FIRST DOCTOR VISIT

Yesterday, Wednesday, we finally made it to Riley Hospital's International Adoption Clinic, after a couple weeks of attempting to make an appointment. My Dad went with Malia and me - he can do that ... he's retired ... he can make time for almost anything these days. But I'm sure glad he went with us since we were traveling over lunch time. With him driving, I could feed Malia her lunch as we drove which allowed us to totally avoid a hungry Malia breakdown.

Anyway, we met with Doctor Keck - who is a Developmental Pediatrician - so she could look Malia over and make an assessment as to how she's doing. Dr. Keck thinks Malia is healthy and on target for her age. She stated that Malia is in a transition stage with her drinking - going from a thick formula to a thinner formula and learning how to work those esophagus muscles to get it all down without choking. Malia even gave a demonstration for Dr. Keck so she could watch. She's accomodating like that, I guess.

Dr. Keck seemed impressed by Malia's muscle development and mentioned how strong she is in her arms and legs. We're to be watchful of Malia's right eye, as it appeared to be a little cross-eyed. However, it was a little hard to determine for sure since Little Miss Fidgety wasn't wanting to accomadate in the "being still" department.

We dicussed that Malia is having a little bit of a hard time warming up to Spencer. She suggested that we begin letting him feed her a little so she learns that he can help her with some of her basic needs. Ironically, we had just let Spencer feed Malia an evening snack Monday night in effort to help them bond. He was so excited to have this opportunity and just lit up when we suggested he feed her the snack. I just had to snap a picture. Look at his face!!!

Now, on to the one assessment that has been resonating in my ears since Dr. Keck mentioned it. She made the comment that Malia needs to learn what it means to be a member of our family. Now, this is a different viewpoint than the one Rick and I have had, which has been to make sure she knows that we are Mommy and Daddy. Dr. Keck made mention that we shouldn't be letting a lot of people hold her, but rather ask them to steer her back to us if she's trying to go to them to help her learn who her family is. Only people in our little inner circle should be allowed to hold her. She knows it will be hard, but we need to do this for the next few months at least. I've left a message for her in hopes that we can talk more about this because I'd like a few more specifics - like how we determine who's in that inner circle. So, just a forwarning that we'll be reeling things in a bit for the next few months. Doctor's orders! Besides, she gave me permission to put all the blame on her.

We didn't do lab work yesterday since their lab isn't covered in our insurance plan. We'll need to find a lab close by and get blood work done within a month. Now, this is an appointment I'm NOT looking forward to. Oh, and by the way ... Malia is 18.2 pounds and 29 inches long!