Weaning

We got the ok to wean E. from formula today and she received the last of her shots until the January checkup.  In exactly 30 days, she has gained 1.5 lbs (weighs 21lbs now), exactly what the Dr. wanted to see.  We cracked open our last can of formula a few days ago, so once it's done, E. will be drinking vitamin D.  The Dr. said Emma has a very good sense of humor.  DUH.  We were discussing this sense of humor the other day and wondering if it's a nature vs. nurture trait.  She imitates a lot of sounds, faces, etc. we make with/at her, so it makes us go, "hmmm"; this is how the Dr. noticed her sense of humor, by making a face and Emma's response to the face.
 
She passed out in the car seat after the appointment and has yet to take an afternoon nap, but she is a very happy camper despite the shots.  We've played a little hide and seek, she's been showing us her ornery smile and was having a blast walking around the house with a paper towel, feeling objects in the room out with the towel.  That's been her new thing, rubbing/banging one object against another.  I gave her a wooden cooking spoon the other day and she walked around banging against everything she could reach to see what it sounded like.
 
 
 
 

 

First Day back to work

This was not traumatic, at all. There is a lot of peace of mind knowing that Doug is with E. and SO good with her.

She wouldn't keep her glasses on while I was away and when D. tried to correct a behavior, she stopped, stared at him, then danced. I've seen this "look at me and how cute I am dance" of hers and it is impossible not to laugh. Last night at dinner, Doug was telling her to not stand on her picnic table and I had to hide my mouth so she couldn't see me laughing; the little mouse looked at him, then peered at me through the chair rungs and gave me her biggest smile, making her "hi" sounds. Emma KNEW I was laughing behind that bib! I don't know why, but it is hysterical when Doug plays stern with her...I can't help but laugh, no wonder E. can't either.

Ears, Nose, Mouth and Belly

If you ask Emma where any of these body parts are, she points to them, then gives you a big grin.  My personal favorite is the mouth...she thinks this is SO grin-worthy.  Dad also taught Emma a fun trick/game this week.  She passes us a toy coin, with her mouth, and we have to accept the coin with our mouth.  I live with a bunch of silly monkeys!
 
The glasses are going well and the bruises are all gone from the "zebra incident".
 
We had an impromptu playdate with Sophia again today and the girls are starting to really enjoy one another.  Emma has a few months on Sophia, so we have to make sure E is "gentle" and doesn't clobber her in the head with toys.  I think this will be a good start to socialization and learning to share.
 
I start back to work tomorrow, working away from the house 2 days a week.  For now, my schedule will rotate with Doug's off-days as Emma is still velcro-like and not ready for caregivers beyond us.  Maybe later down the road, we will have a different work plan, but for right now, we don't want to disrupt the good sleeping and attachment we have going on.  I've been working a few hours a week at home since we returned from China, but can only do so during Emma's nap times or sneak in bursts of work when Emma seems distracted by an object other than me.  For the most part, she is at my side or on my lap all day long and wants whatever is in my hands.

Recent pics

The Specs

The specs have arrived and Emma has adjusted well to them, better than expected in fact.  We picked them up on Wednesday and she wore them for about 4 hours, then wore them almost all of Thursday.  Dad is home today and she is not being as cooperative with wearing them for some reason.  When she does try to pull them off, I push them back on her face and tell her how pretty she looks and she leaves them alone.  Within hours of wearing the specs Emma proceeded to run smack into her plastic bouncing Zebra and smashed the glasses into her face, so she has two black eyes and a couple of red spots in one of her eyes whites where the zebra or eyeglass frame must of scratched the eye.  The glasses are "kid resistant" so there was no damage during the crash. 
 
Our next door neighbor comes home for lunch everyday and we are usually in the driveway having outside playtime during his arrival.  Emma never seems to recognize the neighbor until he is in our yard, but Emma recognized him from his driveway and even watched his car go down the street when he left, waving and smiling the whole time.  That was enough proof to me that she needs to be wearing these glasses and thankfully they don't seem to bother her.  The Optometrist at Children's Hospital said if Emma can see the world a lot better, she would probably leave them on and so far, I think he's right!
 
Emma likes to run now, the problem is, she does the full body tilt, with her noggin' leading the way and no good come from that so we try to discourage the running unless we are right next to her.  She can get from one end of the house to the next in a flash!  On Monday we took her to Uncle Jeff's, where she proceeded to climb his stairs like she had done this a million times...it was her first stair climb, with zero practice.  We are in trouble now!

60 days

It is hard to believe, but we have been home for 2 months now.  The changes we see in Emma everyday are remarkable and inspiring.  She seems to have finally come to the realization that when she goes to sleep, we will be there when she wakes up.  MOST days, she doesn't fight us as hard against sleep.  When she starts rubbing her eyes, I kiss her on the head, give her a snuggle and we head to her room for some walking/rocking/swaying and usually she is asleep within 10 minutes. 
 
This week she began to give Doug and I unsolicited kisses and snuggles, which of course just melts us both.  Sometimes I look over at her and want to cry...we still can't believe sometimes she is here and our daughter.  The favorite part of our day is when she asleep and we discuss all the funny faces, sounds and new things she learned that day.  As Doug says, "she is the funniest kid I have ever owned".  HA!
 
After much shopping around, we finally settle on a pair of glasses and they will be ready this week.  There are not many eyewear options for children under the age of 2, as I am sure most eye issues aren't discovered until past this age.  Crazy as it sounds, Wal-Mart was the only optical center with extended ear hooks and the rubber nose bridge she needs to keep the glasses up on her nose.  The fancy-schmancy places and chains, i.e. Lenscrafters had nothing! We were really quite shocked at how difficult it was to find her glasses.  I learned something new while shopping...apparently they make special glasses for kids with Down syndrome.  I was actually asked at one shop if she was normal.  Um, yea, she's extremely normal, she just can't see the world clearly 20-30ft out.

Near-sighted

This morning we took Emma to Children's for an Optometrist appointment to discover she is very near sighted and needs glasses asap, so she will be fitted for her first pair of specs this week.  Eyewear on a 12 month old...this should go over smoothly!  The optometrist said to not force the glasses, just place them on and if she pulls them off, try again in another hour or so.  I will admit, this diagnosis made me a little sad, all the worries of your child being made fun of because they wear glasses popped into my head.  However, we feel exceptionally lucky that so far Emma is doing so well in all the other areas of concern from being in an orphanage environment, eyeglasses aren't that big of a deal; more than likely both of her birthparents wore glasses per the Optometrist.  He said he sees these early diagnoses of near-sighted in Asian children in general, so it really has nothing to do with the first 10 months of her life without us and her previous environment.
 
On a lighter note, Emma is a bundle of activity, making us laugh and smile everyday.  In the last few days, she is babbling a lot more like she is on the verge of gaining more words.  She is doing a lot of copy cat sounds, i.e. I say lap top and she makes the sound, without necessarily saying the word, but you know what she is saying.  If we tell her to bring us her baby or dog, she goes and finds them, sometimes giving us a "woof" when we say dog.  Too cute!
 
We've been a houseful of illness since last Thursday.  Emma developed a nasty cold which has lasted for days and still going on then I got the genius idea of having a flu shot since Emma had one last week, only to come down with the flu about 6 hours post shot.  I was MISERABLE and couldn't be anywhere near Emma, but thankfully Doug was home to care for Emma.  If this flu is what is going to be going around this year, beware...it was the most painful bone pain and high fever I have ever had with a flu, one I wish to never experience again.  I slept so much once the Theraflu kicked in, which was the only way to get past the pain and fever. 
 
It's hard to believe, but tomorrow, we have been home from China for 2 months!