BLG IAC 12/15/10 - 12/16/11

By my most recent count, of the 401 adopters confirmed with MOJ as of 12/15/10 and registered from 2005 through 2009, 170 had received referrals as of 12/16/11. That’s roughly 42% matched in one full year.

I would like to stress that we do not know how many of these registered families may have dropped out of the program, thus decreasing the wait line, and how many who did receive referrals declined them and are continuing to wait.

In addition, we all know that MOJ does not go in strict chronological order in their referral-making process and that families open to older children, children with SN and/or sibling groups may be matched quicker. However, it seems safe to assume that there continue to be about 200 registered families whose dossiers were submitted and confirmed in 2009 or earlier who are still waiting for referrals.

IAC 205 Results

The following referrals were issued in IAC session 205 held on December 16, 2011:

1) French dossier from January 2010 referred a male child aged 8 years and 10 months

2) U.S. dossier from August 2010 referred a female child aged 1 year and 9 months with features in health status

3) Italian dossier from March 2011 referred sisters aged 6 years and 7 months and 8 years and 8 months

4) Italian dossier from October 2011 referred a male child aged 9 years and 3 months

5) Italian dossier from November 2011 referred a female child aged 9 years and 10 months

6) U.S. dossier from December 2011 referred three waiting children (#234 & #1246 & #1476) with profiles on the MOJ site

7) U.S. dossier from December 2011 referred a waiting child (#566) with a profile on the MOJ site

Parenting Perk #2

More unexpected surprises.

I just had to laugh when I walked into the laundry room yesterday and saw this box of mac'n cheese perched on the washer. I give you one guess which one of my children carried this item from the downstairs pantry to the upstairs laundry room and left it there precariously balanced.

And this one goes into the "What Happened There?" parenting files. My best guess is that the purple ball ended up on the ledge by my nephews' hands somehow. If not, my kids are developmentally way further along than anyone gives them credit.

Oh and if you're wondering what this stick with ribbons is by my front door: it's a Survaknica for the Bulgarian New Year's tradition of (spine) tapping. My Survaknica is very inferiorly decorated compared to the ones you can see here: http://www.pc-freak.net/blog/happy-new-2012-year-few-bulgarian-new-year-traditions-customs/.

Dewey's Pizza

This evening we introduced Rex to a favorite of ours: Dewey's Pizza. As always, we ordered a Green Lantern (red sauce, light mozzarella, pesto, artichokes, mushrooms, goat cheese, and minced garlic). We knew Rex liked pizza, but we could not have been prepared for his excitement over this culinary adventure. He ate almost three pieces of a 17 inch pizza and was just unstoppable.

Even when his mouth was still plenty full, he kept signing eat profusely (for him that is his right index finger tapped anywhere on his cheek). He was eager to make sure we knew he wanted more. Okay, okay, we get it, kid, you like the Green Lantern. Welcome to the club.

Rex Bites

We gave Rex a whole square of graham cracker for dessert this evening and to our great surprise, he actually took a completely unassisted bite and then took the rest of the cracker back out of his mouth. Of course, being the crazy parents we are, we commemorated the first bite in a picture and a follow-up shot.

I don't expect him to be quite so good with his bite-taking on a consistent basis yet, but again, it's progress and we're all about progress here.

Rex Sucks

I bet you never thought you'd read this title on our blog... no worries, it's all good.

Rex was born with a cleft lip and palate and, therefore, was unable to latch on to bottles and suck as an infant. He dropped in weight from the 50th percentile at birth to the second percentile at a few months old. Finally, a donation of a cleft nurser arrived at the orphanage and Rex was able to eat and gain weight... without sucking. Up until now, we believed that Rex had lost his reflex or even inclination to suck due these circumstances.

On Friday Rex got past the child locks on the kitchen cabinet and took out a big sippy cup with two handles and a spout that has continuous flow. It's the very same sippy cup that I bought for him in Armenia and that he refused to use because he wanted a bottle. He looked at it and then put the spout in his mouth. As soon as I saw his interest, I grabbed the cup, filled it with juice, and handed it back to him. Lo and behold, he put it back into his mouth and started milking the spout just like he had done with his bottle nipples. Not ideal, but I was happy for a start and ready to practice more with this cup.

By Saturday, Rex had learned to close his mouth around the spout and tip up the cup to initiate or increase flow, holding it all by himself. He was also, to our great surprise, sucking instead of milking the spout by gnawing on it. We heard loud and clear and strong suction noises. We hardly trusted our ears.

So, this morning Rex took his sippy cup to OT to show off his skills. Ms. Kristen confirmed that he was, in fact, sucking. He did the best ever getting a tight seal with his lips and having very little juice spill. And in the end, instead of just letting go of the cup, he turned it spout up and held it in his hands until someone could take it from him. With a bit more practice, I see a great improvement for Craig and me in keeping Rex hydrated, especially in the car or when we are out and about.

Hurray, Rex sucks!

He's Growing

Today we had a medical appointment for Rex and he was weighed and measured. It wasn't 100% accurate as he was in clothes and had his shoes on, but after taking off some weight and height to account for those, I would say he now weighs 33 pounds and is 34 inches tall. Yep, he is short and stout, just like the little teapot. By U.S. growth charts he is now in the 70th percentile for weight and below the third percentile for height. He has gained five pounds since coming home and grown just over an inch. Keep it up, little guy!