Int'l Adoption Clinic Update

We had a successful trip to the International Adoption Clinic on Wednesday. We met with the medical director (a pediatrician) and the psychologist for three hours. They were very encouraging. It was good to have a second opinion from a pediatrician and a consultation with the psychologist. They both pointed out that many of Noah's behaviors are more typical of an institutionalized child rather than a child who has been living with a foster family. 

When looking at Noah's growth chart there is a nice growth curve up until 18 months. From 18 months until we adopted him at 27 months there is no weight gain. (This is when he transitioned to the second foster family.) From the time we adopted him until the present there has happily been a sharp incline in weight gain. Noah weighed in at twenty pounds, four ounces! And he made it on the growth charts for head circumference. So, now he is in the third to fifth percentiles for height and head circumference. We have another two to three pounds to go to make it on the chart for weight.

In other news, Noah is readily crawling up our stairs. He also is becoming more comfortable walking on grass (if we hold his hand.) His endurance is increasing on our walks. He used to collapse in a heap on the sidewalk. Now he nicely asks "up" and then after being carried a few steps he says "dow"  for down. It is so encouraging that he wants to walk! Yesterday, while visiting the duck pond, he said "mama duck." There is a mother sitting on eggs near the pond. He also loves spotting planes in the sky and  stops to sign plane and say "pay."

We are anticipating being hit Hurricane Ike tomorrow. So if our power goes out I will not be able to post. I'll keep you updated as I can!