Just got off the phone with Donna from Acres of Hope. Little Punk has contracted malaria. This is very common in Liberia (although they do their best to prevent it with mosquito netting), so they are used to treating it. It's a little scary, though, because Pea is so tiny and still struggling to make her come-back from the malnourishment. Also, malaria causes high fevers that come and go and could cause seizures. WebMD says that febrile (fever) seizures are scary to watch but not usually harmful to the child and do not cause long-term problems. Plus, Acres' newest staff member is a full-time nurse from India. She takes each kid's temperature every day and weighs them each 3x/week. She is monitoring Pea closely. AND, Pea is in a separate room for special needs kids (and has been since she arrived). There are only 5 children in there, so they receive plenty of care and attention. So, I'm trying to stay positive and not worry too much about my precious daughter half-a-world away.

Donna said to be prepared that Pea is just a tiny little thing, but so sweet. She seems to have a delightful disposition and Donna loved playing peek-a-boo and "fetch" with her! When Donna was there, Pea was doing very well, all things considered.

I also probed Donna a bit about Pence's situation. The letter we wrote to the Ministry of Health in December was delivered to them January 24th. The orphanage staff have not heard back from the Minister. Things just don't happen very quickly in Liberia and the staff felt they needed to give the Minister's office some time to respond. But, Donna insisted that 2 months was plenty of time and either the lawyer or the orphanage staff will be following up with the Minister this week.

When Donna visited Firestone, Pence ran to her and hugged her. They'd never met before, so Donna thinks maybe he mistook her for Patty! But, it was a great hug, she said! He's very spoiled (which seems somewhat typical of older Liberian kids) and the nurses call him "Master Pence"!!! :) I'm gearing up for a bit of a difficult transition when he comes home!

We'll be getting new pictures this week, so I'll post them here as soon as I can!