3-Year Checkup

This past week, David had a conference at the beach, so Amelia and I decided to tag along.  It was so nice to get away, even if it was only for a few days.  Amelia LOVES the beach and actually cried multiple times on the way home, because she was so sad to leave.  That girl would live at the beach if she could!

Walking on these rocks around this fountain was fun stuff for this little girl!

Amelia is actually dancing in this picture.  There was a band playing at the Wharf this night.

She even got to ride on the carousel!  A year ago, she wouldn't go near one of these!

Can you see the joy?

The pool was also a lot of fun.  Amelia is actually able to jump off the sides by herself (in her swimmy  of course).  She is also swimming some underwater without her swimmy.  It looks like swimming lessons are in her future...

Amelia told me she was "relaxing" in the pool.

The day after returning from the beach, Amelia went to the doctor for her 3-year checkup.  We are pleased to report that Amelia IS ON THE CHARTS!!!  She is coming in at 10th percentile.  The doctor was glad to see her growth but made sure that we understood that Amelia will probably always be petite (if she stays in the 10th percentile range, she will be 5'1).  To this comment from the doctor, Amelia replied, "I want to grow big like Daddy!!!"  Doesn't look like she'll get that tall, but maybe she will settle for being big like Mommy.  Amelia has grown 8 inches and gained 7 pounds since we brought her home from China!  That's a lot of growth in 18 months. 

Since this was a "Big Girl" doctor visit, Amelia had to have her finger pricked (she didn't flinch and actually counted the 10 drops of blood that were put into the vial), have her blood pressure taken, and had to tinkle in a cup.  The nurse asked Amelia if she could tinkle in the cup, and Amelia said, "Yes!".  She ran to the bathroom and was so proud that she accomplished this task that she asked for a second cup to use!  The nurse said that was the first three year old she had ever seen do it without an issue.  Unfortunately, Amelia was still behind on her shots from China and had to get one shot.  She yelled out once, but I think it was because the nurse was holding her leg down.  She was quickly rewarded with a band-aid. 

The pediatrician was very impressed with Amelia's cognitive skills and told us we were going to have to stay one step ahead of her at all times!  She also commented that Amelia's speech is still a bit behind.  Amelia should be 75% intelligible at this age, but she isn't there yet.  We may have to see about having some speech testing at some point, but we know that she is behind because of hearing Chinese for the first 18 months of her life.  Overall, it was a great visit.  We are so blessed by all that God has done in the life of this precious girl!