Looking at Katie's Progress

This week, Katie had an appointment with a child development specialist. It wasn't a surprise to me when I met Katie that her physical skills were not where they needed to be. A lot of babies that are in orphanages don't have the same opportunities to develop those skills compared to typical, American babies.  The specialist tracked Katie's skills over the last month. She said that Katie is still a little behind in some areas, but based on all of the progress she has made in the last month, she has every belief that Katie will catch up soon.  She'll keep tracking progress but has no concerns. It's amazing to think that I just met Katie a little over two months ago, and she couldn't even sit up on her own. Now she's sitting, rolling over, dancing, waving, imitating facial expressions, imitating some language, singing, standing, and playing a lot with her toys. It's fun to watch her progress.

A Trip to Idaho

On the weekend of July 2nd, my cousins and aunt hosted a party for Katie in Idaho, where I grew up.  I wondered how Katie would handle being in her car seat for lots of hours, but she did really well!  She was sure glad to get out of it though.  The day of the party was a hot day, but it was at a park with lots of shade, so the heat wasn't too bad. It was good to see all of my family at the party, and the park looked really nice.

One of our family friends brought her 6 year old neighbor who was also adopted from China. She and Katie were an instant match. Katie even let Mady hold her, which is still pretty rare.  It was fun to talk to her and get to know her that afternoon.

While we were in Idaho, Katie started a new and funny behavior. She started making funny faces. Every time she makes the faces, Jennifer shouts "Scary Baby," which fits quite well.  She has already stopped making the faces quite as often. I sort of miss it because it made me laugh so much. She continues to be happy baby, and we see smiles more than anything else!

Idaho Party





Katie's New Friend, Mady



Scary Baby, Take One

Scary Baby, Take Two

Scary Baby, Take Three

Happy Baby

New Behavior

Now that Katie is recognizing her family, she sometimes cries when people who are new to her try to pick her up. She is fine being held be the people she is used to, but she'd rather observe other people from afar and get to know them that way. It's a phase that will eventually pass, and it is actually a good sign of attachment.

Some likes and dislikes of Katie's:

Favorite Foods: sweet potatoes, carrots, squash

Worst Foods: green beans, peas

Favorite Toy: Jennifer

Favorite Animal: too many to name

Favorite Song: Itsy Bitsy Spider

Favorite Book: Pat the Bunny

Worst Fashion Accessory: Anything that goes on her head

Favorite Thing to Make Her Giggle: Chloe

Bingle and Katie

It's been another week of learning for Katie.  She has learned to wave hello and good-bye to people (at least most of the time), and she has started to play Pat-a-Cake by herself. It's fun to watch her change each day.  Ever since she learned to roll over, she has become an official wiggle worm. She's getting close to crawling, and she always wants to be on the move!

Katie received a special present from my good friend, Noreen, in New Hampshire this week. Katie loves the quilt her Grandma Noreen sent her.

I've written several times that Katie really loves the pets. Below is a video of Bingle with Katie.  Katie was supposed to be sleeping when the video was filmed, but the minute Bingle came around, Katie woke up quickly. As she discovered the relationship between her actions and Bingle's actions, she giggled and giggled.

Home For a Few Weeks

Ever since returning home, Katie has been adjusting well.  She is starting to understand that this is her new home, and she seems to feel more comfortable every day. She still loves both Chloe and Bingle. They have both gotten more comfortable with her too - except when she squeals in happiness! Neither pet recognizes that noise as a happy noise.

Katie has had several doctor appointments, so  she can be completely evaluated. We have some medical history on her, but the doctors want to be sure that they know as much as they can. She didn't really appreciate the vaccines and the blood work, but she recovered fairly quickly from that.

Katie has learned more about playing every day. Unlike her time in China, she has learned that she can entertain herself when there isn't someone with her at the moment. She likes her toys, but she really loves paper - especially straw wrappers. Straw wrappers can entertain her for long stretches of time!

She also was able to meet a lot of my co-workers and students. She was quiet as she took in all of the new faces, but she did so well with all of her new friends!  It's nice being surrounded by such a supportive group of people!

Katie Relaxing on the Floor



Posing in her Traditional Chinese Outfit with her Straw Wrapper

All Worn Out After Playing

Katie and Chloe - Day 1

We're All Back Home

After leaving Guangzhou on Wednesday, we took the train to Hong Kong. We arrived late, but from what we could see, the city looked really nice. We were only spending one night there though until we came home. We checked into the hotel and quickly went to bed. Katie decided that she would like to get up that morning at 3:30. She stayed up until 6 when our alarm was set for 6:30. Needless to say, we started our very long day early!

Our flight from China to San Francisco went pretty well. Katie cried a few times, but she stopped very quickly. It was such a long flight though. It was even longer when we had over an hour of turbulence. With very little sleep on top of the turbulence, we weren't feeling the greatest by the end of the flight.

In San Francisco, Katie officially became a U.S. citizen after going through the immigration line.  We quickly got onto our next plane to come home. By this time, we were all tired - especially Katie. She had a tough time on that flight, but did much better when I walked with her up and down the aisle of the plane.

Once we got home, we had some nice surprises. First, Katie didn't mind her first trip of her life in the car seat. She just quietly fell asleep. Second, when we returned home, Jennifer's friend, Michele, had nicely decorated the outside of the house to welcome us home and had made dinners for us to last us at least a week. (Can't thank you enough, Michele!)  Third, my cousin had finished decorating the nursery for me. Thank you Garyldine!  Fourth, I had a gift box waiting for Katie from my older sister, Debby! Thank you for your generosity, Debby! Finally, Katie got to meet the pets. We were so happy to see that she immediately loved Bingle and Chloe.  In fact, she was so happy with them that we wondered if she had possibly been around pets before. I can't imagine it though. We thought that Chloe's barking would scare her, but the barking makes her laugh every time she hears it - even if she's in the middle of crying!

Now, we're all working to re-adjust to the time change. Jet lag isn't a whole lot of fun, but at least when we're wide awake from about 9:00 p.m to 1:00 a.m., we all have company to talk to!  Hopefully, our internal clocks will adjust soon.

We're all very grateful for the experience! First of all, we were glad to finally meet Katie. On top of that, we met so many nice people in our adoption group, and so many wonderful people in China. Finally, we were so grateful for those of you who followed our story and offered your comments. It was nice to get a piece of home through your messages while we were so far away!