Chloe Goes to the Pediatrician

Chloe saw the pediatrician today.  We made it a family outing which was fun.  I think the doctor was impressed with her.  He asked how sure we were of her birth date.  For many of these children that are abandoned it is usually an estimate of birth date unless they have some sort of note pinned to them when found.  Chloe was found at a few days of age, so we are fairly certain that her birthday is close if not correct.  He was amazed at her weight which was at the 40% on the American charts.  He said with her cleft palate he thought that was excellent.  She is about the 5-10% on height so that gives you an idea of her size.  I told the doctor that he would not be amazed at her weight if he ever saw her eat!  He also thought her development seemed right on target given the circumstances.  Unfortunately, she had to get four shots, a PPD (TB test) and blood drawn which they had to stick her twice for.  If any of you have ever taken your kids to get shots, you know how heart wrenching it is to watch them scream in pain from the shots.  She cried a lot today, but I don't blame her.  I would have probably cried too.  We found out that she has ear infections in both ears which is common in children with cleft palates.  He had told us that she will most likely need ear tubes at some point.  I think they will do that in conjunction with her other surgery.  So now she is on antibiotics and we hope that will clear up the problem.

We continue to be amazed with her progress.  I guess child development is an amazing process for any child and I remember being equally amazed as Caleb grew.  Chloe has only been with us for 2 1/2 weeks and the progress we have seen is astounding.  Since she has been with us, she has learned to walk and has learned some body parts.  She can blow kisses and give us 5.  She knows what it means when I say "Let's put on your shoes."  She lifts her feet for me to put them on.  She seems to understand more and more as we talk.  I wish I could learn a foreign language in a matter of weeks.  Truly amazing.

The kids seem to be adjusting to the time difference much better than the adults.  Kevin and I continue to struggle with jet lag.  It seems around 1 am we wake up and are unable to go back to sleep.  I have also been battling the conjunctivitis Caleb had and hope that Chloe and Kevin will not get it.  But all and all things are going much better than expected.   She has her appointment with the craniofacial surgeon on Monday.  We are anxious to find out what all this will entail.