What a difference a week makes!

For the first few days after he arrived, our new boy didn't have the energy to do anything but eat and sleep.

The week following admission is a time to stabalize severely malnourished children; we keep them warm and observe them carefully. They are treated for dehydration and any infections that they have, and, we introduce feeds. Children are offered small amounts of milk formula every 2-3 hours. More often than not, they are past the point of feeling hungry. They tend to have poor appetites and they are unable to tolerate anything but small amounts of food or liquid.

Yet from the day he arrived, this boy has defied all of our expectations. A week after he arrived at GLA, he has gained 2.5 lb.

Pulling faces at us!

He has enough energy to play, to crawl around the NICU, pull himself into a standing position, and HE can even walk for short distances, holding the hands of his nurses and nannies.

We would have expected a child of his age to be sad and withdrawn on entering the orphanage: this boy is neither. He smiles and giggles. His eyes are full of hope. And not only is he ready and willing to accept affection, but he reciprocates it.....

We got our first smile from him on Thursday. Friday was the day for our first giggle. On Saturday there was a kiss, a hug, and an invitation to play ball.

As I experienced this miracle, I found myself wondering what our new little man was thinking. If his heart could speak, what would it say?

I believe his heart would say, 'I am whole. For I am loved and I love.'

"We are each of us angels with only one wing, and we can only fly by embracing one another." (Luciano de Crescenzo).

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