Our visit with the IAC

We started out yesterday morning with a trip to Birmingham, AL. We had an appointment with the International Adoption Clinic (IAC) at 9:30 EST (10:30 CST). Well, brilliant old me got myself ALL confused and thought we needed to be there at 10:30 EST! Whoops! So, we were late but they were able to squeeze us in!

First we saw the developmental specialist. Apparently we were supposed to have written down all of the words Andrew knows - whoops! He did the puzzle like a whiz, identified his colors, stood on one leg, jumped, strung beads on a string, etc... She was very impressed with him and said the only thing he's behind in is speech! We knew that so it wasn't a big surprise and it's not something we feel he'll have a hard time catching up on. The New Yorker in me needs to learn to talk more slowly and pronunciate a bit better in order to help!

After that we met with the Social Worker. She asked us about his history and was excited to hear he was in foster care. We explained that it wasn't necessarily a good thing since it meant moving around and then being "given up" again by someone he had bonded with. She felt the good (one on one attention, development, etc...) was important and that he will be able (or already has) moved past losing that family. She was amazed at his attachment, that he comes to us to fix things, etc...

The doctor came in next and did a basic exam. She showed Andrew how to use the stethoscope. She lifted up his shirt to listen to his heart. Well, then he wanted to listen to hers so what does he do? Reaches down to grab her shirt and pull it up!! :-) Hey - he's a sponge and if it's good for the goose it should be good for the gander, right?

His exam went well - all seems to be good! We noticed a bruise looking thing above his tailbone and it turns out it's a Mongolian Spot. Apparently, Mongolian Spots are common in all ethnic groups except for Caucasian. Since we know Andrew has a little bit of Asian in him, we weren't surprised to hear this. After the doctor we went to the lab and had lots of blood drawn for his tests. He did so good until the 2nd to last vial - that's when the tech moved the needle. He started to cry and cry. Keith had to hold him down, I was just standing there with no clue what to do and Keith yelled "Becky - talk to him, say something!". Whoops! :-) Afterwards he was a real trooper!

We met Melissa and Iliya for lunch at McD's. It was sooo hot out and that's where the play area is! Keith - what an awesome dad - got in the tubes in 90+ degree heat with the kids and kept them occupied so Melissa and I could visit for a bit. We all started to melt so we decided it was time to make the trek home. I have pictures and will upload them in a different post once I have a second to do so.

On the way home, Andrew got really, really fussy towards the end. 5 hours in the car and 4 hours at the drs office is a lot for a little kid! We came home, went and ran off some of the energy and heard two big BOOMS. Transformers in our area blew up. So, now it's 90 degrees, 8:00 at night, we've had no supper and now we have no air conditioning and no way to cook! We had enough light to give Andrew a bath and then we headed to grab something to eat. Needless to say it was a late bedtime last night!

So, there you have it! The IAC was very impressed with how far Andrew has come in a short period of time and so are we! We know we have a special little guy on our hands! :-)

Toodles!
Becky