Three Weeks Home

Well today we have been home for three weeks. Things have been going better for Olivia than for me. After getting home I had issues with ear infections and jet lag. Last week I spent Spring Break on the couch with Bronchitis and this week my doctor declared "Well, you now have pneumonia." Perfect, just perfect! I am sick of being sick!

Olivia had her first doctor's appointment on Monday. She weighed in at a whopping 18 pounds! WOW! In China they told us she weighed 20 pounds and we are sure she has gained weight since we have had her, so that means she actually weighed less than 18 pounds in China. Just a little peanut! My 6 month old nephew weighs the same as Olivia! She is 31 inches tall. That puts her in about the 3 percentile in the american charts and her weight does not even come close to the charts. Our doctor however does not seem concerned. He says she is just a tiny thing, but looks healthy. He gave us permission to "be as strong willed" as she is when it comes to food issues. Since she refuses to eat much besides rice and ramen noodles, he said we are going to have to train her to aquire a taste for other foods and it was okay to let her go hungry if she refused to eat. That was how I treated my other kids, but I needed to get his permission after getting the "clean bill of health" stamp and the "she is not mal-nutritioned" lecture. He also said her hemoglobin was great. He was really impressed with her all around. He said she was a lot less delayed than he expected and he said she will progress with leaps and bounds. That was great to hear.

I, even with the pneumonia diagnosis (don't tell my doc), started back to work this week. So Olivia got to experience a babysitter for two hours a day. She has done terrific. I had not left her at all since we have gotten her so I was really worried. Two days this week we had a teenager come here and actually when Sahara left today Olivia acted like she did not want her to leave. One day a week, she goes to the neighbors. At first she seemed a little worried that I was leaving her, but was quickly distracted. Jenny said she did great then. She played and when they went shopping, she did super. So, if this week is any indication, it looks like Ollie is going to do great. Thankfully, when Mommy gets home she gets super excited and dances around or mom might be a little put out. :(