Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
7 months home and a doctor visit
We have been home 7 months today with our princess. Wow. So what did we do to celebrate....I took Kiya to her 12 month check up :)
The numbers:
Weight: just under 21 lbs (42nd percentile)
Height: 29 1/4 inches (48th percentile)
Head circumference: 44.5 cm (29th percentile)
So as a reference, Kiya was in the less than 3rd percentile in weight and head circumference and between the 5th and 10th percentile for height.
Development:
Food: The nurse was shocked when I told her Kiya took herself off of bottles and is solely on sippy cups of whole milk. She said we were lucky. I just think we have a big girl who knows what she wants :) She did say Kiya should be drinking 16oz of milk a day. We are a tad shy of this but she said yogurt counts so we should be fine. She encouraged us to let Kiya try and feed herself finger foods. I told her Kiya has been doing that for awhile. We have good and bad days. Some days Kiya wants to feed herself and other days she doesn't. Introducing the spoon is next...beware pugs, floors, blinds and anything else near her while eating.
Sleep: The nurse asked us how Kiya is sleeping at night and for naps. I told her that unless she is sick or teething, Kiya will sleep 11-12 hours through the night. As for naps, we are in transition to one nap so some days she will take 2 shorter naps totaling near 3 hours or one long nap of 2-2 1/2 hours. She then asked us if Kiya falls asleep by herself or if we rock her to sleep. She has always fallen asleep by herself. At this point the nurse was looking at me like I was nuts. She said it was too good to be true.
Speech: Kiya was quite vocal while we were there. In July, Birth to 3 said that she was delayed about 36% in her speech. Well, the doctor now thinks that Kiya is ahead of the curve. She says mama, dada, daw (dog), hi, na (no) along with a whole bunch of other sounds like nana, lala, baba, ssss, zzz, ga. She also will point at what she wants and grunt a little to let us know she wants it. Usually it is her sippy cup she wants and can't reach other times it is Mama's dinner :)
Motor skills: The doctor said they usually expect most 1 year olds to pull them self up to a stand and Kiya only does this with our fingers. She doesn't really cruise on furniture but she did yesterday take one sideways step while holding on to the coffee table. She has been trying to walk a lot more so it is only a matter of time. The doctor also said that since at 5 months she couldn't really stand up on our laps and had little muscle tone that it may take her a little longer for her to fully walk on her own. She asked about crawling, rolling, etc. So we told her about Kiya's butt scooting, rolling antics and she said that is all great. She asked if she is continuing to show increased strength and desire to move and do things and I said yes. She said that is all that matters.
Overall, the doctor felt Kiya was growing and developing well. While there Kiya got her MMR, chicken pox, pneumonia booster, and H1N1 shot. She is also having a TB skin test done.
In other news, Kiya will transition to her new room at daycare the last week of December. Why not sooner....well a spot opened up in the room we wanted so we took it. It meant delaying the transition to her big girl room but we get the teacher we know and love. And more importantly it is the teacher that Kiya grew to love and trust.
The numbers:
Weight: just under 21 lbs (42nd percentile)
Height: 29 1/4 inches (48th percentile)
Head circumference: 44.5 cm (29th percentile)
So as a reference, Kiya was in the less than 3rd percentile in weight and head circumference and between the 5th and 10th percentile for height.
Development:
Food: The nurse was shocked when I told her Kiya took herself off of bottles and is solely on sippy cups of whole milk. She said we were lucky. I just think we have a big girl who knows what she wants :) She did say Kiya should be drinking 16oz of milk a day. We are a tad shy of this but she said yogurt counts so we should be fine. She encouraged us to let Kiya try and feed herself finger foods. I told her Kiya has been doing that for awhile. We have good and bad days. Some days Kiya wants to feed herself and other days she doesn't. Introducing the spoon is next...beware pugs, floors, blinds and anything else near her while eating.
Sleep: The nurse asked us how Kiya is sleeping at night and for naps. I told her that unless she is sick or teething, Kiya will sleep 11-12 hours through the night. As for naps, we are in transition to one nap so some days she will take 2 shorter naps totaling near 3 hours or one long nap of 2-2 1/2 hours. She then asked us if Kiya falls asleep by herself or if we rock her to sleep. She has always fallen asleep by herself. At this point the nurse was looking at me like I was nuts. She said it was too good to be true.
