What a difference a month makes

I can't believe that we have almost been home for a month.  Lauren has grown in leaps and bounds.  With each day, we see her confidence increasing.  She is much more steady on her feet and stands her on her own against Bali.  We are no longer worried about Bali knocking her off her feet.  We see the confidence level most evident when she goes to the playground.  In China she would only walk around and touch tentatively.  She now climbs, slides down, swings, and jumps!

Here she is on our last day in China: 

 And here she is this week in Long Beach: 

Her doctor called tonight.  The bloodwork has come back and all seems good.  We will not need to redo the immunizations as she shows enough immunity through the vaccine given in China.  She has also tested negative on all the other scary tests.  We have a healthy little girl!  Now if only she would start speaking!

A Swing & Smiles

Lauren got the courage to go on the swing today and as you can tell from the pictures, she loved it!  In fact, this girl loves, loves, loves the outdoors!  She throws a protest when it is time to go.

Many firsts

Lauren celebrated Thanksgiving week with many firsts, and I am sure that there will lots more firsts to come.  We started the week with another lab visit to finish taking the blood needed for the tests and screenings for her pediatrician.  She was a trooper, but it was heartbreaking to see her cry. 

 

After the dreaded lab visit, we took her to her first playground here in the states.  She was very inquisitive and independent in her exploration.  She had a great time exploring the different equipment and textures, including sand.  This seemed to make her forget all about the lab and the needle. 

Her first Thanksgiving was celebrated at tante Julia's house where she tried turkey, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie.

 Hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving!

Thankful

Happy First Thanksgiving Lauren!

On this Thanksgiving, I am grateful for the gift of a daughter.  A daughter that is full of laughter and love.  She is life at its best and experiencing the world through her eyes and wonderment is truly a gift to be thankful for. 

P.S.  Happy one month of forever too!  Today also marks one month since she was placed in my arms in China. 

Happy 2 weeks!

Happy two weeks home Lauren!

It has been another full week of learning and experiencing new things for Lauren.  We are amazed at the progress she is making.  Everyday we see that she is learning new things and picking up new skills.  Although still a bit wobbly, her walk is getting more steady and she is getting stronger.  She is very comfortable around the house and will walk from one room to another by herself.

This week it seems that Lauren figured out what toys are.  She can now amuse herself and keep herself occupied with the toys that we have for her.  Her favorite are musical toys where she pushes the button and music plays.  She also loves to play with the little kitchen in her room or sit playing her musical toys on her chair/table set. 

Sitting at her table playing her piano

I love balloons!  Thank you Oma Mary!

Discovering what books are all about

Learning to comb my hair

Loving her baby Einstein piano

Besides her toys, she is becoming quite comfortable with Bali.  She is quite amused by Bali's actions.  She is constantly following Bali and teasing her with the food she has in her hand.  Bali thinks that Lauren has a treat for her, when in fact Lauren just wants Bali to lick her hands.  If Bali is laying down, then Lauren feels the need to kiss her!  Bali is very sweet with Lauren, but she is a big dog, and right now we are supervising them very closely because Lauren thinks Bali's tail is something to play with! 

Looking back at how Lauren ate in China, we think that she was literally starving as she ate so much.  She has definitely slowed down in her eating and now eats more of a toddler size meal.  She is also becoming more picky on her food choices.  Although she is not speaking, she will certainly make loud squealing noises when she wants to eat.  And when she starts making that noise, food better come fast, or the squealing will just get louder!  She is also starting to push our food that she does not want away and will sometimes shake her head "no" if she does not want something.  A new accomplishment this week is her drinking whole milk with her meal.  Per doctor's orders we are trying to get Lauren to drink more whole milk to get nutrients and her weight up.  We discovered that giving her milk and a straw does the trick.  For whatever reasons, she only will drink water from her sippy cup and will throw the cup down on the floor if it is filled with milk.  But if it has water in it, she has no problem drinking the water from the sippy cup. For now we still have her on formula and we are mixing it with whole milk.  The goal is 16-24 oz a day, and currently we are about 12 ounces of whole milk. 

My milk mustache!

 

Transitioning her out of her Chinese formula

Lauren is learning to wave "bye-bye".  She is also getting much more comfortable in her carseat.  She no longer fuses when we put her in the car seat.  She knows that when she gets in she needs to be buckled, so she tries to put the safety belt on herself.  

