Medical Update on Alex

Last week I took Alex to the doctor for a check-up and to mainly be referred up to Children's hospital. They were able to update his shot records and start the ball rolling for Alex to start seeing the necessary specialists up at Children's hospital. He had two shots that day and boy did he scream! Since it looked like he had gotten shots in his right leg before and I thought he had very little feeling in it because it is paralyzed to a certain point, I asked them to give the shots in that leg. Boy was I wrong--- Alex felt every bit of those two shots poor little guy. Thankfully, a sucker took his mind off of the pain right away and I was able to give him some Motrin in the car.

Just yesterday I took Dennis up to Children's hospital for a check-up with the plastic surgeon who also happens to share an office with the neuro-surgeon that Alex has been referred to see. When the office called to confirm the appointment for Dennis, I had asked them if the referral had come through for Alex yet so that maybe I could have both boys seen on the same day. They said no and so I figured I would be making two visits very close together.

Then surprise! When I got to the office for Dennis, they informed me that the referral came through and that the neuro-surgeon could Alex that same day after all. Praise the Lord!

Alex is thirty-two pounds-- a whopping four pounds heavier than Dennis. The neuro-surgeon said that Alex is most likely lumbar-sacral-- whatever the heck that means. I guess it refers to the location of the lesion. He let me know that he was referring Alex to the Spina Bifida clinic that is in the same Children's hospital (another praise) and that he has ordered up an MRI of his head and back, and an x-ray of his hips. He thinks Alex will walk with braces based on where the lesion is and the fact that he can stand and somewhat already walk--- yet another praise. At the Spina Bifida clinic Alex will see a Urologist and an Orthopaedist and other specialists to address his needs.

Alex for the most part seems to be taking everything in stride and his mobility is continuing to improve everyday despite having any medical intervention this far. It is encouraging to see he has such a will to be like his siblings.

I took him to have a TB test yesterday and I am pleased to see that there is no reaction like I thought there might be with most Eastern European children being vaccinated with the BCG vaccine. Dennis seems clear too.

If I had to share the hardest thing there is in caring for a child with Spina Bifida, I would have to say it is the bladder and bowel incontinence. I have been reading up on these things and have joined a few support groups--- and a few wonderful parents of children with SB have kind of taken me under their wings. With Alex being four years old already and about to start pre-school, I am trying to get Alex on a bowel management program where he can get used to going to the bathroom at a certain time everyday. Though he is more than willing to try-- we have not had much success yet--- though it is still very early in the game. We will just have to keep working on it together.

Other than what I have shared, Alex is a normal, healthy, bright four year old boy and his smile and laugh brightens up the room.

He is a joy to have around.

Alex's Adoption Video

I Love This Little Boy

Honestly, God has us in a pretty good place right now. Back in Ukraine, I was a bit concerned that Alex might has some behavior issues, but now that he is home and things are pretty predictable around here and he has so much love surrounding him, Alex is in every way a very loving and happy child. He is sleeping through the night and goes down really well too. He is continually trying new foods. He is picking up English. He is able to go to WalMart with me and sit in the cart and doesn't scream or cry for me to let him touch things. He will sit and snuggle with me on the couch, and he comes to me when he is hurt so that I can kiss his owie.

Today I left to go to the store and he began to cry. I promised that I would be right back and when I asked how long he had cried, it had only been for a minute or so. I left again later in the day and he only had a quick sniffle. I think it makes all the difference in the world having so many siblings to learn from.

For the last two or three days, I have been putting on a thumb sucking medicine when he goes to sleep. I was concerned about how he would get to sleep and how he would sleep through the night, but I was just as concerned about his overbite and the big callouses on his fingers. I figured I would give it a try and if he cried or had trouble sleeping I would hold off doing it until he was home for a few more months. When I put it on his nails, I explained that it would taste bad if he put his fingers in his mouth and I even encouraged him to taste a tiny bit with me. We both made faces that it was very yucky tasting-- and he even chuckled and threw his hand down. I pretended to put a little on my own fingers to be like him and I showed him that I would not put my fingers in my mouth. He nodded that he understood and he has been fine ever since. He is not sucking his fingers, nor is he crying himself to sleep, nor is he even so much as stirring in the night. He also reminded me at nap time once to put on the medicine by holding out his fingers. It was really cute. He is just utterly amazing---- and such a big boy! I think it helps that he sleeps next to Dennis every night. (And for those that want to say it is too soon---- I would agree if he was showing signs of distress and I would stop if he was, but I know from experience that the longer a child is allowed to suck their thumb or fingers, the longer it takes to break them of the habit. And I did the same thing for Jonny and Dennis-- only with bandaids because they were much younger and didn't try to pull them off.)