Speech: Kiya was quite vocal while we were there. In July, Birth to 3 said that she was delayed about 36% in her speech. Well, the doctor now thinks that Kiya is ahead of the curve. She says mama, dada, daw (dog), hi, na (no) along with a whole bunch of other sounds like nana, lala, baba, ssss, zzz, ga. She also will point at what she wants and grunt a little to let us know she wants it. Usually it is her sippy cup she wants and can't reach other times it is Mama's dinner :)
Motor skills: The doctor said they usually expect most 1 year olds to pull them self up to a stand and Kiya only does this with our fingers. She doesn't really cruise on furniture but she did yesterday take one sideways step while holding on to the coffee table. She has been trying to walk a lot more so it is only a matter of time. The doctor also said that since at 5 months she couldn't really stand up on our laps and had little muscle tone that it may take her a little longer for her to fully walk on her own. She asked about crawling, rolling, etc. So we told her about Kiya's butt scooting, rolling antics and she said that is all great. She asked if she is continuing to show increased strength and desire to move and do things and I said yes. She said that is all that matters.
Overall, the doctor felt Kiya was growing and developing well. While there Kiya got her MMR, chicken pox, pneumonia booster, and H1N1 shot. She is also having a TB skin test done.
In other news, Kiya will transition to her new room at daycare the last week of December. Why not sooner....well a spot opened up in the room we wanted so we took it. It meant delaying the transition to her big girl room but we get the teacher we know and love. And more importantly it is the teacher that Kiya grew to love and trust.
Friday, December 11, 2009
And she says Mama
I CAN HARDLY BELIEVE IT!!! KIYA FINALLY SAID "MAMA"!!! CAN YOU TELL I AM EXCITED?
Ok, got that off my chest. But really she said "mama" 3 times in the bath tub last night. It has always been "dada or baba or lala or recently nana but never mama" Until last night and I couldn't have been more thrilled :)
Now whether or not she knows that I am actually Mama remains to be seen. If we say Mama she sometimes will look at me but that could just be coincidence.
My bet is because I want to hear her sweet voice say Mama again she won't for awhile but that is okay. I know she can say it and that warms my heart.
Now if I could just get her to stop hitting me that would be wonderful. Not sure why she hits only me but usually I bare the brunt of her slapping. She doesn't hit me if I am holding her but if someone else is. Last night, we told her "no" firmly and of course she cried but we don't want her to hit. She usually will hit and then grin as she thinks it is funny.
We got the same result the other morning when we told her "no" as she was kicking Sebastian. He didn't seem to mind and has been a trooper with the whole baby thing but the kicking went too far. She of course cried again. And it is the most pathetic cry I have every seen. There is a slow build up and then big crocodile tears. It is kind of funny really but we don't dare laugh since at least she is understanding the word no and responding to it..
I know it is an age thing and I know we need to be consistent and set limits. So we are. Together we have agreed to tell her no when she hits and kicks. Like it or not she will have to learn that that is not okay and that mommy and daddy don't find it funny. I hate to see her upset but it is part of the learning process.
Ok, got that off my chest. But really she said "mama" 3 times in the bath tub last night. It has always been "dada or baba or lala or recently nana but never mama" Until last night and I couldn't have been more thrilled :)
Now whether or not she knows that I am actually Mama remains to be seen. If we say Mama she sometimes will look at me but that could just be coincidence.
My bet is because I want to hear her sweet voice say Mama again she won't for awhile but that is okay. I know she can say it and that warms my heart.
Now if I could just get her to stop hitting me that would be wonderful. Not sure why she hits only me but usually I bare the brunt of her slapping. She doesn't hit me if I am holding her but if someone else is. Last night, we told her "no" firmly and of course she cried but we don't want her to hit. She usually will hit and then grin as she thinks it is funny.
We got the same result the other morning when we told her "no" as she was kicking Sebastian. He didn't seem to mind and has been a trooper with the whole baby thing but the kicking went too far. She of course cried again. And it is the most pathetic cry I have every seen. There is a slow build up and then big crocodile tears. It is kind of funny really but we don't dare laugh since at least she is understanding the word no and responding to it..
I know it is an age thing and I know we need to be consistent and set limits. So we are. Together we have agreed to tell her no when she hits and kicks. Like it or not she will have to learn that that is not okay and that mommy and daddy don't find it funny. I hate to see her upset but it is part of the learning process.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
What's new with Kiya?
I know it has been awhile since I have blogged about how Kiya is doing. So here is the update on my 1 year old drama queen :)
--She is fully on whole milk. We are using the rest of the formula in her oatmeal banana cereal that she loves just to finish it up.
--Kiya took herself off of bottles. It was like she woke up one day and said to herself that "I am one now and a big girl so I don't need a bottle." Prior to this we had cut her down to two bottles a day but she was done with bottles all together. We just put her milk in a sippy cup and she drinks what she wants. In the morning, Dave puts her in the high chair with her sippy and some finger foods before she heads off to daycare. At night we sit down for story time with her sippy. She doesn't drink a ton of milk but she drinks more and more each day. She didn't love formula either. And she eats yogurt everyday, drinks milk with her meals and has started to eat cottage cheese too.
