March, 2003: Updates

Through correspondence with other volunteers and those I met from Romania,
I've compiled some updates on the babies we love so much.

March 2003: These are excerpts from letters written by members of the January and March teams.

My precious Vasilica was not sure what to make of me but I was so amazed to see how she has grown and is walking and running all over the place and occasionally talking too.
I immediately fell in love with Petrica.  What a doll!!  She definitely needs to come home with me!
My Big Ionut was all by himself and happy to have me pick him up and take him with me to visit all the rooms.  Gigel was not there.  He and Diana and Stefan are in Barlad at the children's hospital but should be back soon.
Paula is still here and still the favorite. 
Darling Georgiana still is not eating solid foods but she is just toddling all around.
Robert, as I said earlier, is just all over the place and grinning and laughing all the time."

My "big" Vasi just wanted to spend the afternoon in my arms being loved and held. I finally took her to the playroom - even tho she did not want to share me. I did not mind. I needed to give time to others too.
At snack time Marian is a hoot-- he will take 2 cookie pieces 1 in each hand then stash them behind him and beg for more, then if another kid goes behind him and starts taking his stash then he goes to get his extras and can't understand where his extras disappeared to. He's a riot! He can walk some but still prefers the knees for crawling-- and boy can that kid move, FAST!
Gabi is still the KING of both "Laid-Back" and "BOO". He was sitting in that new rocking toy I bought today his arm over the back of the seat-- oh sooo laid-back. He was holding a new round flat toy with a mirror on 1 side. He would hold the mirror over his face and over and over he would say  "BOO!".
What a riot! He would grin that sweet, sly smile and laugh. He was having the time of his life! Love that kid!
Diana and Stefan were back today. Boy, is she a happy chunk! What a sweetie! Another 4 went to Barlad for the next 4 days. It is a red-tape thing where a certain number of kids have to go for "tests" in Barlad from time-to-time.
Go Figure.  The big twins - Roberta & Petronela - went in the group today.  Before they left their young father came to visit. It seems that their very young Mom just up and left the family one day. The father & all Grandparents want to bring the twins home as soon as they can. He was so sweet, gentle & loving with his little baby today. I took his photo.

Paula has become very attached to Mihaela to the point where if Mihaela is around she will not let anyone else touch her. Paula has a hard time warming up to others even when Mihaela is not right there. It took Paula a full week
to warm up to me and things started very slowly. I talked to her a lot, fed her and just tried to be around her as much as possible. I was only able to lift her from her crib and carry her to the playroom for awhile. Slowly she
got used to me and we were able to play together. She is a fantastic walker and is happy walking around all day. She takes a bit longer than the others but always finishes her bottle and she eats all kinds of solid foods all by
herself (using her own hands). She plays well with other children especially Gabi(we caught them hugging one day) but she is also more than happy to entertain herself. She is very good with her hands and very coordinated. She
always seems to know what is going on around her. Her favorite toys now are some of the more complicated ones such as the cause and effect toys where pushing a button causes a part of the toy to pop up. She would push the
piece down and start the cycle again very adroitly and excitedly. In the hallway she would rather run down the hallway pushing a walker then actually being in the walker. Overall Paula is doing very well especially in comparison to the other children. Fortunately for her but unfortunately for some of the other children she is clearly one of the favorites of the staff
at the hospital and this translates into extra attention and even extra food which not all the other children have access to. It was frustrating to watch but I guess it is only natural for the staff to have favorites.

Georgiana:
Georgiana was very inconsistent during the two weeks I was at Tutova. Some days she was very needy and wanted to be held while other days she just wanted to run around screaming and making noise. She loves to walk/run and
even though she doesn't look so graceful doing it, she is a great walker. She also loves to make as much noise as possible, banging toys against the wall or anything else she could find to produce the loudest noise as
possible. She doesn't like playing too much with others and rather than share a toy or cooperate with others she would rather steal the most popular toy and run off banging it against the wall. For awhile she would drop her
toys and start screaming but eventually if told to pick the toy up ('sus') she would pick it up and stop crying. She still loves to be held but not for extended periods of time. She would rather walk by herself and explore the
hallway and other rooms. Sadly, Georgiana still doesn't eat solid foods. We tried straws, yogurt in a bottle, yogurt on the lips, pieces of bread and cheese and crackers but she just doesn't seem interested. However, we were
able to get an extra bottle for her in the morning while the other children enjoyed their snack. Looking into her medical records it also said that she was lactose intolerant and so she receives a soy milk based formula in her
bottle. Her rocking has also decreased. She rocks the most when standing in her crib but once she is out of her crib she seems to limit her rocking motion. She did show improvement over the weeks in particular with her
affect and energy level. She started smiling a lot more and seemed to have more energy in the playroom and walking up and down the hallway.

