Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Doctor Visit

It only took 5 and a half hours, but we completed our first visit to a doctor!
Today we met with an international adoption specialist. The main purpose was to establish a baseline for where the kids are regarding some important developmental, social, physical, and attachment related milestones. We had a bit of a drive to get to the office, but it was well worth it. The doctor was terrific and the kids were great. We've met a Russian college student who is living with one of the families from our church. Natasha came over earlier in the day to meet the kids, then joined us on our trip to the doctor. She was able to translate a few times and was so helpful keeping the kids occupied while we talked with the doctor.

Overall, we got great feedback regarding all of the kids. The doctor had no major concerns. His advice was just to keep doing what we're doing, stay vigilant with being on the lookout for possible problems, and come back in a few months to do it all over again. Sometimes issues won't present themselves for months or years after kids leave an orphanage. We have a long list of labwork to get done with our local pediatrician... um, not so much looking forward to all of the needles.

And now, for one final "Awwww Moment": Tonight at bedtime, Natalie pulled our faces toward her, and gave both Scott and I a goodnight kiss. They get lots of kisses from us and will sometimes reciprocate if we ask them to, but tonight Natalie initiated her own special goodnight kisses for the both of us. Awwww! :)

9 comments:

Shannon Renee Photography said...

that is so cute!

Wolf family said...

Glad the Dr. visit went well--was thinking of y'all. And LOVE the Awwwww moment :)

Anonymous said...

Kisses are so wonderful. You ought to try butterfly kisses. Someday you be dancing at a wedding and they will play that song, another Awwwww moment.

So, glad the doctor visit went well. "Keep doing what you are doing", you are fantastic parents.

ITGFY. WEL,

Uncle Larry

Anonymous said...

Hi Chrystal and Scott,

I'm glad I remembered the name of your blog! Sounds like things are going well. We've been anxious to hear and look forward to chatting soon.

Please email us when you get a chance at shanana111@yahoo.com.

Mikayla is doing really well. I can't believe it's been a month since Gotcha Day. She has changed so much. Her personality is really shining through. We are truly blessed to have her in our lives.

Shannon and Al Fontes

Anonymous said...

So precious!!!! Those are good moments to remember when you are pulling your hair out ;)

Melanie Pinkus said...

Glad to hear you doctors visit went well. So great that you had help from that student. What a blessing! Those Awwwww moments are the reason we go through all the craziness of being parents.

Love you!
Mel

Anonymous said...

You got an Awwww out of me! Thanks for having me over, can't wait to come play again! =)

Anonymous said...

So glad the doctor visit went well. You guys are doing such an incredible job. Our kids keep asking when they are going to play again with your kids- we'll have to plan something soon.
What a sweet story about Natalie- embrace those moments!
Love you guys!
Amy and Jon

Anonymous said...

Thanks for taking the time to update so often. It's so great to hear what is going on with the family of five! Did you see Dr. Feldman? Our first visit with him was five hours as well. What a blessing it has been to have him help us out all these years. We still see him 2x a year and email him monthly with progress reports and recommendations.

Sounds like you two are already pros at this parenting stuff. All that reading and research is really paying off (with a little help from the Man upstairs :) ).

Hope to see you all soon. Please let us know if there is anything that we can help with. We'll hook you into our Yahoo Group of local mom's of adopted kids as well as our Java Joe's Moms group.

Lots of love,

Michelle, Bart and Family :)