What Developmental Delay????

Yesterday, we took Amelia for her follow-up appointment at the International Adoption Clinic.  This was the visit in which they did developmental testing on Amelia to see if she has closed any gaps from the developmental delays she showed in China.  Please keep in mind that Amelia was seen by this same group of doctors in April and September in her orphanage.  She was diagnosed as having developmental delays more than the normal orphanage delays.  After her testing, Amelia was pronounced to be in the normal range in all areas and in the above average range for cognition and fine motor!  They discussed how she is thinking on the level of a 2-year-old.  We knew she was smart, but WOW!  Her communication was her lowest area.  Amelia's receptive language is great, but we need her to start speaking some English.  She is now walking around like crazy but is still behind in her gross motor skills because she has just begun to walk.  We are so proud of the gains that she has made.  The doctor was very impressed and pronounced her a healthy, normal child. :) Thanks be to God!  Amelia has also gained 2 pounds since our last visit!  She is now up to 22 pounds and is still 29 inches long.

While waiting the LONG wait between specialists, David and Amelia played ball.

Amelia discovered how to turn the water on with the foot pedals.

She's very impressed with herself!

This past weekend, Amelia was a party girl.  We went to my nephew's birthday party on Saturday.  It was his 7th birthday, and he was very excited to celebrate it at the Fun Factory.  We were not sure how Amelia would handle all of the stimulation, but she did great.  She LOVED the blow-up slides!  This girl is a definite dare devil and liked to take the slide by herself.  David and I took her down the huge slide with us, and she laughed each ride down.
 

She's having a great time!

This is her way of trying to climb up to slide down.

Amelia is trying her best to climb back up the slide so that she can come back down.

Funny that she knew the tokens came out of that slot!

Trying to climb in the bouncy house.

Her first bite of ice cream.  She didn't like it as much as we thought she would.  She only ate a few bites before she was finished with the ice cream.  She LOVED the pizza though. :)

It's Actually Sunny!

For Valentine's Day, David and I took Amelia to Stone's Throw.  It is the restaurant where we went the night we received Amelia's referral.  We also celebrated our last evening in the states as childless the night before we left for China.  They made us promise that we would bring Amelia to eat there when we came home.  We decided to celebrate Valentine's a day early.  It was also the night that David proposed to me 15 years ago, so it was a special night.   Amelia enjoyed her dinner, and the staff enjoyed Amelia.  She actually ate fried okra and liked it.  I can't say the same about beets or brussel sprouts though.  We had a wonderful time! 

Dinner at Stone's Throw.  I realized that I needed the flash.

This is what happened when I turned on the flash and took a picture.

I never did get a great picture of them together. :(

On actually Valentine's Day, Amelia and I took David to lunch and had a little visit at the high school.  That night, Poppy and PawPaw came for dinner.  I made taco stuffed shells and yummy desserts.  We all enjoyed our visit.  Amelia loved spending time with Poppy and was doing pretty good with PawPaw, too.  They stayed and participated in bath time, reading time, and bedtime.  Amelia cried when all four of us left her room, but I'm sure it was because she was afraid she was missing out on something fun.  She was asleep within five minutes of us leaving.  She had an exciting day.

Today was actually a sunny day!  Amelia and I ran a few errands this morning - Costco and Babies R Us.  After her afternoon nap, we took Bailey on a walk.  Amelia was actually able to wear her sunglasses. 

Amelia had a smoothie at Costco today and LOVED it.

She is waving to an older man who was sitting at a table behind me.

Amelia was excited to have her glasses on and to go for a ride.  Can you see that she is peaking over her glasses?  She is SO CUTE!  Thanks for the hippo, Mary Catherine.  She decided it needed to go on the ride.

Bailey enjoyed his walk very much.

Amelia is telling me that Bailey is WAY behind us.  She is pointing behind me and yelling "Bay!"

Sure enough...there was Bailey sniffing out a stop sign.

The ride is over and she is trying to get out.  She forgot that her seat belt was on and can't figure out why she can't get up.

I LOVE this smiling girl!  Isn't she the most precious thing ever?!

Happy Chinese New Year!

Today was Chinese New Year and also my brother, Will's, 30th birthday.  Will drove a race car around Talladega with my dad and brother, Gaines.  They had a great time.  From what I hear, Will was very close to beating Dad, but Dad outraced him just a bit.  Happy Birthday, Will!

Amelia and I celebrated Chinese New Year with Sue and Ella.  David and I brought the girls matching Chinese dresses back from China for this special day.  It was the first time both of the girls would celebrate Chinese New Year.  David picked out the sweet pink qipao dresses for them to wear.  We had a lot of fun taking pictures of them at my house before we headed out.  We began our celebration by taking the girls to lunch at Kobe.  This was Ella's first time at a Japanese steak house, and she did great.  The girls really enjoyed watching the show, and Amelia enjoyed eating the fried rice.  They gave her a HUGE plate full of rice, and she did her best to finish the entire thing.  After lunch, we went to the Chinese New Year Festival downtown.  We arrived toward the end, but we were still able to see some of the Asian dance performers.  Amelia was mesmerized and really enjoyed the performances.  It was VERY hard to get two little girls to look at the camera at the same time, but we were able to get a few shots.   For dinner, we met the dads and Poppy and PawPaw at Hunan Cuisine.  The owners are so friendly and love that we celebrate Chinese New Year with them each year.  The food was fabulous, and we managed to bring home some leftovers.  Amelia LOVES to eat and the dumplings, chicken fried rice, and Moo Shoo Pork were favorites.

Enjoy our pictures from our fun day and Gong Xi Fa Cai (Happy New Year in Mandarin).  We hope you have a prosperous year of the snake (my birth year)!

Showing off my new qipao dress from China.

Amelia likes to sit in the sink when she gets ready.  I think it gives her a better view into the mirror.

Brushing our teeth is very important before we go out.

Ella looks so cute in her qipao, too!

Showing off their dresses

Waiting for the show to begin at Kobe

Can you see this HUGE plate of fried rice?

Tired of sitting in the strollers.  Amelia is trying to escape.

Amelia is mesmerized by the dancers.

It is the year of the snake, so I celebrated the my Chinese year.

Amelia was finally able to walk around the auditorium and thought it was great!

Feeding Daddy some fried rice.

Poppy gave Amelia a fortune cookie right before this photo.  Her mouth is still full.

Thanks for the Mardi Gras beads, Holly!  I LOVE THEM!

The Huang Family

Poppy and PawPaw enjoyed the celebration.  Poppy even wore red!

*Phone update:  Unfortunately, Amelia and I ended up having to go to the Apple store for a new phone.  The rice trick may work for some, but it didn't work for me.  They were very nice, but I am out a chunk of change that I really didn't need to spend.  If you need me, you can call me now. :)