Medical Update

Today Deanna had several appointments with the specialists at Doernbecher. Her palate repair surgery will be in May. It will be repaired with one surgery. Her scar revision will be at a different time, maybe within a year. Her testing also revealed conductive hearing loss due to fluid blockage. This will be treated surgically at the same time as the palate repair. This problem is common in children with cleft palate, it was just a surprise to us because she seems to hear just fine. Speech therapy won't start until she is healed from the palate repair. We'll see how she does in the mean time, she is already attempting a lot more speech on her own. All in all it was a good experience. Deanna was a very good patient and I was impressed with the compassion and friendliness of the doctors and staff.

Dress Up

Here are some pictures of Deanna dressing up. She often puts on quite a show.

She does clean up too and enjoys vaccuuming, doing dishes and sponging the walls and windows. Although she sometimes she creates more mess I'm trying to encourage her!

"Best Friends"

Deanna has gone from terrified of the dogs, especially Rosie, to Loving them! She wants Rosie to be with her all the time and has climbed gates to be with her. She has taken over the job of feeding (and overfeeding) the dogs. She also likes to have Rosie fetch, using hand signs for sit, stay, get and drop. We knew it would happen, but not so quickly!

Hanging out with the guys

Deanna loves to hang out with her brothers (and their female friends).

She especially likes their cars and listening to music.

Deanna's First Party

A BIG THANKS to all of my great friends who participated in a welcome home shower for us! Deanna had a great time and met a lot of new people who will be part of her life. She loves all of her new things very much, and we really appreciate everyone's generosity.

Deanna Visits The Beach

We took a short trip to the beach, and Deanna did a lot of things for the first time.

First, she has warmed up to the dogs. On the trip down, I looked back and Tia was sitting in the car seat with her. The friendship seems to be very mutual. She loves to feed Rosie and is comfortable in the same room with her.

We took her down on the beach and she yelled very loudly and clapped her hands. We then had to run with her all the way down the beach. She liked watching Rosie fetch sticks.

Mimi and Grampa joined us in Seaside and she had her first carousel ride and her first ice cream cone. Both were hits.

We also took her to feed the seagulls. She was not intimidated at all and had a great time until the bread was gone and she got bird poo on her hands.

She experienced some new restaurants and has been much more adventurous with food, actually eating like a piggy, but still nothing green.

A great time was had by all.

More Beach Pics

All American Girl

Deanna's adjustment to America has been remarkable. Nothing seems to overwhelm her. She goes to stores and restaurants like she has been doing it all her life. She is very happy!

She really knows what she likes as far a clothing goes. When I show her something it is an immediate yes or no. She definately prefers jeans to any other pants and boots or tennies over dress shoes. Purses and "make up" are her favorites, and she likes to style her doll's hair (while waiting for hers to grow).

She is a very picky eater and not willing to try anything new. She does drink milk and has been known to eat 3 bananas and an apple in one day. She has discovered the fridge and the pantry and we are constantly getting her out.

She seems to understand much of what we say, but it's hard to know for sure due to her limited speech. We will be working on therapy soon.

Overall, everything is great!!

The Big Homecoming

We finally made it home Saturday night about midnight after a 20+ hour trip. Jeremy and Jordan met us at the airport, we were so excited to see them!
The flight from Ukraine to New York was pretty rough. Deanna had a few tantrums due to boredom and barely slept at all. When we got to the New York airport she was bouncing off the walls. We were fearful of a repeat performance on the way to Portland, but she slept all the way.
Deanna took to her brothers right away (and they to her). When we got home we showed her around the house and her room. She was especially excited to see her clothes and was jumping up and down clapping. Of course she then had to put on a new outfit.

Her biggest problem is that she is TERRIFIED of the dogs. She won't be in the same room as them and wants repeated reassurance that they won't bite. We are taking it very slow and keeping them confined to one area.

Deanna is sleeping pretty well and is just about adjusted to our time zone. For anyone interested it is okay to call, we are doing great. Email sharis@comcast.net Thanks again for the support!!