Amelia's New Favorite Job

Amelia has a new job - watering the flowers.  She LOVES it!  She had the best time watering the flowers and plants on the deck.  Amelia even asked for more water when she ran out and knew not to leave any flowers out.  I think this will be a regular job.  It kept her busy for 20 minutes yesterday! 

 Can you guess what she needs?

Four Months!!!

We are celebrating 4 months since Gotcha Day of having our Amelia!

During the past month, Amelia

- stayed in constant motion!!!

- turned 22 months old (on April 22nd).

- celebrated her first Easter.

- visited the dermatologist and pediatrician for first visits.

- received her first immunizations.  They were NO fun!!!

- has not gained any weight (22 pounds) but gained an inch (30 inches).  This is probably due to the fact that she stays in constant motion.

- got some new teeth.  She now has 4 molars, 4 teeth on the top and one eye tooth popping through, 4 teeth on the bottom and 2 eye teeth busting through.

- visited her new school for the first time.  Amelia invited herself into a 2-year-old music class and pulled up a chair in a 3-year-old art class.  She had a great time, but she wanted to make sure that I was close by her at all times.  We'll see what happens when I leave her for the first time in the fall...

- drinks out of a regular cup.  She feels so big when she drinks this way.  Amelia also wants to use a silver spoon when she eats instead of a plastic one.

- likes to know what EVERYTHING is now.  She points and says something like "dis" when she wants you to name the item.

- says some new words in context or when identifying:  ball, stinky, no (including the head shake in case you don't understand what she's saying), drink, bow, gone, outside (side), rock, cracker, rice, cheese (for the camera), star, spoon, bowl, chair, eye, ear, arm, nose, teeth, mouth, water, truck, and slide.

- started nodding her head "yes".  It is really more like her entire body nodding yes, and she does it with her mouth wide open.  It is so cute!

- says new animal sounds: lion, sheep, horse, bear, bird, chicken, mouse, and owl.

- CLIMBS!   Amelia has learned to move things around to help give her a boost onto whatever piece of furniture she desires to climb.  She even tries to climb INTO her crib at night.

- identifies new body parts on herself and others: arm, leg, hair, ear, finger, foot, toes, head, fingers, and hands.

- ate her first dog treat!  Mommy got to her before she swallowed the whole thing, but she seemed to like it.

- asks to eat immediately when she wakes up in the morning and after a nap.  She is still very concerned about food.  She RUNS to the fridge when it is opened and wants to be held while I cook so that she can see what I am doing with the food.  I have started putting her high chair close to the counter when I cook so that I can put her in it to see instead of holding her.  Amelia needs a snack when I do this because you get food when you're in this kind of chair.

-  puts her hands up as if to say, "I don't know", when she's not sure of something.  For example, if you ask her, "Where did ____ go?".  The hands will go up. :)

-  played on the playground for the first time with us at the park during her first play group with other friends born in China.

- grabs or pushes on my legs to lead me to where she wants me to go.  Amelia giggles when she gets me where she wants me. :)
 

We continue to be amazed at Amelia's progress in just four short months of being with us.  I am in awe of her easy transition into our family, and her attachment to us.  I am so grateful that God heard every one of my concerns and created Amelia specifically for our us!

First Trip to the Park

This morning, Amelia and I met with other moms and their children who were born in China for a play date at the park.  It was Amelia's first time to the park and playground.  She wasn't sure about it at first, but quickly got the hang of running around and climbing up and around.  She loved the slide until she told me it was "hot".  We have been working on how things are hot (fire, mommy's coffee cup, the stove).  The smart girl that she is transferred her knowledge of "hot" to include the slide, and she was absolutely correct.  I was so proud. :)  She tried out the swings, but she didn't love them.  I think she felt to restrained and just wanted to run around.  There wasn't a lot of interaction with the other girls, but Amelia watched them and copied things that they did on the playground.  They were experienced with the playground, and she took advantage of learning from them.  It was great to catch up with the other moms.  I am looking forward to our next play date.  I love that Amelia will be able to bond with girls with similar backgrounds, and I hope she will learn to interact more with them.

Here are pictures from our fun day:

Finished with her snack and ready to play!

Amelia loved leaning back in the swing and feeling the breeze on her face.

Amelia is trying to figure out how to slide with her drink in her hand.  She ended up putting it down before she went down the slide.

She still doesn't like her hands messy.

She was one tired little girl when we left.

Shots are NO FUN!

Amelia visited the pediatrician for her first well visit today.  Mommy and Daddy had a lot of questions to ask, and the doctor spent A LOT of time with us today.  I was so grateful that God sent us to Dr. Breedlove.  She was fabulous with Amelia and really helped calm our concerns about certain things.  Unfortunately, Amelia's titers test showed that she had to have some shots today.  I'm not sure why the shots in China were not effective, but the girl did not like the end of her doctor visit today.  She had to have 4 shots and a TB test to catch her up with her immunizations.  I made sure that the doctor was only doing the bare necessities, because I'm one of the crazy moms that think there are too many immunizations these days that may cause issues.  Amelia was a trooper.  She cried when the needles stuck her, but after I handed her a special sucker (brought in case we had to have shots), the crying stopped.  She enjoyed her special treat and didn't complain about the band-aids or her legs being sore.  I gave her some Advil, so we will see how she is feeling tomorrow.  Everything else with Amelia checked out perfectly.  She does continue to have skin issues, and I think we will deal with that forever.  The dermatologist is working with us, and we go back to her next week for a follow-up.  Developmentally, the pediatrician was VERY impressed with how far Amelia has come in such a short time.  She reassured us that her language development was appropriate, and she sees absolutely no reason for us to be concerned about her at all in any area.  She also said Amelia's ears looked great and there are no signs of her having any allergy issues right now.  We were very glad to hear such good things and hope that everything continues to go so well with our girl.  Amelia will go for her 2-year-old visit at the end of March and have 2 more shots.  She might not like the nice doctor if she gets shots every visit...

Waiting for the doctor on our first visit.

Amelia had a special lunch out after her shots.  She really likes the rice and chips at the Mexican restaurant.  Here she is saying, "cheese" for the camera.

Mt. Laurel Spring Festival

We enjoyed this beautiful day at the Mt. Laurel Spring Festival.  Amelia and I met Sue, Ella, and Poppy at the festival.  There were A LOT more vendors than in the past, so that means a lot more temptation to buy things.  I tried to be good and make wise purchases.  :)  Amelia tried her first popcorn (she loved it) and first snow cone (not a big fan) and had a great time running around with Poppy.  We ran into several friends who are fellow China adoption families.  It was great to catch up on how everyone has been lately.  I am looking forward to the summer when we will start going to the play group with friends from China, and I will get to see these mommas more.

Here are a few fun pictures from our day:

The festival was the happening place to be!

Amelia really loved this little chair.  I really wanted to get it for her, but I forced myself not to do it.

Ella is just hanging out in her stroller.

Aren't the girls so cute!!!

Ella liked the little chair, too.

Just taking a little drive...

There was a nice little rain storm the other day.  When it started raining, Amelia wanted to go outside and see what was happening.  I decided to show her how the rain came from the sky to water the grass and flowers.  She had a great time running out in the rain and back to the porch.