E-mail excerpts (a bit late, sorry!)

From 4 February:
I sent a phone message today after I tried to call but couldn't get an
answer. Hopefully you read that Luka walked!!! Both yesterday and today he
has taken up to eight steps before falling. He loves doing it and shows off
for other people. He really has a balance problem, but just in these two
days we have seen improvement! I am so excited - I actually started crying
yesterday when he first walked. He can stand himself up (though his head
seems to throw off his balance often), and toddles away. It is so cute to
see and he is soooo very proud of himself! What an achievement this is for
him and us!

I also sent you a message that says Sister Agripina says that Luka is
definitely adoptable. I asked again about his mother and she said she could
not get him back. Then, while Stephanie and Nicole were working at the
orphanage on Tuesday, Luka's mother came! She walked right up to Luka,
seeming to recognize him at once. He was with Stephanie. Steph said there
was definitely something wrong with her. She appeared very sneaky and
almost like she was on drugs. She found a flower and tried to get Luka to
take it, but he wanted nothing to do with it or her. Finally Nicole went
and got Sister Agripina who talked with her in her room and then Luka's
mother left. She continues to say that his mother will never get him back,
nor family because they left him the second time. Just thought you'd want
to know this information. Know anyone who wants to adopt him?? I hate to
bring him back to the orphanage and don't plan to do it for a while.

From 22 February:
Luka is doing great and walks all over the house now! He still falls a lot
and has balance issues, but improves everyday. He is so proud of himself
and loves the fact that he can walk!

Good News

We've just heard from Mike Caraway that Luka can now stand on his own two feet...unaided!

Also, a couple of previously unpublished photos of Luka over Christmas:

Saying goodbye

Luka went back to Sumbawanga on the 11th of this month. This is a little after-the-fact, but I have avoided writing this post because it is still painful.

The past month has been quite hectic with most nights spent in various hotel rooms, most days spent in cars. Luka was a trooper despite the many hours spent in his car seat! Thankfully, we had a day back at Masumbo to just relax with Luka before we had to say goodbye.

Right now, he is staying with our friends, Mike and Lynn Caraway, who live near Sumbawanga. He will stay with them until more can be determined about his mother, who has been looking for him but is considered (by the government and orphanage) unfit to care for him. (For those who are curious about Luka's situation and would like more background info, please shoot us an e-mail at shaffnersATgmail.com.) Please pray about this situation!

Even though saying goodbye was difficult, we have felt a peace knowing that God will go with Luka. We are also incredibly encouraged by the leaps and bounds Luka has made developmentally.

Luka still isn't walking, but he sure is trying to! He has perfected the "bear walk" on all fours.

We took Luka for a few more tests in Dar, and Luka's iron levels are now considered normal even by American standards.

We also got a chest x-ray done to determine whether or not Luka DID indeed have TB (as was reported by the orphanage), and the results show that there is no damage or abnormalities in Luka's lungs.

We had Luka's stool tested several weeks ago and parasites turned up, but a healthier diet and lots of clean drinking water has brought about definite improvement (and significantly fewer nappies to change!).

Luka is talking more, playing more, and definitely has developed a "personality" (attitude)! He has moved up several age levels developmentally and will soon catch up to what is considered normal for two year olds! (check the About Luka section for more updates)

Even though Luka is no longer living with us, I will continue to update this website as we receive more information from the Caraways and other friends who are involved at the orphanage.

These two months with Luka have been an incredible blessing for both of us, and we certainly believe that the hardest part of fostering him was saying goodbye.

Thanks to all who have been keeping up with this blog the past couple of months! Thanks especially for all the encouragement and prayers.

Favourites

Luka is laughing, not crying, although it is hard to tell!


We left a suitcase in the middle of the floor and Luka thought it looked like a nice bed


Luka not a little bit mesmerized by the PSP.


Hanging out with Uncle Lawrence at Mikumi


Headphones, tassled beanie, fingers in mouth, carseat... can't get much cooler than that


Books are the best babysitters


Oh, do I love this face!


Luka sure loves his bath! Note: the water was muddy because it is river water, not because Luka was that filthy


Luka's first kiddie meal at Spur in Dar. I think Paul and I got more of a kick of it than he did!

Sorry for the poor quality--these were all taken on a cellphone camera.

Picture backlog

Enjoying breakfast at Fox's Tented Camp in Mikumi (unfortunately, backlit)


at the airport parking lot with Uncle Vic


Out for a walk with Uncle Vic (again with the fingers in his mouth)


The easier way to carry a 30 lb child

Vacation!

I don't have much time but thought it would be good to take advantage of the internet connection here at our friends' house and quickly post an update.

My family came for Christmas! They had a great time with Luka. We spent most of the time traveling around Southern TZ and Luka has proven to be an old pro at surviving long car journeys, with the aid of snacks and occasional stretches.

