Day 359

Eliza will be one year old on June 16th. She has been with us 9 weeks and 4 days. It's incredible to watch her grow, learn and change. We reminisced recently about our trip to China. It often seems ages ago. Day-to-day life has a way of distracting us.

We have a pretty smooth routine during the day: Get up, bottle, play, sleep, bottle, play, eat solids, play, more solids, bottle...and then it's bed time. Bed time is less smooth these days then when we got home. As Eliza's awareness of us increases, so does her need to be with us. She struggles with the separation that happens at night time. It is taking about 30-45 minutes for her to calm down and go to sleep. All in all, it's not that bad. Last night she actually went to sleep on her own after I went in two times to help her relax (and she slept through the night without us).

She has been particularly happy despite teething. We are sure having a great time playing!

This is a birthday candle we purchased in Chongqing for our friends. It is a lotus flower that opens after it is lit. It plays happy birthday too (forever!!! We left the party 45 minutes after cake time and the candle was still going).

Spoon! Glorious Spoon!

We had a picnic at the park this evening, and Eliza ate her dinner from a spoon. Yippee!!!

Time Flies!

Things are going well these days! Eliza seems to have kicked her ear infection habit. She wakes up once or twice during the night, but is quick to soothe and returns to peaceful resting. She's beautiful all the time, but there is something very very sweet about a sleeping baby. We don't mind the few minutes of holding her during the night...so we can enjoy her serene little face.

She is eating better every day, and beginning to manage a few finger foods. She is showing great interest in table food and I think she will progress quickly. We have been able to feed her with a spoon a couple of times. Hopefully she will decide to take a spoon more frequently...it might make for less time devoted to clean up after she eats.


Her therapy is going well. She makes gains every week. She is using both hands to grasp and hold toys. She is reaching for objects on her left with her right hand (crossing midline). She hates being forced to support herself on both arms, but is getting stronger and better at it. We aren't spending too much time with putting weight through her legs yet. We are hoping she progresses with crawling first.

We enjoy our sweet girl. We're getting ready to welcome grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins for her first birthday and baptism the weekend of June 16th. We can't wait for the family to meet her. She will enjoy it...she's very social and really responds well to new people, new environments, and new situations.

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.

Mmmmm....Oatmeal!

Eliza started eating oatmeal yesterday. We have temporarily given up on the spoon and opted for allowing Eliza to explore the texture and taste of food with her hands (this was the recommendation of her pediatrician and therapist). Turns out, Eliza is an over achiever! She was offered oatmeal three times yesterday and received each with increasing enthusiasm. The photo was Eliza's final endeavor of the day! All I have to say is..Yippee!