IAC Results 308 & 309

The following referrals were issued in IAC Session 308 which was held on February 12, 2015:

1) Italian dossier from June 2013 referred biological sisters aged 9 years and 5 months & 6 years

2) Italian dossier from June 2013 referred a female child aged 9 years and 4 months with features in health status and a family history

3) Italian dossier from February 2014 referred biological brothers aged  6 years and 10 months & 8 years and 8 months

4) US dossier from March 2014 referred a male child aged 9 years and 4 months

5) US dossier from June 2014 referred two waiting children (#2567 & #2565) with profiles on the MOJ site

6) Italian dossier from July 2014 referred a waiting child (#2747) with a profile on the MOJ site

7) Italian dossier from July 2014 referred a male child aged 9 years and 6 months with features in health status

8) Italian dossier from September 2014 referred a female child aged 9 years and 11 months

9) US dossier from January 2015 referred a waiting child (#2684) with a profile on the MOJ site

10) US dossier from February 2015 referred a waiting child (#2434) with a profile on the MOJ site

11) US dossier from February 2015 referred a waiting child (#1169) with a profile on the MOJ site

12) US dossier from February 2015 referred a waiting child (#2413) with a profile on the MOJ site

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The following referrals were issued in IAC Session 309 which was held on February 19, 2015:

1) Spanish dossier from October 2010 referred a male child aged 1 year and 5 months

2) Spanish dossier from April 2011 referred a female child aged 6 years and 3 months

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

4) French dossier from July 2011 referred a female child aged 4 years and 4 months with a family history

5) US dossier from August 2011 referred a female child aged 1 year and 11 months with features in health status and a family history

6) Italian dossier from January 2013 referred a male child aged 4 years and 3 months with features in health status and a family history

7) Italian dossier from April 2013 referred a male child aged 8 years and 4 months

8) US dossier from September 2013 referred a male child aged 2 years and 5 months with features in health status and a family history

9) US dossier from May 2014 referred a female child aged 2 years and 9 months with features in health status and a family history

10) US dossier from February 2015 referred a waiting child (#2575) with a profile on the MOJ site

11) US dossier from February 2015 referred a waiting child (#2448) with a profile on the MOJ site

12) US dossier from February 2015 referred two waiting children (#27 & #305) with profiles on the MOJ site

Picture Of The Day

Ella got into some big trouble yesterday with her daddy for disobedience.  We've talked about it and things are good now.  However, after nap this afternoon, Ella decided that she wanted to apologize one more time and she made this card for Craig.  She had no help and created this masterpiece all on her own.  The creature with the massive arms is her daddy, by the way.

News From MOJ In Bulgaria

MOJ has released a list of active dossiers as of February 2, 2015.  By my count, the list shows 908 active dossiers registered between 2008 and December 30, 2013.  Dossiers registered in 2014 or 2015 are not reflected in this list.

Of the 908 active dossiers, one was registered in 2008, none in 2009, 38 in 2010, and approximately 21% (just under 200 dossiers) in 2011.

Of the 908 active dossiers, about 25% are requesting children aged 36 months or younger.  Nearly 10% of the dossiers are asking to be matched with a girl only and 1% with a boy only.

If you would like to see the list, please use this link: Active Dossiers.

Ella's Meal Plan

Nutrition and feeding can be major issues for newly adopted children and even long after a child comes home.  We continue to face challenges with both Rex and Emilia in these areas for very different reasons.  Because of this circumstance, it's felt like a relative breeze to feed Ella. Even though she has her own preferences and dislikes, she has no dietary restrictions or food allergies and is not particularly picky.  Here are typical options for each meal now that she's in school.

Breakfast: toast with butter or Nutella, oatmeal, Belvita breakfast cookies, fresh berries, bananas, grapes, or other fruit and 6 ounces of almond milk.  I am pretty sure breakfast is her least favorite meal and she'd gladly skip it, so I have to cut her some slack to get something into her belly to fuel her brain for school.

Snack at school: Greek yogurt, fresh fruit, dried fruit, graham crackers, string cheese and crackers

Lunch: salami, hard-boiled eggs, crackers and pretzels, green lettuces and herbs, fresh fruit, grilled chicken, meatballs, turkey

Afternoon snack: see school snack or cereal with milk

Dinner: with few exceptions, she eats whatever Craig and I do from soups to fish to casseroles to salads.  She even had her first steak recently and loved it. We have also figured out some favorite restaurant selections for her.  Ella does not have to clear her plate, but she knows that it is a prerequisite for getting dessert later.

Dessert: single serve icecream, popcorn, fruit, or yogurt

Foods Ella does not like: English muffins, sweet potatoes, sliced cheese (she's come around to string cheese), and raw carrots.  In her own words they are "gusting" (disgusting) and "Mama, don't give me that again, okay?!"

P.S. About those ugly plates with the green rims: Craig and I bought them when we were in college and on a very strict budget.  Sixteen pieces at $4.00 new was a steal and we've had these dishes ever since.  Can't get rid of them as they remind us of where we started and of what really matters.

Photo Of The Day

My Armenian snuggle bugs sat on the couch together this evening and cuddled with each other for a long time.  Seeing them close like this made our hearts sing.  Love how they've laced their fingers together.

504

Today we had our ETR meeting for Ella with the school district.  She has been evaluated by all parties involved and she does not qualify for an IEP because

1) She appears to have no cognitive disability

2) She appears to have no learning disabilities

3) She does not qualify for speech therapy or PT and would qualify only for very temporary OT to assist with writing skills

4) Her progress across the board in the last nine weeks of school has been rapid and explosive, by all accounts.  Everyone who works with her has been astonished by her sheer willpower and intense motivation to learn and by the speed and ease with which she has acquired not only new academic material, but also improved her social skills, classroom functioning, play behavior, etc.

So, instead of an IEP the school is composing a 504 to make sure Ella has physical accommodations and will get some targeted math and reading support for a limited time until she has caught up.  ELL services will continue indefinitely.

So, we officially have a neuro-typical child now.   It's very strange and very delightful.  

When Fairies Explode

A few weeks ago my cousin Maria was over for a visit and we were enjoying a chat in the dining room while Ella was eating her lunch and Emilia was upstairs in Craig's and my bedroom watching a video.  She was being so good and quiet, I should have known something was brewing because suddenly, ta-da, little Miss E waltzed down the stairs, gleefully announcing herself as "pretty."  I looked up and saw her covered from head to toe in gold glitter. I instantly knew that I had left a big bag of glitter in the master bedroom where Emilia had gotten her hands on it.  You can imagine what happened from there.

Eventually Maria and I did go up to look at the damage and found Craig's and my bed and our floor and a stack of clean clothing and the throw pillows and the hallway and some other random objects covered in the most beautiful, sparkly layer of glitter.  I was kind of laughing because what else can you do at this point, but also dreading the clean-up as well as Craig's strong dislike of glitter. Seriously, if Rex has school projects with glitter on them, Craig throws them away in the classroom, he never brings them home.  Here's just a small section of the fairy explosion:

And don't judge my mismatched, no-fitted sheet... that had just gone on the bed the night before due to another child-related mess and our regular sheet was fresh out of the dryer, but not yet put on the mattress.  Yes, this is my real life.

Since our vacuum cleaner is still at the old house, Maria loaned us hers and it literally took an hour to clean up our bedroom after the kids' afternoon therapy.  And, if you have any experience with glitter, you now that there was no way we could get every last speck, no matter how hard we tried. I predict that Craig and I will spend the next few years rolling out of bed in the mornings with random glitter on our bodies.  Get used to it, people, we're just that posh.