Luka also got to experience his first safari when we spent Christmas at Mikumi National Park. We were cracking up because Luka excitedly pointed to every animal and shouted, "Mbwa! Mbwa!" (dog). At least he recognizes that they are all animals!

Lots of pictures to post, but unfortunately, the picture uploader doesn't seem to be working right now... SO! Next time!

Luka's New Friends

Elijah, Paulina, Moliana, Luka, Naomi, Steveni

Check out all the kids under 4 staying that the Hodgson's house in Mbeya last weekend!
(also check out Luka's deer-in-the-headlights look)

Tuende hospitalini, part II

So Luka got his measles shot. He screamed and screamed, but it was hard to tell if the shot was actually that painful or if Luka was just ticked that we forced him to stay put on the hospital bed, since he started screaming as soon as we set him down and didn't stop until we picked him back up. (Wow, that was a long sentence.) I was able to display my (lack of) courage by turning around and plugging my ears during the actual injection, to the amusement of the nurses.
Luka's immediate panic upon entering the clinic should have given us a clue that he had done it before. We had tried to contact the orphanage to see if he in fact ALREADY had his immunizations, but we didn't hear back until AFTER the shot--so the poor kid was injected for no reason! (Don't worry too much. We were advised to give him the shot anyway, despite the chance that he might have already gotten it, because both pediatricians in town insisted that duplicating immunizations is much better than the risk that he is not immunized at all.) Anyway, we think Luka deserves a Chupa-Chup. And we deserve another most neglectful foster parent award. Shoot, that's twice in one week.

In other news, Luka is defying all expectations and hasn't pooped ALL MORNING, despite the fact that he ALWAYS poops in the morning. So no stool test yet!

Tuende hospitalini!

Luka's getting his measles shot today! (We are actually at the internet cafe next door, waiting for the doctor to come in.) We are also hoping Luka poops sometime soon (I never thought I'd say that) so we can get his stool analyzed. After that, we're off to the OTHER hospital in town to get Luka's chest x-rayed.
Poor kid.

We'll post the results sometime soon, although we don't anticipate having much internet access the next few days because we are going to Dar to pick up my family.

Woohoo!

Mbeya visit

We just got back from Mbeya, where we were checking out this year's home stay site as well as catching up with the GMI folk. Casey and Shelby arrived on Monday and got a chance to see Luka. Everyone was so shocked to see how much he has grown (length-wise and girth-wise). Luka did very well with all the stimulation--and there was a LOT of it. Lynn and Mike came with one-year-old twins from the orphanage, which brought the grand total of kids-under-5 to a whopping 6! The Hodgson's living room looked like a daycare!

I think I deserve the prize for most neglectful foster parent. The last night in Mbeya, I decided to let Luka sleep on a bed instead of his pack-and-play because the mosquito net that goes with his crib smelled like poop. I made sure to tuck the net under his mattress as tightly as I could, not wanting him to fall out of bed. Sometime during the night, I heard Luka mildly whimpering. Since he does this every once in a while, I said "shhhhhhh' really loudly and he almost immediately stopped. This happened again two or three times until morning--each time, Luka stopped within a few seconds.

When I finally woke up, I couldn't find Luka in his bed. And I noticed that the mosquito net was untucked. Only then did I realize that there were two little legs sticking out from under the bed. It turns out that Luka had fallen out and had wedged himself under the bed sometime during the night! Yikes! The poor guy must have been so uncomfortable. And boy, did I feel bad for shushing him.

Camping pictures, part II

Paul and Luka in the hand-me-down baby backpack (that was used to cart Colton Rabenold around. Yes, Colton is now 18)


Paul and Luka in the water! Apparently, I DID get a picture of Luka "swimming"


The boys

Walking update

I think this mad dash for posting updates is in reaction to all the pictures I posted yesterday. But more pictures are coming, I promise!

Luka is still not walking, but he is incredibly active. Part of the trouble is his lack of desire to walk. He has perfected a fast-as-lightning crawl and is perfectly happy scooting around on his bum when he's got something in his hands. I read in a British book on baby development that babies who learn to butt-scoot are almost always behind in learning to walk, simply because they don't feel the need to. Definitely true of Luka!
We also think that part of the reason why he is not yet walking is that he still hasn't built up enough strength in his lower legs (calves). He is such a solid baby, but his lower legs look like toothpicks (especially compared to his humongous thighs-of-steel). We've been trying to encourage him to use his lower legs by setting his toys (and sometimes his desserts) in the middle of our coffee table so he has to stand up to get to them (mwa ha ha). He also likes standing on the Moyers' couch to look at the dogs, or on our pillows to look outside our bedroom window, which is good exercise, too.
Luka can "walk" if I hold his arms up. At first I thought it was just a matter of balance, but I am realizing that he has a very hard time holding himself up when I let his hands drop down so that he can no longer let me carry his weight.
All in all, Luka's shown much improvement and is very active, but needs a little more time in order to build the confidence to walk.

