Gymboree

When we saw Aunt Wendy at Aunt Elaine's wedding in June, we were presented with a generous number of beautiful outfits from Gymboree. Last week, I mustered up the energy to go to the Gymboree store to exchange a couple of the items for some pieces more suitable for Fall. I like this one in particular and took this series of pictures because Izzy was particularly playful. Seems she likes her new clothes too.

On occasion, I sit at my computer at my desk in my bedroom, Eddie watching tv from my bed, Izzy playing with a stuffed animal or toy, not usually paying particular attention to either of us - I turned around the other day and found Izzy, all snugged in the crook of Eddie's arm, content as could be. I had to take a picture.

2nd Visit to Dr. Field

Izzy had her 2nd visit to the doctor yesterday and gained 2 lbs in 4 weeks! She's at 18.8 lbs now. Eats and sleeps well still. She did get 4 shots yesterday - poor girl. All her tests are done and the results are all good. Whew. She is in the 47 percentile for head circumference and length and with her recent weight gain is almost on the charts. She's gone from her 9 month clothes being baggy to fitting nicely in 12 month clothes. She is still on formula, but hopefully after her next blood work will be able to transition to milk. She eats congee, baby cereal, fruits and veggies - loves the Organic Butternut Squash and Corn, and any soft table foods we're having. Safe to say, she loves food, all food, any food, any time.
The highlight of both of their days is when I pick Eddie up from school in the afternoon. She tries to say Eddie when we pull up to the school - but it comes out more like "ad-da".



The coolest thing about Eddie being almost 8 yrs old and still only just over 50 lbs, is that he fits in the Pack n Play and Izzy loves it when he joins her in there. I never dreamed they could be so much good company for each other with such an age difference (6 years and 7 months).

Lots of Visitors

Izzy and Uncle Matt.
Trying something new with the blow dryer. Who needs gel?

The Clouds come to visit. Enjoying the last few nice days on the deck. Izzy loves her food.
Lily and Charmaine. Joe in the background.
Lily and Izzy. Bill and Joe clowning around. It was great to see Lily, Joe and Charmaine.

A Letter for Izzy

In the mail today, Izzy got her first piece of mail. A letter from GW. I called Bill to tell him Izzy got a letter from the President. He said, "Gosh, it must really be slow down there in Washington." She's an American girl now.

There used to be a picture of her citizenship certificate here, but Bill just had a cow that this very official document with a seal was on the internet for the whole world to see - so its gone now. If you didn't see it before, and you want to see it, you'll need to contact us in person to see it now.

Gained One Pound!

Before After




Before After I put some before and after pictures together. The pictures above were from the end of September. And she's actually another pound more than the "after pictures".

I don't weigh her every day - but its hard, so about every 2-3 days, and I'm happy to report a whole pound weight gain since her Drs appointment 2 1/2 weeks ago. She's a good eater. She'd have to be to fit in this family. She hasn't refused anything we've offered and enjoys most things with much excitement. I took some pictures of her in this outfit that she hasn't worn since we were in China. I had only brought 4-5 things for her to wear, one of which didn't work, and had been tired of seeing her in the same outfits, plus it has been much cooler here. You can really tell a difference in how she looks (and fits) in the same outfit.

Just wanted to throw this one in there. Bill's Dad took the picture. I love Bill's smile here.

Happy Girl

Izzy is a happy little girl. Its very easy to get her to smile or laugh. If you just look at her she laughs. I wonder sometimes if she's laughing at us. The only thing that mungs her up is when she's hungry and you're not getting food to her fast enough and when she needs a diaper change. I can't believe how wonderfully blessed we've been to get such a wonderful little girl.
Eddie has just completed his 2nd week of 2nd grade. He's doing well. He loves his little sister. Her crib is in his room, so they wake with the first sight of each other each morning. I'm picking Eddie up right after school these days (instead of him going to aftercare). It helps him get a jump on his homework and helps us save a little money. As soon as we pull into the parking lot, she gets all giddy, cuz she knows she's about to see big brother. She's smart and a fast learner - picks up on things very quickly.
Aunt Debbie gave her this walker. She mostly likes to play with it sitting or squatting, but took a few steps with it the other day. When we first got her just under 4 weeks ago - she could pull to standing - a little shaky, but could. Now, she does it with a snap and stands real strong, for a long time. I make sure she gets about equal amounts of time to crawl around the house, pulling up on furniture, cruising - as well as spending time in her pack n play or crib (when not sleeping) so she can build strength to walk, but also cope with having to go to daycare when I go back to work, in only 52 days I might add. I'm mourning already.
She does not make many demands. She'll sit at her seat at the dinner table long after eating is done. She's been awake in her crib for the past 30 mins or more, while I update this blog, just playing with her feet, hands, looking around, amusing herself with the sounds she makes. She's been "stretching her vocal chords" - with interesting "songs", sounds, sometimes shrieks (much to my dismay). She says "ma, ma, ma", "da da da", though I doubt she relates those sounds to Bill or I. She says, "na, na," and occasionally, a series of sounds that sound like it could be a sentence in a language from another planet "ak gho mi na na nei ma da". Translation anyone?
She practically flips herself out of her chair, pack n play, wherever she is when she sees Bill come through the door. She adores her father. If he doesn't go directly over to pick her up, and for more than a couple minutes, there's lots of shrilling, shrieking and even crying involved. Bill will have to learn to change out of his work clothes with a baby in arm. ;)
She's gotten more used to bath time. I'm not sure how they bathed her at the SWI, but I doubt it was in a tub like this. I saw pictures on their Yahoo site http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LeChangFamilies/ of the area they bathe the babies in, and saw these large tubs or basins, so maybe it was more of a sponge bath she got. She still doesn't like getting water on her face, or in her eyes, but is definitely getting used to the bath and shows signs of even enjoying it, patting the water, making splashy sounds.

Home at Last

We come home to find balloons, gifts, flowers, and food waiting for us. Boy were we glad to be home. It has been a long exhaustive journey. But we're home. The picture above is Izzy's first meal at our dining room table. Those are some tired faces.
Izzy is diggin' being in her Pack N Play. Its filled with stuffed animals, toys and all hers. She's so easy going.
This is the chair Mimi gave Izzy. She gave one like it to Eddie too. The chair has her name inscribed on the back. Today was the first day, we didn't go running all over. Dropped Eddie off to school, then back to just hang out for a bit. She's wearing one of the many outfits Aunt Wendy gave her. We went back to Dr Field today to have her look at the TB test she gave Izzy on Tuesday during her physical. Its clean - yay! She also got some of the results from Izzy's bloodwork back already. She's healthier than we thought and hardly anemic at all - not with a 12.0 hemoglobin. Yay again!