[angelkisses0102]

Originally Posted by momraine

My daughter has some of those same issues. She doens't blow up so much as close down. She needs constand reassurance about us not leaving. She does keep a bottle of water in room (we refill it as need be) and she keeps sealed snacks in her room, in her nightstand drawer. That solves any worries about food and drink. She does have issues with me and her fear of me leaving, they were made worse when she got a little brother and I had to be gone for six weeks to get him. That was probably not the right thing to do for her, but she is getting over it and we are spending lots of time together. Oh and we are totally into cheetah girls here!

Oh ya, we keep a water bottle in her room at all times...and have snacks (healthy) readily accessible at all times...as well as always giving explicit details about who, what, when and where of being picked up from school or camp or if I am going somewhere. And I wish there was something, anything that was directed at 5, 6, and 7 year old girls...she's too old for some things and too young for others.

Keep those updates coming!!!

[suburbanmomgw]

Yes--I am a lurker!
We have been home 3.5yrs! Our process was in the "quick" days too--9 mths start to finish. I do pray for all of you as the process drags on. I know how it felt to wait as long as we did-- I can only imagine...

Alexander is 5 and will be going to Kindergarten this fall. He is so different than the boy we brought home! He is non-stop action and chatter (at one point I thought he'd never let go of me and never utter a word). He is excelling at gymnastics. He rides a 2 wheel bike and no doubt will ditch the training wheels soon. I can't remember my life before him...

We also have a hard part to our story...
We have delt with many unusual behaviors from the beginning. I was told to wait--"give it 6 mths" to adjust... But I knew something wasn't right and pursued help. And about a yr ago he was diagnosed with FAS, RAD, SID, and anxiety... he's also extremely small like 3rd percentile... It's been VERY challenging. But I will say that knowing is so comforting because of being able to get help and support for him and for the rest of our family.

He is so cute and fun. And I know he will find success. (sorry-pics are on another computer-will try to add later)

[waitinginnj]

I miss being a more active member of this board.

C is now 5 years & 8 months. She is starting kindergarten in the fall - missed the cutoff by one day. She is doing extremely well in PRE K. She is starting to read and seems more than ready for kindergarten.

Right now we are getting ready for the graduation cermony at her current school and then making the transition to camp for the summer.

She is bright and funny. Very opinionated and goes from still wanting to be a baby to thinking that she is prepared to rule the world.

She rides her bike, roller blades and loves the scooter. She swims and is sometimes mistaken for a fish.

We just had our kindergarten exam and are officially healthy. She moved from 3% upon coming home at 2 to around the 50th. Right on track to be 5'3 or 5'4. as an adult.

She loves Disney Movies, High School musical, music and her kiddie ipod, she takes dance and gymnastics and of very excited about Hip Hop camp.

3.5 years later mom and daughter are happy and healthy and sometimes tired.

[Kasey]

Aleksandr turned 3 in March, he will be home 3 years this coming August! Can't believe how quickly time has flown. He has done great since day 1, he had red flags with his head circumference not being on the charts, but it finally got to 10% and he has done well developmentally right on track and ahead in several areas. He is an outgoing, extremely active, athletic boy, he just finished his first session of soccer and loved it, scored 3 goals on his last game! He plays baseball with DH every night and has been hitting the ball like a champ. He is our little fish as well, loves the water!! He loves reading books and playing with his trucks and dinosaurs. His little brother Maks came home this past November and he has done so well at being a big brother. He regressed a bit with potty training and back to sleeping in our bed, but things seem to be getting back to normal. He loves having a little buddy around.

Maks now 20 months came home in November at 13 months. He struggled with his health from the get-go and was hospitalized pretty soon after coming home with pneumonia, asthma and RSV. We finally have the asthma under good control and he has been pretty healthy since February. His attachment to DH has gone wonderfully, he is a daddy's boy, he struggled with me I believe in relation to his hospitalizations in Russia, the female doctors and me taking him to the hospital here, probably should have had DH do that! ) But we have worked hard at it and he has made great strides and becomes more trusting and confident each day. He now seems to prefer us equally. He also has started exploring and climbing more, really coming out of his shell. He loves his big brother and follows him everywhere.
He still gets frightened easily especially of new things, but we take it slow. He has made a lot of progress in 6months home. He remains behind in speech and certain areas of development and he needs PT for his left leg which turns out, but we are on top of it all. He probably won't start speech until the end of the summer, they are giving him a little extra time since he is showing some progress.

Pics are on our blog: Dreams Really Do Come True

It still amazes me how lucky we are to have these two little men in our lives!

[RBSVARCHER]

Old Timer couldn't say it better!!

DS has been home 2 1/2 years now and is 5 years old. As I posted the other day, DS has come a long way since we brought him home. DS is rarely sick since his adnoids were removed and sinus' washed out last April.

He is still on his maint. RX's which are Singulair, Nasonex and Rynatan and those combination of RX's seem to have done the trick for him - thank God!!

Everything is up to par with his english and comprehension and DS can really come up with some funny things to say now.

