It is hard to believe we have been home almost 3 weeks…my how time flies when you have 8 kids! 
Overall Eliana is doing well. The first week home she was very quiet and somewhat withdrawn, then later in the week she began having diarrhea and a little bit of a fever. We watched her closely and made sure she stayed hydrated. Thankfully this only lasted about 3 days. She remained pretty quiet and lethargic until last Friday, but is gradually becoming the chatter box we knew in Ukraine. We knew there would be, and will continue to be, a time of attachment and adjustment to be made, so none of this took us by surprise. Really, for the most part I think she has done quite well with the transition.
Tuesday she had her check up with our pediatrician, everything looks good for the most part. She will have an ultra-sound of her heart(she was born with a hole in her heart and it is believed to be closed, but no one knows for sure.) She has an eye exam scheduled in the morning. Sometime in the next few weeks she will also have routine blood work done and a visit to the ear nose and throat Dr. Thankfully she as no pressing health concerns that we can see. She does have really low muscle tone…(I thought Eli was bad!) She will be getting some AFO’s (orthopedic splints) and is being scheduled for a physical therapy evaluation. So, yes, we have a fun filled summer of Dr.’s appointments! The sad thing is, is that it is also time for the little boys to have their yearly blood work and trips to the ENT to check for tube placement and all that jazz! Needless to say, our family alone is creating a mountain of paperwork for the pediatrician’s office!
A few things we’ve learned about our girl since she’s been home:
She does not like to finger feed herself….but we are making progress and she is eating more on her own everyday..she will also use a fork (some.)
She likes to chew on EVERYTHING..esp. books
She will eat any and all fuzz balls!!! (So we have a new vacuuming routine)
She loves to be held.
She rocks herself to sleep.
She smiles a lot.
She is now responding to her name an seems to be understanding more of what we are saying to her.
She still loves music and give hugs!
She is absolutely precious and we are so glad she is apart of our family!
It really is amazing to us how smooth the transition has been for bringing her home and into our family. Last year, the boys were so much more work….and dealing with Micah’s “institution” behavior so exhausting. I remember just getting a shower in those days was like a mini vacation! But of course they were and are still worth it!!
More pics coming soon!
Blessing the Name of The Lord!!
