Good Times

So, the other day Eli and I were sitting in his room reading a book. In the middle of the story he decides to get up and crawl into mine and Matt's room (he's exhibiting signs of ADD already :) After a little bit, I start to wonder...what could he be doing in there? Ah...THIS is what he's doing:




And this is his reaction to me putting my clothes back where they belong.


And his newest trick!

5 months home

Eli's been home with us for 5 months now. He is growing like crazy. If you think about it, Eli was 13 pounds when we brought him home at 11 months old. Most of my friends' kids weigh that much at around 3 months. Now, Eli weighs 21 pounds and is actually on the charts, albeit only the 5th percentile, for a 15 month old. So, that means that he has done 12 months worth of growing and developing in 5 months time. Ahhh, this explains why his napping and eating needs are never the same from day to day. Things are looking good, though. He is standing, pulling up, and walking with help. I think he could take a few steps, but he will just gracefully sit himself down if you let go. His PT says that he is a very cautious baby, but that we'll be grateful when he doesn't have all the broken bones and stitches that other boys get. True!

I'll post some pictures and you can see how much he's changed since my last post! (they go most recent to less recent)


I was trying to get a picture of Eli in the treasu(red) outfit I bought before we even had a referral, hence the wrestling move I am trying to perform on him...the boy doesn't stay still any longer.


This is his "busted" look- no remorse :) Man, are we in trouble!


I swear we did not sedate him for this haircut...


Here's us at the beach...I know what our Houston friends are thinking..."where's the beach?!? And why are they in jackets?!?"



And of course, we still get the tongue sticking out at us...when he's happy, when he's mad, when he's full, whenever!

Cardiology and Physical Therapy

Last week was a busy week for little Eli. He had a visit from the Early Intervention worker on Monday. Then Wednesday we drove downtown to Children's Hospital for the cardiologist appointment. After waiting a month for the appointment, driving downtown, and setting aside 3 hours for the appointment (yes, seriously...the intake was at 11:00 and the echo was scheduled for 1pm) we arrived and the doctor spent approximately 3 minutes with us before stating that it was a "classic" heart murmur that was no problem and no other tests were necessary. So, it was a relief, though a bit anti-climatic. Then Friday was his physical therapy evaluation. I think he actually had a lot of fun playing with the therapist and all her toys...until she laughed at him. He is a very senstive boy, and when she laughed he stuck his bottom lip out and let the tears start flowing. This has got to be the funniest thing that Eli does. I know it's not nice, but whenever he does this I start laughing so hard I cry. You just can't believe how far that bottom lip comes out. But anyway :), she said that his gross motor skills are that of a 7 month old. But fine motor skills, cognition, and social skills are significantly better. She also said that there is nothing preventing him from developing skills or causing the delay, but that it is purely a lack of experience due to all the time he spent laying in a crib on his back. Which means we should have a mover and a shaker in no time!

Physical Therapy update

I kind of left you guys hanging regarding Eli's physical therapy needs with my last post. So let me ease your minds :) When the physical therapist called to let us down gently, she also gave us information for some government programs that are free. And since we are up to our eyeballs in post-placement visits, alien tax identification, re-adoption, and what seems like a never-ending adoption process (it doesn't end when the child comes home!), we are just too weary to fight with insurance. So, Early Intervention is the program that is used in our school district. A very nice lady, Monica, came over on Monday to evaluate Elijah, and she has made a referral for him to get physical therapy at a local practice. She said there is a waiting list but I'm not sure how long.

Boo!

As previously mentioned, Eli's doctor has recommended (twice now) that we take Eli to a physical therapist. We contacted the physical therapist he recommended and scheduled an evaluation for tomorrow. Well, the physical therapist's office called to say that our insurance company has flagged it as "dummy claim" and won't be covering any services. (I'm not sure who the dummy is here- us or our doctor). Lucky for me, I saved the following letter that Margo wrote to her insurance company so that I could one day use it myself (slightly adapted for our situation):

"Dear Losers:

You guys suck. And you suck hard. This letter is to inform you of your complete suckage. Please accept this as part of my documentation for my LEVEL 2 appeal in the decision to deny coverage for services for my son.

Apparently, my first letter and the letter from the pediatrician was not enough information for you. While I understand that everyone at your organization is smarter than the doctors who request the work done, please don’t let that get in the way of denying my second attempt to plea for coverage.

If I thought for one second your ignorance regarding the changing world view of family building would be enlightened, I would take the time to report to you why it DOES MAKE A DIFFERENCE that my child is from Ethiopia. You say on the phone that you will treat my child like any other child when it comes to reviewing what is routine or not routine work. I assume you mean you will treat my child like a child born in America, in a hospital with doctors and nurses, to a woman who probably took pre-natal vitamins and had routine check-ups during her pregnancy. Who then went home to live in a clean, semi-sterile environment and had well baby visits at birth and then monthly until 6 months.

My child is unique in the fact that very little is known about his early months. It is possible that he was born in a small hut on the dirt floor with no doctors or nurses around. It is possible that he was then exposed to a myriad of diseases that are common right now in Africa. We have no way of knowing the medical situation of his birth mother or family. Even after being delivered to his orphanage where I praise God for the women that took such loving care of him, it is still possible that he didn’t receive the best medical care.

So it is upsetting to me that you would deny coverage for something that his pediatrician thought was medically necessary to ensure his continued good health. More upsetting is the fact that you haven’t made changes in your policies to account for the rapidly growing number of international families being made through the miracle of international adoption.

So, until you do that, I’ll continue to tell the physicians that you (evil doers) have their money and give them your number."

Elijah's Birthday

Eli turned one year old on Valentine's Day! I'm sure he had no idea why people were singing at him, letting him get frightening close to fire, and handing him boxes covered in pretty paper meant to be torn to pieces. But he seemed to enjoy himself nonetheless.



Here's Eli reading his new book from Grammy and PaPa.


"Thanks Maddie and Emerson!"

In addition to a birthday party, Eli also got his one-year check up with the doctor on Monday. The doctor was pleased with his growth. He is actually on the charts regarding his height now...his weight is still 0% but we're getting there. However, Dr. Bissey did find a heart murmur so we got a referral for a cardiologist and a referral for a physical therapist due to his lack of crawling and walking. Then 5 shots later we were heading back home, slightly heavy-hearted but overall hopeful.

I'm not sure that I ever mentioned it, but we have a birthday for Elijah (when we were given the referral, we were told that he was born in March 2008 but the date was unknown). We thought we were going to be essentially making up a birthday for him, but when we arrived in Ethiopia his birth certificate and passport had a February birthday listed. He turns one year in a week! That's right- Valentine's Day will never be the same for me and Matthew :) And as Alecia's daughter pointed out- Eli will get A LOT of cards on his birthday when he's in school.

Here are the latest pictures....

I know people are probably tempted to think this is Eli's "suprised" camera look, but it's not. His eyes are always this way...seriously.


And he's sitting now! He's officially an "unassisted sitter." And a Texans fan, apparently.


Now, this is his Michael Jordan look. He LOVES bathtime. He seriously loves it when I squirt him in the face with his toys or pour water over his head. And he knows exactly how to close his eyes and mouth, and starts blowing out his nose. I can't wait to take him swimming this summer!