mind and your heart. This is the essence of what you're about, the true who of you within and throughout." - Marianne Richmond

"And your certain good looks are just one teensy part

of the you-ness galore of your mind and your heart.

This is the essence of what you're about,

the true who of you within and throughout."

- Marianne Richmond