I could not pass up the opportunity to update everyone on
little LaLa. If you are not familiar with her story, then I encourage you look
back on the blog posts tilted "A Dad Holding His Child" (May 2016) and "The Journey of Lala" (March 2017). Three weeks ago on April 28, Lala
came to therapy; however she was pretty sick. Her breathing was slightly
labored and she was significantly congested. Instead of her receiving therapy,
we sent her to the clinic. Lala is typically a little congested; however this
was a little worse than normal and her breathing pattern was not her usual. She
got set up with what she needed at the clinic and went home. The following
week, her sweet papa called and let us know that he could not bring her to
therapy due to him being “sick in the eyes” – most likely pink eye (it is
running rampant these days it seems). I became a little worried since she was
sick the week before and then missing therapy and her weight check in the
following week. Previously, when she had a similar sickness, she lost quite a
bit of weight and regressed in a few skills. Things kind of spiraled downward
that time. So I spent the week praying and, honestly, I spent the week a little
worried. May 12th came around the day of her next therapy
appointment. By this time, it had been two full weeks. A lot can change in two
weeks…and oh how she changed.
Lala came
in that Friday resting in her papa’s arms just like every other week. Sometimes
you will get a serious Lala with a face of “oh gosh, I am here AGAIN?!?!”, other times you will get a
“go with the flow” Lala with smiles and laughter, and at times you would get
the “over it” Lala when she just cries until her papa holds her again. But that
day, it was as if she was a whole new child. She popped up from her papa’s
shoulders, looked around, and started belly laughing and clapping. With a huge
smile on his face, her papa said “she’s doing so good…she’s all better”. She
stole the show in the therapy room with all her new skills and bubbling
personality. Instead of scooting across the floor on her belly, she somehow
figured out how to bear walk to get around (yes…obviously we prefer a quadruped
position for crawling, but hey, you have to give her credit for figuring out a
way to be functional with her mobility). If she got tired while bear walking,
then she would just collapse to her belly and rest for a bit and then get up
and do it all over again. She also figured out if she sits on her bottom, then
she can spin herself round and round. This move made her laugh in a way I have
never heard from her as well as make her so excited that she did not know what
to do next. We worked on cruising and she almost took a few steps while holding
onto a stable surface, but she became distracted by her feet. We also worked on
walking a little….she was all about walking and just smiled, laughed, and
interacted with everyone she passed by. In addition to these new skills and
activities, Lala has become obsessed with kissing, not only people, but
objects. She would go in for a kiss and then would scrunch up her face and
belly laugh. I am not sure what changed; however in two weeks she became a
different child with many new skills.
The whole
time, her papa was looking on and raising his hands in the air praising the
Lord. I fell into a pit of humility. I was witnessing a papa who once felt he
was unfit to care for his daughter; a papa who felt his daughter was better off
with complete strangers rather than himself and her family; a papa who once had
no hope. This papa, his family, they practically have nothing. Minimal to no
past education, no steady job or income, no materialistic items, constant struggle
for food and for their basic needs to be met, but there he was, lifting his
arms in praise. Childlike faith. Many times it comes through innocent children,
other times it comes through grown adults.
She says, "I'm so excited about life today".
Check out all those new teeth!!!
She may look like she is crying, but this is her dying laughing when she was chatting with her papa.
"I promise I am an angel" ;)
(Unfortunately, I could not get videos to upload on here; however you can check out Lala walking on the Respire Haiti Facebook page.)
p.s. Supporting my ministry is easy and gifts are tax deductible: 1. ONLINE GIFTS www.worldoutreach.org/donations and follow the prompts. You can also set-up automatic monthly gifts by clicking the "monthly" option. 2. CHECKS: mail to World Outreach Ministries P.O. Box B, Marietta, GA 30061 and put "Ashley Kahila #406 in the memo.
