Looking Out for Baby J

One of our 4 new arrivals in the past couple of weeks is this sweet toddler, who requires a lot of attention but is worth it all! Baby J has a goofy personality that has finally come out of its shell - (and understandably, it's taken some time. She has been moved back and forth between a nutrition center, our house, and the hospital during a week and a half timespan!) She's going through big times of transition right now, and we're honestly not sure how long she will be with us. For now, what I do know is that she DOES smile! :) She LOVES music - (I've never seen a 2 year old with such great rhythm,) and Lady Gaga's her fave. She also loves playing with balls, kisses, being tickled, being held, washing her face, and whipped cream! She has a variety of special needs - she is blind and shows some characteristics of autism. She "speaks" without opening her mouth, making communication difficult, and whenever something upsets her, her first reaction is always self-injury. She also isn't a big fan of being touched by any of the other kids, but that could just be related to the newness of being surrounded by a house full of wild toddlers. Our biggest challenge yet has been her eating. She was released from the nutrition center, where she lived for 9 months, but from what we can tell, a whole lot of progress wasn't made over that time period. Her first few days here were rough, as she didn't want to eat anything except for a couple of spoonfulls of milk which she then would throw up. She was hospitalized to receive fluids and nutrients and now is back with us, when we began forcefeeding! It was literally like taming a wild animal a little bit...the girl FIGHTS. We had her strapped in her high chair holding her head and closing her mouth around tiny bites of yogurt. We had a breakthrough this weekend, though, during Fabiana and Gabriel's birthday party...when we gave the girl whipped cream and birthday cake!! She wanted so much that it confirmed that she CAN and WILL eat...she just has a bit of a picky sweet tooth. The tias for some reason think there's a relationship between her picky sweet tooth and the fact that I'm the one doing most of the feedings right now...but I don't know what they're talking about. :) Anyways, Baby J is eating much better than she was this time last week, thank goodness, and although she is learning to eat regular portions of whatever everyone else is eating, until we get some meat on those bones, I'm happy giving her cake and whipped cream every day, too!

At the party...eating without acting rabid! WOOOO!

After-hours dishwashing and cake-eating. New favorite activity!

It's a contagious smile, for sure!