Emilia caused quite a bit of excitement around here today by showing off a new skill at lunch and dinner:
Friday, October 12, 2012
IAC 230 Results
The following referrals were issued in IAC session 230 which was held on 09/12/12:
1) Italian dossier from March 2011 referred a waiting child (#1575) with a profile on the MOJ site
2) Italian dossier from December 2011 referred a waiting child (#1826) with a profile on the MOJ site
3) French dossier from April 2012 referred a waiting child (#1700) with a profile on the MOJ site
4) Italian dossier from April 2012 referred a waiting child (#1748) with a profile on the MOJ site
5) French dossier from August 2012 referred a waiting child (#1773) with a profile on the MOJ site
6) US dossier from August 2012 referred a waiting child (#559) with a profile on the MOJ site
7) US dossier from August 2012 referred a waiting child (#1497) with a profile on the MOJ site
8) US dossier from August 2012 referred two waiting children (#1250 & #1154) with profiles on the MOJ site
9) US dossier from August 2012 referred two waiting children (#1345 & #1170) with profiles on the MOJ site
10) US dossier from August 2012 referred a waiting child (#1298) with a profile on the MOJ site
11) US dossier from August 2012 referred a waiting child (#972) with a profile on the MOJ site
12) US dossier from August 2012 referred a waiting child (#794) with a profile on the MOJ site
13) US dossier from September 2012 referred two waiting children (#1554 & #1567) with profiles on the MOJ site
14) US dossier from September 2012 referred two waiting children (#971 & #1502) with profiles on the MOJ site
15) US dossier from September 2012 referred a waiting child (#1585) with a profile on the MOJ site
16) US dossier from September 2012 referred a waiting child (#1742) with a profile on the MOJ site
17) US dossier from September 2012 referred a waiting child (#1012) with a profile on the MOJ site
1) Italian dossier from March 2011 referred a waiting child (#1575) with a profile on the MOJ site
2) Italian dossier from December 2011 referred a waiting child (#1826) with a profile on the MOJ site
3) French dossier from April 2012 referred a waiting child (#1700) with a profile on the MOJ site
4) Italian dossier from April 2012 referred a waiting child (#1748) with a profile on the MOJ site
5) French dossier from August 2012 referred a waiting child (#1773) with a profile on the MOJ site
6) US dossier from August 2012 referred a waiting child (#559) with a profile on the MOJ site
7) US dossier from August 2012 referred a waiting child (#1497) with a profile on the MOJ site
8) US dossier from August 2012 referred two waiting children (#1250 & #1154) with profiles on the MOJ site
9) US dossier from August 2012 referred two waiting children (#1345 & #1170) with profiles on the MOJ site
10) US dossier from August 2012 referred a waiting child (#1298) with a profile on the MOJ site
11) US dossier from August 2012 referred a waiting child (#972) with a profile on the MOJ site
12) US dossier from August 2012 referred a waiting child (#794) with a profile on the MOJ site
13) US dossier from September 2012 referred two waiting children (#1554 & #1567) with profiles on the MOJ site
14) US dossier from September 2012 referred two waiting children (#971 & #1502) with profiles on the MOJ site
15) US dossier from September 2012 referred a waiting child (#1585) with a profile on the MOJ site
16) US dossier from September 2012 referred a waiting child (#1742) with a profile on the MOJ site
17) US dossier from September 2012 referred a waiting child (#1012) with a profile on the MOJ site
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
No & Mama
As most of you know, our children have significant speech delays, but we are working very hard to help them gain communication skills. Every once in a while we get a glimpse that our efforts are bearing fruit.
Emilia's favorite object in the whole wide world is her daddy's cell phone. She was playing with it one night, but then it was time to put it away. When Craig pried it from her hot little hands she looked at him and said clear as day, "NO." Oh yes, the words are in there with this wee Martini, she just needs the right motivation to let them out.
Rex has been using pictures of Craig and me at school to begin identifying and labeling us as mama and daddy. The therapists have been telling us that he is doing a good job with this task there, but we just had to rely on their word until recently. This afternoon, Rex led me to the back door to be let outside. I got down beside him, intending to get him to say "go" before I would open the door. Instead, Rex looked right at me and said, "Mama." Of course, I was just overjoyed and Rex could tell, so, in turn, he smiled as big as can be and looked very proud of himself.
No and mama - we'll take it gladly!
Emilia's favorite object in the whole wide world is her daddy's cell phone. She was playing with it one night, but then it was time to put it away. When Craig pried it from her hot little hands she looked at him and said clear as day, "NO." Oh yes, the words are in there with this wee Martini, she just needs the right motivation to let them out.
Rex has been using pictures of Craig and me at school to begin identifying and labeling us as mama and daddy. The therapists have been telling us that he is doing a good job with this task there, but we just had to rely on their word until recently. This afternoon, Rex led me to the back door to be let outside. I got down beside him, intending to get him to say "go" before I would open the door. Instead, Rex looked right at me and said, "Mama." Of course, I was just overjoyed and Rex could tell, so, in turn, he smiled as big as can be and looked very proud of himself.
No and mama - we'll take it gladly!
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Game Day
I attempted the impossible in trying to get a nice photo of my Colts fans on Sunday. Here are the best of the batch:
Friday, October 5, 2012
His Family Found Him
Tonight I am so thrilled to let all of you know that a family has committed to Zack. With the generous contributions of many, his Reece's Rainbow account has grown to over $5000 which will help Zack's parents greatly in bringing him home.
Happy, happy, happy day!
Happy, happy, happy day!
Auntie's Brag Blog
I know I usually use my blog to brag about my own kids, but today I want to express my pride and joy over someone else's.
Our nephew Will is 15 years old and a freshman in high school. He is Emilia and Rex's oldest cousin, our first nephew. Will has always held a special place in our hearts and we have always tried to spend as much time as possible with him, sharing a variety of experiences.
Craig and I both are so amazed to see Will turn into a wonderful young man right before our eyes these days. Will's not a person of many words, but he is helpful, caring and has a great sense of humor that I think will only get better with age, like a fine wine (and yes, he would roll his eyes at me for making this analogy because I am his weird German aunt that sometimes uses fancy English).
I know Will's much younger cousins can be little pests to him (though he has much practice from younger sibs), but Will almost always tries to oblige their desires. When Emilia stretches her arms toward him to be picked up, he does it. When Rex needs a toy put back together, Will gives him a hand. But a few days ago when Will was at our house for a visit, his kindness toward Rex really blew me away.
Will was walking from the kitchen into the family room with a bowl of icecream. Rex spotted it immediately and approached Will. He led him to the couch, then pushed on his stomach to get him to sit down. And then he signed "spoon." As I was watching this scene unfold, I wondered what Will would do. Sharing a bowl and utensil with a slobbery three-year old can be pretty gross for anyone, let alone a teen, so I wouldn't have blamed Will if he had redirected Rex to the kitchen for his own serving of icecream. However, that's not what happened. Instead, Will shared his treat with his little cousin, bite after bite after bite until it was all gone. I cannot tell you how much it warmed my heart to see Will show such gentle consideration toward our Rex.
What a blessing to have a nephew like Will in our lives. We are so thankful to be able to share in his years of growing up and shower him with aunt and uncle love.
Our nephew Will is 15 years old and a freshman in high school. He is Emilia and Rex's oldest cousin, our first nephew. Will has always held a special place in our hearts and we have always tried to spend as much time as possible with him, sharing a variety of experiences.
Craig and I both are so amazed to see Will turn into a wonderful young man right before our eyes these days. Will's not a person of many words, but he is helpful, caring and has a great sense of humor that I think will only get better with age, like a fine wine (and yes, he would roll his eyes at me for making this analogy because I am his weird German aunt that sometimes uses fancy English).
I know Will's much younger cousins can be little pests to him (though he has much practice from younger sibs), but Will almost always tries to oblige their desires. When Emilia stretches her arms toward him to be picked up, he does it. When Rex needs a toy put back together, Will gives him a hand. But a few days ago when Will was at our house for a visit, his kindness toward Rex really blew me away.
Will was walking from the kitchen into the family room with a bowl of icecream. Rex spotted it immediately and approached Will. He led him to the couch, then pushed on his stomach to get him to sit down. And then he signed "spoon." As I was watching this scene unfold, I wondered what Will would do. Sharing a bowl and utensil with a slobbery three-year old can be pretty gross for anyone, let alone a teen, so I wouldn't have blamed Will if he had redirected Rex to the kitchen for his own serving of icecream. However, that's not what happened. Instead, Will shared his treat with his little cousin, bite after bite after bite until it was all gone. I cannot tell you how much it warmed my heart to see Will show such gentle consideration toward our Rex.
What a blessing to have a nephew like Will in our lives. We are so thankful to be able to share in his years of growing up and shower him with aunt and uncle love.