Gabi is now 19 months old (well, I guess a bit over 20 months by now), and obviously one of the more intelligent kids there. He still loves a good game of peek-a-boo more than anything, often initiating this himself if
you so much as catch his eye from across the room, and even saying "boo" a lot of the time. He's a wonderful imitator with all sorts of noises, games, etc. He's got the most gorgeous smile, and would positively light up as soon
as anybody gave him some attention. When we first arrived, it seemed that he was perfectly content entertaining himself in the playroom, but he soon began sticking up for himself by "asking" for his share of attention as well
(which I was really glad to see, since his even temperament often meant he was overlooked if the rest of the kids were wreaking havoc!). I worked with him on eating some more solid foods, and although he still refuses things
like bread a lot of the time, he was doing a lot better with certain types of biscuits and crackers, as well as cheerios, and is still a champ with the yogurt! He's walking really well, and is more steady on his feet than a lot
of the others! He seems to have developed quite a friendship with Paula, and on a number of occasions we witnessed them spontaneously hugging one another and smiling!!! We went outside a number of times when the weather wasn't too
bad, and although he was a little too overwhelmed to walk around on his own, he was fascinated with the world. On our last trip out, he repeatedly said the word "nuka" (spelling?), which Ramona later informed me is the word for
a certain type of nut that grows on the trees around the hospital! Mihaela also commented that she thinks he is beginning to speak a bit. I believe that he's on the verge of being promoted to the afternoon preschool sessions
as well. Overall he seems to be doing great, and is obviously a wonderful little boy...

   Diana ("Lady Di") also had quite a personality. She's now a little over 16 months. She would just soak up as much love as you could give her, and then some. She is also on her feet tottering around, although a little
less steady and always with her arms out for balance! She was constantly toppling over, often smack on top of the other kids, which kept us all on our toes chasing her around trying to avoid mini-disasters...She's
definitely one of the more vocal kids when it comes to asking for attention, and once picked up wouldn't let you put her down if she had her way! Positively loving, she was constantly giving hugs and climbing into my lap,
and one of her favorite things was simply being carried around to check everything out. She's a pro in the walkers, and was content for hours out in the hall walking around and watching the other kids. She's developed the
most adorable laugh, and absolutely loved being tickled or tossed up in the air...She's not quite talking yet, although is frequently saying "Da". She looks like one of the healthier kids there, and is a great eater. Mihaela
says that her mother and grandmother have each visited, and everyone is hopeful that they will be able to take her home this spring...

Madalina:
 
She's almost one and a half now, and absolutely beautiful.  She's still fairly quiet and plays by herself more that outwardly engaging with the other children.  I read that people had trouble with her spitting up, and that they were worried about her eating. She's not the size of a "normal" 15 month old, but she seems to be doing fine.  I went through the medical charts, and it was discovered that she was possibly lactose intolerant. She's now receiving soy milk and supplimentary protein, and the spitting up has decreased significantly.  She's learning to make lots of vocalizations, and loves to make her voice vibrate when you pat her back.  She cries when she's put back in to her crib, but Florentio is very attentive to her, and she to him.  They seem to take good care of eachother.
She didn't seem to have any interest in learning to stand at first, but by the end of my visit, she was willing to stand while holding on to my hands.  Her attention span is very well developed, and she loves flipping through the picture books that the hospital has received.  Finally, the nurses take very good care of her, and interact very well with her. 
 
Florentio:
 
What can I say about this little man? He stole my heart.  He's got a huge head of curly hair, huge dark eyes, and four bright white teeth (the four in the front-two on top and two on bottom).  And he can eat like a champ.  He's still fairly small, but his leg muscles are very well developed.  He pulls himself up and loves to bounce up and down.  And he took several steps to me when I was there!  It was a very exciting day, and he was so proud of himself!
The head banging is still a big problem, and was pretty disturbing to witness.  I found that putting a toy in his crib would distract him and stop the behavior, at least for a while.  The literature and research that we've done has said that there may not be any serious impact from it, as they aren't hitting hard enough to damage anything. However, I'm not sure about that statement. He doesn't display any obvious effects, but there is a large bump on his forehead where he's hitting himself.  I'm also hoping that when he learns to walk, some of this will stop.  At this point, it seems to be an act of creating motion when he's by himself.  Locomotion capabilities could help.
He hardly cried, even when he took some bad spills.  And he's starting to speak some.  He babbles a lot, and loves to imitate vocalizations and sounds that another person makes. And that laugh...it's unforgetable. When he's happy and smiles and laughs out loud, four teeth showing...it warmed my heart.
 

When I was in Tutova, I worked one-on-one with Gabi (big Gabi).  I would take him for walks every day, and he really touched me.  The last day I was there I finally got him to eat banana, and he ate yogurt without sucking on his fingers.  I almost cried.