To be from Siberia - you couldn't tell it - he loves to swim and can stay outside in the 95 degree heat we have been having here - he even tans great!

K-5 starts August 9th - and I am a nervous wreck!!

Our last post placement will be in August - I can't believe we've come so far!! The light at the end of the tunnel was not a train after all!!!!

Susan
Bham AL

[jimpol]

We have been home 4 years this month. Andrew is getting ready to start kindergarten in the fall. He is staying at home with Daddy this summer. He is playing his first season of t-ball and loving every minute of it.

I haven't been on the boards in a while. We are actually trying to build our family the "old fashioned" way so I'm seeing the doctors and taking the meds. I told my husband I would give it the old college try one more time. If it doesn't work out then we are going to start the paperwork to adopt again.

Here are a few pics from our trip to Florida at spring break. One is at Gatorland with the birds and the other one is in front of a restaurant. He is growing up too fast!

[GCS]

We've been home 2 and a half years with our children now.

DD just turned 3 (I still can't believe it!) She is very smart and ahead of her daycare class in recognizing letters and numbers. They are always trying to put her in with the older kids. She changes programs in the fall which will offer phonics and math so she should be a little more challenged there. She loves to "read" and always has a book with her.

She is very tall and still has the baby buddha tummy (which I always say she gets from me). I am buying her 4Ts for the most part now. She is completely princess obsessed. Every book she opens she starts off "reading" the story by saying "once upon a time there was a beauuuutiful girl named..." insert favorite princess here.

No luck potty training yet. Nothing seems to work with her. I am looking to sign her up for a potty camp in my area this summer. I am desperate!

Here are some pictures from her birthday party this weekend!

[GCS]

If you ask DS today how old he is he will tell you "5 and three-quarters". He turns 6 in September so missed the cut off here for Kindergartern. A good thing in my mind. He spent last year in the Kindergarten class at the daycare/school he goes to 2 days a week and did great. He counts to 100 by ones and tens, knows his coins and does well in phonics. The Kindergarten he will go to in the fall will also be the school he will (hopefully) be in through 8th grade. He spends much of our car time asking me philosophical questions. "If God made the sun too hot for us to touch, can He touch it?" I don't know where he gets this from.

He is a very good gymnast and just came in 4th in his first "meet". He really isn't able to compete yet because he isnt 6 but the gym we go to let him compete with the Kindergarten group since he will move into this group in a month. He was very proud of himself and did very well in a hard to manage for a SID kid enviroment during the meet. I am posting a picture of him with his coach and his trophy below.

He just started T-ball and is doing well. I think he is going to be a bit bored with it but so far he is doing everything the coaches ask and staying on task. He plays with Papa all the time so he is used to hitting off pitches and throwing overhand and catching. T-ball is about teaching the basics so they want him to hit off the T at first and roll the ball to the other players. He gives me this look like "you gotta be kidding me" but does it. I have to laugh.

We had a hard first year with DS - trauma issues and constant problems with overstimulation. Getting the SID diagnose was helpful in getting us to understand what was going on with him and getting him the relief he needed when he was acting out instead of getting upset with him. He is in OT and Speech Therapy right now. I was surprised when the PediNeuroPsyc recommended Speech for him after evaling him. He learned the language fast, his diction is good and he has a good vocabulary. She feels his issues with speech are more in sync with his auditory sensory issues and that the therapy will do him good.

I have DS on an omega-3 product daily along with some other dietary changes I have made to help him with some of his sensory seeking issues. The doctor also felt that he was ADHD but they do not usually give a solid diagnosis on this until the child is older. I find that he has no problem staying on task but struggles with being over whelmed in loud and overstimulating places. I am going to see how things go with the OT for SID and our home sensory diet for a year before I look into talking about medication with our pediatrican. School has not been an issue for him so I think at this time it is premature.

I think he has come so far. He is a very popular child, very engaging with other kids and adults. He is well attached to us and his behavior with us in comfortable situations is always good. He loves animals and is very excited to be starting in a local Pony Club where he will learn to ride. I have been amazed to watch him develop these 2.5 years.

He is an athletic, loving boy who is doing well academically. It is amazing what a child on the FASD spectrum can do. Don't give up on your child and lose faith.

Here are some pics of my handsome guy! Easter Day in his pink tie - with his gymnastic coach and with his favorite pal his grandpa.

[his,mine&ours]

I love reading the stories. I've been around these boards for 2 years now, so it is neat to see the changes and growth in the kids.

[RainyInGA]

AH!!! So very wonderful to see all the familiar names!!! We have been home one year now and couldnt be happier! Our journey started in 2004 and it seemed like forever until we were able to bring our Summer home. Can you say 6 months in between trips? Now we anxiously await the judge to decide if we can adopt her two sisters!!! Not in a million years could I have dreamed we'd be back on the rollercoaster! The rewards are ten fold so here we go again PARTY OF SEVEN!!

[Waiting2Be]

Our DD has been home one year last week, I can not believe it. But I have been lurking and then posting to this website for over 3 years now. Our process took 2 years and this place saved me from going crazy.