Alex and Anna have so much fun together. She is a wonderful big sister to him.

Alex loves to take baths. He understands so much more than Dennis does. When I say that bath time is over, Alex doesn't whine like Dennis does. He understands that he will have another bath tomorrow.

A fellow adoptive mother and blogger sent my two little boys these adorable towels. I think they are awesome-- both the towels and the boys!

Alex and Dennis encourage each other to do things. At first, Alex was not to excited to get into this floaty, but when he saw that Dennis was getting in one too, he wanted to get in his so that he can be like Dennis.

All About Alex

Alex has been home for six days now and there is no way this child is ever looking back. Out of curiosity I have asked him a few times if he wants to go back to his groupa either by mentioning it or showing him a picture. Alex has no desire whatsoever--- and though its not like he has the choice anyways, it does make me feel good that he doesn't want to.

I have him off the medication that the doctor had given me to calm Alex down, and John and I have no plans to put him back on it. He is such an amazing, good, smart little boy that listens and behaves great without it.

Tomorrow I am taking him to the doctor to get him checked out. They will most likely update his immunizations and refer us up to the Children's hospital. I am curious to see how much he weighs. I will be asking the doctor to fill out a form for a handicap parking permit. Alex is a big boy-- much heavier than Dennis and walking long distances with him will be challenging at least in the beginning.

We are all getting used to calling him Alex instead of Alosha or Alexsey and earlier today he actually responded to his name being called. He answered from the top of the stairs, "Stoh Mama!" It was cute.

Alex loves the water. Whether it is the pool or the bathtub, his face lights up when I mention, "Coopatza?" "Da!" he says as he gives his head one good shake.

Overall, I couldn't be happier with how all of us are adjusting. Alex loves looking at pictures on the wall and thinks it is really neat that he recognizes his family. I feel bad for not having more pictures of him up on the wall yet---- something I plan on doing next week.

A Sweet Ending to the Day

As promised, we brought the children cut up apples for their morning snack. I squeezed a little lemon juice on them to keep them from turning brown and one little boy made faces because of the tartness. The rest of the children didn't even seem to notice and before we knew it the bag of cut up apples was gone. All of the children beg for attention and it is hard to break away from them so that we can spend alone time with Alosha. We have mentally decided to spend about 10 minutes each time with the other children when we pick up and drop off Alosha the four times a day.

Alosha is doing great. I could tell that he hates being couped up in his stroller all the time, but it is hard to encourage him to do anything else. It is just so dirty and watching him crawl around in the sand, broken glass, and crumbled rocks and cement not to mention ants just stresses me out. Not that I can't handle him getting dirty--- but at home, I would give him a bath. It is just not the same here.

Alosha has began testing the waters with us a bit---- throwing a toy for the second time after us telling him not to, or opening a door after asking him to keep it closed. Typical four year old stuff that John is much better at handling here than I am. It is hard to be yourself here without wondering who is watching you waiting to correct your parenting--- but it doesn't seem to bother John. He is who he is and I think the caretakers appreciate that. I hope I can begin to relax more---- just today I took the water canteen away for the remainder of our visit after Alosha continued to shake out the water after I told him not to. And after a second of pouting, he was off and playing again.

We are still on target to have court early next week----- and then John is most likely going to head home with Dennis while Julia and I stay here to finish up things. Economically, it just makes the most sense, and we really prefer to not leave Alosha anyway. This way, John can drive down to LAX with the whole family and welcome Alosha home!

At the end of our visits, we walk Alosha up this staircase to his room. He knows the routine now and doesn't have any problems saying goodbye to us and throwing us kisses. We always scream out to each other, "Paca, Paca! Daz vi danya!"

We visited the caretakers in Dennis' old wing of the orphanage again. This sweet old lady had not seen Dennis yet, and was so happy to hold him. The other caretaker Elena brought us more gifts today--- a jar of honey, a jar of jam, and a bag of cookies. It was a special treat and I came home and made honey tea.

Till tomorrow......

Look at Him Hula-Hoop!

We knew that the older children were putting on a kids' program, so we made sure to get to the orphanage bright and early. It was disappointing to see that Alosha was sitting in his stroller instead of participating in some way. He could have done the hand motions at the very least. The kids that were doing the singing were from his group-- but he was left on the side lines again. What a thing to have in common---Alosha and Dennis excluded from most activities while in the orphanage. But not for long!

It was precious to see how the two boys instantly recognized each other, and watched the program together.

I have to admit, it was really cute watching the kids dance around in their clean underwear. Even Leesa, a girl with Down Syndrome participated---- and did a great job I might add!

Here is a picture of all the other children minus the ones with special needs. They were all so well behaved!

