On Tuesday, July 10th, we went out to Brier Creek for Jake's physical with the pediatrician. The pediatrician is amazed at how well Jake is doing. That little fellow is 87 percentile for height, 51 percentile for weight and has a strong heart. No one seems to understand how Jake's cerebral palsy seems virtually non-existent, but I do! In one word.....Jesus!! I give Him the credit. Jesus knows all Jake's past while we don't. We don't understand why he was so weak at 1 year (though I have a number of theories). We are getting a number of things checked with Jake but the pediatrician's initial impression was "he looks great". I can't tell you how grateful we are. After a couple of years of medical issues with Parker, we felt equipped to handle some needs but also felt a bit "spent" with doctors, hospitals, etc. So when we received our first official referral from our agency, which was our sweet Jake, we were both excited and nervous. We accepted the referral and wrote our Letter of Intent to adopt and provide for Jake. But in the days that followed I became concerned about his official diagnosis of "CP". I clearly remember one night laying in bed and just feeling like "wow, maybe I goofed up when I added CP to our list of needs that we felt open to". We had had to expand our list of special needs due to Jeff's history of thyroid cancer (I know, it makes no sense). We were only eligible to adopt a moderate to severe special needs child. All of those precious children need homes, but was God calling us to adopt at that level of need? Anyway, I'm rambling a bit. Well that night when I was questioning opening up our list to include CP, Jenna walks into our dark room as she had forgotten something she had left in our room before bed. I hear this sweet little voice say "Mama, aren't you glad we opened up our list to include CP, because if we hadn't we wouldn't have Jake". WHAT?!!! I couldn't believe what she had just said. It was as if God spoke directly to my heart through this child and said "it's going to be okay; this is my plan for you".
Well today, we went back out to do some of the tests which included skull x-rays and bloodwork. We are passing on rib x-rays because the "depression" that the pediatrician says she saw disappears when you have him look you straight on (lesson learned from experience with Parker: you do have choices in the medical process....exercise them!!!). Anyway, Jake did great with the skull x-rays. Andrew was with me and helped keep Cheerios going and combine that with the coolest movable machine and lights (one of his new words: "yights") with crosshairs and we got the 4 or so x-rays needed. I'm not saying it was easy. It was a little challenging just to get him to lay down on the cold table, but it was very doable. And we had a sweet tech who understood by the time we finished everything that this child didn't speak English and had just gotten home less than a week ago.
Anyway, to break up the tests a little, Andrew, Jake, and I decide to go to Chick-Fil-A for lunch. So we go in and guess what?! It's wear your cow outfit and get free food day (sorry, I don't know the name). Jake didn't seem too phased by all the strange people dressed up like cows (sorry, to those of you that are one....I've done this one time I think). But what did get him was the Chick-Fil-A cow. You should have seen his eyes when that cow came out. He didn't scream or cry or anything, but the size of his eyes was bigger than a quarter and he was reaching for my hand and grabbing it tight and making the beginnings of a low rumble that's like a engine starting up. I assured him that it was okay, but I don't think he ate more than 4 waffles fries the rest of the stay because he had to keep that cow in full view. I taught him how to say "cow" which came out "cow-wul". Must be my Southern accent. I just couldn't imagine what was going through his little mind. This can frighten any youngster, but just thinking where Jake had come from made it all the more precious.
Anyway, after that we went on to have bloodwork done. Jake got stuck twice (the first produced enough blood for most of the test, but the second was unsuccessful). We'll have to go back in a week or two and finish up.
All in all, I am amazed at our new little one. He is so sweet (I think I may have said that) and adjusting so well. He is responding more to "Jake" and learning what it means when I say "come". I see more gentle hands and sharing and less throwing. And he loves to tell me and all his family that he loves us. I feel so blessed. If you're still following and can keep praying, please do. Please pray for continued adjustment for us all. We are praising God for you all and for His faithfulness.
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