Updated pictures

A couple more of my favorite kids have updated pictures too.

Sasha, who is in very poor condition and has Down Syndrome, has a new picture up. I don't know if his condition is improving; he needs a family so badly. Here's his old picture that I have posted before:


Sasha may also have cerebral palsy and/or autism... or he may just be severely neglected. Here is the new picture:


Remember sweet baby Rebekah?


She has Down Syndrome and just turned 2 in January... here's a much newer picture:



Sweet Constantine has some adorable pictures which inspired this whole post when I saw them. I only had seen one picture of this little guy:


But someone posted some more on the Reece's Rainbow message boards:




Gorgeous, isn't he? His parents are going to be so blessed by him one day.

I also found a few more pictures of Ivan, who desperately needs surgery so his brain has room to grow and develop:




Someone please give this precious boy a home and a family; he is so worth the effort and cost!

Look beyond the picture

Look beyond this picture.

He has crossed eyes. Probably that will need correction.

He has Down Syndrome.

He isn't smiling.

But...
Dmitry is a five-year-old boy who desperately needs a loving family. He needs someone like you--not a perfect mom (or dad), but ANY mom or dad. He needs a chance. Could you give him that?

Because I guarantee you, whatever little you could give him here, he's not getting there.

Two kids you won't see on Reece's Rainbow (and one you will)

This little girl, Anja, is actually 3. Her picture is clearly out of date.



Her records list enuresis and vesicoureteral reflux (I don't know much about this condition--it can require surgery but she might have outgrown it by now). She is also expected to need corrective lenses.

And this is Pyotr:

Pyotr will turn 2 in December. He is lactose intolerant and has a posterior tongue tie which was repaired but then grew back--the condition should not require medical treatment. He exhibits some pica (eating non-food objects). The records say Pyotr has some words but is hard to understand. He is not toilet trained.

Here's another picture:

Anja and Pyotr are actually siblings. And they don't look miserable or asleep all the time.


They can walk. They can play creatively.


And they are actually brilliant. Pyotr has a vocabulary of over 20 words. So what if he's hard to understand? So what if he's not potty trained? So what if he eats dirt? He's not even two yet.

If you haven't figured it out yet, Anja and Pyotr are my biological kids, Hannah and Peter. Everything I wrote about them is true (Hannah has outgrown her vesicoureteral reflux). Enuresis--bedwetting--is common up until kindergarten at least. Posterior tongue tie is pretty much irrelevant once the child is no longer nursing--well, maybe it would affect French kissing, but not a big deal. Lactose intolerance is an issue, but not as big of an issue as I might have thought.

The fact that I can make my fairly typical kids (who, of course, are brilliant and a joy) sound like risky, medically needy kids can tell you a few things. It tells you that some diagnoses aren't as scary as they sound. It tells you that a bad picture can make a big difference in how you perceive a child. If the first picture you saw was 1 1/2 year old Pyotr playing ring-around-the-rosies, or 3-year-old Anja tracing the alphabet, you would have had a totally different impression of them. I see the first picture of my daughter and I know that's Hannah when she's unhappy; you might look at it and assume Hannah is an unhappy girl. I look at the picture of Peter and remember him falling asleep in the playpen when I gave him a timeout; you might think he lives in that playpen and his legs are stuck in that position.

Now, you also might realize that having children by birth can give you something you didn't expect too. I never would have chosen a child with lactose intolerance. Can you believe that? I would not have picked my own son. That's painful to think about. But now that I understand it (and am dealing with it anyway) it's a non-issue to me.

I've been wanting to do this post for a while but hadn't found time to do it; I hope it helps bring home what a picture and a description of a child's challenges (rather than strengths) can't tell you.

One more picture.

This is Amie. She has Down Syndrome.
She doesn't look very happy. Maybe she doesn't have a reason to be very happy--or maybe this picture doesn't show how happy she is. There isn't any medical information about Amie. If a family adopted her they could end up with just about anything.

And they would end up with a daughter.

Seeing past a picture

Having pictures of these children who need to be adopted is a wonderful thing. A happy, smiling little face helps to emphasize that there is a real little girl or boy beyond a description who needs a family. And up-to-date, happy, cute pictures make it more likely that the little girl or boy will be chosen. But sometimes, all that one has to go on is a picture that is hopelessly out of date, or one of a child who is crying or sullen. Sometimes the picture may be out of focus or grainy so it's hard to see what the little girl or boy looks like. And of course, sometimes there still is no photo at all.

It's harder to fall in love with a little one who is crying, glaring at you, or hard to see, let alone one you can't see at all. It's a good thing that people have photographs, so that they can fall in love with a little boy or girl and then advocate for that child, or even bring him or her home. Even the grainy or sullen photographs help to drive home that there really is a little boy or girl waiting for a family. But in large photolistings, the unhappy photos are more likely to get passed by.



This is Lucy. She doesn't look real happy about having her picture taken. Maybe she just woke up. I'm sure most of us have some pretty miserable pictures of our kids. But they aren't like that all the time, are they? And when we think of them, we usually don't think of them at their most miserable--most days. But imagine if someone were to know your child only through an out-of-focus, whiny, or sullen picture. If the only picture someone saw of your daughter or son showed them at their worst, it probably wouldn't make them realize what a delightful personality your little one had, and how he or she is really smart and so helpful and has a beautiful smile. But all of that would still be true.

I bet little Lucy has a beautiful smile. I bet she just loves playing with new toys. And I bet she would fall in love with parents who gave her lots of cuddles and attention. It doesn't show in her picture--but she is still a two-year-old little girl, made in the image of the God who loves us, delights in us, and created her and us. And when her family brings her home, they will capture her delightful smile and you will see how beautiful she really is.

I noticed Lucy because of her pretty name, but she has a lot going for her. She is loved and cared for right now. The region she's in requires 3 trips, but adoptive families have had great experiences with her orphanage and the workers there really want the kids to find families. You could get contact information to talk to other adoptive families about what it would be like to adopt Lucy. Please consider more than one picture; Lucy needs a family too.