As soon as the show was over, we hurried into the play room----- it was that hot and sticky already. We brought diapers that actually fit Alosha, so there was no worry of him soaking through his clothing. The first time we met him he had a diaper on that was way too small and once or twice they had brought him to us wrapped in cloth-- and he soaked through it. I have had the privilege of changing his diaper a few times, and I mean that with all sincerity because normally the caretakers do not approve of you undressing your child or changing their diaper until you are ready to take them from the orphanage. You can say that I got a sneak peak! I was surprised to see that he was circumcised--- but as I thought about his untreated incontinence, it makes sense to me.

Alosha is now talking up a storm, and he freely calls us his Mama y Papa. Did I once say that he was soft-spoken? Well, scratch that, he can be very loud, he tends to play a little rough, and he is ALL boy. In simple language-- he will fit right in as a Reed boy!

I already see an improvement in his mobility. Without any coaxing from us, he is standing on his own......

and not just on his legs!

He loves playing with Julia---- and he is so energetic that John and I don't know that we could have kept up with him and Dennis (just kidding, but you get the drift).

Julia thinks she's figured out this contraption---- she falls back and rocks!

Dennis follows Alosha around and likes to imitate him. Thankfully, this is not annoying to Alosha.... yet.

Isn't his smile awesome!

John entertained us with his hula-hoop skills!

Needless to say, our second visit today tired us out and we were thankful to be back to unwind at our apartment. Tonight I cooked pancakes, homemade apricot jam, scrambled eggs, and fried ham. It was sooo good!

P.S. We miss and love you Adam, Rachel, Caleb, Annalyn, Sveta, Anna, William, Andrew, and Jonny! Hope you are behaving! Thinking of you------ and can't wait for you to meet your new brother!

I Think He Will Be Walking!!!!

My heart just warms up when I look at this picture! Someone asked if I thought Alexsey would be able to walk. My heart always felt that once he was home he would indeed learn to walk. Looks like it might be earlier than that! And look at his smile! When I look at Alexsey I don't see a disability......... I see a child that is so contagiously inspirational that I can't wait to be around him!

We are hurrying as fast as we can little boy! Don't grow up too fast!

Happy Birthday Alexsey!

This month Alexsey will celebrate his 4th birthday! How I wish we could be there with him to help him blow out the candles on the his birthday cake. Oh wait! He probably won't have any birthday candles, nor will he have a cake. My heart aches for him and all of the other children who will have yet another birthday that goes unnoticed. This is the case for most children in orphanages.

But the bright side is that, God is good! And hopefully this means that this will be Alexsey's last birthday without a birthday cake and candles. This will be the last time that his life isn't celebrated when it is his birthday! Heck, we will celebrate each and everyday once he is home!

And to think that all of you will be able to celebrate with us through blogland! I can't wait to see his adorable smile as he enjoys his first bite of real birthday cake and opens his first present!

And we are one step closer! Today I found out that our adoption petition was submitted at the SDA! Wooo-hooo!

And Alexsey's adoption fund has $295 more dollars today! So much to praise! So much to be thankful for! Our tax-return was processed and deposited into our bank account the other day and now we know that we can count on that money too!

God is so good. All of you who continue to email me and leave me comments play such a vital role in Alexsey's adoption. You are all such an encouragement.... especially when we hit an obstacle! Thank you so much!

You are a blessing to me and to my whole family!

Back on August 19, 2008

I posted this.......

"Alexsey (Alosha is his nickname) is a three year old little boy with Spina Bifida who would be a delightful addition to any family. I know because I took these pictures of him when we were in Ukraine adopting Dennis last month. He is an absolute sweetie pie. Out of all the children there, I would have chosen him, hands down if we were able to adopt another child at this time. He has the sweetest demeanor, much like Dennis' and his smile could be seen across the playground. I can tell just by the way he interacted with me that he has so much potential. He seemed very inquisitive and I could visualize how he would take off exploring his world if he was just given the chance like our Dennis was. He is able to pull himself up to a standing position and he can walk along the playpen railing by holding onto it. He can follow along in little games and he appears to catch on to things very quickly. When I took a picture of him and then showed it to him, he smiled and asked for more in Russian. I continued to take pictures of him and I could tell it made his day to have the attention. I bet he can live a near normal life if he just had a family to give him the love and attention that every child deserves."

Pray with me.

Dear Heavenly Father,

Be with Alexsey today. Lift his spirits. Lift the spirits of those who care for him. Prepare the way for us to do all that is necessary to bring this little boy home. I pray that Your hands can carefully mend his body in such a way that he will be able to live comfortably someday soon..... freely able to walk, go to the bathroom, stand, swing, rollerskate--- all things that I take for granted. Lord, we love and stand amazed at all that is happening in this adoption thus far. Thank you.