Woo Hoo!

Today was Alina’s birthday!  We celebrated at the clinic with a little party for her.  This spunky little 3 year old is adored by all those who meet her.    She was born at just at 3 lbs with a whole host of issues – 3^rd degree malnutrition, fetal alcohol syndrome, missing a right kidney, anemia, diastolic distraction (related to blood pressure of blood leaving the aorta) and an enlarged heart.  But you would never know her struggles from her positive outlook on life.  She loves to mimic people and has picked up quite a few cute habits.  She will throw her hands straight up in the air and yell “Woo hoo!” pose like a body builder complete with grrrr sound and makes a number of funny faces.  Today I showed her the fishy face; she watched me intently for a few minutes and then gave it right back to me.  She only weights about 10ish lbs (I am going to try and get her on the scale to get an official weight) and wears the clothes of a 12 month old (which are often big on her).  Since she is so light she gets throw in the air a lot and loves it – giggling the entire time!  I will try and get a video of her, because the pictures just don’t do her justice.

In honor of Alina’s birthday one of the aides shared some homemade tuica with us – a traditional Romania drink often described as plum brandy.  It was pretty good.  Cindy and Mel joined me in toasting Alina.  "Noroc" is cheers in Romanian.