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!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Amelia!

Amelia became part of our family when she was 18 months old.  We are now celebrating her being HOME with us for 18 months and... she's turning 3!  How can time go by so quickly and yet it seems like China is such a distant memory.  Amelia actually understands about birthdays now.  Last year, she didn't have a clue what was going on except that she got to eat cake.  This year, she is VERY excited about turning 3 and has been practicing showing the number 3 with her fingers.

We began the birthday celebrations at Mimi and Papa's house for Sunday lunch to wish the family members with May and June birthdays Happy Birthday.  Amelia was able to celebrate with Daddy and Uncle Gaines (May Birthdays) and Cousin Dusty and Aunt Lauren (June Birthdays).  We had lunch, fun birthday singing, cake, and presents.

Amelia LOVED the umbrella that she requested from Mimi and Papa!

Uncle Austin was not able to be at Amelia's party, so he took her out for dinner.  We enjoyed a great night of Thai food at Surin.

We were also able to celebrate Amelia's birthday with a breakfast party at our house.  Friends and family arrived at 9:00 to eat breakfast and play.

It was a breakfast party, so Amelia chose a donut cake.  It was YUMMY!

Sneaking some fruit before the party...

The children had lots of fun playing in the heat and humidity of the back yard. 

Amelia became extremely shy or embarrassed once everyone started singing the birthday song.  She wouldn't look at anyone or try to blow out her candles.  David and I had to blow out the candles for her.  We had even been practicing this, so it made me sad that she wouldn't try to blow them out herself.

Present opening was lots of fun!  Amelia received such nice things from everyone.  Thank you!

Amelia's actual birthday, today, was spent going to church, lunch at the Indian restaurant (Amelia wanted to eat at the place with white rice) with Poppy and Paw Paw, and then off to Wal-Mart to purchase "Frozen" with some of her birthday money.  We had rented Frozen from the Red Box one night and had a picnic in the den while watching it.  Amelia thought it was great.  She's not a big television watcher, so I didn't think a movie would stick, but Amelia kept saying that she wanted Frozen for her birthday.  This wasn't one of the presents that she received, so when she asked for it again this morning, I told her that after lunch she could use some of her birthday money to go buy it.  She made her first purchase today with her own money.

 Amelia was so excited about getting the movie that she asked if she could take a nap with the DVD!  We plan to have a picnic and watch the movie tonight.


As I think about Amelia's birthday, I hope that her birth mother feels peace.  I know there is no way to tell her how much we love this child, but I hope that she somehow knows that her daughter's parents are so very grateful to have her in our family.  Amelia has added so much more to our lives than we could have every imagined when we started the journey to China to bring her home.  Her tragic beginning has made her strong, brave, and independent.  The addition of a family to her life has made her thrive and feel truly loved.  We are so thankful to be her parents!