So our little princess will be 3 the end of August and she is doing great. Growing like a weed and talking up a storm. She has come such a long way in a year.

Here are some recent pictures.

[Kendal]

It nice to see some familar faces We are all doing great. The girls just finished 1st grade, which blows my mind and our son just turned three. The girls have been home for almost 6 years. Sometimes it feels like yesterday to me. The have grow and changed so much durning that time. They went from being these fragile little girls, to these amazing strong "tweens". The girls were 21mo when we brought them home and barely 19lbs. Now they are just like any other little girl in their class. Recently they have asked more detailed and sometime difficult questions about their life in Russia. Those have lead to some interesting coversations.

Our little boy has been home for a little over 2 years. This child has been the light of my life. Everyday he does something that makes me laugh. His adoption was a little more difficult because the registry shut down while we were waiting for a courtdate. But after 6 long months we were finally able to bring him home. At the time 6 months was a very long time to wait. Sadly that seems to be the norm nowdays. I really hope the situation in Russia changes soon. There are just so many wonderful children over there that need homes.

Below is some shots of the girls with our newest "baby", and of Jake's 3rd birthday.

[fugie]

We will be home 2 years in August. Michael will be 3 in July. I can't believe how quickly the times goes. Michael was 10 months when we met him (blind referral) and 13 months when we got him home. Our journey was fairly quick also and was almost exactly 1 year from start to finish. The only thing interesting about our journey was that we originally requested an infant girl. We had the nursery completly decorated in Tinkerbell when I got the call. It was also a blind referral and a boy. None of that was in our plans. We decided to take the plunge and went for it. Everything happens for a reason and I can't imagine anything different now. I am saving the picture of the Tinkerbell room to tease him when he is older. Here are a couple of pictures. I hope they post in order. The first one is on trip one when we met him, the 2nd was a few months after we got home and the last is his most recent school picture. Love this thread. Keep them coming.

[Pinkie]

Originally Posted by aimeemk

We were planning another adoption. But kind of got stuck in the process and could not decide on an agency and we really want to go back to the same region. We want to wait a little longer and see how things play out in Russia. (I KNOW!!!) Anyhow, Rheagan will become a BIG sister in December. Who'd of thunk it after 8yrs of infertility

Aimee, CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!

[TweetyMom04]

Great Thread! Semi-Lurker here and we’ve been home 3 yrs 3 months.

We started this journey to Parenthood in the early 90’s with infertility testing, surgeries, etc. No Pg, so we decided to Adopt. Our Domestic Agency was there one day, gone the next. Waited many years before trying International Adoption and in less than 8 months we completed paperwork, got the call, traveled and were home. We arrived home with 2 of the smallest Boys who at 8 months of age, looked like 5 or 6 month olds. They had no muscle control and felt like wet noodles. Neither could sit up, nor crawl, nor roll-over. So I began working with both of them doing Physical Therapy. I also gave them massages daily, to help their muscles. Within months, they began pushing up, reaching for items, turning their bodies towards a noise. Later they were rolling over, pulling up, crawling and much later, sitting up. Walking came later.

They are growing like weeds, DS-L 41” tall and DS-G 40” tall. Both are 50% for their height / age. After their 3rd Birthday, DS-L was wearing a 4T. DS-G started wearing 4T in April/May. Now nearing their 4th Birthday (in July), I see DS-L not ‘fitting’ into a 4T and I think he’s ready for 5T. Okay I’m 5’3” and something tells me they will be patting me on the head by age 7 or 8 unless they stop growing – NOT Are platform shoes back in style?

Both are in Nursery School 5 days a week and love it! They start Kindergarten in January ’08.

They love being outside, playing in the dirt with tractors, bulldozers, etc. Inside, they love books, trains, cars, etc. One day a week they take a Tumbling Class and we hope to start them in Swimming Lessons this December.

I posted awhile back about going to SALT and H Therapies. Hearing is okay, no problems and a follow up visit in October. As for SALT, no not the stuff you sprinkle on food, their Therapy sessions are once a month. Every morning I go through our letters, phonics and sounds. We are putting the sounds together and making words and they find this interesting. As for counting, they got bored with counting up to 30, so I added in up to 50 and within a day, they knew the numbers. We play Who, What, Where game. Also we play the Positional Placement Game with an object (under, over, on top, beside, front, back). The therapist is very pleased with their success rate. She has rated them and still does ‘as within normal range for their age.’ As for the ‘other’ (could be health) issues that I posted awhile back, most if all have gone away or rarely seen. Not that I’m dismissing them, but I’m watching.

We’ve been going to a Chiropractor for help with DS-L ear infections, as the GP was NO help! The work the Chiropractor has done with DS-L has really helped. He works on his Sinus, cranial and upper neck. After a visit, DS-L woke up the next morning, a much more mature. No crying fits for no reason, no screaming, much happier, active, listens and responds and isn’t pulling on his ears or smacking his head for relief from the ear pressure / pain. I’ve also got him on Garlic tabs and he is hasn’t gotten sick since April since the Chiropractor visits.