Zachary:
Our perfect baby cried today - got pissed even! Oddly enough we were really pleased. We were kind of afraid they had let him walk in the poppy fields, so to speak. It was only for a minute or two because April took away the sippy cup that has become his favorite item. He settled down after a short bit and became his bubbly baby self again. We sang him some songs which seemed to calm him also. He was exhausted from the oppressive heat.(we are too) and a very busy morning of poopy pants, poultice treatment, constant stimulation. He really needed a nap.
I think I'll bring my guitar to the baby house tomorrow and rock the house. I foresee little Violetta 'the goblin' swinging like a spider monkey from her mobile. (We adore her and hope she goes to some lucky family soon!)
We met with the baby house director today to discuss what she knows about Kai's birthmother as well as review what the doctor had already told us about his 'medical conditions". I wish I had taken a picture of the director. She's a dead ringer for Jerry Garcia. Crazy hair, glasses (no beard...) She is very nice.
Despite her physical similarities to the now deceased leader of the Grateful Dead, she did not appear stoned or under the influence of any substance other than a healthy dose of seriousness. She gravely told us (through Aida) that Kai's development had been hindered by his 'hip dysplasia' and 'perinatal encephalopathy' (PE). She dwelled on his 'lack' of motor skills and stressed we should have all sorts of specialists check him out as soon as we are back home.
I want to be very clear here. Before we accepted Kai as a referral, our international adoptive pediatric specialist, Dr. Aronson, reviewed his medical report and a 15 minute video of Kai (Artur). She explained that almost every baby adopted from the former Soviet Union is diagnosed with this frighteningly serious ailment (PE). Hip dysplasia (HD) is also a common diagnosis. However almost none of the babies actually have either. And she didn't feel that Kai has either PE or hip dysplasia...
Soooo, here is the director telling us to have him checked out - which is fine. We have every intention of providing him with the best medical attention and care on the planet. Period.
But we had to hold our mouths shut when she was blaming the fact he doesn't crawl yet on PE and HD - things we're almost positive he doesn't have. Yes, he's a little bit behind on his crawling. But seriously, that's about it. He is alert and bright, can see and hear just fine (he spotted an ant crawling on the ground from my arms and spun around when he heard what I later confirmed was a mouse farting on the other side of the building).
Almost any delay in reaching physical milestones like crawling is undoubtedly due to the fact they're IN AN ORPHANAGE. With all due respect to the folks that care for Kai and the others, they can't possibly give the attention that two responsible parents could give.
So we just nodded and smiled. ( I had "Shakedown Street" in my head...hmm.)
Oh, and he also has big balls....
He's healthy and sweet and we love him. (Kind of proud of the last tidbit of info, but we'll look into it)
Ta-ta
April:
I'm going to ignore my husband's last comment, and I'm sure, someday, Kai will too.
This morning's visit was a riot. He was in a raucous mood and a good time was had by all. This afternoon, he started off great guns, but got tired quickly, and was really ready for his yogurt and nap.
Like Zach said, the visit with the babyhouse director was interesting. We have to just accept that they are doing their best by these babies, and smile when they tell us that he got perinatal encephalopathy because he was born really quickly, and that is causing the delay in his development. He does NOT have PE but don't fear, we are going to see Dr. Aronson when we get back. She said that she has been seeing the hip dysplasia diagnosis on 25% of the referrals coming out of Russia, but fewer than 1% of the kids actually have it.
We got some info about his birthmother, but Kai will be the first to hear that information. I'm sure you understand that this is his history, he should hear it first. Enough said.
After the 2nd visit, Aida took us to the local art gallery, where we saw some art. I don't want to disparage any Kazakh artists, so we'll just say that it was a sweet gesture and we particularly liked the works by the 12-16 year olds (we really did).
There is a flurry of activity going on around our adoption. Gulnara is making the 3 hour drive from Almaty tomorrow at 5 am to talk to the judge on our behalf, and Aida made 3 trips to different officials offices today to get paperwork signed. There is NO WAY we could do this adoption without them. Any fees they get are incredibly well deserved, we are so very well taken care of. The office in Almaty runs the in-country program with an efficiency that any US company would envy.
Tomorrow there will be more meetings (I think), and more time with Kai, and then Aida is taking us up into the mountains a bit to see some waterfalls. She doesn't want us to swim in the stream because its cold, but then again, so are Vermont swimming holes in June. We're bringing our suits, just in case!
Love to you all!
