Madcap Puppets Show

We spent an hour this Sunday afternoon at a free performance of Madcap Puppets which is a children's theater company based here in Cincinnati.  We all had such a good time and Rex lasted until almost the very end before he became restless and asked to leave.  Emilia was fully engaged with the show and cheered and laughed and commented loudly.  Ella sat on the floor nearest the stage with many other children and was absorbed as well. I liked that she checked back to the second row regularly to see if we were still there.

Ella enchanted

This is a larger-than-life backpack puppet
built onto the light frame of a hiking-type backpack

I am going to keep my eyes peeled for more shows by Madcap.  They're fun and I love exposing the kids to the arts in ways that they can enjoy.

At Her Own Pace

Emilia keeps growing and learning at her own pace.  Look at the bottom of the work sheet that came home from school today.

Teacher's note:
Emilia could read all of these words
using finger / sounding out.

Cincinnati Splash

For Presidents' Day weekend, we booked a getaway at Cincinnati Splash.  The kids had a blast and were so surprised when we arrived for our overnight at the water park.

This boy wanted to leave the water park only for meal breaks.

Emilia impressed us by being fearless toward all the park's features.

The mermaid especially enjoyed the lazy river.

Cincinnati Splash was a nice change of winter pace for us and we'd definitely go again.

Picture Of The Day

Usually I am the recipient of our eldest's love letters, but last night, Craig found this elaborate creation on his office door.

Being No Selfesh

Sometimes a child from a very hard start and culture of survival needs to leave herself a reminder on her bedroom wall above her pillow.

IAC 377 - 379

The following referrals were issued in IAC Session 377 held on November 3, 2016:

1) Spanish dossier from May 2011 referred a male child, age 3, with features in health status

2) Italian dossier from August 2012 referred two brothers aged 7 years and 4 months and 5 years

3) Italian dossier from August 2014 referred a female child aged 9 years and 3 months

4) US dossier from November 2015 referred a female child aged 1 year and 4 months with features in health status and a family history

5) US dossier from November 2016 referred a waiting child (#2934) with a profile on the MOJ site

6) US dossier from November 2016 referred four waiting children (#2546 & #2547 & #2810 & #3058) with profiles on the MOJ site

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The following referrals were issued in IAC Session 378 held on November 10, 2016:

1) Canadian dossier from March 2011 referred a female child aged 1 year and 3 months with features in health status

2) Spanish dossier from June 2011 referred a female child aged 1 year and 3 months with features in health status

3) Irish dossier from August 2012 referred a male child aged 2 years and 6 months with features in health status and a family history

4) French dossier from October 2012 referred a male child aged 8 years

5) US dossier from November 2016 referred three waiting children (#2735 & #2493 & #3018) with profiles on the MOJ site

6) US dossier from November 2016 referred a waiting child (#3040) with a profile on the MOJ site

7) US dossier from November 2016 referred two waiting children (#2496 & #2497) with profiles on the MOJ site

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The following referrals were issued in IAC Session 379 held on November 18, 2016:

1) German dossier from March 2011 referred a male child aged 3 years and 4 months with features in health status

2) Spanish dossier from Amy 2011 referred a male child aged 4 years and 6 months

3) Dutch dossier from June 2011 referred a female child aged 4 years and 2 months with features in health status and a family history

4) US dossier from February 2012 referred a female child aged 1 year and 5 months with a family history

5) US dossier from April 2015 referred twins, male and female, aged 1 year and 5 months with features in health status and a family history

6) Italian dossier from May 2016 referred siblings, male and female, aged 6 years, 7 years and 6 months & 4 years and 1 month with features in health status

7) US dossier from November 2016 referred a waiting child (#3) with a profile on the MOJ site

8) US dossier from November 2016 referred two waiting children (#2596 & #2597) with profiles on the MOJ site

9) US dossier from November 2016 referred a waiting child (#2999) with a profile on the MOJ site

Neurological Re-Organization

If you're a parent of children with special needs you've probably heard of neurological re-organization, especially if you're in the adoption community.  Bette Lamont, who is a pioneer in the field and has worked with over 6000 children, most of them adoptive, was at our house this week to evaluate Ella and Emilia for the program.

Even though the girls present very differently, we learned that both of them need to go back to sensory and motor patterns and sequences they should have experienced between two and seven months of age.  They especially struggle with vision-related things as well as weak communication between their brain hemispheres.  The better news is that overall, the girls' brains appear to be in good shape and they are bright and have a lot of potential to tap yet.  We just have to get their brains to fire up more.

Bette Lamont created a program for the girls that will take about an hour a day to execute in-home though it does not need to be all at once.  In fact, much of it will be like play.  She expects that we will see great improvements with the girls in all areas of development over the next 12-24 months if we consistently carry out the program.  Bette Lamont will return in about three months to re-test the girls and adjust the program as necessary.

I am very excited for this opportunity for our family as a whole because the program will eventually also help us address trauma.  Per Bette Lamont's assessment, both girls have developmental trauma disorder which, of course, is not a surprise to us.  It's just refreshing to hear someone confirm what we have known for a long time and not look at us like we're nuts.  And now, instead of describing this in a round about way to professionals and arguing that they are not seeing the whole picture with their suggested diagnoses, I can be much more specific and use the term developmental trauma disorder when explaining some, if not most, of the challenges my girls face.

Wish us luck as we embark on this journey - we'll be doing a lot of creeping and crawling and spinning and squeezing and so much more around here.