What is Dennis like?

As promised, here is more about Dennis. Meredith, another adoptive mom, was at Dennis' same orphanage adopting her two children just last month and so I have had the privilege of hearing all about Dennis.

Here is what Meredith had to say.

"As some of you know, I had the privilege of meeting other children with special needs while I was in Ukraine. A few of these children were in Emma's and Micah's area and some were in other parts of the orphanage. One little boy that Mike and I always were glad to see up and around was little Denis. He is a very sweet little boy that is 18 months old and is learning to walk. He would go down the halls of the little infirmary area with just the fingers of a nurse as he learned to walk. He would cry his soft longing cry as Emma was changed into clothes to come visit with us (they were roommates). He is a typical kid, a sweet little boy. A baby, really."

When I read this, I welled up with tears at the thought of this perfectly healthy little boy sitting in a hospital just because he has some scarring on his face. He is not sick. He is not delayed. He is not contagious. He has so much potential....I'm sure almost all of these children have lots of potential. Why can't he be with the other normal children?

Meredith shares more.

"I will give you lots of details about the caretakers/orphanage/city in the next few days, but I wanted to tell you now that yes, the caretakers took good care of him and did not seem to stray away because of his face. They did, on the other hand, tend to keep him away from us. They were afraid he would be scary. I saw him on several occasions during my month there but usually in passing. They were holding his hands walking him down the short hallway once. Other times he was sitting up on a changing table and they were feeding him. And then the time I saw him when I went to take his photo. He stood up in his crib when we all came in and was interested in what was happening.

He cries... oh my he cries... Poor little guy. He would sit back there looking for someone to pay him attention and while we were waiting for our kids to be 'ready' for us we'd listen to his soft almost moaning. We wondered, a few times, if it was Emma, but they'd bring her to us and it continued.

He's really a CUTE kid. Take that picture and cover up the eye that's been damaged. Look at that sweet face! I think he will do well with the love and attention of a family. He's surpassed all odds in just being alive and the fact that he's trying to live when he spends all his days in a crib is amazing. Other children at the same orphanage just a few months older that have been out playing and crawling, etc. are just learning to walk (I've seen two in the playroom that were being adopted at 20 and 22 months and still unsteady)."

You don't have to sell him to me! We'll take him!

She continues,

"I don't know if he crawls but he can pull to standing in the crib and he walked with very little assistance about once a day through the hallway in the infirmary area :) His cry is longing. Not really loud, but just looking for someone to come. Sometimes almost a moan, if that makes sense. What's interesting is that NONE of the other kids in that area really cried (other than my Micah I'm guessing since he sure cries up a storm for me, but he always was being 'prepped' (put in clean clothes and a disposable diaper) when I was there so he always had someones attention).

Denis seems to still have a hope that his cries will be answered and I do think that the orphanage staff (they are nurses in that area) answer his cries. It's a very low staff to child ratio and I think, for lack of a better way to put it, that they feel sorry for him because there is nothing "wrong" with him- as they see with the other kids. He just has an injury. The other two kids in his room are completely non-responsive (and Emma-Daria was in there too). He really is a sweetheart! I can't wait to see him flourish in your family!!"

Neither can I. Thank you Meredith, for sharing about Dennis. It fills my heart with hope.