Sunday was fabulous. The hubby had to work so I tackled church with my 3 children all on my own, surprisingly well! Our church is tricky with little ones because of the stairs, no elevators, and extremely crowded hallways. I managed to make it through the hallways with a single umbrella stroller for Griffin while Little G helped push. Worked like a charm! Big G started her New Believer's Class and should be baptised in November if she feels like it's the right time. So happy for her! While we were finishing up at church, Chris got off work a bit early and had our meals on the table at Chilis when we met up with him. Afterwards, Big G started AWANA for her final year of Sparks. She absolutely loves it.
Today was excellent! Griffin and Little G had their first Occupational Therapy appt. Griffin sat in the stroller like an angel while Little G had her hour of therapy. This was kind of a "get to know who they are and what motivates them" kind of appt. Basically, with Little G, he just played with her. He won her over by fun toys and activities. She really had a great time! At the end of her appt, she actually held out her hand, like the diva she is, and had him kiss it. Too funny! He gave me a lot of insight and ideas on how to deal with her self-hurting tendencies and he seems to totally
understand who she is and why she does the things she does. She was so much fun at this appt and I'm looking forward to taking her back! She also imitated a lot of the OT's words that he was using on Griffin. It was almost like she was trying to encourage Griffin along. Love her!
Griffin sat quietly and observed everything for the solid hour. When it was his turn, as soon as I unclipped his stroller strap, he toddled over to the first outlet that he could get to. He sat down in front of it and was just staring at it. The OT went over, sat next to him, and talked about the outlet. Then redirected him...he went straight for a cabinet door and started opening and closing it, over and over. The OT used that, and then redirected. Once he felt that Griffin had warmed up to him, they had some fun! They used the ramp like a slide, bounced on a trampoline, tickled, clapped, etc. He just went on and on about how great Griffin was doing in the 3 months that we've had him out of the orphanage.
His observations were that he has extremely weak hips and feet. Also, his head is too large for his body and he is really having to work hard to stay upright. His neck muscles will continue to get stronger until he can support it better. He thinks that his body just wasn't able to develop properly due to the food that he had in the orphanage. He would like to make sure his hips are OK, so we will suggest x-rays the next time we speak with his pediatrician. He feels that Griffin is going to do extremely well because he is very motivated and determined. He tries so hard to do everything. OK, I'm about to have a momma moment that will probably make me cry, but here goes. As the OT was doing things with him, I noticed that Griffin would glance over at me, as if to say, "Are you seeing this?! Look what I can do! Are you proud of me?" It was as if he was seeking my praise and when I would yell out, "GOOD! BRAVO!", he would look over and smile. It occurred to me in that moment that Griffin seriously tries to please us. He tries hard. He soaks everything in and strives to remember it, to focus. The OT said that he would have never guessed that he was adopted because Griffin is just natural with me and that made this momma's day.
So the OT asked if he could take Griffin's shoes off so that he could see his feet. Griffin protested when the OT took them off, which I expected because he does the same thing to me. He is all about his shoes! Griffin's feet are extremely flat...so much that it appears that his ankles almost touch the ground. He said that this will improve over time since he is actually using his feet now. He walks 99% of the time. So proud of him! So when he was done, he started putting Griffin's socks back on and was happy to see that Griffin was helping him out by lifting his foot to tuck his toes into his socks, all on his own. He praised him and then we got into the discussion about his shoes. Griffin was so happy to get those shoes back on his feet and the OT asked me if he was able to wear shoes in his orphanage. I explained that he only wore shoes when he was going outside, so to him, shoes mean FREEDOM. That meaning kind of hit both of us at the same time. I honestly had never thought about his love for shoes before but doesn't this make perfect sense? I've been thinking about this all day. I imagine that when the bucket of shoes was brought out, yes, they were in a bucket, he would get very excited! I also imagine that he would get very heartbroken when the nanny would pass him by because he was a special needs child who didn't get to go outside every day like the other kids. I imagine that every time that bucket was brought out, he was hopeful. I can imagine the excitement in his little heart when those shoes were placed on his feet! Mercy, I love this little boy.
Tomorrow, Griffin has his pediatric ophthalmology appt to evaluate his crossed eye. There are a few options-surgery, patching, and glasses. I think the first step would be glasses, then patching, then surgery but we will know more tomorrow! Chris is taking him and I told him that he better not choose his glasses without me if he needs them! LOL. That's MY job. :-)I'll keep y'all posted!
Love and Hugs!
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