Introducing....Natalie! As of today, in November 2021, Natalie is nearing 2 and a half years old. Please keep reading to learn more and be sure to request to join our Taiwan Waiting Child Advocacy group on Facebook to see more of her photos and videos! Wait until you see her precious little smile.

Natalie likes crawling, rolling around, and making sounds like she is talking. Sometimes, when she is unhappy, she lets you know by crying and fussing but will calm down quickly once attended to. Natalie has good adaptability for a young child and is not shy with strangers.

Currently, Natalie takes 2 short naps each day, once in mid-morning and once in the early afternoon. Her nap schedule is flexible. She can flip herself over while lying down, stay seated for up to 20 minutes with support, and has recently started crawling! Because she has high muscle tension, her legs sometimes stay lifted slightly in the air while crawling.

Among many other capabilities, Natalie is able to grasp objects in each hand and pass them from one hand to the other. Although Natalie has delayed speech, she has shown progress between her most two recent visits in March and August of 2021. She currently understands a couple of simple words including 'goodbye' and 'kiss', in Mandarin of course, and has normal hearing. Doctors are monitoring mild vision damage and plan to continue to assess her vision as she develops. Natalie has also been diagnosed with epilepsy however since beginning medication, no tremors or twitching have been observed. 

Natalie is currently being cared for by a foster family and has formed appropriate attachment to her foster mother. Young Natalie needs a forever family that can support her, love her, and celebrate along with her as she continues to reach milestones. Could you be that family? To learn more about this darling little girl, please contact superkids@gladney.org.