Alex's Report Card

It has been a month since we got home and Alex is doing wonderful. His progress during this past month has been truly amazing. First and most important, he is HEALTHY AND HAPPY. He plays, bounces around, rolls, dances, makes silly faces, tries to repeat everything we say, has learned a lot, and doesn’t stop until bedtime.

Since leaving the orphanage I decided to keep a similar schedule as the orphanage and that was a real blessing. We are very consistent with meals, activities, bath, reading and bed time that he pretty much knows what to expect next and I think that has a lot to do with his happy demeanor.

He is usually up around 7:00; we cuddle for a while then head for the kitchen for breakfast. Once Chris leaves for work, he and I get ready for a stroll down the golf course path and we end up at the neighborhood park where we practice going up and down the slides and the small hills, check out the birds and play in the sandbox. We are following a special diet the nutritionist gave him so he is eating something just about every couple of hours. After the park we play around the house, do a little dancing (the second I turn the stereo on he starts his moves), I fix what I call his second breakfast, play some more, then prepare lunch around noon. He takes a nap from 12:00 to 2:30 then spends the afternoon playing, watching some educational videos or running errands with me. Once in a while he will get in the pool with Chris and dinner is usually close to 6:00, then it is upstairs again for a bath, reading, rocking, and bed time.

Rocking him before bed time is my favorite nighttime event and it appears to be his as well. He was never rocked before and he is sure making up for it now. I put him on his crib just before he falls asleep and in less than a minute he is out for the night. The best part of the schedule? He sleeps between ten to eleven hours a night, and other than a little cry here and there because he can’t find his binky, he sleeps all night.

So far we haven’t found anything he doesn’t like. He eats everything…meat, chicken and fish, fruits and lots of vegetables. We are following the high protein/low carbohydrate diet the Doctor recommended and it has worked. In the past three weeks he gained 1.5 pounds which is about 6% of his current body weight. At this rate, and according to the Doc, he should be on track in just a few months.

We LOVE HIM SOOOO VERY MUCH and are so fortunate, privileged, thankful, blessed and joyful to have him with us and, most of all, thrilled to see him so happy!!!

Oh Oh…just as I finished writing this I heard three sneezes in a row and just noticed a little bit of a runny nose…