--Kiya has become a master of scooting on smooth non carpeted floors. She got herself into a corner at daycare and couldn't figure out how to go backwards. On carpet she can turn herself around in a circle or she just rolls wherever she needs to go. She loves to roll around.
--Kiya LOVES her bath time. Seriously, it is so funny we taped it last night. She splashes A LOT. I mean water all over the bathroom floor a lot. She giggles and even full on belly laughs. She puts toys on her head and she scoots all over the tub. It gets a little scary sometimes as she just goes and almost falls. This summer we are getting her a kiddie pool and some swim lessons.
--Kiya still loves to stand. Problem is she hasn't fully figured out how to pull herself up yet so she fusses when she can't get it. She is trying which is a good sign. She will get there. We just support her. Today in fact she took one step for her activity standing walker over to the coffee table.
--And the drama continues, Kiya has some pretty strong opinions in her little head and oh does she let us know when she isn't happy.
--Kiya loves to imitate sounds. She is getting really close to being able to say "doggie". She still doesn't say mama. She looks at me when we say it but won't repeat it.
--We haven't been teaching Kiya sign language but they use it at daycare. She definitely knows the sign for all done and doesn't hesitate to tell us when she is finished eating. It is really cute.
So there you have the run down of life with a busy 1 year old.
--She is fully on whole milk. We are using the rest of the formula in her oatmeal banana cereal that she loves just to finish it up.
--Kiya took herself off of bottles. It was like she woke up one day and said to herself that "I am one now and a big girl so I don't need a bottle." Prior to this we had cut her down to two bottles a day but she was done with bottles all together. We just put her milk in a sippy cup and she drinks what she wants. In the morning, Dave puts her in the high chair with her sippy and some finger foods before she heads off to daycare. At night we sit down for story time with her sippy. She doesn't drink a ton of milk but she drinks more and more each day. She didn't love formula either. And she eats yogurt everyday, drinks milk with her meals and has started to eat cottage cheese too.
--Kiya has become a master of scooting on smooth non carpeted floors. She got herself into a corner at daycare and couldn't figure out how to go backwards. On carpet she can turn herself around in a circle or she just rolls wherever she needs to go. She loves to roll around.
--Kiya LOVES her bath time. Seriously, it is so funny we taped it last night. She splashes A LOT. I mean water all over the bathroom floor a lot. She giggles and even full on belly laughs. She puts toys on her head and she scoots all over the tub. It gets a little scary sometimes as she just goes and almost falls. This summer we are getting her a kiddie pool and some swim lessons.
--Kiya still loves to stand. Problem is she hasn't fully figured out how to pull herself up yet so she fusses when she can't get it. She is trying which is a good sign. She will get there. We just support her. Today in fact she took one step for her activity standing walker over to the coffee table.
--And the drama continues, Kiya has some pretty strong opinions in her little head and oh does she let us know when she isn't happy.
--Kiya loves to imitate sounds. She is getting really close to being able to say "doggie". She still doesn't say mama. She looks at me when we say it but won't repeat it.
--We haven't been teaching Kiya sign language but they use it at daycare. She definitely knows the sign for all done and doesn't hesitate to tell us when she is finished eating. It is really cute.
So there you have the run down of life with a busy 1 year old.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Wordless Wednesday is being interrupted again
I know I know, I talk to much but in my defense the title of this blog is Chatty Cathy and there will be pictures in this post.
One year ago today, Zinash came to the Mussie orphanage in Hossana, Ethiopia and handed Kiya to a nanny. A mere 10 days after her birth. We have that moment captured on video. It is extremely difficult to watch that. To see the tears in her eyes. I feel for her. I in some ways am grateful to have this moment to show Kiya just how much her mother loved her but at the same time I hate that a camera was in Zinash's face.
I walked this same path and went to this building. See the picture below. This is where Kiya spent her first couple of weeks in care. My heart is again heavy today. My thoughts are with Zinash and I wish I could give her a hug. I may be able to send her a letter and she may actually get it but more on that later.
While in Hossana, we were also able to meet Kiya's first nanny. She was so sweet and so excited to tell us all about Yewibdar. She told us she was always so content and sweet and such a good baby. I wish there was some way we could send her an update as well. We were able to show her some more recent pictures while we were there but I wish we could send her some more.
So about the letter, our agency has post adoption services that we can and likely will register for. For a small fee, we can send a letter to Zinash and it will be translated in to Kembatissa, her native language. We have heard that the letters are merely dropped off at a local office for parents and we have heard that they are actually hand delivered. We of course are hoping for the latter.
