The "Mongolian Spot"

Blogger.com wouldn't activate last night so I wasn't able to post.

Here's a little news from yesterday ... I guess the most important thing that happened yesterday was this ... Noah had what looked like solid bruises all over his rear end, lower back, up his back, and up and around his right shoulder. I discovered this during my first day with him. I was horrified and my first thoughts were that he was mishandled at the orphanage or possibly even abused. Last night, I was alone with Larissa and I told her about it. It appeared that she was trying not to laugh. She slowly said, "That's his Mongolian Spot." I said, "His WHAT?!!!!" "His Mongolian Spot," she said again. I said, "What are you talking about?" She went on to explain that almost all Kazakh baby boys and girls have this. It is a type of birthmark that disappears usually by 5 years of age. She said to research it on the Internet. I did so as soon as I got to the apartment and sure enough!! It's true!! The article said that when people don't know about it, they mistake it for bruising. Shannon and Derick's son, Asher also has it. Derick tells me now that Shannon hasn't been able to sleep at night for worrying. So, needless to say ... we are quite relieved and at the same time amazed to learn there is such a thing!






Noah DID NOT want to take his nap yesterday. I saw a side to him I've never seen. All he wanted to do was one constant GIGGLE, LAUGH, and SCREAM FOR JOY ... with every muscle in his body and every ounce of his being. This went on for almost two hours. He wore himself completely out and then only had time for a 30 minute nap. Then we were picked up to go to a funhouse for kids. He was sooooooooo exhausted that for the most part, he just wanted to be held. The whole place seemed to overwhelm him. It might have been a little too much stimulation for a worn out, teething, 11 month old ... just 2 1/2 days out of the orphanage.