This morning my daughter and I finally got to go to Allysen’s orphanage. I was so excited to finally be seeing her after all this time. We met the director, who was very kind to us and she asked us if we had any questions. I didn’t have many questions at the time, as I just wanted to meet Alyssen.
They brought her to us in her stroller and she looked adorable –just like her pictures. We took her outside to the playground to get to know her. The first thing we did was take her out of her stroller. We were immediately surprised at how she just slumped over and would hardly hold her head up. She didn’t seem to be able to sit up-though later we were able to get her to sit for about one minute. So we know she can sit a little. She never made eye contact but we were not surprised. I believe that will come soon. She had no interest in the toys we brought her,but she did seem to like the music my daughter played for her on her cell phone. She would stop all movement as soon as the phone was put close to her ear and sit still for a few minutes.
We walked her around the playground, sang to her, tickled her and held her on one of the toy cars. One thing we noticed is that she does not use her right arm –it just hangs at her side most of the time. We tried and tried to get her to use it but she would barely move it. We also noticed that she doesn’t use her right leg much either. She does seem to move it a little more than her arm though. She can stand on it when we would hold her up but she would not pick it up like she does her left leg. We mentioned this to the worker and she said they know she has this problem and they are hoping physical therapy will help.
I am not sure what to think. After being at this orphanage and seeing some of the other children, I feel her problems go far beyond regular orphanage delays. I’m just not sure what the problem is. Hopefully tomorrow she will be a little more responsive to us and maybe we can get more medical information. We will visit for about two and a half hours.
She is a beautiful little girl that is bound to do better in a family. She did really love being held and being sung to. She would be so still and listen. We also got a few smiles out of her and a couple of laughs.
As usual, here are a few photos:
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