Our Adoption Journey: Long Update!

I thought it was time for an organized update on Kellin's progress!

Medical: Although Kellin's weight gain is still very slow, he is a very healthy child in general. He has hardly been sick since he's come home, and his only real ongoing medical issue is his need for an iron supplement. The one condition we are continuing to monitor is Kellin's hips. He first saw an orthopedic doctor back in February and had an X-ray done. At that time, the doctor noticed that Kellin's hips were not positioned quite as they should be, but she was hopeful that with time, they would adjust as he spent more time upright and less in a crib, and then nothing further would need to be done. Well, in July, we saw another orthopedic doctor and had another X-ray done. Basically, nothing has changed. His hips are no worse, but they have not moved closer into the proper position as the first doctor had hoped. For now, we will continue to monitor this, but it is becoming a more likely possibility that Kellin may need surgical intervention for his hips at some point.

Eating: We seemed to have reached a pretty stable point with Kellin's eating. He eats three meals and one snack each day, and he eats a fairly consistent amount at each of these meals. For breakfast, he gets baby oatmeal made with half and half, pediasure, and yogurt (to add calories) and 1/2 - 1 container of baby food fruit or veggies (stage 3 - with some chunks in it). For lunch, he gets a scrambled egg made with lots of half and half and butter, and a container of yogurt. For snack, he gets puffs and one of those food pouches (fruits or veggies). For supper, he gets one of those baby food dinners (meat and veggies) and a container of baby food fruit or veggies. At each meal, he drinks either water or orange juice (the only two things I have found that he likes). For drinks, he uses a sippy cup that has a rim like an open cup, and he does it all by himself. He has finally learned how to pick up his cup, take a drink, and then set it down on his tray (instead of dropping it). He is working on using a spoon. At breakfast and lunch, I have him bring the spoon to his mouth every third or fourth bite. I still have to scoop the food on to the spoon and wrap his fingers around it, but then he will lift it to his mouth, put the food into his mouth, and we are working on getting him to set the spoon back down instead of flinging it around. This is a work-in-progress. The most exciting meal of the day is snack, because he feeds himself puffs like a pro! We just put them into a suction bowl so it can't slide around, and he sits there and eats until he is done. He can chew puffs since they only take a couple of crunches before they dissolve, but he really can't chew anything that takes more effort. He will pick up full-size crackers now and put them to his mouth, but he hasn't really made any progress learning how to bite a piece off of food, so once he figures out that the whole cracker won't fit in his mouth, he drops it. He still throws up while eating maybe 1-2 times each week. We think this usually happens when he is full but either doesn't know it, or doesn't know how to tell us. It can be very tricky for us to know when he has had enough. While of course we want Kellin to learn to eat foods that are more typical for preschoolers, we are glad that he is finally taking in a fair amount of calories each day. The other positive is that Kellin is fussing much less at mealtimes, although I certainly wouldn't put eating on his list of favorite activities.

Sleeping: Kellin has become a great sleeper! Since he moved into the bedroom with his brothers about a month ago, he has only been up in the night twice, and one of those times he went right back to sleep in his crib. The other time, he ended up in our bed for the rest of the night, but hey, even our other kids do that occasionally. He takes a short nap (15-45 minutes) most days, and then sleeps 8-10 hours at night.

Movement: Kellin is really starting to move around all on his own! He walks around the living room and his bedroom independently with much more confidence. Sometimes after a meal, I lift him out of his chair onto the floor, and he just starts walking to see what he can find. He is also sometimes making his own decisions about what or who he wants to walk to (such spontaneously walking toward Daddy when he hears his voice or walking toward a toy when he hears someone else accidentally bump it) without us having to say, "Walk to . . ." He is going up and down the stairs all by himself, and when he is feeling cooperative, he can be pretty fast! He is learning where the rooms are upstairs and knows which way to turn at the top of the stairs to get to his bedroom, and then he "trails" his hand along the wall and his crib to figure out where he is going. We are starting to work on climbing - onto a chair, off the couch, etc.

Dressing: Kellin has really figured out how to help with dressing himself! He pulls his shorts up and down all by himself (although of course they often end up twisted or with a rolled waistband, like many other preschoolers), he pulls his shirts over his head (on and off), and puts his arms through. He has good enough balance to step into or out of his shorts (while holding on to someone), and he often prefers to stand up during diaper changes. We are starting to have him help us take his dirty clothes to the laundry basket, also.

Communication: This, as always, has been an area of slow progress for Kellin. He continues to demonstrate that he understands more and more words. He is using several signs independently (please, cube, drink, blankie, more) and several others when he can use our hands to do them (all done, on, mama, dada). He babbles often and makes lots of noises, and it seems to happen more often that he makes a purposeful sound, but we are a long way from verbal communication yet.

Learning: Kellin is pretty sure that he doesn't want to do any specific "work" tasks, but we sneak them in when we can. He's going to be starting preschool in a few weeks and so he needs to know how to "work" on a simple task. He knows how to dump things out of buckets, but we are still working on putting things "in." He is problem-solving how to get things or how to get around things. He explores things by picking them up, manipulating them, tasting them, shaking them, etc. He is showing more interest in reading books now that I read him one book before nap each day and then let him take it to bed with him (he lays there and holds it, chews it, etc.). We are trying to get him to expand his play skills - to use a greater variety of toys and to use them in different ways. This is slow going but he is gradually starting to expand his interests to include more things. He also seems to get bored with his usual musical toys more quickly, and then he will move around to see what else he can find.

Overall, Kellin continues to move forward and we are amazed at how far he has come!