Spring Time On The Lane

Today we enjoyed a beautiful spring day in our neighborhood. The pictures tell it all, I think.

Rex making his first attempts at sliding.

Emilia loving the swing.

Harbingers of spring.

Since we're not likely to see a stork around here,

Emilia and I hung our martenitsi

into the blooming tree in front of our house today.

Rex - Thirty-One Weeks Home

Today marks thirty-one weeks home and thirty-three weeks out of the orphanage for Rex. The first of these last two weeks our family was sick though I will say that Rex held up the best. He has an amazing immune system and no nonsense approach to his priorities which are playing and romping about. Little did he care that the rest of us were in dire need of some quiet and relaxation.

Developmentally, Rex is taking a little break or at least so it seems, though there is always new stuff that he learns. He got a jack-in-the-box for his birthday and can now (ever so gently and sweetly) turn the handle all by himself until the bear pops out. He also got three spinning tops and he’s working very hard to learn to use them without assistance. He’s got the concept down, but needs to refine the motorics. Lastly, he has figured out how to turn the key throttle on one of his ride-on toys. It takes quite a good pincer grasp and pressure to do that, so I was happy when one morning I heard the vehicle starting and realized it was Rex doing it. All of these things might seem very minor to outsiders, but I know that eight months ago my baby boy could not even push a button, so it is all huge to me.

Now that he is three, Rex has been introduced to organic peanut butter and he loves it. It seems like I can hide things like mashed banana and applesauce in peanut butter on sandwiches and he eats it no questions asked. A spoonful of peanut butter also helps the oatmeal go down and, boy, does he ever go crazy over peanut butter stirred into ice-cream. He got that from his Mama. Rex enjoyed his first ever chicken wings with Craig this week and ate three bowls of homemade pumpkin and roasted tomato soup. I guess he missed my cooking while everyone was sick. It’s been slim pickings around here.

Starting this week, Rex will receive 21 hours of therapy per week through the end of June. The most expensive hours are fully funded through the special needs scholarship. He is doing 10 hours of what I call play and life skills therapy with Ms. Rie, an hour of OT with Ms. Kristen, 6 hours of ABA with Ms. Tara, and 4 hours of educational intervention with Ms. Katie. Talk about an overscheduled kid! Of course, therapy isn’t so bad when it includes playing in the warm spring rain and loving it, face to the sky and arms outstretched toward the heavens, laughing out loud. Oh how far my baby boy has come with sensory integration.

Over the last several days Rex has been extra joyful and loving. I don’t know if it’s the beautiful spring weather we are having or if he is reaching a new level of attachment, but he has been so sweet to me. He’s been cuddly even outside of naptime (he cuddles with his daddy all the time, but with me mostly at nap), he has been making incredible eye contact, he is watching my face when I speak, he comes up to my legs and leans on them, waiting for his head to be patted… It’s been quite wonderful and I am soaking up every minute of it while it lasts.

New List Of Confirmed Adopters - BLG

MOJ has released a new document that shows 50 confirmed adopters in order of registration who continue to wait actively for a referral. The earliest dossier listed is from October 2, 2006 and the newest from June 23, 2009, so the registrations from the second half of 2009 are not part of this statement. The youngest maximum age requested is 1 year, the oldest 8 years. Approximately two thirds of these dossiers request children of toddler age. Willingness for special needs is not indicated.

According to Google Translate, the list does not include:

1. Adopters who are in the process of motion for child and / or failure. In that period there are 46 record files in a proposal by WMO, of which 12 records a decision on entry in the register with a new number after deposited refuse and a record ahead decision by the WCO after deposited refuse. (I think this means there are 46 families registered by the end of June 2009 who have received a referral and are now in process of adopting that child. It sounds like some families declined their referrals and have been assigned new registration numbers for their continued wait.)

2. Adopters who have not confirmed the project during the previous year and / or expired permit for adoption / 21 records /. (These families may still be part of the wait line if they update their paperwork.)

3. Adopters who have requested the suspension of the project / 5 records /.

The good news is that it looks like there are only 50-71 families left who have waited anywhere from 5.5 years to 32 months. However, there are likely quite a few more registered dossiers from the second half of 2009 who have now waited upward of 24 months for a referral. I personally know some of those families as they were registered right around the time we were.

If you would like to view the original document, you can do so here:

Информация за първите 50 по поредност на вписване осиновяващи.

Working Dad

May I just say that I love my husband so much? He is the most wonderful man to have by my side every single day. On Monday, he worked from home to take Emilia to the doctor and to help me with the many hours of re-hydration efforts. Do you see him here holding both kids while reading and sending work emails via his Blackberry? He is awesome!

