Amy had another Doctors appointment today. She has gained another pound and a half, now 21 1/2 pounds. She has also grown almost 2 inches, not the almost 5 I had originally thought. Guess my measuring her in her sleep wasn't such a good idea.
She also has a few molars coming in. We can definitely see one breaking through on the lower left side and it appears that her eye teeth are coming in up top. This is causing some crankiness on her part, but nothing like what I've heard about with other kids. Our poor neighbor across the street is having a time with her daughter (a couple of months younger than Amy) who is also cutting new teeth. I'm counting my blessings every day to have such a good natured daughter.
As for her clothes, she's still fitting in mostly 18 month sizes, some 24 month sizes are starting to fit too. But she still doesn't have a waist to hold up pants and skirts. So in that area, we're still in the 12 month size pants. If this continues she'll be wearing dressing and overalls all fall and winter. Otherwise the pants pull down her diapers, and that could prove to be rather embarassing.
She seems to be enjoying her books more lately too. We recently got another one called Barnyard Dance that has been quite fun. I try to act out some of the different parts, for example: stomp your feet & clap your hands, I'll stomp my feet and clap and then Amy will do the same. It's pretty entertaining.
She goes for another haircut on Friday. I can't believe how quickly her hair grows. We met another family on Sunday who adopted a little girl from China a couple of years ago. They have yet to get her hair cut. She was very cute and had a pixie-ish style hairdo. They were telling us that for some reason although she has grown like a normal child, her hair just doesn't want to grow.
Here are today's "pictures of the day".
We have a court date finally!!! September 26, 2001 is when we will meet with the judge to complete Amy's readoption paperwork here in Georgia. After this is done we will get a Georgia birth certificate issued for her and be able to apply for her Social Security Number, passport, and proof of citizenship from the INS. Yes, still more paperwork, but another step complete.
Amy thinks she is a "Sit 'N Spin" toy. She will be sitting on the floor, usually in the dining room and will turn herself around in circles a few times, like a Sit 'N Spin.
Tomorrow is the last day of Kindermusik until the end of August. Amy will start Mother's Morning Out on August 20th, and will be attending that 2 days a week - Monday's and Thursday's. Starting August 31st, she'll resume Kindermusik on Friday mornings. On Tuesdays there is story hour at the library. I'm not sure how often we'll do that. Wednesdays so far are the only days she doesn't have anything "scheduled" on a regular basis. Quite the busy girl.
We have been listening to the classical music radio station during the day, which she seems to enjoy. Whenever they play a piece that has an audience clapping at the end she will start clapping too. Some pieces of music cause her to react more than others - she tries to direct on some of the pieces.
She is also playing more with her toy piano. It only has 9 notes and you can alternate between musical sounds and letters/numbers. But she really seems to enjoy it. She will dance to the music that it plays and she will also try playing different notes. She has also figured out that if she puts her hand over the little speaker it changes the sound. She has seen us do this before, and now does it on her own.
Here are today's "pictures of the day".
For the past week or so, Amy has been making a new face. She forms her lips into an "oh" shape and will make a sound that is a cross between an owl and oh. It's pretty cute to see. Well today she decided to do this and try to whistle at the same time. It was pretty hard to hear, but I think she may have actually managed a whistle.
She also knows that when the phone rings I say hello. Well now she will make the "oh" sound whenever the phone rings. She still doesn't want to talk on the phone, but she's getting the idea.
I have started working on a quilt for Amy. You can see pictures of the fabric under the miscellaneous pictures, by clicking on the link from the home page. We'll see how it turns out.
She now knows where her nose, ear, mouth, eye, and bellybutton are. When she feels like it and you ask her, she'll point out each different part of anatomy. She will also point them out on you as well. She's trying to say belly button, but it comes out more like "bah bah".
Amy has also started to help me make the bed in the mornings. After I throw the pillows on the floor, she will come in and pick them up and hand them to me. Usually I'm not ready for them yet, but she's trying. She also trys to help unload the dishwasher. She does real well when it comes to spoons and forks, not so good though when it comes to the dishes. She takes each utensil out one at a time and hands them to me. Then she'll try to pull out plates, but usually gets hung up after lifting them up about 1/2 an inch.
Here are today's "pictures of the day".
Here she is, Amy the fashion plate. Today's outfit is Ralph Lauren - sent to us by a friend. It's still a little on the big side since it's a 24 month size outfit, mainly in the arm area, but the length seemed to fit her well.
Yesterday she decided that she was going to pull out all of her pants from her dresser drawer. She did this while I was outside planting and Dean was watching her. When he brought her out to see me she was wearing a pair of pink jeans that she had attempted to put on herself and managed to get about halfway up her legs. She is also trying harder every day to put on her own socks and shoes. She's got the idea, just not the technique.
She has also discovered the cupboard with the rest of the Tupperware. All the little midget containers are now all over the kitchen and living room.
Here are today's "pictures of the day".
Amy's appetite never ceases to amaze me. This evening we went out for dinner, Chinese food. We ordered our normal dishes, plus one for Amy figuring we'd have leftovers for tomorrow. We were wrong. She managed to eat the entire meal of Sweet & Sour Shrimp, plus part of an eggroll, rice, and some of the pineapple in the dish. I don't know where she's putting it all. According to our scale she hasn't gained any more weight, but when I measured her while she was sleeping she has grown approximately 5 inches since we've been home.
