Update on our appointment

Thanks for all those who prayed- we had a great visit to the UAB International Adoption Clinic last Wednesday. They were so helpful and encouraging. The visit was about 4 hours long and included visits with the occupational/developmental therapist, a social worker familiar with international adoption issues, and the pediatrician. They had all adopted internationally themselves and it was so nice to talk to people so familiar with the international adoption issues personally and professionally.
There were a lot of positive things. They said Alex's language skills are exceptional. We all knew he could talk a lot :) but they said few at his age that have been in the U.S. this amount of time would have the proficiency he has. They said that would make his school and social life much easier for him. We were also thankful to hear they did not think Alex had any attachment issues, and in that and some other important areas they said Alex is doing better than a lot of children adopted at his age. They said a lot of the strength in attachment was due to our decision for me to stay home with him so I am thankful that was able to happen for us. He also has made it onto the growth chart for a 5 year old- just barely, but he's on there so he's making progress!
His main developmental delays are his large and fine motor skills. They assessed his large motor skills at a 3 year old level and his fine motor skills at a 3 1/2 yr old. They said this is also very common, though, for a child with his background as he had no opportunity to develop them. It explains also why he has no interest in these things- it's so hard for him. The good news is this can be improved and we are going to start working with a local occupational therapist on this.
Alex did test high on his high activity/inattention,which was no surprise, but they think that will be helped as we work with his other skills and as he ages and matures. We also talked a lot about his need to control everything. That is also very common and they gave us some tips to help him deal with it.
Overall, we were pleased to hear they thought Alex was doing really well. Even though we had felt that in our own hearts it was reaffirming to hear. We are glad also to have the knowledge to help him more, as it was hard to see his struggles and not now how to help. Of course I've certainly been learning through parenting that once again I only have so much control over the situation - God has the ultimate control. I have to entrust Alex to Him and I know God has good plans for him :)