Maia - She saw the developmental pediatrician yesterday. Her evaluation was not unexpected, but still a bit sobering to hear. Dr. S last saw Maia earlier this year and was so pleased with how well she was doing. Her sadness over Maia's illness and loss of function was evident. She confirmed that Maia is functioning at around the 9-10 month old level. She's pleased with how far Maia has come since leaving the hospital, but isn't making any predictions about how much function Maia will regain. Dr. S plans to see Maia again in four months.
Maia also saw Dr. D, the neurosurgeon yesterday afternoon. The surgical incisions have finally, almost healed. He is satisfied with her progress. We've been a bit concerned because Maia seems to be a bit more unsteady over the past week and not quite as strong. If we don't notice improvement over the next couple of weeks, she will have a short MRI just to make sure there are no issues with her shunt.
Today, Maia saw her regular pediatrician. We had requested the appointment because of the unsteadiness and feeling like Maia just hasn't been quite herself. She has been fighting a cold and Dr. A saw fluid behind her eardrums. Nothing concerning for infections, but it could certainly be affecting her balance. We also met with a county social worker to see if there are any services that Maia might be eligible for and benefit from. Unfortunately, I think we may be in that "donut hole" of making too much to qualify for most services, but not enough that we can afford them on our own. Lots of paperwork to fill out, then wait to hear their determination.
Tomorrow, she will have therapy as usual and next week, some urology testing and appointments.
Matthew - He's been struggling a bit lately. I don't feel comfortable sharing a great deal at this point, but we are concerned that he may have some attachment issues. Given his "pre-Hansen" years, it certainly is understandable. Last week, I received an email from an adoptive mom who met both of our kiddos when she was adopting from their orphanage. This was a few months before Maia's adoption. She confirmed something I had suspected from the moment I met Matthew. Again, I don't want to get too specific, but bottom line... Maia was the darling of the orphanage, Matthew was not. When I think about what both my children have endured in their short lives... oh, my heart breaks. Anyway, we are doing everything we can to help Matthew heal the emotional scars and learn what healthy relationships are all about.
Because I was concerned about some of the behaviors that Mark and I have been seeing, I asked to meet with Matthew's pre-school teachers - just to see how he was doing socializing with the other kids and how he was doing from a learning standpoint. I'm so glad that I did. It was wonderful to hear that Matthew is doing well at school. They are not seeing any of the behaviors that we are seeing at home and tell me that they enjoy having him in their classrooms. He is making progress in his language skills and can write part of his name "Matth" (working on the rest of it)! I can not even begin to express how much it means to me that his teachers are so committed to Matthew. I've said this before with Maia and it is only reinforced - we are blessed beyond compare with the teachers working with our kiddos - they are AWESOME!!
And that's what's happening with the kids. Matthew is looking forward to Halloween tomorrow and I will try to post pictures of trick-or-treating later in the day.
Do you know Christie? Have you ever seen her blog? She seems to have a lot of wisdom in the area of attachment-challenged children. I told her I found her blog difficult to navigate to read the stories of each and she requested my email address and told me a bit about her daughters' heart-breaking stories of rejection and how they have progressed. Christie is now being asked to speak in different venues. She appears to be a help to other parents who are struggling: http://minichfamilyblog.blogspot.com/search/label/Alli?max-results=20
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