One year ago today, Zinash came to the Mussie orphanage in Hossana, Ethiopia and handed Kiya to a nanny. A mere 10 days after her birth. We have that moment captured on video. It is extremely difficult to watch that. To see the tears in her eyes. I feel for her. I in some ways am grateful to have this moment to show Kiya just how much her mother loved her but at the same time I hate that a camera was in Zinash's face.
I walked this same path and went to this building. See the picture below. This is where Kiya spent her first couple of weeks in care. My heart is again heavy today. My thoughts are with Zinash and I wish I could give her a hug. I may be able to send her a letter and she may actually get it but more on that later.
While in Hossana, we were also able to meet Kiya's first nanny. She was so sweet and so excited to tell us all about Yewibdar. She told us she was always so content and sweet and such a good baby. I wish there was some way we could send her an update as well. We were able to show her some more recent pictures while we were there but I wish we could send her some more.
So about the letter, our agency has post adoption services that we can and likely will register for. For a small fee, we can send a letter to Zinash and it will be translated in to Kembatissa, her native language. We have heard that the letters are merely dropped off at a local office for parents and we have heard that they are actually hand delivered. We of course are hoping for the latter.
Also as part of post adoption services, when we travel to Ethiopia again and again for a fee, our agency will try and set up another meeting with Zinash. We could actually be able to hug her again and share recent photos of Kiya. I am trying to keep things in perspective that policies change and our agency won't provide this anymore, that Zinash wouldn't want to see us again or they can't find her. If our agency stops providing this service, we will try and find her on our own and will of course respect if she chooses not to see us but I feel like we owe it to Kiya to try and try hard to see her again.
Now what we would say to Zinash in a letter or in person is a tough but I know when the time comes we will find the words. We have to, for Kiya.
Friday, December 4, 2009
Picture Day!
So I decided it would be a great idea to take Kiya into JCPenny's for her 1 year old pictures. I was so excited! I made the appointment and then went shopping for a new outfit or two... You see I made the mistake of going into Gymboree and well I just couldn't decide which outfit to chose so I got them both :)
I went all out with matching hair bows, tights, cute little black shoes. I couldn't wait. My adorable little girl loves to have her picture taken so all should be great.
Well, picture day had arrived. It was snowing so I bundled Kiya all up after no morning nap and headed to the mall. Yes I said no nap. If you have a little one, you can see where this is headed.
Sure enough, super crabby Kiya emerged at the studio. She was crying, them screaming, then throwing a fit, then being really snuggly and of course sucking on her fingers. We took a break, ate some yogurt and things believe it or not got worse. So bad that we had to leave and try again later. We were tentatively going to go back that afternoon pending how lunch and nap time went.
Poor baby fell asleep on the way home. She slept for a couple hours, ate a big lunch and I figured let's try it. So packed us both back into our winter gear and headed back to the studio. And....
PICTURE SUCCESS :)
She wasn't as smiley as we know she can be but she was so sweet and adorable. We got some really great shots. She looks so cute. I can't wait to get our order in. I will post something here once we get the pics in next week.
I was recounting the experience to Dave and he told me that Kiya was awake the night before from 11pm until about 2am or later just playing in her crib. That is very unlike her to be awake for that long but her night was different since Dave and I went to a basketball game so maybe that was it. Had I known that in the morning I would have rescheduled and saved myself and the JCPenny's staff the shrieking.
I went all out with matching hair bows, tights, cute little black shoes. I couldn't wait. My adorable little girl loves to have her picture taken so all should be great.
Well, picture day had arrived. It was snowing so I bundled Kiya all up after no morning nap and headed to the mall. Yes I said no nap. If you have a little one, you can see where this is headed.
Sure enough, super crabby Kiya emerged at the studio. She was crying, them screaming, then throwing a fit, then being really snuggly and of course sucking on her fingers. We took a break, ate some yogurt and things believe it or not got worse. So bad that we had to leave and try again later. We were tentatively going to go back that afternoon pending how lunch and nap time went.
Poor baby fell asleep on the way home. She slept for a couple hours, ate a big lunch and I figured let's try it. So packed us both back into our winter gear and headed back to the studio. And....
PICTURE SUCCESS :)
She wasn't as smiley as we know she can be but she was so sweet and adorable. We got some really great shots. She looks so cute. I can't wait to get our order in. I will post something here once we get the pics in next week.
I was recounting the experience to Dave and he told me that Kiya was awake the night before from 11pm until about 2am or later just playing in her crib. That is very unlike her to be awake for that long but her night was different since Dave and I went to a basketball game so maybe that was it. Had I known that in the morning I would have rescheduled and saved myself and the JCPenny's staff the shrieking.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
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