6 Month Opthalmology

Kaiden has his next 6 month ophthalmology follow up appointment today with Dr. Edward O'Malley.  I just LOVE that man!  He is so easy to talk to and down to earth.  It doesn't hurt that he flattered me about my firm handshake either.  He reminds us of Steve Martin.  He truly DOES look like him!  Don't you think so too?  And he's funny as well.

 

Dr. O'Malley still does not recommend glasses.  He thinks Kaiden will just use them as a toy.  He says that he is using both eyes, his right to see close up and his left to see distances.  His nystagmus is lessened.  He is using head positioning to compensate for poor eyesight.  Surgery could be done at this age to improve that but since it doesn't seem to be a big issue, we will hold off on considering that. O'Malley continues to see improvements.  We will follow-up again in 6 months.

International Adoption Specialist

Two and one half years after bringing Kaiden home, we finally saw an International Adoption Specialist pediatrician, Dr. Oettgen.  If she wasn't all the way downtown at Children's Hospital,  would switch to her as his regular pediatrician.  She was wonderful!  Very knowledgeable and the best bedside manner that I've experienced.  Not that I don't love most of Kaiden's specialist, she was just different.  She seemed to have a true understanding of all the unknowns that we have with him.  After one and half hours of talking with her about which specialists we have seen and which tests we have had run on him, we left with no more answers than we had going into the appointment.  I am fine with that though because she reassured me that we've done mostly what she would have recommended anyways.  She did order a few more blood tests but didn't think that in the end we would know more about his condition than we do now. 

Of course with it being Fall, and especially with his neurological condition, we couldn't leave without a flu shot.  I was very proud of myself not only getting him the flu shot but also getting the blood drawn while we were already at the hospital.  Normally I would have left and had Pete take him back for those two things.  It's a good thing that his is unaware of my squeamishness.

Food Issues Worsen

This is a picture of all of the different foods that Kaeterina and I both tried to feed Kaiden for lunch today. ALL favorites of his. He refused everything except for a few sips of melted ice cream and a few sips of my ice tea in his sippy cup. We see the Nutritionist again in 2 weeks. If he keeps this up he is surely going to get a feeding tube. Part of me would be happy for that because at least then I would know that he was in fact getting of of his nutrients in. Of course I would not be happy because of all that goes along with that. It would feel like a step backwards for him. His teachers tell me that he is actually holding his own sippy cup and scooping his own food to feed himself at school. I would be thrilled if he would go back to just eating something that I feed him!

Happy 2 Year Gotcha Day!

WOW!  You continue to amaze us with changes in you.  Today marks two years since we met you and you became apart of your forever family.  You may never realize just how much you have changed us, showed us God's enormous heart for us, and especially for the orphans.  When people meet you for the first time, they often say how lucky you are to have us but the truth is that we are the lucky ones.  I can't imagine what our lives would be like without your LOUD personality.  I can't wait to see what you have in store for us over the next 12 months!

Happy 3rd Birthday Kaiden!

You are such an adorable little guy! Your smile makes my heart melt. You have blessed our family more than we could have ever imagined you would.

Orphans Worldwide

There are 132 million orphans worldwide. Watch this video with a box of tissue handy.

The Dancer from Kensington on Vimeo.

Happy Gotcha Day!

Today marks one year since we met Kaiden. 24 hours later and we signed our adoption paperwork. I can't believe how much he has changed. I thought we'd never get this far. I can't imagine what he has in store for us over the next 12 months.