Guess I haven't managed to fatten Anna up in 3 weeks. Shes 30.5 inches and 21.5 lbs but her head circumference is actually on the charts.....barely. At the doctors appt she was still the same as at the embassy. Dr. Feldman was great and spent about 2 hrs with us. He was truly amazed at how well she is attaching and how she is not showing any behaviors of a child who has been institutionalized for her whole life. You have to fill out this big questionairre about her development and speech and he looks at it before he ever enters the room, along with her measurements. He said he expected to walk in and see a totally different type of child than the little girl in his office. He said I unscored her....bad mommy. Basically, he said she is showing some incredibly positive signs, but obviously she still has unknown risk-factors that we really can't tell right now and willl just have to wait and see. He wrote letters for us to help her get the free services offered thru our county for speech and ot therapy (that will hopefully help with her eating/swallowing). He sent us on our way with a letter to her pediatrician, lab slips and some stool specimen collection bottles.....fun!! We see the pediatrician tomorrow and I just have a feeling she is going to freak out about her size. I think I may also tackle getting her blood drawn...so not looking forward to that.
Sleeping is back on track and going really well. Its amazing how much easier everything is to deal with when you get a solid 8 hrs of sleep :o) Her eating is about the same. She wants to feed herself so it gets pretty messy since shes not eating finger foods, but baby cereal, mashed potatoes, yogurt, baby food. Since shes eating quite a bit of yogurt so I'm trying not to worry that she really won't drink milk...strawberry, chocolate, or plain. And surprisingly shes not a big fan of drinkable yogurt either. But, shes seems to be drinking enough juice now and will drink out of pretty much any sippy cup.
Lets see, shes added a few words and sings all the time. She terrorizes the cat and loves her stuffed animals. I need to take her with to baseball practice for Dylan which can be hard. She doesn't understand why she can't be on the field where all the fun seems to be.
I'm excited that I got her social card in the mail yesterday and have her officially on our medical insurance.
Sleeping is back on track and going really well. Its amazing how much easier everything is to deal with when you get a solid 8 hrs of sleep :o) Her eating is about the same. She wants to feed herself so it gets pretty messy since shes not eating finger foods, but baby cereal, mashed potatoes, yogurt, baby food. Since shes eating quite a bit of yogurt so I'm trying not to worry that she really won't drink milk...strawberry, chocolate, or plain. And surprisingly shes not a big fan of drinkable yogurt either. But, shes seems to be drinking enough juice now and will drink out of pretty much any sippy cup.
Lets see, shes added a few words and sings all the time. She terrorizes the cat and loves her stuffed animals. I need to take her with to baseball practice for Dylan which can be hard. She doesn't understand why she can't be on the field where all the fun seems to be.
I'm excited that I got her social card in the mail yesterday and have her officially on our medical insurance.
9 comments:
She sounds wonderful! :)
The milk in Russia tastes different than America or Western Europe. I am not sure if you tried it or not. A friend of mine who grew up on a dairy farm in Iowa said it is because the milk produced in Russia is cooled too quickly after pasteurization - there is nothing wrong with it, buy it gives it a burnt taste. My children will not drink Russian milk and I can't blame them as I do not like it. I - along with all the other expat moms - travel all over Moscow looking for a particular brand of Finish milk that tastes more Western. She may have the reverse situation. Why don't you try Kefir? It is a popular Russian milk product similar to yogurt / milk. I am sure she had it in the orphanage. Lifeway Kifer is sold in Texas at our local grocery store. You might also be able to find it at a European or Russian store in your area. This taste might be more familiar to her and, if she likes it, you could dilute it with milk over time. It might be worth a try. Here is a web-site: http://www.lifeway.net/
Wow! It sounds like things are coming right along. You sound like a fantastic mommy to me!
Your Russian princess is playing, smiling, and singing! How wonderful!You have a loving family.
Sounds like a great report from the doctor! She'll figure the food thing out. It took Grace about a month to finally try fruits and vegies. I know how frustrating it can be when they don't eat the way or amount we want them to :) She is so cute and looks so happy!
Do not worry about the growth charts.Ava finally made the charts only recently! And after being home for two years now is finally starting to really gain some weight!Ava was globally delayed coming home and now she only has speech articulation issues that we qualified for assistance through the school district.
It all can be a bit overwhelming at the beginning but wow what a difference good nutrition and a loving family can make for these kiddos!
Email me if I can help you !She is so cute!!!!!
nmsettle@yahoo.com
Nicole
AWESOME news from Dr. Feldman ~ and SO happy the attachment is going well. That caused me so much stress the first few months. Go Anna! I'm looking forward to hearing about county services.
Our son has been home 6 months and we went through OT and are now starting speech. It sounds like we have some similiar sensory related issues as far as eating and swallowing. Nickolas is eating like a champ now!! If you want to chat or need advice please email me at mayorjohnsonswife@gmail.com.
Ask your agency to get a copy from the baby home and translate. We got a copy to bring home with us the day we took Hannah to the Doctor in Vlad for her final checkup.
Good luck,
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