Our appt at the adoption clinic!!

Today Noah saw the O.T to be assessed for his one year home.  He is pretty much age level for both fine and gross motor skills, and has made some huge gains this past year in these areas.

As for attatchment, well, Noah has attatched very well, he currently likes to know where mom is at all times, the last month has been a little out of sorts, so this would perhaps explain the anxiety in our little guy.

The hurdle that Noah faces has to do with his repaired cleft lip and palate.  Although both are repaired, Noah still has huge issues with his expressive language and articulation.  The doctor implied that we have some challenging  years ahead of us, including some pretty intense therapy.(which is not suprising)  Noah has such wonderful receptive language and is such a bright little guy, we always pray the best for Noah, and God's will be done in his life.

Noah is such a blessing in our lives, adoption is such a blessing for parents and kids. Adoption is not just a blessing for the adopted child but, for the family who grafts the child into their family.  Noah has taught me so much this year, about God's love for His children, he has helped me understand why God has called us to care for these kiddos.  Because of His love and sacrifice, he works through me and has allowed me the blessing of adopting our child.

Failure to Thrive

The term failure to thrive in our Canadian medical system is often equated with infants who are not meeting growth and developemental milestones.  In institutional settings throughout the world, we see children up to release(usually a mental institution or streets)who still would be labelled as failure to thrive.
Noah , came home delayed and put on  30% on his body mass in a year and added quite a huge amount of height( beyond what would be considered an average growth on the  curve for a child of his age.)
Sadly, we find 16 year olds the size of two year olds,  starved enough to not kill them, but, not allow them to grow or to develop.  Orphans we assume are toddlers are a few years older than they appear, not only physically but developmentally as well.
I encourage you to read the link below.  Brandon Hatmaker has written a wonderful post on Orphans failure to thrive.

Brandon Hatmaker - Failure to Thrive

James 1:27

 Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.

 

Our week in pictures...

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

 



 THURSDAY

 

 

 

It has just been one of those weeks.  So thankful my parents live near by..they were a HUGE help. 

 

1 Peter 5:7   Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.

 





One year ago today....

One Year ago today, we arrived safely home with our sweet bundle in our arms.
















Thier were four very excited children, who had been without mom and dad for two weeks, and who were anxiously awaiting the arrival of a new brother.















In some ways it seems like less than a year...to watch any of your children grow and develop is a wonderful thing...watching Noah transform from a scared little boy...to a happy toddler has truly been a beautiful experience. 


I love the saying "thier are no unwanted children, only unfound families!!"  If only the families would realize this!!!!

Ephesians 1:5
God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.

Lost Children of the Coal- China

Orphan Justice

Oh the places you'll go

This week was one full of appointments. 

As you can see, Noah was  not to pleased about the poking and prodding.

Mommy was happy to see some tears after the needles, as, sometimes Noah seems a little bit too tough for a little guy.

We are getting closer to be caught up on immunizations.

Noah does not have TB(hooray)

And our pediatrician is back from maternity...so, she has requested more extensive testing to see why his thyroid is not working properly.

Noah was tested for receptive language and came out age appropriate..however, his expessive language and articulation are severe.  We are so thankful he is receiving speech once a week at the cleft lip and palate clinic.

On Monday we have a morning full of more appointments at the cleft lip and palate clinic.  I can see a tube that seems to be falling out.  Hopefully, his ear drum is moving properly, or he will need a new tube put in.

Gotcha-one year with Noah

 

On March 5, 2012 we first met Noah, in cold building(literally and figuratively) in the city of  Zhengzhou, Henan China.  The waiting was about to come to an end, two stories were about to interwoven into one.  When we first layed eyes on him, our guy was scared and in shock.  One thing we did have, was, one VERY HUNGRY little boy.  Up until March 5th, we were pretty sure all he ever had eaten congee and drank formula.

 

 

 

 

 Photo for our official adoption documents

 

 

 

 

So fast forward to March 5th 2013 (okay 4th, I am writing a day early...Noah has an exciting gotcha day planned.  Filled with speech therapy and immunizations) and we have one very active, mischevious son(yes, he did take off his sock today and put it in my coffee...bleh)  Noah's attatchment has gone very well, we have worked very hard at bonding, being very conscious of our relationship and attatchment the first six months home.

 

Our story is a beautiful story, inspite of the fact that we are average parents, with average patience(okay, I may be below average some days ;)  a regular home in a regular community.  No, our story is a beautiful story because of a love that goes far beyond my or Kevin's capabilities.  And because of His great love for us, and because He adopted us and grafted us into His family, we are able to graft Noah into our  family.

 

  1 John 4:19 We love because he first loved us.

 

Noah is a joy and a blessing.  What a wonderful son and brother he is.  He is full of love and life.  We are so in love with our little guy.

 

 

HAPPY GOTCHA DAY NOAH!!!! ONE YEAR IN OUR ARMS...WE LOVE YOU!!!!

 



Theraplay

To have a picture of these two little boys, close in proximity to one another, both smiling, is a wonderful moment in this house.
We read about attatchment of parent to adopted child, and adopted child to parent.  Either, I have not looked hard enough or their is no books read on sibling attatchment to a toddler or older child adopted sibling.
Attatchment cannot be forced, it cannot be faked by siblings.  It has to be real.  Most of the attatchemnt issues that arise between these two boys, is
A) a pesky big brother
B) a non-verbal big brother, who LOVES his little brother, but who does know how to engage a toddler to play.
C) a toddler, who can be well, very twoish, and screechy.

so what have we been "playing" to help foster attatchement
1) face painting with a dry brush
2)"popcorn" people hold corners of a blanket, put balls on the blanket, and shake the blanket to make the balls pop.
3) blanket race. take a corner of the blanket, puff it in the air. one person lets go of their corner and crawls to the other side.
4) brother/sister tortilla/sandwich.  use pillows or blankets and make a person sandwich..do not forget the toppings :)
5) serving pretend food ( we have used the melissa and doug birthday cupcake set) one child asks what kind of cupcake the other would like, kind of icing, color of candle etc.  It helps promote listening and taking turns.

Of course, with a two year old our games have to be at his level.  However, as a family we have had lots of fun playing them.  I love having my face painted...it is like a mini facial.


I have no doubt that these two will grow closer as Noah grows older.  Micah had trouble enaging Anneke in any sort of play when she was a toddler as well.  Now the two of them play great together.

As we continue to build a brotherly bond between these brothers, I am thankful to have the help we need to help them grow in thier relationship