The Yellow Room, Part 2

Here are the rest of the spotlights from the baby room.

This little chubby-faced cutie is Angel.  She was born with a deformed left hand.  The two middle fingers are just stubs, so it continually looks like she is signing “I love you.”  But despite the deformity, she has a firm grip and uses her hand frequently.  Angel is a serious little girl who rarely smiles.  But she is peaceful and also rarely whines.  She is content to look around or suck on a toy and be held.  That little brow is always furrowed; I think she will grow up to be a very thoughtful person.  We had to laugh a little when we noticed the mysterious (almost lightning-shaped?!) scar on her forehead in this picture, which was taken on none other than the anniversary of Voldemort’s downfall.  The Chosen One of China???

Miss Grace, ladies and gentleman!  You cannot look at that face and not smile.  Grace is about 13 months old and came to Starfish needing heart surgery, which has been completed.  Grace is very amiable and will play with any of the volunteers who come in.  She absolutely LOVES to be sung to, and the nannies have taught her to raise her hands and twist her little wrists delicately when someone is singing and then clap at the end.  It is the sweetest thing.   She has excellent fine motor skills and knows a few words in sign language.  As of this week, Grace is standing up on her own!

This little guy is named David.  When I recently saw his picture pre-cleft palate operation, I was amazed.  He had two splits in his cleft and lip, so the operation has left him looking like a new person.  What a miracle!  Gill provided another miracle in David’s life when she woke in the middle of the night (about a week before we arrived here) to see David crying and bleeding heavily.  It seems that his crying so hard ripped open a few stitches.  Gill rushed him to the hospital and thinks he would have been dead by morning if she had not because of how much blood he had lost.  They stitched him up again, and he is doing very well, though a bit colicky. Wow.  I love David’s big, searching eyes, which give him the look of being continually in awe of the world.  He just sits back peacefully and observes everything with wonder.  He especially likes to look at people’s faces and study them.  When he is falling to sleep, rubbing his head really soothes him. He’s really a gentle boy.

If Gill had her way, she would pop little Bryant in her backpack tomorrow and take him home with her.  All the time, she calls him a “little treasure,” which, indeed, he is!  He is only 5 months old.  Bryant had surgery along with the cleft palate babies for the split from the left side of his mouth across his cheek, and he had a growth removed from his outer ear.  Bryant’s right foot is turned in, so we’ve been working to stretch out the tendons and muscles to a normal position (with some progress!), and an orthopedic doctor will come this weekend to see about casting it.  Bryant has such a pleasant, sparkling, genial little personality and is quite extroverted.  He likes to “talk” in coos and baby babbling and smiles easily and frequently.

This is Judy.  She is the smallest baby at Starfish weighing only about 5 kg or 11ish pounds.  Funny how my brothers at birth weighed more than her at 5 months!  I think I may have mentioned this before, but all the cleft palate babies (like Judy) are  small because until they get their operation, eating is such a struggle, and they have to burn so much energy in the process  of eating the food.  And on top of that, Judy had pneumonia for which she was hospitalized for several days.  She is healthy now, and hopefully will gain weight quickly with her new lip facilitating easy eating!  Judy is a patient baby and very low maintenance.  When the nannies set her down in the bouncer, she will kick her legs vigorously because she loves the bouncing sensation.  She is gentle and sweet.