The Land of Hand

The results of Joshua’s blood work came back and they were very good.  His levels of iron and white/red cell counts were normal.  He has immunities to several diseases so the vaccines he received in China were good and not "watered down".  We are very pleased to have this positive confirmation of his over all health. 

In other news Jason began his new job yesterday.  He likes the people he is working with and they have made him feel welcome.  It is a very different environment than Walk thru the Bible, working for an all IT company instead of being the IT department.  The company will be moving to a larger office in November, so for now Jason is sort of desk hoping and sharing work space until the move when he will get his own cubicle.  So far his only complaint is the commute which has nearly doubled. 

Joshua and I have had a couple of outings to visit with some other children and he went to Sunday School on Sunday.  I stayed with him and he did very well.  He hardly paid any attention to me at all, which is both good and bad.  Good because he was comfortable in the environment and found plenty of activities to keep him busy, and bad because it is a reminder that he needs more time to be securely attached to us.  We were certainly not expecting him to be fully attached after only being home for 7 weeks.  I will continue to stay with him during Sunday School for a few more weeks and we will re-evaluate at that point. 

Over the weekend we attended a Praise and Worship service with the Emmaus community and Joshua loved the music!  He clapped and swayed in time with the music and lifted his hands when others did.  When the music stopped he would ask me "more movie?"  (He was a littled mixed up about the difference between music and movies, but I knew what he meant.)  We look forward to taking him to more events like it.   

Until next week,

Julie

On Friday Joshua and I met our regular pediatrician for the first time.  Dr. Fotion was very nice and very thorough.  He was also very willing to work with the Adoption Clinic in Birmingham.  He reviewed all the info that we had so far and he looked up some additional information on Joshua’s genetic condition.  It seems that for the condition that Joshua has, he is doing very well.  We will be seeing a pediatric Opthamologist in the near future to look into what apperars to be lazy eye(s) and to get a base line for his vision.  Vision problems are often related to the genetic condition so we want to be on top of that from the start.  Dr. Fotion did order all the blood work the adoption clinic wanted and he also determined there were some additional vaccines that Joshua needed.   By the time we left, Joshua had received one shot in the right leg, two shots in the left leg, a TB test injection on his left arm, and orders to have 4 vials of blood drawn at a lab as soon as we left the office.  He cried a lot during the process but settled down quickly once it was over.  He happily received the frog tattoo he was given.  We left the office and arrived at the lab with MaMa a little weak kneed.  Jason, who was planning to come and help both Joshua and I through the ordeal, was at home running a 102 temp and had been in bed since Wednesday night.  I had made it through the shots o.k. because they were quick, the blood work was going to be a different story.  However, with a very nice lab staff and some prayer, the blood was taken and I was able to hold and comfort Joshua until it was over.  He did scream the whole time but he also held still and allowed it to happen.  He got a couple more stickers to add to his collection and we went home to have pizza for lunch.  He was such a brave boy!!  We will go back to see Dr. Fotion on Monday to have the TB test read.  I am glad that we are going back soon and for a visit that will NOT involve needles.  We will also be dropping off the stool samples on Monday.  I am hopeful  that we will be done with lab tests and shots for a while.  Please be in prayer with us that all the results turn out normal and that Joshua is as healthy inside as he appears to be outside.  He did run a fever over the weekend and the poor little guy limped a lot, but that was expected due to the vaccinations.  We have quite a few Dr. appointments to schedule in the coming weeks for ears and hearing, eyes, and hands/genetics.  We are very blessed to live in an area (and a country for that matter) where we have so many medical resources available.

We continue to grow closer as a family and Joshua entertains us daily with his adorable (and sometimes sneeky) personality.  We are very blessed!! 

Julie