Other than waking up earlier than usual, she was in a good mood today. She is back to taking a short morning nap (usually about 1/2 hour) and a longer afternoon nap (about 2 hours, sometimes longer). Since she woke up early, Dean brought her in to our room. There she decided to go back to sleep until her normal waking up time.
Here is today's "picture of the day".
Amy is such a little ham as you can see by today's picture.
Amy put away almost all of her toys last night without our help - other than getting her started by asking her to put away specific things. After directing her to the first few toys she put the rest away on her own, picking them up one at a time and putting them in her toy box (a Rubbermaid storage container).
She did the same thing this morning in Kindermusik class when it came time to put away musical instruments, scarves, and balls that we were using.
As you can see by todays picture, she is also starting to figure out how to use crayons. We're not sure if she'll be right or left handed since she's been using both. Not only with the crayons, but when it comes to sucking her thumb too.
I think she is getting some more teeth in. Yesterday was quite the cranky day and she didn't sleep well last night either. Baby Oragel seems to help, but it sure does taste bad, making it hard to get in there.
Here is today's "picture of the day".
I wish I had the camera with me to get a picture of Amy when she got stuck on a doormat outside of UTS. We had gone there yesterday afternoon to attend a baby shower for one of the other programmers and his wife. After the shower we left through the front door and Amy was walking on her own. She stepped on a sisal type doormat and then just stopped. She would not step off on her own. It must have seemed like a giant step to her and she would not budge. She has done this before when she walks up to a curb or step, she'll hold out her hand and wait for someone to take it before she'll step down. While I can understand her doing this with steps and curbs (and I'm glad she does), it was really quite funny to see her do this with a doormat, since it was barely an inch off the ground.
She has also started getting in to everything. If she can open it, whether it be a cupboard or a drawer, she does. Next thing you know the contents are all over the place. Everything from her clothes to ziploc bags have been scattered about the house. But at the same time she is learning to pick up her toys and put them away. This evening she managed to put away 2 balls, a rattle, and one of her books.
Here is today's "picture of the day".
This morning Amy helped me garden. She put weeds in my weed bucket and then moved grass clippings from one pile to another. She seems to have gotten over her fear of grass now.
She is also trying to talk more. Duck and book are two words that are sounding like they are supposed to now. She also knows dada, mama, dog, cat, shoes, socks, ball, and juice. Flower comes out sounding like bawa, I guess the "fl" sound is a dificult one right now.
It is amazing what each day brings in her progress. When she walks now she doesn't look like a drunken sailor, unless she's tired, then she stumbles more. She has also figured out how to run, mostly after the cats.
She now gives high fives and is trying to blow kisses again. Except now she takes my hand and holds it up to her mouth. She is kissing more on her own - she will spontaneously walk up to you and give you a kiss, when she feels like it.
Here is today's "picture of the day". This was also from our trip up north. Amy is enjoying a cookie at the concert in the park. Sorry there is only one. We have to get back in to picture taking mode now that we're home again.
More from our trip up north...
We had the shortest and the tallest members of the family present during our trip to Michigan. Jesse was the tallest and of course Amy was the shortest. While it was difficult to get a picture of the two of them standing side by side we did manage to get them next to each other. We also tried to get Amy to try on Jesse's shoes. She didn't want to do that, so the next best thing was to have their feet captured in a picture. As you can see below, it made for an interesting shot.
So now that we're back we are trying to settle back in to our normal routine. Amy is back to Kindermusik classes, Dean is back to work, and I'm back to everything else. We're still waiting to hear back from the lawyer in regards to Amy's readoption paperwork. Hopefully we'll hear something soon.
We're in the process of setting up our very own website instead of this one that is hosted by Geocities. Once we have a new "address" I will be sure to let everyone know, so you can all still get your daily doses of Amy updates.
Enjoy today's "pictures of the day".
More updates from our trip up north.
We didn't do any swimming on this trip. It turned out to be too cool - mainly in the 70's for most of our trip. I think I got spoiled by that beautiful weather. When we arrived home it was in the low 90's and has been ever since. Yuck!
But we did do lots of other fun things. Amy has a love for balls, and as you can see by one of today's pictures, size doesn't matter. We also went to a farmers market and saw all sorts of fun things. There was a little courtyard that had benches just her size. A great place to rest.
She is still also enjoying music very much. We have managed to get her to try on a pair of headphones and listen to some music. When we did, she started to sing along. Does this mean she'll be a famous singer some day?
While visiting in West Virginia, we stopped out a Phil's house. Here we took a walk out in the pasture, looking for cows. It wasn't until we were about to leave that we saw them, but Amy did have a chance to finally meet some cows. This last picture is of her with her Uncle Phil enjoying our walk.
Here are today's "pictures of the day".
Hello all. We are home from our vacation. We had a wonderful time visiting with family and friends. Now we're all going through withdrawl again.
Amy did great riding in her car seat for most of the trip. The only times she had any problems were the mornings of the 8th and the 9th after her morning naps. She had a couple of wailing/crying spells, but I think they may have been related to some bottom teeth possibly coming in. Either that, or she's missing all the hugs and attention she was getting on this trip.
I will post more later, but did want to get some pictures out there for everyone to see. The first picture was taken at a rest stop at the beginning of our trip. Next is Amy pictured with Grandpa (Dean's dad), then pictured with her Great Uncle Dick (Dean's uncle), and then with Grandma (Dean's mom). She is sitting on Coreys back (Michelle's cousin), and the last picture is a family picture of Michelle's relatives from her mothers side of the family.
Here are today's "pictures of the day".
