Relief

Yesterday afternoon we went for Ariana's evaluation test for therapy. In our county it is called Early Steps. She qualified to be tested in 5 areas. And, I can't even wait to say it:

She is normal!!!!!

I was over joyed looking at her plot on the chart. She did fabulous. I was surprised she qualified for fine motor testing, and it was no surprise that she showed her strength in this area. But she also did well enough on the gross motor sections, the problem solving sections and the life skills sections. She plotted right in the "average" section. She was borderline with her language so we did opt to have speech therapy.

There was more joyous news. The doctor doing part of the test said that she screens children with Drug and Alcohol exposure all the time. I am sure because she tests only 0-3 year olds, they come through her doors daily. She said that she saw no signs of FASD. She pointed out the lack of facial features but was aware that many children don't have the features. She went on to say that when a FASD kid sits at the table and she starts to interact with them she can just tell. I kind of know what she means. I normally can pick the kids who will be labeled LD by the system later in life. When you challenge them, they get a spacey look in their eyes because it just isn't connecting. She commented that outside of Ariana's test results she just doesn't present like a kid with FASD. She was very present in the moment for all the testing. She learned during the test and she was engaging with all 4 screeners in the room. It was the exact thing I kept feeling in my gut when I met Ariana. She seems very bright and very normal.

It was such a reassuring moment all around!

Of course, I don't think a doctor who works with FASD kids will give them the " all clear" until they are 8-10 years old, but I think we are in a good position to get that wonderful news later.

Like I said, she will be having speech therapy. They really felt that if they could give the test in Russian she would have scored better and certainly if she had been born to us, she would have done better (no brain damage preventing her from succeeding now). So, we are going to have a speech therapist come to IDS to work with her 1 hour a week. We are in line for a special program that will train me to do the therapy work. I will have to go to training and then they will video tape me working with Ariana and coach me to do better. After a few months they will re evaluate her to see if she needs to go back to one on one therapy with the specialist.

The other big news is little. Microscopic in fact. We have Giardia. Well, Ana tested positive and the rest of us are pretty sure we have it too. We are in the testing process. Now, I have the challenge of getting us all better as we stagger our treatments. Ana will be done with her meds tomorrow and will be exposed to all of us who have it but won't be treated until the tests come back positive. Actually, I am more concerned with sterilizing her environment. Her bed, her changing table, her tub.. all those areas where a diarrhea diaper may have leaked a bit and a germ could be hiding.. I really hope that fixes the poopy problems that have plagued my precious princess. All of this has made me ready to get going on our physical with the doctor. I know he didn't want to traumatize her so soon, but I want to make sure she doesn't have anything else that is making her feel crummy.

I can't believe that just 2 months ago Ian and I were touring around Moscow. It was his last day in Russia and we tried to get the last bit of sight seeing in before he left. I had a week to go before I could take Ariana out of the orphanage. It seems so much longer than 2 months ago. It is so much better on this side of the fence. And everyday that passes is better than the one before.

I am going to end on a super high note. I got 3 real hugs this week. Yep, head on my shoulder soft gentle hugs. 2 were after she was in the baby room for an hour on Monday. It was an "I missed you and I am so glad to see you" hug. Yesterday's was during the testing. She was smiling with everyone and at the end I picked her up and she put her head on my shoulder as if to say, "That was fun. Thanks." It felt different from the manipulative hugs I have gotten before. I could tell they had no emotion behind them. These 3 did. It is like seeing your baby smile for the first time. You just savor the moment!