New Things

Why no pictures of Miss Abbey? She has a cold and I hate to take them when she's sick.
The lovely jumper and very cute dog was sent by Pam and family in Texas. Abbey was very excited to recieve this package when she had the flu.
The darling hat and scarf were made for Abbey by her Aunt Anna.
Thanks to all of you!

I was very happy with our 22 month old Dr.'s visit this week. When I first got Abbey she was not on the growth chart. In January she had gained 2 lbs and had made it to the 3rd percentile. When she got the flu I became very concerned that we were sliding back to her China weight. She made a great recovery and I was so glad to find that she now weighs 23 1/2 lbs and is in the 15th percentile. I have decided to officially stop worrying about her weight now. She also grew 1/2 an inch since January! The Dr. said that I could take her off formula now so we started 3 bottles of milk a day. She hasn't ever been willing to try milk out of a sippy cup but we warmed it up, put it in a bottle, and voila - she drinks! She has now had two early intervention sessions and they don't seem to think she needs much help. I am still going to keep it in place for awhile and I am also going to try to add occupational therapy. I know that she will be fine in all areas, but I want to give her a boost since she was in the orphanage for so long. She started speech therapy today and it's such a relief. I've been working since November to get all this in place. Her daycare provider taught her how to say "up" last week and she is using it at every opportunity. She is trying to say "more" and is now saying "p" for please. We are noticing that although she is still happy to sign alot she is more focussed on trying to say the words. She is doing so much better than I would be at learning Mandarin after being in China for 3 months. I think of all the interaction she did not have compared to most babies that are with their families from birth and I am so impressed. She loves to go outside and saw "aw, aw" with the crows, but if they are close she wants to be held. Like most toddlers she wants to do everything herself...wash her hands, push the buttons for the microwave and my car key, etc. As February rolled in I also saw a change in her expressions of affection. She began giving me little love pats, stroking my hair, giving me kisses, etc. It has been so amazing to see that after soaking in all the love in these last few months she is now starting to give it back. I love it! She has a wonderful, adorable laugh, as I am seeing from other blogs that all these sweet little ones do. She loves her new Hello Kitty electric toothbrush. The Early Intervention specialist recommended it to help her feel more in her mouth (she had been stuffing lots of food in there and that can be a sign that they are only recognizing pressure). I was given an ipod that I just set up with her new Hello Kitty base. I loaded on the Chinese lullabies and I know she is going to love those. By the way, we got two CD's from the Twisted Sisters and they have wonderful learning songs. I don't know how to explain it, but their music is alot easier to listen to than other children's music. Very fun. Okay, I need to get back to working on other things now. Bye!

Okay, that was some sort of a slip up....I just re-read my blog and realized that I meant to put Twin Sisters! Abbey doesn't listen to heavy metal, yet.