ENT, Cleft and Progress Update

Visited the cleft doctor a couple of weeks ago. Miss Annabelle's palate looks good. We won't know much about how well those muscles will work until she is speaking more. My guess is she will need some speech therapy. She will try to copy what we say, but there are some sounds that she just can't replicate. The doctor said that her lip and nose needed to be redone. I don't even see it now when I look at her except when I see her in the mirror... I notice it then. Don't know when we will do it. The doc says the younger the better. Surgery will even out her nose, thin her lip and remove all the white lines from previous stitches. It may not really seem to matter now, but it will when she is heading into the teen years.

Both littles went to the ENT on Friday, and BOTH passed their hearing tests! That's very good news. Before examining them, the doc warned me that 98% of the children from China with cleft palates need tubes because of large amounts of fluid in their ears. The fluid causes many infections and hinders speech because if you can't hear properly, you can't repeat sounds properly. Both kiddos have a small amount of fluid but nothing to be concerned with. He was very surprised that Annabelle did not have much and thinks it should clear up on its own. He said she probably would NOT need tubes.... her ears should have been a lot worse. Also, he asked where they learned English. They were speaking so well. Of course, just from us. That was another good sign that they can hear just fine (just what I thought.... selective hearing!). Timothy will speak sentences, and Annabelle tries very hard to repeat and speak on her own (some of which we can understand). They've learned so much in 3 months!

A couple of firsts for the last few days....
Timothy and Annabelle got into a wading pool at a friend's house. Annabelle loved it. Timothy, not so much. Then later in the week, they both entered the baby pool where the Bigs have swim practice. Again, Annabelle loved it. Timothy, not so much until another little boy started playing catch with him. Then, today, Miss Annabelle went to her class at church and did very well. When we picked her up she even knew the motions to the memory verse they learned. Too cute. However, we learned that Timothy is not yet ready to go to his class. When we picked up Annabelle he got very clingy and worried we would leave him. He needs a little more time. Today he played quietly while we sat in the family room for service. It was nice to hear the teaching.

The last day or so I've really been thinking about their birth mothers. I pray they will have a peace about Annabelle and Timothy and know that they are loved.

Thanks for checking in on us.
Blessings to you,
~B