Cheekie and Chispa, Adam and Eve

Our gardener and friend, Chilo, caught a baby squirrel (ardia) awhile ago and the kids quickly bonded to it, naming it Chispa, or Spark.  A little friend later advised them that "she" was a "he" and they needed to rename it.  It remains Chispa, and delights all of us with its bonding and chirping sounds, and its constant aerobic exercises in its large hanging cage outside our bedroom window. Later, John stopped on the highway and bought a little parrot, more parakeet, that has not  yet bonded to any of us.  Her name is Cheekie.

On a human note, last Tuesday when John was in Satal, where he holds a Women's Clinic in the mountains every 3 weeks, he saw what looked like newborn twins. He discovered that, tho they weighed 8 lbs., they were almost 11 months old. He met with the family and the LPN of the clinic and decided to bring them down the mountain for evaluation and admission. Adam and Eve, whom Eryn has named Itty and Bitty, have not yet begun a growth spurt, but their intestines have been treated, they have had ultrasound to evaluate the level of malnutrition(severe), and have been started on a feeding regime.  Eryn has become passionate about their care,  researching WHO literature on malnutrition, and participating hours daily in their loving care and physical therapy, which she is learning from a visiting PT/OT. As usual, we are blessed to have a specialist here for "such a time as this".  This is a pic of Dr. Greene ultrasounding one of the twins and Adam using the probe as a Popsicle.

We do not know how long the twins will be hospitalized, but we need to begin seeing some weight gain before we release them to stay close by for followup.  Their hospital bill will be impossible for them to pay.  For those of you with a passion for babies, please consider making a donation for that bill, designating it "Woman's Health Fund".  We want nothing to cause the mom to take the kids home prematurely. Send donations to Cornerstone International, PO Box 192, Wilmore, KY 40390, specifying Aldens, To the Least of His Brethren, Women's Health Fund. On a seperate note, specify Twins.  We'll keep you posted on their progress!