Pleven Medical Fund

I would like to remind everyone that the fundraiser to provide medical care for the children at the large baby house in Pleven is continuing through the remainder of this month. Over $22,000 have been raised and I thank everyone who has contributed. Please spread the word as far and wide as you can. I know our social media are very powerful and hopefully we can find even more caring hearts who want to help these precious, defenseless, sick, and neglected children.

Shelley Bedford who called this fundraiser into being is in Bulgaria this week. She is meeting with the Tokuda Hospital team that is spearheading the medical care and setting up a variety of other aspects related to the medical fund. She has written an update about how the money will be spent. You can read it here:

http://www.only1mom.com/2012/03/update-on-pleven-medical-fund.html.

Please give. Please share. Please stand up for the no longer forgotten children of the Pleven baby house.

IAC 210 Results

The following referrals were issued in IAC Session 210 held on 02/08/12:

1) Italian dossier from January 2009 referred a male child aged 2 years and 3 months with features in health status

2) Norwegian dossier from February 2009 referred a male child aged 2 years and 6 months

3) German dossier from March 2009 referred a male child aged 1 year and 4 months with features in health status

4) Canadian dossier from March 2009 referred a male child aged 3 years and 2 months

5) Italian dossier from September 2009 referred a female child aged 7 years and 2 months

6) U.S. dossier from March 2010 referred a biological brother and sister aged 2 years and 9 months and 1 year and 8 months with features in health status - dropped in the meantime received a waiver of adopters of the project

7) U.S. dossier from June 2010 referred twin brothers aged 1 year and 6 months with features in health status - dropped in the meantime received a waiver of adopters of the project

8) French dossier from October 2010 referred a female child aged 7 years and 11 months

9) U.S. dossier from November 2010 referred a biological brother and sister aged 9 years and 1 month and 7 years

10) Italian dossier from December 2010 referred a male child aged 8 years and 3 months

11) Italian dossier from January 2011 referred a female child aged 7 years and 11 months

12) Italian dossier from December 2011 referred a waiting child (#1566) with a profile on the MOJ site

13) U.S. dossier from February 2012 referred two waiting children (#1469 & #1103) with profiles on the MOJ site

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Please note: As stated in my post about special needs adoptions, most toddlers referred in this session, whether healthy or not, were matched with families who had waited just under 36 months for their referrals. In addition, I do not know what exactly happened with the two referrals that were dropped due to the poor quality of the translation. I assume that maybe the families had dropped out of the program before they knew they had these referrals or that they changed their parameters.

My Sick Baby Girl

Last week the Martini family collectively got sick. I don't know if it was from the waterpark which was, no doubt, crawling with germs or if it had something to do with the weather going from sunny 60s to icy winds with snow on the ground in the course of a day. Whatever it was, our household was hit with fevers, nasty coughs, runny noses, achiness, low appetite, tiredness... you get the picture. Of everyone, Rex held up the best. He caught a little extra sleep here and there, but other than that, went on playing and eating and being active, only occasionally rattled by a cough or a sneeze. He's my iron Armenian boy.

Emilia, on the other hand, was hit the hardest. She felt a little off for Rex's birthday party and then at the beginning of last week, she was running a fever and very tired. She slept off and on for about 48 hours, but continued to drink juices and eat purees. I wasn't pushing any more solid foods because I know when I have a fever, food is not a priority to my body. By Wednesday morning, Emilia's fever had broken and I thought she was on the mend. She started being more active again, but then the nasty cough did her in. Poor thing, it was painful to watch her be rattled all day long with coughing fits. I was still able to get her to take some fluids, but she really wasn't eating. I figured her throat hurt from coughing.

Well, starting on Friday, Emilia really lost her will to take anything by mouth. We spoon-fed her liquids through the weekend, but she was not happy about it at all. I could see the signs of dehydration in her, so Craig took her to our pediatrician yesterday. I was incredibly shocked when he called me from her office and said that Emilia had weighed in at 15.6 pounds. They weighed her twice to make sure the scale was working. On 2/17, she had weighed 19.7 pounds. I could not believe that she lost four pounds in a week.

The doctor's thought is that Emilia either has/had a viral or bacterial infection. She is taking antibiotics now just in case it's bacterial. She does have an ear infection of undetermined cause as well. When Craig left the doctor's office yesterday, he had strict orders to get 20 oz of liquid into Emilia before bed or she would have to be hospitalized. So, we spent our afternoon and evening spooning applesauce and peach puree and juice into Emilia's mouth. She was very unhappy with us while receiving her food, but feeling great in-between meals. To make a long story short, we got 22 ounces into Emilia, very painstakingly. Based on the doctor's various scenarios, this means that we have to get her to eat and drink at least 20 ounces again today and then we have to come back in tomorrow for a decision about hospitalization.

Everyone please send some good thoughts to Emilia to regain her will to eat and drink, so that she can stay out of the hospital. Thank you.