Mean, bad shots!

Well, I just made a complete fool of myself at Amelia's pediatrician visit today. SHE got 4 shots and I cried! I didnt fall down and roll around on the floor or anything, but still..........it was embarrassing! Oh, my little Amelia is just too sweet to have someone hurt her, even for her own good. :(

The nurse asked me to hold her hands and talk to her .... so I did, and she was looking at me with the sweetest, most angelic smilie; and then that sweet look changed to one of absolute horror........and she held her breath so long that I sat her up to get her to draw a breath.......... and huge tears just rolled down her cheeks. Did I say we

BOTH cried?

The nurse just patted me on the back with a bemused smile and said "Dont worry.........all new mothers cry when their baby gets the first shots............you're in love with her already arent you?" and I sniffed and nodded and held on to my baby for dear life.

a dose of motrin and a nap later, she's no worse for the wear, but I need a martini (just kidding ;)

On a happier note, Amelia is doing well! She weighs 18.4 pounds and is 27 inches long. She's between the 25th and 50th percentile for growth on the American charts. She's a chubby, pink baby!

She's slightly behind on a few developmental markers, which isnt unusual for a baby fresh from institutional care, and she has already made strides. I have a little tumbleweed! I looked away for a moment last night, and she had rolled down to her tummy from a sitting position. the next thing I knew, she rolled to her back, and then a few minutes later, back to her tummy. She's also learned how to make her piano play music, and is starting babble, screech, and giggle out loud!

She no longer clamps her lips or gags when I put a spoon in her mouth. she does spit out the food, but I think she thinks its a marvelous game, because she blows raspberries with it, and then grins the most mischevious grin. Neither I, nor the doc really thinks its an oral aversion issue, as much as lack of experience with eating. She takes her bottles fine and puts things in her mouth to teeth on them, and will chew on the rubber spoon I give her to hold, so she's not completely orally defensive. Just not real interested in eating from a spoon. Turns out, I'm doing everything right.........the doc just wants me to start backing off gradually on the cereal in her bottles, and keep up the high chair time once or twice a day, practicing with cereal and fruit from a spoon.

One side of her head is apparently a little flatter than the other from so much crib time, but this is cosmetic---not a medical issue. the doc said we could use a cranial helmet to round this out before her first birthday, but frankly, we think Amelia is the most beautiful child on the face of the earth, and the head thing is just not a concern. I've personally never noticed this, and I doubt Amelia will ever notice it either.

One thing I learned, is that the scar on her right arm is from some archaic vaccination they still give in China. We thought it was a scar from a cut or something--its about a quarter inch long, but apparently, its the result of this particular vaccine.

we go next week for a huge blood draw---I'll take the whole box of tissue---and I'll be working on those stool samples to test for parasites.

I'm anxious for the test results from all the lab work, but not terribly worried about it, because Amelia is doing beautifully, and seems to be a healthy, happy baby.

We'll head to the pediatric opthamologist next to get an eval on the ptosis in her eye. I personally think she does have very mild ptosis in both eyes, not just the right. I thought so from the first time I saw her pics. The Doc wondered the same thing aloud today. Whether its in one or both eyes, its a very minor and treatable problem.

We are just so thankful for her, she holds my heart in her little chubby hands.