Visits on Tuesday

We had two more good visits today. We really like spending time with this little boy! He is very mellow and calm, but we also got to see him get a little more animated today.

The morning visit was short again - tomorrow's is supposed to be longer. This morning we got to meet K's "Baba." "Baba" means "Grandma" and one thing that I really appreciate about K's orphanage is their Baba program. Older women from the community are able to become "babas" to individual children in the orphanage. They are paid for their time, and what they do is come in a few days a week and just spend time with their particular child. K's Baba helps to feed him when she is with him, and we got to watch her feeding him today. She says that he can be kind of a picky eater, and that he tends to prefer his desserts. ;) We laughed and said he'll fit right in with our kids, then! But despite that preference, he still managed to eat quite a bit of his soft potatoes/tomatoes/peas mixture. His foods are pretty soft, but he's able to handle quite a bit of texture quite well. He seemed to enjoy eating, or maybe he just really enjoys anything he does with his baba! She told us how she is helping him use a standing device to practice his weight bearing, and how sometimes she will have him eat while standing to help strengthen his muscles. She smiled as she shared with us about a documentary she had seen about children and adults with CP, and how one woman in particular was unable to walk until she had a surgery at 22 years old and then was able to walk. It was clear to see that K's baba is hoping that he is going to walk someday, too, and that she is doing what she can to help him reach that goal.

She has been his baba for three years, and it seems like she has really enjoyed watching his abilities develop now that he's spending time out of his crib. She shared that last summer she would take him outside in the stroller, and that at first he was very afraid of cars and trolleys, but that by the end of the summer he was not scared of them anymore. This was good to hear, not only that he got to be outside with her last year, but also that when he comes home he won't be terrified of the outdoors because our family likes to be outside when the weather is good! Owen and Leah have all sorts of plans for how they can make him part of their games outside. Owen thinks that if we put K in the wagon that he can pull him into the "fort" they have under two large pine trees. Leah spoke with me in great detail while we were outside in the snow a few weeks ago about how she thinks K might feel left out if all the rest of them are climbing up in those trees and how she had found the perfect branch where he could sit while she sat next to him and held him up in the tree. ;) Just typing that makes my throat get a little jumpy. I think we may save K's tree climbing until 2014, but the thought was sure sweet!

One of the most precious things she shared with us about K is what a sweet, emotional boy he is. She said (with pride, I believe), that K is the only boy who cries when his baba puts him back into his crib at the end of their time together, and that sometimes she "has to" go back and pick him up one more time before she leaves him. She says he likes to be called "dear" and "sweetheart." I'm so glad he has someone here to do that for him. I can imagine that it is going to be very tough for K to leave his baba this fall when he comes home. And vice versa. She knows that he's getting a family, and wants him to have a family; he will be losing everything that he's ever known, including his baba - someone who is very special to him. Even though we all know that a family is better than a baba a few times a week, it will all be new for him, and it's really hitting me again today what a transition that will be for him.

Another nice thing about this morning's visit is that he was a little more willing to let us hold him. Still nothing compared to what he's like when Baba's around, but it was okay for him.

Our afternoon visit was quieter - no people coming through - just us and K. We brought out the little stuffed black bear that my (Andrea) mom sent along for him to keep. When we got it out on Monday he was not that interested - he liked the balls more. But today he really latched on to it. We were pleased to notice that he was very particular about how he held the bear. Even if his initial grip was "wrong" he would work his hand to maneuver it around until he had it "right." The proper position, apparently, was with his hand over the little bear's back, and his thumb tucked under his front arm. Here's K demonstrating the proper bear holding technique!

He and the bear were nearly inseparable for the rest of the afternoon. We still played the same ball games that we did on Monday, but this time the bear was doing it for K! "Reach, reach up K! You can do it!..."

"...Yes! You got it! All the balls are down! Yay!!!"

This is where we really started to see some intensity, focus, and determination in him. He has to work really hard to get himself up high enough to get those balls down, but he keeps working at it until he does it. I was really amazed by that determination in him today. He's got the ability to stick with a job that I have a feeling is going to serve him well. Who knows - maybe his baba is right and this boy will be able to walk someday! I have spent so much time mentally preparing myself for a child who may well be wheelchair bound into adulthood that today has really opened up hope for me in an area I hadn't really let my imagination go.

And yet he's still got a long ways to go. But I look at the progress that he's made since last June (when our original photos and information about him are from, and also not long after the change in directorship) and am so excited about what he's learning to do. I also did the conversion from kg to lb today, and while he weighed 22 pounds last June, the more recent report (from Dec 2012) shows him weighing 27 pounds! No wonder he looks so much better in that newer photo we have of him!

One last delightful part of the afternoon is he welcomed a little bit of snuggling from me. I'm not sure here in this photo if he was snuggling because he wanted to, or if his upper body was just tired from being held upright and my shoulder provided a convenient resting place, but regardless, he was clearly much more comfortable in my arms here than he was on the first day. (Notice that he's *still* holding onto his bear!)

And we also got a few precious moments where he was letting me give him some kisses and rub his back. This is a still shot from a video, so I'm not sure how well it will work for resolution, but it captures the smile he was giving us during this little bit of time.

Can't wait to bring this little boy home!!