Six Months Ago Today

This photo was taken at my parents' house on December 7, 2006 (six months ago today). Pankaj, Samedh, and I had just returned from our long trip back from India. All of us were extremely tired, Samedh and I were sick, and Samedh was trying to get familiar with yet another new environment. I may appear a little thin in the photo (a whopping 120lbs at that time), but don't worry, it didn't take long to put the weight back on. I'm about 15lbs heavier these days...

In the last six months, our family has experienced so much and we are so blessed. We've heard Samedh say his first word (Hi), seen him take his first steps, and have seen the addition of 8 new teeth (he currently has 12). He's put on weight and lost some, and then put it on again. He's grown 2 inches taller and his feet have gone from size 3 to 4 in no time at all.

In six months, the greatest development for Samedh has been his language. He is familiar with a few Hindi words (pani, topi, bindi), but we have chosen to teach him English first. To date, he has a vocabulary of 64 words and a few 2-word phrases that he's proud to show off. And he's not affraid to attempt words like "unbelieveable" and "cement". The pronounciation may be "his own" on some of these more difficult words, but based on the context I know exactly what he's taking about.

Now six months after arriving home in Michigan, the only concern we are seeing with Samedh is with food. Once solid foods were introduced, he gave up all Gerber baby stuff. Even one month ago, he was enjoying chicken, mashed potatoes, corn, peas, 3/4 of a grilled cheese sandwhich, even 3/4 of a kiwi fruit. Now for the past couple weeks, he's dwindled down to nothing but milk and occasional Yo Baby Yogurt and grapes. His milk is full of calories, with a full packet of Carnation Instant Breakfast powder (French Vanilla) and 2 scoops of formula. We figure he's taking in roughly 1300 calories per day with liquids alone. But having no interest in food at all and showing no signs of hunger are very disturbing.

Although Samedh's doctor doesn't seem too concerned (afterall, toddlers are picky eaters), he has agreed to refer us to the Feeding Program at Mary Free Bed Hospital in Grand Rapids. All of the paperwork was faxed to Mary Free Bed yesterday and we hope to hear from them soon about an evaluation appointment. We've considered the fact that Samedh may have food allergies or hypersensitivity of the mouth (he does tend to gag himself after meals), so any evaluation by specialists would be welcome at this point. We just want to give our little guy the best possible start in life, and good nutrition and healthy eating habits are key at his young age.

But we'll get through the food issue, so enough about that...

One of the best things about today is that we are now clear to have the court finalize Samedh's adoption in Michigan. We had to wait 6 months from the time we returned home, and also had to complete 3 social worker visits/post-placement reports before finalization could be recommended. Our final social worker visit was on May 21 and she was going to recommend finalization with the court after June 7. Today is that magic day. Now we just have to wait to hear from the court to see when we can schedule a hearing. Our preference is to finalize in court, rather than via mail, but that just depends on the court's schedule. We hope to know that answer within the coming weeks. We'll be sure to keep you all posted.

Well, thanks for checking in and reading my post today. They are certainly getting few and far between, and I rarely get a chance to play around on the computer these days. My hope is to ger more photos posted soon, and to Samedh's blog as well. In the meantime, I've been keeping excellent notes in my journal. And if I ever get a spare moment, I hope to share more...