A Child That is Loved…

… has many names!!!

Salendia, precious, baby, peanut, sweetheart, little honey, sweet cookie… All of these and possibly more are names we used for this little punkin:

First she was skinny, and fussy, and so weak she couldn’t hold her head at all. In fact it was difficult to hold her because she was so floppy!

And then she was happy and sweet and a whole lot stronger!!

Salendia has cerebral palsy and is difficult to feed because of poor coordination. I think the reason she got so weak and skinny is because no one was taking the time to just sit down and feed her properly! We kept her for a month to see how we could help her and it was a miracle to see how much stronger she became with good nutrition and lots of tummy time! By the time she left she had a lot more head control and over all strength, she even tried getting up on her knees which is still unbelievable to me because of how lethargic and weak she was at first!!

sweet dreams!!

Baby’s favorite spot!

                                                  Darling, baby, girl! I love you so much!!

On Jan. 11 Salendia returned to live with her aunt and papa who love her very much! We gave them instructions about feeding her properly and how to help her build up strength. Her aunt seemed very loving and excited about having her back home, we hope and pray everything goes well and she will continue to grow and blossom.

Jesus bless you, sweet girl!!

Little Leon

On a warm day in Oct. as I was finishing up piles of laundry I looked up to see a poor looking woman with a tiny blanketed form walking in our driveway! I immediately sensed a certain, familiar nesting feeling sweep over me! Taking a peek underneath the blanket at the skinny hunched form pretty much confirmed my feeling that this was another one that needed to come to “Mama” for a little while. After sending them to the clinic it was confirmed that 18 month old Leon was suffering from marasmus malnutrition, typhoid, malaria and severe anemia. Poor, poor, little honey! He was so sick, and skinny weighing only 12 pounds!!

His dear mother was sure that a vampire had started sucking her baby’s blood and that’s what was making him so skinny! She was very bonded to him and so worried about leaving him. She gave us detailed instructions about keeping out the vampires at night so we took the opportunity to explain that this is God’s house and he is the one who protects us and our little ones!!

I felt so sorry for Leon. He was so shy that for the first week he could barely make eye contact! He always balled up his hands and rubbed and rubbed his eyes!! So unbelievably darling!!

He always LOVED to wear this Boston Red Sox hat!!

 

Once he was done with his big pile of meds I started him on good vitamins and plenty of good food! And just like that he started gaining strength and putting on ounces at first and then pounds!!! So glorious to see sleepless nights and anxious moments turn into healthy, full skin and happy smiles!

       

Little Leon was seriously the sweetest baby I’ve ever cared for!!

                 

I’m so thankful that little Leon got to go back to his loving mother and family! He comes to see me sometimes and he is doing very, very, well! I hope and pray that him and his family would put their trust in Jesus as their Savior and protector!