Long overdue: our trip to the pediatrician

We are so fortunate to have two great pediatricians in town. One of them, Clare, is a British doctor whose husband is working with Student Partnership Worldwide. She agreed to see Luka, although she does not usually do consultations in her home (she volunteers at the government hospital several days a week).
To make a four-page check-up summary short:

-Luka has been diagnosed as anemic. We were encouraged to have his blood tested (he tested a 9.7, which is not terrible, but we're aiming to reach 11 or 12, which is "good" in European standards). We are now giving him iron supplements, which turn his poo a lovely shade of olive green.
-Luka might have a heart murmur, possibly related to his anemia. While he was absolutely lovely during the hour-long check-up, Luka decided that he was fed up with sitting still right when Clare needed to listen to his heart. She instructed us to have his heart checked in a month or so.
-Luka's weight is at the 80-90% percentile according to the TZ growth chart and at around 30% according to the US growth chart. Either way, he is healthy! His head measurements came at a whopping 95% in the US growth chart, which is no surprise considering we often joke that he can't walk simply because it takes too much work to carry all that weight! His head is huge! (but healthy!)
-Luka's cough didn't seem to concern Clare. When she heard what treatment had been prescribed when he was first (allegedly) diagnosed with TB, she concluded that he probably DIDN'T have TB and was given TB medication because TB is often a knee-jerk diagnosis. She told us that we could have Luka's chest x-rayed to rule out the possibility entirely, but also said that he looks so healthy that we probably don't have to worry.
-When we asked about Luka's age, she told us that it is impossible to tell. Her best guess is somewhere around 18 - 22 months (the only real "clue" is the fact that two of his molars have already come in and he's got lots of other teeth). She encouraged us to pick the younger age because it doesn't hurt Luka to be placed at an age closer to his development level, and also observed that he looked remarkably close in age/development to her 18-month-old daughter. She told us to pick a birthdate for Luka because it will be helpful for him later on to have a day already given to him, rather than leaving him with no birthday and the responsibility of coming up with a date himself!

All in all, Luka is healthy! We have dewormed him, given him vitamin A supplements, and are mixing iron supplements in with his food. We have an appointment with the doctor to give him the measles vaccine and will take him for a chest x-ray.

Camping pictures, part I

We went camping with our friends Andrew, Miriam, and Ben this past weekend. Luka loved being outside and was, for the most part, very happy and well behaved. Luka liked the river but hated the baby paddling pool Andrew brought along. He liked Andrew and Miriam but was scared of Ben. He liked hanging out without a diaper but didn't like lying exposed (he insisted on covering up with a kanga--what a modest guy!). This child is full of contradictions!


Paul, Kat, Luka, Ben, Miriam, and Andrew


Kat and Luka in the water (he later went in up to his chest and splashed around with us, but unfortunately, we were too busy playing to get any pictures!) I picked this pic to post because my arms look buff--oh wait, it's just the lighting. Oh well, at least you get the action shot of his arms waving frantically.


Playing with Ben and Luka (check out his new phone). Andrew in background.

Who needs a phone...

...when you've got a foot?

Luka and Paul

This has to be one of my favourite pictures

Talking in his sleep, Part II

For those of you who read my other blog, you've probably noticed that a sleep-talking theme has emerged the past few days. Here's another story to add to the collection!

We had to walk down the hill (and zipline across the river) in the dark the other night, and I bundled sleeping Luka up in a kitenge and fastened the fabric around me, sling-style. His little head bobbed up and down as I gingerly made my way down the hill, but he stayed asleep. To my dismay, I found myself slipping on a loose rock and in the midst of the fall, a still-sleeping Luka brightly chirped, "Uh, oh!" It took me a while to get back on my feet, I was laughing so hard.

I guess Luka is a deep sleeper.

Goodbye, Dream People!

Last night, we got home quite late and Luka was fast asleep in his car seat. I laid him on the bed while Paul set up the pack-and-play and he was so calm and peaceful (and asleep) that we decided to let him lie there for a while so we could enjoy his immobile, silent cuteness (with all his newfound energy, these moments are rare). Paul poked him one too many times and Luka finally reacted by turning over. As he was turning, he lifted a hand (still asleep), waved it slowly, and said, "Yaaaaii." (Luka-speak for "bye".)
Paul summed it up best: "It was so cute I wanted to curl up in a ball and explode."

Let's try this again...

Updates

Check out the updated "About Luka" section on the side. Notable update: Luka now LOVES taking a bath!