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For Amanda

Monday, June 22, 2009

Second day- reminiscing about Amanda's adoption

http://ukiestoniamomto8.blogspot.com/2008/06/we-are-here.html What we wrote last year

This time last year... Tom was out and about later that evening, seeing Old Town and marvelling over it, and I was sleeping off jet lag. Our first meal in Estonia? MC Donald's!


Amanda loves to do two things, play in the wading pool and rock on her doggie (uhem, Kara's doggy)
Being out in the sun every day has brought about some changes in Amanda's skin, we just call her Surfer Girl, she looks like a little beach bum! Who would have thought that our blue-white daughter could get such a dark tan?


When Amanda saw the geneticist, he asked us if we were concerned about her slight build and weight, we told him no, not really, but everyone else seemed to be. We know how much the little mite eats, and believe me when I say, it is A LOT. Thing with Amanda is, she never just sits, if she is sitting on the sofa, she is rocking and bouncing off it. She rocks outside on the rocking dog, or sits with her legs in the air and her arms waving about. She is in constant motion. Watching her is like watching some one do aerobics for 12 hours. She likely burns off too many calories, she eats organic food, healthy food, and we do not give our kids junk food with the exception of all natural cheese puffs and organic corn chips. Though he said we could "fatten her up" with a calorie dense (spelled high fat) diet, he said that he would not recommend it, nor would we do it. Subcutaneous fat does not equal health. So in a round about way I am saying, we accept it is who she is right now. I WISH I had her metabolism.


We have decided not to take her to any more developmental specialists in Tucson, they know absolutely nothing about post-institutionalized children, and it is a waste of our time and of the money. The developmental pediatrician, while a sweet woman, did nothing at all to enlighten us in terms of behavior or their development. We got a You are doing a good job with them", and since we already had therapy in place for Amanda in areas where she needed the most help, the doctor did not recommend anything but the autism screening. Today was the day Amanda was to be evaluated for Autism, the insurance mess was never fixed, and frankly, what good would it do? This is the same office where we have seen all the specialists and we know that as a team, they are not knowledgeable about our kids from orphanages.


We all agree Amanda does have some emotional issues, I know that every adoptive parent reading this will say "Maybe it is RAD?" and I cannot say no, absolutely not, but again, I do not think so, but who would evaluate that anyway? The doctors we saw knew of no one that was knowledgeable about RAD in our area. The only doctor I found on the west coast to help us with post-institutionalized behaviors is in Bakersfield CA. I do not believe Amanda's (or Kara's) are severe enough to warrant a trip there. Autism comes up a lot, and possible petit mal seizures have also been mentioned (just last Friday). So yes, she will see a neurologist to rule that out, though not one of the doctors who have seen her has seen anything pointing to epilepsy. Her yearly physical is coming up in July, we can ask about referrals then. She does have plagiocephaly therefor epilepsy is a possibility, though we have not noticed anything resembling a temporary lapse in consciousness or awareness. Amanda's ST thought she noticed some nystagmus the other day. Amanda does have a partial expression of Aniridia, the nystagmus could be part of that diagnosis and not point to epilepsy at all. Answers to more questions...


Amanda's health history is a puzzle to us, we do not have detailed information about her health or development. We got a booklet with medical information jotted down in Estonian, I have no idea what it says, though the doctor we saw for Amanda's exit medical went over it with me and indicated that is merely listed her immunizations and each time she saw a doctor. I have not felt an urgent need to get it translated. She is healthy, she got a runny nose this winter when the rest of us were sick with multiple flu's, strep and Fifth disease (Kara). She is happy, and so giggly, and finds so many things intensely amusing, especially the 5 kittens who frolic and play with her daily. All of our cats adore Amanda, and she is loving towards them.


We think she is adjusting well to life in a family, yet she has a ways to go too. She continues to prefer to be alone more than in the mix of things, but then so do I, and so does her brother. Some of us do not like to be around a lot of people (yes, even someone that taught group fitness for 25 years can dislike being around big groups of people). I would be more worried about that if she did not seek attention and cuddles, but she does. She loves to be held, and she loves her daddy most of all.

6 comments:

GoldenAngelsWorks said...

She is such a cutie.
For her and Tom it was love at first sight I think.
I am so glad you guys got her.
She is so sweet and I am so happy to hear she is doing so well.

Cammie Heflin said...

She is such a beauty! I'm glad you're back to blogging I was missing see these girls!

Shea said...

Wow! She has gotten dark. She is such a pretty girl and has come a long way.

Anonymous said...

Hi... I just found this blog a few days ago, and must say I fell in love with Amanda rightaway! She reminds me of some very sweet memories: several years ago I volunteered in an 'orphanage' for (mostly) disabled children in Estonia and eventhough I have since been in much more exotic places, I must say that these 8 months were my best experience of all. In Amanda's face I recall all the faces of 'my' children, who I ended up loving so badly. I never saw one of them getting adopted, which makes me kinda sad now that I hear Amanda's story. She is a truly lucky person. I hope the same thing will happen one day to 'my' children.
I'll definitely be back to read the rest of the story! :D

carol said...

Amandas tan looks good on her. I am so glad she is enjoying being in a loving family. have a wonderful summer playing with your sweet girls.
I to am glad for the blog updates. I have missed hearing about them and seeing those beautiful smiles.

carol

Carla said...

Amanda's tan looks so pretty, Kristina has already got a tan too! My oldest daughter (also from Estonia) was just diagnosed with Autisum after all these years I thought that she had RAD but no one had ever diagnosed it as RAD. There is some good information on the computer about Autisum and now that I have looked it up it sounds (alot) like Victoria.

My three little girls

My three little girls
Finally got all three to smile at once