S to the Power Of Six!!!

Day 51...

We are on Day 51 of out wait for our LOA for Saxton. So what has been going on this last couple of weeks to keep us busy? Well...A LOT!!

I have been finishing up the master bedroom and getting ready to redo the boys' room. Hopefully, I can get it done before we have to leave for Saxton.

Last week, we had our first appointment with the Cranial Facial team Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). To be honest, we miss the team in Seattle. They tended to be more progressive then the team at CHOP.

Furthermore, on Monday of last week, we took Sawyer to a Developmental Neurologist. She found that Sawyer tested on the spectrum for Autism. This will open a lot of doors for treatment for Sawyer.

While his developmental skills are progressing at a fast pace, his speech has not. We can not tell him to come here and sit down, or to go pick up a ball and bring it to daddy. He will, on occasion, listen to us and do what we ask, but it is not a consistent basis. I would point out that it has taken us 11 months and numerous visits with multiple doctors to get Sawyer officially diagnosed. This is not something that can be diagnosed in one visit or over the phone (as has happened on numerous occasions within the adoptive community). And even after all the work that led up to Sawyer's diagnosis, the doctors are still not convinced that Sawyer does indeed have "organic autism" and that he may just be significantly delayed due to "institutional autism." Regardless, Sawyer has been progressing and thriving with his increased level of therapy. And we hope that within the next few years, he will be at a point where he can enter mainstream kindergarten/elementary school. Although I don't want to gloss this over, I do have to say that Sawyer is resilient and with effort on our part, will most likely lead a"normal" and "productive" life.

We knew in China that Sawyer was not where he was supposed to be developmentally and that he had behaviors that have been discussed with some frequency on other blogs discussing autism, PDD and disruption. However, we made a commitment to Sawyer and although we were scared with what life might hold for us all, we chose the only "choice" we had - to bring Sawyer home as our son. Neither one of us is perfect and we would never expect our child to live up to expectations we (or anyone else for that matter) could not ever meet. More importantly, Sawyer has been a blessing beyond words - he is truly an amazing individual with the most generous and loving spirit I have ever encountered. His life would have been tough had we chose to disrupt in China, but our lives would have been hollow and unfulfilled without him. I can not even imagine not waking up to see his smile everyday. And although both Shelby and I sometimes long to hear him call us Mama and Baba, we have been rewarded instead with a child who makes us laugh, gives us hugs and kisses, and loves us each in his own way.

In summary, adoption is not always rainbows and lady bugs. Although most children do adjust quickly to their new parents and new life, some children take months; it took Sawyer six months to even look me in the eyes or trust me when he had a boo boo. From my research and from talking to other parents in the adoption community, my story is NOT unusual. Many children have had the same behaviors and responses that Sawyer has or had while in China and at home . We are getting help through the county we live in via Early Intervention (EI) and through CHOP. Most of them DO NOT cost anything extra than what we would have had to pay if we had a perfectly health boy. Instead of taking him to the doctor for a bumped knee, we take him to the doctor or therapist for speech therapy and PT/OT.

Now, if only he would stop playing kissy face with the little red-headed cutie at daycare...I swear Shelby is going to have a breakdown if we get one more report that "her baby boy" has a girlfriend. I keep telling her that Sawyer can't help it - he's just too darn cute!!!!!!

By the way: