Three Months Later

I love the ability to look back and be able to measure the progress that we have made with the first group of cleft palate babies. I love seeing the hard work and how it has paid off and how much some milk and great care can change a child's life. Thank you so very much to everyone who donated and volunteered their time, talents and resources. I want to especially mention my nannies. They do such a great job and it is so obvious to see just how much they love their babies. It is not been easy because the learning curve is steep but they have kept on trying.

I want to show you pictures when the babies got here and what they look like now. I especially want to let those who responded so generously to the plea that I send out know that you have made such a big difference to the life of a child and have given them the chance at a forever family.

So here they all are:

1) Tina

She was the smallest of the babies and has a double cleft. She is in the middle of having her molding done so that it will realign her gums and prepare her for surgery. Her head has grown 6 cm (2 3/4in) alone and she is now 6.5cm (3 in) longer. Phenomenal growth for her because she was so small to start with. She is doing really well and can now drink 3 and 4 oz at a time. When she got here she was drinking a 1/2 oz. She is a really long baby and I am waiting for her to fatten up. She smiles often and it is too cute to see just how big her mouth can open.


2) Karl

I was most concerned about Karl when he got here, he seemed so fragile. He has steadily made progress but I do not think he has caught up completely. He also got chicken pox in the meantime and that did not help. His head is now 4.5cm (1 3/4in) bigger and he is 5 cm (2 in) longer. He has picked up 74% of his arrival weight. Karl is also doing his mold right now.

3) Nick

Nick is a shining example of what I like at Starfish: A real Buddha belly. He has picked up 127% of his arrival body weight three months ago. He looks like a different child. His head is now 6cm (2 1/2) bigger and he has grown 6.5 cm (2 1/2in) too. He is now rolling over on that belly of his which almost does a full 360 degree turn.


4) Jasmine

Jasmine has huge hair issues. It stands straight in the air and she looks like she has gotten a big fright in every picture. She has added 70% weight and 4.5 in (1/3/4 in) length and 3.5cm (1 1/2in) around her head. She is not crying as much as she was when she first got here. The gripe water has been a huge help. We had no luck with her mold. She was able to spit it out in less than a second and we had no way of keeping it in her mouth.

5) Stella

Stella smiles at everyone and is a very easy baby to take care of and the nannies like her very much. Her face has filled out so much because she has basically doubled her body weight, added 6cm (2 1/2 in) to her height and 4.5cm (1 3/4 in) to her head circumference.

6) Clara

I love Clara's tooth that is now sticking out sideways through her cleft lip. We tried to do the molding but her teeth came out before we were finished. She added 50% to her weight and is now 5 cm (2 in) taller and has a head that is 3.5 cm (1 1/2in) bigger. She is sitting up but needs some help and is also rolling over.


7) Tim

Tim is now a big boy. The three older kids, Tim, Bryan and Antonia are in a race to see who can get to 10kg (22 lb) the fastest. They have all three made some incredible improvements. Right now Tim is the front runner at 9.15kg (20lb) but the other two are not far behind. When he got here he could not roll over or move but you have to see him in the crib. He does circles and rolls over in both directions. He is sitting up and beginning to stand. He loves the exersaucer and like Bryan jumps like crazy in it. I wonder if it is going to fall apart. His teeth are also coming in and his top gum teeth are pointing in different directions.

8) Bryan

Has also added some beef, but is third in the 10kg race. Like Tim he is getting teeth and is chewing in his fingers constantly. He has an easy smile and loves it when people talk to him. He is such a friendly little thing. He and Tim share a crib and they are almost at the same development level. I am going to separate them soon because they are getting too big and they each need their own crib. Bryan loves to explore in the walker and we find him down the corridor and in other rooms. He is sitting and rolling over and is really improving. He also celebrated his one year birthday a few weeks ago.

9) Antonia

Antonia was so developmentally delayed when she got here but she is making up for lost time. She is sitting up and can roll over without any problems. Antonia grew a massive 7.5cm (3 in)in the last three months. She also set a new record two weeks ago when she gained 0.70kg (1 1/2lb) in one week. That was a new record for Starfish. She is the only one so far that has had surgery for her cleft and she looks so good. She is so in love with her nanny and follows her with her eyes where ever she goes.

We now have three groups of babies and I hope that they can follow the examples of the first group, we will continue to buy milk. We are now using US$3 000 a month in milk powder alone. These babies deserve the best there is and this is one of our biggest expenses.

Life, Love and Laughter,
Amanda
Starfish Children's Services
US Tax Number: 20-4682916
Xian China
At Starfish, we have taken care of 85 children to date, arranged more than 50 surgeries and had 20 international adoptions, so our little starfishes live all over the globe: the US (latest adoption to North Carolina), Netherlands, Norway and Spain. We currently have 46 babies under the age of 3 at 2 foster homes.

Tina, Then and NOW!

Karl and Nick, Three Months ago and NOW!

Jasmine and Stella, 3 months ago and NOW!

Clara and Tim, Then and NOW!

Bryan and Antonia, then and NOW!

What a Race!

The Great Wall Marathon

Casten and Emma have been training for the Great Wall Marathon on May 16th. They are both working for a German firm in Shanghai and I am so grateful to them for all their hard work and training. As if a marathon is not grueling enough, they are also going to climb thousands of steps. Their aim: They want to raise some funds for the Starfish babies. So far they have raised a total of US$3 195. If you would like to also support them please check out this site for a donation.

https://www.justgive.org/basket?acton=viewWishList&donorId=235961&listTypeId=1

I wish them cool weather and stamina to endure to the end and then to get a fabulous massage. My marathon would be taking on 46 babies and not running anywhere.

Life, Love and Laughter,
Amanda

Starfish Children's Services
US Tax Number: 20-4682916
Xian China
At Starfish, we have taken care of 85 children to date, arranged more than 50 surgeries and had 20 international adoptions, so our little starfishes live all over the globe: the US (latest adoption to North Carolina), Netherlands, Norway and Spain. We currently have 46 babies under the age of 3 at two foster homes.

www.thestarfishfosterhome.org
http://chinesestarfish.blogspot.com
http://chinesestarfishcleft.blogspot.com
chinese.starfishthrower@gmail.com
Cell: 86.1348.812.4847

Planting People

If your vision is for a year, plant wheat.
If your vision is for a 10 years, plant trees.
If your vision is for a lifetime, plant people.
Chinese proverb

What a great way to explain the vision I have I want to plant people. Yesterday I got my vision reaffirmed. We "planted" another nine babies. What a joy that is and at the same time what an incredible sadness because some had to stay behind. I will NEVER get used to the feeling of choosing from those children who ALL need to have the blessings of food, love, care and a family.
A group of nine descended on the orphanage Monday afternoon. It was a great time because in the morning the decision was made that no foreigners would be allowed to go to the orphanage to visit because of the Swine flu. I was suppose to bring eight babies home but came home with nine. Every one of the volunteers brought home a baby and because of that they got to name them. There was so much activity as we weighed and measured them all, bathed and fed them. We will keep the babies confined for a few days and then some of the heart babies will go upstairs and the others will stay in the cleft home, which is now also a heart center.

This was made possible by an extremely generous donation from a Chinese American foundation. I am so grateful for that serendipitous meeting that took place in Luoyang and for the part that everyone played. To me that was really a miracle because everyone there had a part to play. Thank you so much to everyone involved and for the lives that you will have a part in changing.
Last night was such a special time for me. Everyone had gone home and at 1:20am they woke me up to come and help. So I had some choice experiences down there. Jessica just reached for my hand and held on to it as I fed her twice. This morning, she saw me and smiled the most sweetest smile you have ever seen and just kept on following me with her eyes. Caroline cooed at me as she drank her bottle and I cooed right back. The closer it came to the end of the bottle the less she cooed and soon she was asleep too. Holding the new babies as they eagerly sucked so early in the morning has turned out to be my favorite part of yesterday. How incredibly blessed I am to be a witness to the changes that are going to take place in their life and for the hope that it offers for a chance to have a family of their own one day.

For those following Thomas' saga, he came off the ventilator yesterday and will be released to the general ward from the SICU tomorrow. I think he is going to be in the hospital for another two weeks. Our collective prayers have been answered.

I am stunned that we now have 46 babies at Starfish. I could never have imagined this would ever be possible. That is some incredible growth from where I started with six in September, 2005.

Thank you so very much for all of your support. I could never have done any of this on my own and I am so grateful for the help, emotionally, financially, spiritually and in all other ways that I receive.

Life, Love and Laughter,
Amanda
Starfish Children's Services
US Tax Number: 20-4682916
Xian China
At Starfish, we have taken care of 84 children to date, arranged more than 50 surgeries and had 20 international adoptions, so our little starfishes live all over the globe: the US (latest adoption to North Carolina), Netherlands, Norway and Spain. We currently have 46 babies under the age of 3 at two foster homes.
www.thestarfishfosterhome.org
http://chinesestarfish.blogspot.com
http://chinesestarfishcleft.blogspot.com
chinese.starfishthrower@gmail.com
Cell: 86.1348.812.4847

Starfish Keeps on Growing....

and Growing......

More Starfish Miracles