Kiera, Matteo, Oliver and Soren

Kiera, Matteo, Oliver and Soren

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

And Now Some News From Shenzhen!

The same care package service that sent us an update on Matteo was finally able to get us an update on Kiera too.  Angela from Lady Bugs and Love is Chinese and lives in China, so she is the one who personally calls the orphanages on behalf of adoptive parents to ask for updates.  She e-mailed me to let me know to check with our adoption agency for the update, because the orphanage had insisted on sending it through the agency and wouldn't release answers to our questions directly to Angela.  However, they did pass along a message, which Angela relayed to me in her e-mail:
The orphanage staff told me Kiera is doing so well.  She's totally healthy now.  She had mild cerebral palsy when she entered the orphanage.  But after therapy, she's fully recovered.  She's even better than the children who are sent as "healthy referrals"!  She said just tell her family no worries, no concerns, she's doing well.  
Since you can't "cure" cerebral palsy and we haven't received any mention of therapy before, I still question whether Kiera actually has CP and am bracing myself for a surprise diagnosis of something else when we get home.  Until then, I'm rejoicing in the reassuring words of "she's doing so well." And in the videos we received with the update, she does look healthy and happy. 

Kiera's update describes her good emotional development with examples of how she can exchange back-and-forth gestures with others, as well as back-and-forth sounds, smiles and other gestures with caregivers.  She likes dolls, cartoon movies and blocks.  She can draw circles and lines and the numbers 1 and 2.  We were last told that she's quiet and introverted, but our latest update describes her as lively and outgoing.  I can't wait until I find out for myself what her personality is really like. 

She's still super tiny - not even on the growth charts.  I had been concerned about her size earlier, but given that she's living with a foster family, looks healthy and appears to be on target developmentally, I'm not really worrying about it anymore. 

I'll leave you with two of the videos the orphanage sent of Kiera.  I believe both were taken within the past week or two in the playroom of the orphanage. 

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