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Emilia - Forty-Five Weeks Home
Saturday marked forty-five weeks home for our Emilia. The last two weeks have been pretty exciting for her with her first trip to the beach, her first birthday party, the start of speech therapy, and quite a few visitors to our home.
As always, Emilia is doing well. She is healthy, active, curious, happy and on the go with her own missions. There are not any developmental milestones that I have noticed though I think her fine motor skills are improving. Her preschool teachers tell me that she holds her own cup at school and is getting better at feeding herself, too. At home, I see her with activities that require some amount of fine motor control, such as placing balls into containers or ripping pages out of an old phone book.
In speech therapy, Emilia is doing a great job. Her therapist is impressed with her attention span as well as her ability to play with the same toy in many different ways. Of course, she is actually verbalizing for the therapist, too. When the bubbles ran out and Emilia wanted more, she said, "bub-bub-bub." When it was time to clean-up, Emilia repeated, "ean-up." These are not things she is willing to do at home though there is a lot of babbling and mouth-watching and very long, deep conversations between the two of us consisting of nothing but blowing raspberries in different ways.
I am not 100% happy with the preschool Emilia is attending. They provide the meals and snacks, but due to Emilia's dairy allergy and feeding issues I have to supplement a lot of stuff. I am also pretty sure that there are days when she just doesn't get the calories she needs there because there's not enough staff and time to assist her with her meals. Secondly, and more importantly, I did not realize that their nap time is from noon to three and during those hours, the children have to remain on their cots, regardless of whether or not they are asleep. This is very similar to the schedule and rules both Rex and Emilia experienced at their orphanages and possibly a little too reminiscent. We are going to finish out this month and then see from there.
On Thursdays, Emilia has had the pleasure of going to library story time with Ms. Rie as well as her new friend Allison and Allison's mom. From what I hear, Emilia and Allison have some very nice conversations during the car rides and Emilia is becoming more comfortable and interactive at the library as well. I think for where she is developmentally right now, an activity in a different environment with her peers and a trusted adult there might be the best set-up for her at this time, so we may try to do outings like this a few times a week in lieu of the preschool starting in 2013. It's all up in the air yet and we have some time to decide.
Emilia is just a mix of sugar and spice, spunk and sweetness, strong opinions and love and we can't get enough.
As always, Emilia is doing well. She is healthy, active, curious, happy and on the go with her own missions. There are not any developmental milestones that I have noticed though I think her fine motor skills are improving. Her preschool teachers tell me that she holds her own cup at school and is getting better at feeding herself, too. At home, I see her with activities that require some amount of fine motor control, such as placing balls into containers or ripping pages out of an old phone book.
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| Hot stuff with new shades from Aunt Isabelle |
In speech therapy, Emilia is doing a great job. Her therapist is impressed with her attention span as well as her ability to play with the same toy in many different ways. Of course, she is actually verbalizing for the therapist, too. When the bubbles ran out and Emilia wanted more, she said, "bub-bub-bub." When it was time to clean-up, Emilia repeated, "ean-up." These are not things she is willing to do at home though there is a lot of babbling and mouth-watching and very long, deep conversations between the two of us consisting of nothing but blowing raspberries in different ways.
I am not 100% happy with the preschool Emilia is attending. They provide the meals and snacks, but due to Emilia's dairy allergy and feeding issues I have to supplement a lot of stuff. I am also pretty sure that there are days when she just doesn't get the calories she needs there because there's not enough staff and time to assist her with her meals. Secondly, and more importantly, I did not realize that their nap time is from noon to three and during those hours, the children have to remain on their cots, regardless of whether or not they are asleep. This is very similar to the schedule and rules both Rex and Emilia experienced at their orphanages and possibly a little too reminiscent. We are going to finish out this month and then see from there.
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| Practicing for cooler weather |
On Thursdays, Emilia has had the pleasure of going to library story time with Ms. Rie as well as her new friend Allison and Allison's mom. From what I hear, Emilia and Allison have some very nice conversations during the car rides and Emilia is becoming more comfortable and interactive at the library as well. I think for where she is developmentally right now, an activity in a different environment with her peers and a trusted adult there might be the best set-up for her at this time, so we may try to do outings like this a few times a week in lieu of the preschool starting in 2013. It's all up in the air yet and we have some time to decide.
Emilia is just a mix of sugar and spice, spunk and sweetness, strong opinions and love and we can't get enough.
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| Our Dream Girl |
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