Home 2 Months

I can't believe that Caleb has been home for 2 months! The flight home from Almaty seems like ages ago and he seems like a different baby than the one we brought home. His personality has blossomed and he continues to grow, get stronger and do new things each day. We never cease to thank God for bringing him into our family and for protecting him until we could go back to get him.

Sometimes I still pinch myself and have to remember that this is real, that God really did this for us and that we really survived each stressful step. I am amazed at the little miracle that has joined our family and what an answered prayer he is. I am still impressed with Bryan and I - that we managed to make the journey to Kyrgyzstan twice and bring home a tiny little baby with us on the last leg. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would fly for 24+ hours with my new son as we created our family!

Like I said before, we are still seeing tons of changes and progress for our sweet little Caleb. Thinking back to 2 months ago when we picked him up from the orphanage, he was a scrawny, weak little baby who clearly did not feel well from his milk formula. There was very little fat on his body and his arms and legs were like toothpicks. He could bear no weight on his legs, would not reach out for toys and was in the midst of processing the sudden changes in his life.

Now, we are able to witness daily a little boy who learns new things each day and continues to remind us just how brave and resilient he is. I pray that God blesses him with that courage throughout his childhood and into adulthood too! We have seen Caleb learn how to sit, become so much steadier when playing in his Exersaucer and come to love his jumper. His appetite is so much better, he grows steadily and he is becoming more and more expressive. Most of all, we can clearly see that he has bonded to us as Mommy and Daddy and that is the greatest reward of all.

Nevertheless, he still has milestones to reach. We had Early Childhood Intervention (ECI) come out to evaluate Caleb yesterday at our home. An Early Childhood specialist and an Occupational Therapist both came and asked me a ton of very specific questions about how Caleb eats, sleeps, plays, and acts in different situations. They played with him on the floor and observed him in our home. While they were very impressed with many of the things he is doing, they still rated him as being a couple months behind in most areas.

They also felt strongly that given his low birth weight of 3.5 lbs plus his delays that it was highly unlikely he was only 3 weeks early, which is what we were told in his medical records from Kyrgyzstan. Bryan and I have long suspected that was the case, as in the US most 3.5 lb babies are born 7-8 weeks early. When we take that into consideration as well as the typical orphanage delays and the weakness he had as a result of his milk allergy, we see the delays as being totally understandable.

The fact that Caleb has some delays is truly no surprise to us. Bryan and I realized that by pursuing international adoption we would need to be prepared to face those delays head-on, which is why we had ECI come out in the first place! There are parts of me that feel so sad for Caleb that the early parts of his life were difficult and contributed to these delays. The biggest part of me feels ready to tackle this challenge and do everything we can to help Caleb catch up.

I continue to remind myself at how many times we have marveled at his resiliency, and rememebr that the same will be true here! Bryan and I are looking forward to working with our sweet Caleb and being able to brag to all of you about all his progress. :)

PS Our computer is still infected with the Trojan Horses. Hopefully it will recover soon and I can share some pictures with you!