Six months home!!!

We are a busy bunch but having a lot of fun.  Our little man is doing great! He's had 2 EEGs, an MRI, an ECHO, Xray of his hips, and all of them came out very good with no issues. His movement specialist is thrilled with his weight gain and according to her scale/chart he is around the 10th percentile. Not the official # though since his pediatrician has him weighed undressed, and not clothed like at the specialist. Great though as he has gained about 5lbs in the last 3 months, and almost 10lbs total! He starts PT tomorrow, OT and speech next week, and gets a couple other tests coming up (hearing, vision, and a swallow study). He's starting to engage more with us, plays more, and tries to express his wants. He lights up when he sees us and his siblings. He is a joy.

We celebrated his 3rd birthday recently. A few times actually! First with a yummy chocolate cupcake (mmmm frosting!!).

Then a few days later we had a yummy cake (no sprinkles, too hard to chew)!

 We have also gone shopping at the art store. Such a cute helper!!

And now that he has gotten up to a healthy weight for his height, he's starting to work on developing skills like holding his head up, chewing on things, and putting his hands in his mouth.

It's been wonderful to see all of his progress, but also heartbreaking.  Six months ago we met a lot of other children that we came to love. Children we knew we could not bring home even though one of the nannies begged us to. It broke my heart then, and now, it breaks my heart more. One of the children we met there, who shared a room with our boy, slept in the crib next to his, and had a family coming for him... he did not make it to feel their love. He was very sick when we met him, and I feared he would not make it through the winter. His breathing so labored, and his tiny malnourished body frozen by his medical condition. The staff did what they could, but it was not enough. The ability to care for such medical needs is just not available. Precious little "Royce" passed away in February.

Through a friend we learned that another in that same groupa, one that the nanny had begged us to take back with us to "Amerika" (but we were not able for a few reasons) has also taken a turn for the worse. His hydrocephalus was under control, but his shunt has failed. Please pray for this little one. A family we love very much is there and found him and is working to bring him home. He needs treatment desperately and it is not an option in his home country.

Please pray for Ukraine and it's independence from Russia, and for it's 'least of these', the orphans that need families to come forward.

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