Never An Empty Nest: One Month Home

Blog updating with a 19 month old who sees EVERYTHING as new and is more curious than Curious George, has been impossible. Unless I choose a night to stay up until midnight to do an entry, hence tonight's update.

This past month has shown me more about myself, my family and God than I could have ever imagined. Some not so good, some incredible. The amazing things I have seen through the playfulness in Tim, the loving of Carmen, the caring, loving heart of Richie, the acceptance of Alex and love she shows. All our family and friends acceptance and love for this little boy who has traveled to the other side of the world to be part of our world.

Tim & I spent the better part of the past year reading every imaginable book of the pros and cons of international adoption. The worst-case scenarios, the what to do ifs? the your child will feel this, anything and everything we could get our hands on or that was recommended. But NOTHING can really compare to actually coming to the reality that the little one lying next to you in their crib/bed or in the other room, is actually the little soul God has entrusted you to teach him about God, to be there for everything for him, you are his daddy & mommy for the rest of his life. Wow, that's a big gulp!

I really feel for all the adoptive parents that were/are having such a text book hard time with their adopted child. I really can't imagine, because in reality, ours isn't the text book and this sometimes scares the living daylights out of me and then I remember, God has a plan. Whatever we go through, good or bad, God is there and all I can do is pray that I will grow and go through each and every experience and come out the other side doing nothing but giving Him praise. Our life with Zander, so far, has been the MOST amazing. We have not seen anything but the miraculous little boy he is, ever curious, stubborn, comic, and loving. We know there will be times, but we are soaking up and making it through daily with our family.

Hmmm.....where to start? Well, I'll start with today! Today 4 ladies with Child & Family Connections through the state of Illinois came to evaluate Zander. There was a Global Therapist, Occupational Therapist, a Speech Therapist and the agency worker. Tim was off work very early so he got to be a part of Zander's evaluation. The one word that kept coming up over and over and over was amaze in all it's forms, he's doing amazing, we're amazed, look at the look of amazement, etc. To put it quickly, they were all "amazed" at how well he is doing for a little boy who has only been with us for 6 weeks, home for 4 weeks, walking for 6 weeks, talking for 4 weeks and on and on. They said they have evaluated many many adopted children over their combined 50 years and have never seen a child so well adjusted. He will need some therapy with motor skills, etc., but they were very please with where he is at especially socially : )

I would also like to fill you in on his specialists to date. We visited Dr. Balzer on the 6th. He is Zander's cardiologist at Children's Hospital. They did his initial work-up and then did an ECG & an EKG. Both tests came out clear. All surgery for his little heart he had in China was done well and nothing further needs to be done. Dr. Balzer said there is no reason to see him except for yearly checks and if we see something we are concerned. Praise the only Lord who can use a mere man to perform miracles to help save the life of a child, our child.

The next specialist he saw was Dr. Tychesen, also at Children's Hospital. This doctor specializes in ophthalmology. There was a large concern over whether Zander had either cross eyes or lazy eyes. Well after 3 hours, the conclusion was in, he has neither. He has what is called pseudostrabismus. Short definition. He has a broad nose bridge and a bit of extra skin on the inside portion of his eye. Both of these combined make it to where you cannot see the white of the inside portion of his eye which gives the illusion that he has cross/lazy eye. Another Praise the Lord!

There are many specialists to be seen, but the major ones have happened. We'll keep you updated as we go. I won't boggle your mind with more writing, I'll give you what you like the most and what tells the story the most, pictures! Thank you for reading through the muck and hopefully it won't be another month before the next update.

Blessings,
Francine