 

Lauren also had another doctor's appointment this week.  Poor baby needed three shots and blood drawn.  They took 7 vials of blood from her!  Unfortunately, this is not the end of it.  She will go next week to get the rest of the blood work. (another 5 vials)  They could not do all the vials today because her weight is too low to draw that much blood out.  All this is needed for the screenings and tests the doctor needs to conduct.  Lauren's paperwork shows that she was vaccinated with some vaccine in China.  As to not repeat vaccination, we are testing her blood to see what she has immunity against already.  We will only vaccinate her if it does not show up in her system. Poor baby was so upset at the doctor's office and then again at the lab.  She was so mad at me, that in the car on the way home, refused to let me touch her.  But after some cuddling time at home, all is forgiven.  (At least until next week)  Good news is that she has gained .8 lbs.  So almost a full pound since being home.  She now weighs 23.2 lbs.

Our one month post placement social work visit happened this week.  This is a requirement from China.  We will actually have the social worker visit us up until Lauren's fifth birthday so that updated reports can be sent to China.  The social worker was very pleased with Lauren's progress and how her attachment to us is developing.  She cautions that we are still needing to work on attachment and trust with Lauren.  So we are taking her advice and going very slow in introducing her to others.  So please be patient with us.  We promise to update the blog so you can at least see her pictures. 

Bali must be saying something funny.

Lauren loves it when Bali barks.  Here's a little video of her laugh:

Cousin Luke

Another Dragon Baby is born.  Welcome to the world Luke Donovan!  Born at 10:31 pm on November 14, 2012 at 6lbs. 1oz., and 19 inches long. Lauren Ria now has a new cousin. 

Congratulations to Ruben and Gianna, the proud parents!

One week home

We have reached our one week home milestone.  All in all Lauren did great.  So much better than we expected.  We had prepared for the worse case scenario but we are finding that Lauren is surpassing all our expectations.  She sure is one resilient kid!

We have tried to be low-keyed, keeping her stimulation to a minimum, while beginning to expose her to her new world.  Everything is new to her, new sights, new smells, new souinds.  She is taking it all in, and you can see her little brain trying to take it all in and process it.  Perhaps that is why she is sleeping so much! 

Training her to sleep with Glo Worm

Of all things new to her, the biggest amusement is our dog Bali.   Bali loves kids but the neighborhood kids are all school aged who play with her and she can get a bit excited.  With Lauren not so steady on her feet, we were keeping them apart, unless we were both home to each manage one.  With a newly bathed dog and the rain yesterday, we had no choice but to keep  Bali inside yesterday.  It was pure love and happiness for Lauren.  She squealed when Bali licked her hand and has full belly laughs when Bali barks!  (and she barked alot today because the wind kept blowing the bells on the side gate) 

First meeting, "Hello, we are going to be friends."

Poor Bali is exhausted!

Lauren also had her first doctor's appointment here in the states.  She was not a happy camper.  She cried from the moment they had me put her on the scale and wailed when the doctor was examining her.  The doctor was great and very understanding.  This is just something hthat Lauren is going to have to get used to as there are a lot of tests and screenings to be done.  But we are taking things slow and this week it was just an examination.  We will wait until next week or so to start the lab work.  Lauren is currently 32 inches (20th percentile) and 22.5 lbs (below the 5th percentile).  So the doctor wants us to fatten her up.  She is now on formula and we are starting her on whole milk.  She is not a fan of it, so I am sneaking it into her bottle and hope to soon transition to a sippy cup.  But for now we are letting her have the bottle 2 times a day (nap time and bed time)

At the doctor's waiting room.  She figured out how to use this after watching two boys play with it. 

In the eating area, Lauren continues to do well.  Although I am noticing that she is slowing down.  We have learned that she likes carrots and peas.  Her independence is beginning to show through as she demands more and more to feed herself.  She will spit out food that she can not swallow and will throw food down to the floor if she does not want it.  We are working on her giving me the food that she does not want rather than throwing it on the floor.  (although Bali does not mind)

Noodle Girl trying to feed herself

"mmmmm.... carrots and peas"

First taste of pizza.  She basically just licked the sauce off the crust. 

I'd rather eat your spicy burrito than my scrambled eggs!

 

Besides the doctor, we have also begun to venture out.  Our first stop was Target.  At first she was hesistant to get into the cart, but after a second try and pushing it, she stopped crying and enjoyed herself.  This is when I realize how small her world had been as she took in everything at Target.  We also went to the grocery store.  We passed the deli counter and she started squealing as she saw food!  The ladies were nice and gave her a slice of turkey which she loved.

First of many Target visits

Thank you to all who sent emails, gifts, cards, and/or phone calls.  We are still taking things slow and will let you know when we are up for visitors.  We appreciate your understanding as we are working on attachment and trust with Lauren right now.  We know that many are waiting to meet her.  We look forward to introducing her to you soon.  She is here forever!  For now, we will update everyone on her progress through the blog and facebook.  So stay tuned for her latest antics!