Happy Halloween

I don't know why when I scan the professional picture it comes out grainy and the quality looks poor, but its beautiful and one which we will proudly display every Halloween for many many years to come!!!

Lots-o-shots

Poor thing got 4 pokes in her legs yesterday and is still hurting today. Basically, next month she'll need 2 more shots then she'll be totally up to date on her vaccines. Tomorrow we have our second eye appt so I'm hoping I find out if she gets to have surgery next month.

We haven't been contacted yet by the infant teacher to set up the in-home speech, but I'm glad she was assessed last week as I think she's added like 5-6 new words in the last 2-3 days and just seems to be blossoming daily. Her latest words just tonight were "nite-nite" and "cow".

It felt great last night....I actually snuck out to the gym to do a kick-boxing class! That was my first time back. Anna stayed home with Daddy. She's not ready for the Kids Klub there yet. She doesn't even stay alone with Daddy much. When she saw me after the gym she just started crying, she was so emotional to see me again. It was cute, but I do need to be able to get away every now and then and have her be OK.

As it seems JCPenney doesn't let you copy any of the pics from the albums, you'll just have to wait a few more days for the cute Halloween pics. For now, here are a few random ones. I like the one of her sticking out her tongue like Frog..."blah!" The lighting looks kinda funny as you can see the reflection of the mirror on her chin.

Anna did qualify for some Early Start help

She was right on the borderline, but they were nice and kinda "bumped her down" in a category so she could get the boost they felt she needed. She actually scored bascially at age for her fine and gross motor skills, its her speech thats way behind. I do see her adding about 2 words a week so I think this 1 hr twice a week infant teacher that will be coming to our house will help. I know she also needs work on her articulation. For free county services, I was impressed. It was a new beautiful building with 2 therapists tag-teaming her to evaluate where she is. They even got her to say a new word while we were there...."bubbles", which she had never said before. They will also be already giving the school district a "heads up" as she will age out at 3 yrs old and will need to switch over to them if they feel she still needs extra help. I don't know why I'm so shocked that this is all available to us at no charge.

I'm so happy to report that our first potrait sitting went amazingly well! I'll have to post the pictures when I get them via email. The main purpose was to get a cute picture in her Pumpkin Princess Halloween costume and it was the BEST....smiles and all, which is a SHOCKER. What got her to smile was me imitating what she usually does when I try to take a picture of her....turn her head and hide. I seem to have better luck when I'm taking pictures of her with Dylan. I'm glad I didn't wait until after her eye surgery. You can see her eye turn it, but who cares......she looks so sweet.

I took measurements and she seems to how grown about an inch since Russia, but has only gained about 1/2 lb.....maybe 1 lb if we're lucky. She's is eating pretty darn good so I'm a little discouraged. I do see tons of new hair growth around her temples. In a few days it'll be 2 months since Gotcha Day and I just thought there would be a little more growth than that. I am used to her small size, and I don't really realize just how far behind she is until she is around another child her age. Its significant.

Early Start Appt this morning

It feels kinda weird......am I supposed to hope she does bad so she gets services? I'm so proud of how far she has come and I think she's doing great, but I know she could use some help. Hope it goes good......or bad?

We went to a wedding this weekend. The girl LOVES to dance! She must have been on that dance floor for well over an hour. She was a big hit. Guess she likes our Hip Hop, which is what they were playing. She was "bringing sexy back" haha.

Eating continues to go better and better. She is wanting to eat like an American kiddo, which I'm not sure is good? Hot dogs, chicken dinos, pop tarts, french fries & ketchup...the yogurts, fruits and veggies seemed to have slowed down, but she still will eat them.
No, we haven't have any poo-poo-in-the-toilet repeats. Although she still loves to walk up to the toilet and say "bye bye kaka".

"Home"

Anna's latest new word....HOME. I just warms my heart that this is now one of the few words she says......HOME. Had she ever even heard this word before a month ago, even in Russian? She now has a home and our home now feels complete with her in it. I must have had her say it fifty times today, it just makes me smile!

Oh, and we had another big event.....she went poo-poo in the toilet! (OK, she says kaka and we don't love that word, but hey if thats how she wants to tell me she has to go, kaka it is!) Big celebrations going on in our house. Now, we'll see if there is a repeat tomorrow. I'm sure you'll all be on pins and needles waiting for that answer....haha.