Progress

As soon as I published the information about a clean bill of health, Eliza started pulling on her ears again. I was up with her until 2 am on Mother's Day. We started another antibiotic on Tuesday. I certainly hope this is the last of the ear infections, but our history with Eliza doesn't leave much room for optimism.

Eliza has embarked on another journey with solids. Oatmeal until Thursday when we figured out it was making her tummy upset (and interrupting everyone's sleep). We introduced sweet potatoes and re-introduced rice. She seems much better, and has been consistently eating. She has even let me put a spoon in her mouth a couple of times, but she's still not sure she likes the idea.

On Sunday morning we had a super happy kiddo. She laughed spontaneously and grinned for at least an hour. Good thing the camera was handy (it has become attached to one hand...I'm like Inspector Gadget)!

Kyle took this while we watched Eliza eat solids for the first time in almost three weeks. Pretty sweet! Have a good week!

Every Day is Mother's Day!

Early this week Eliza started holding toys...she then proceeded to stuff them into her mouth and chew! Two great achievements! We are working now on getting her to eat solid food. After her two day adventure with oatmeal two weeks ago, she quit cold turkey and hasn't eaten any more oatmeal or rice.

The doctor gave her a clean bill of health on Tuesday. She still has fluid in her ears, but the infections are gone. We take her back in 5 weeks for round two of vaccinations and an ear check up. For now, she's eating and sleeping and smiling and giggling (every once in a while), and teething like crazy!

Today Eliza woke up at 5:30 am. She couldn't wait to tell me "Happy Mother's Day". She was quite a good sport...she allowed us to dress her up pretty and take lots of pictures.

We are loving every second of this. She's amazing and an absolute blessing. Today in church she rested her head on Kyle's chest for a minute. We both cried. She doesn't get close very often, but when she does it's great. She's relaxing more and showing signs that her trust in us is increasing. We are looking forward to hugs in the near future!

All Ears

Eliza snuck a couple of ear infections home with her from China. She unpacked them about ten days ago, and we've spent much of this week trying to get things back to "normal". She almost totally gave up eating for three days. We all agree that having liquids force fed through a plastic syringe is no fun at all. In the midst of it all, she tearfully received four inoculation shots in her chubby little legs. Not a happy baby. After steady dosing of love, attention, and strong antibiotics, Eliza is on the mend. To make up for losses she is now eating double time and is much less stingy with the smiles. Through it all, she still had time for learning how to remove mother's eye glasses, smiling for the camera during her weekly manicure, and stuffing five toes into her mouth. She's the greatest.