Solomiya's Latest Adventures

Enjoying the 2-way camera feature on my phone.

Wearing her cape and eating a snack.

Helping wash the dishes. Or more accurately, helping to wash the floor.

She really likes the phone...

Pajamas on her head and brushing her teeth.

Tato showed her a new hat. Yes, a diaper.

Children's Hospital

Can't resist posting more pictures of these sweet babies.

The hardest part of being there this morning: 3 crying babies and only 1 set of arms. I think I am going to bring my baby wrap, that I used with Solomiya, when I go on Friday. That way I can hopefully hold two at once.
The best part of being there this morning: A group of university students (medical) came in around 11:45am and were holding the babies and I was able to leave at 12 without feeling guilty. It is so hard to leave the room when they are crying to be picked up and held.

Babies all lined up. There were 5 in this room today.

This little girl- seriously- I want to take her home. I think Solomiya would love a little sister.

Tummy time and working on lifting up his head! (No babies were harmed in the taking of this photo.) I took this picture near the end of his tummy time- so he was a bit tired. Yes, he can breathe.

Mid-action shot.

This little one did not feel good today; coughing and runny nose. Those eyes!

Cutie pie.

This little girl slept for my entire 2-hour visit. She is first on my list to work with on Friday.

My heart breaks everytime I see this little one.

It's still winter...

Thought spring was coming there for a minute- but it is definitely still winter: cold, overcast, flurries, etc...
Thought you might all like to enjoy some winter scenery:



In the background you can see one of the larger bazaars in our area.

Apartment buildings.

A vendor selling hats, stockings, etc...

The bazaar was closing up for the day.

Interesting sculptures.

This girl is getting entirely too tall! (Foreground: Homemade pizza)

Morning at the Children's Hospital

This morning, I was able to join Clinton and Christina on their weekly visit to the children's hospital here in Uzhhorod. At the hospital, there are two rooms set aside for babies with no family to go home to. The parents may have decided they did not want to keep their baby, the court may have sent the baby there while the parents work through some issues, or a number of other reasons.
The hospital does not have the staff to give these babies the attention that they need, other than feedings and diaper changes. Clinton and Christina go as often as they can to hold, change diapers, talk to, rock, play, pray...
The babies are usually here until: 1. The parents decide they DO want them and come to get them. 2. The court has made its decision if the home environment is safe to go to. 3. They turn 6 months old and go to an orphange for babies.
Christina introduced me to the head nurse for that floor and told her I was an OT and would love to come weekly and do some infant massage, special exercises, activities to spur on their development (along with just hanging out with them and giving them some time off their backs and out of the cribs). So- the nurse is okay with it and I will hopefully go every Tuesday and Friday morning!

Little baby #1. I spent most of the time holding him and doing some different things, like giving him some tummy time. No name- only a last name. Not sure of the date of birth, but I would guess 3-4 months old.

We have to wear slippers and scrubs/lab coat into the rooms.

The next few pictures give you an idea of what the room looks like. Baby cribs, changing table.

Baby in baby bed, rocking chair.

There was also a baby tub and sink that I did not get a picture of. Everything was clean and tidy.

Baby girl #1. Clinton has special baby powers and made her fall asleep.

Baby boy #2. This little one has only been in the hospital for about 2 weeks. The court ordered him to go there while his parents work through some issues.

Baby girl #2. Her parents decided to not take her home with them because she has a lot of medical issues. Ummm... can I take her home?

You can see she has an abnormally large head. Her body was SO tiny (not sure of the DOB). She also has that tube up her nasal cavity for feedings. Though, Clinton said that last week the nurse was feeding her by a syringe.

She was swaddled so tightly. I un-swaddled her and immediately her two little arms burst out and over her head to stretch. She was like, "I'm free....!"

Snow, rain, snow, rain...

One Year.
Can you believe it?
We celebrated living in Ukraine for 1 year on Sunday, January 27th! What a better way to celebrate than with a Skype/Google chat with our peeps at Changepoint in New York. Thanks so much to everyone who came and chatted with us; thank you for being patient as we lost our Internet connection 2 times (or was it 3?); thank you for still being excited with us as we embark on year two of our adventure.

The title of this post sums of the weather for the past several weeks. Here and there we have had a day or a few hours of sunshine- and that has been glorious. We all started taking extra vitamin D again to give our immune systems a boost.

I'll give you the low-down on what we have been up to:

Mike: Finishing the semester strong at the English school (which ends next week). He has still been very busy with teaching and preparing for his classes: Monday and Thursday evenings he teaches the Advanced class and Friday evenings he has a Beginner's class here at our apartment. On Wednesdays, he is a part of the team that leads the weekly English conversational group at the school. On Tuesday and Saturday- he now has band practice (which he is super excited about)! The band is made up of musicians and singers from all different churches in the city, which is pretty cool and unique for Uzhhorod. They will be playing at their first multi-church worship night in March.
When he is not doing the above, or washing dishes, or playing silly/crazy games with Solomiya, he has teacher meetings at the school or meets/calls a few young guys to encourage and spur them on in some really cool dreams that they have or a bazillion other things.
One thing he really excels in is being a friend to people. Not just any kind of friend, but a really good, loyal, encouraging friend. He is always calling someone (in Ukraine or the USA) to keep in touch with them, hear about what they are up to or see how he can help them.
He is also an amazing father. He is daily teaching Solomiya something new: how to drink from a cup (yeah, he's brave), how to say eyes-nose-mouth in Ukrainian, or how to push her teddy bear in his stroller- up the wall. I know that you are not surprised about that last one...

Annie: Currently having occupational therapy sessions with just one woman two times a week. She had a minor stroke last March; a surgery to relieve pressure/swelling last April (in her head); and then a severe stroke after the surgery. I started working with her in September and she has come a long way! I am so proud of her. She is now living back in her own apartment, but does have family members take shifts so that she has help 24 hours a day.
As for future OT plans: I am, or my friend who will go with me and translate for the first meeting, [is] waiting to hear back from someone about a new patient- not sure the diagnosis yet.
And- I am also hoping to visit the 'abandoned babies ward/room' (at the local hospital) soon with our friend, Clint. I visited one in another city about 2 hours from us, but that was 3 years ago. I really want to make this a part of my regular 'OT' each week. Clint has been going for several months and has a relationship with the staff there (at the hospital), so it will be great to be able to go with him. From what I know, the babies there are in a state of limbo- too young for the orphanage, not a good home life to go to, etc... And they are in this room all day- they get fed, get diapers changed- that is it; unless people like Clint go in for an hour or two to hold them, talk to them, give them some stimulation and something to look at besides the ceiling. I'll keep you updated.

Solomiya: This girl is becoming so tall. She can reach things that were completely out of her reach like 3 weeks ago. She currently has 6 new teeth coming in, so she's been a little touchy lately- but that's understandable.
She can point to different body parts when you ask her (eyes, nose, head, etc...) in English OR in Ukrainian! She's super-baby. Well, super-little girl.
She LOVES dressing up, putting on and wearing hats (all day), taking care of her bear, making tea with her tea set, watching Masha on YouTube...
Favorite episode, here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYniUCGPGLs&feature=related

Also, we visit a friend, Andrianna, once a week who is bed-bound due to a neurological disease and Solomiya "helped" me last week as I was massaging this girls back. It was cute, she was rubbing Andrianna's arm and hand. We call it "Solomiya therapy".

Crazy outfit for the evening.

PS- We have plane tickets booked for a visit to NY in June! Excited about seeing all you people.