Adoption Blog: Kaylee Archives

Pictures from Feb - Aug 2006

Click on Photos in the upper left margin to see pictures of Kaylee from February to August 2006 (or just click HERE)!

Sorry about the lack of posts lately. I'll try to get a detailed update out there soon. But for now, Kaylee is doing GREAT! She still has me wrapped around that little finger of hers. And yes it's true, she's a little daddy's girl. :-)

Here's a few quick notes about some challenges we're having. Kaylee still has a bad case of stranger anxiety. And we've discovered that she has Sensory Integration Disorder (I'll explain later). We've also found that she has some developmental delays. But not to worry. Kaylee is making a lot of progress and we are doing everything we can to help her close the gaps and catch up. I'll do my best to post some details soon. For now, please keep her in your prayers and shoot me an email if you have any comments, recomendations or if you simply want to say hello. Thanks!

Posted by Mark at 01:57 AM

Two Candles for Kaylee

Happy Birthday Kaylee!

Kaylee turns two today. And you know, she's really growing up too fast. I miss the days when she was crawling and trying to stand. I miss rocking her to sleep. I miss watching her take her first step. But I also love it now that she walks between Omi and I holding on to each of our fingers. And I love seeing her excitement and watching her run to me when I walk in the door after a long day at the office. And I'll never grow tired of asking her for kisses.

Yes, I miss her baby days. But I love watching her grow into an adorable, lovable, little girl.

So today Kaylee gets two candles for her cake...

Just for clarification, they do call this the Terrific 2's, right?

Posted by Mark at 10:01 AM | Comments (9)

Oct, Nov, Dec, & Jan - Photos!

Wow! I've been so busy being a dad that I got way behind on posting photos. Click on...

Photos

in the upper left margin to see pictures of Kaylee from October, November, December, & January!

Posted by Mark at 10:42 PM | Comments (5)

Happy Gotcha Day!

One year ago today, Naomi and I woke up to a brand new day. This was the day we got Kaylee. It's one year later I can't imagine life without her.

Below is an excerpt from one of our "Letters From China." It's from our "gotcha day." Click on the "read more" to see the entire letter.

Wonton Soup & a Cat Scan
- January 24rd, 2005

Today, Naomi and I shared some of the most extreme feelings and emotions of our lives. Some good, some not so good. Some happy, some sad. Many thankful, always faithful.

We started out our day with an early morning meeting with our agency rep's Daphne and Ellen. They are sisters. They live in Changsha and work for our adoption agency CCAI. They have been with us every step of the way here in Changsha. This morning they helped us fill out some adoption paperwork, they showed us how to make a Changsha/Chinese bottle, and they prepared us for the event that was about to take place.

We then left with the 10 other families in our group and headed for the registration office to get our babies. When we got there it was an incredible site. There was an estimated 70 families getting babies this morning. Not all from our agency. Just 11 families with our group. As we walked up the stairs dozens of families were walking down with their babies. We walked into a small room with a round table in the middle. Daphne began to call out our names and had us line up in the order that we would receive our babies. Naomi and I were last.

Before we knew what was happening, they began to call out names and one by one they brought the babies in. I had our camcorder and I was recording everything. It didn't take long for Naomi and I to find ourselves next in line. One of the fathers that had already received his baby offered to take pictures and film us with our cameras. I had just handed him our cameras when they walked in with little Kaylee. Naomi walked right up, took her in her arms and began to hold her, talk to her, and play with her as if she had been her mother all along. Kaylee was immediately attached to Naomi. Not one tear. Not one cry. Just a content look. Kaylee and Naomi were a perfect match.

Well, Naomi finally noticed that I was there and she allowed me to hold Kaylee. Kaylee went right to me. Happy as can be.

We boarded the bus and began the 45 minute drive back to the hotel. Most of the other babies were well behaved and it appeared as though we had a great group of babies. Daphne and Ellen were very pleased.

In our room I fixed our first bottle. Kaylee drank it all w/out stopping.

After we got back to the hotel they told us that the orphanage director would be stopping by each room and that a doctor would also stop by and do check ups. The orphanage director came by and we had a chance to visit with her. Ellen had to translate but it was nice to be able to talk to her. A little while later Dr. Su stopped by. This is where our day took a frightening turn.

Anyone who adopts from China is told several times and in several different ways that the babies can be developmentally behind. You just accept this going in. And you know from reading hundreds of adoption stories that the babies catch up to the American children very fast.

Dr. Su was extremely concerned about Kaylee. Kaylee is not able to sit up. She won't stand if you hold her arms. Her legs are like noodles. We noticed this but just thought it was normal. Dr. Su wanted to check the other babies from our orphanage and she said she would be back in a while. When she returned, she told us that the other babies had similar problems but not as bad as Kaylees. Dr. Su did some more examining and then recommended a Cat Scan. She said it was possible that there could be a major problem. Daphne suggested that we get the Cat Scan today because tomorrow we have to sign the final paper work that would make Kaylee legally ours.

It's amazing how well Naomi and I know each other. We had never discussed this scenario. It just didn't occur to us. But when I looked at Naomi she just shook her head. Kaylee was the baby that we were intended to have. Period. It was exactly what I was thinking.

We told Daphne that the results of the Cat Scan would not change our plans to keep Kaylee. But we wanted to get the Cat Scan so we could prepare for the road ahead of us.

We packed up a diaper bag, made some formula, exchanged some more money, and jumped in a taxi with Daphne and Dr. Su. Six minutes later we were at the Hu Nan Children's Hospital. Daphne and Dr. Su took care of all the details. Then they told us that Kaylee has to be sound asleep for the Cat Scan. After trying to get her to go to sleep unsuccessfully, they gave her something to assist her. 30 minutes went by and she was still wide awake. Naomi and I were a nervous mess. All we could think about is getting an answer. We needed to know. And if Kaylee would not fall asleep, we had a problem. Finally, we gave her just a tad more of the medicine and Daphne was able to get her to sleep. We quickly found the doctor who would do the Cat Scan. We layed little Kaylee on this table that went into the big doughnut looking thing. They asked me to stay by her side during the procedure to make sure she didn't fall off the table. Naomi and Daphne walked out and this big metal door closed behind them. The doctor went into a control room and a metal door closed behind him. It was just Kaylee and I in this strange room with a giant doughnut. Pretty soon I heard the machine running. After a few minutes it was over. I picked up Kaylee and took her back to the hallway where Naomi and Daphne were waiting. The doctor came out a little while later and called Daphne over. Naomi and I were a mess. Did I mention that? How is it you get one of the greatest gifts in the world and then on the same day you get to experience the pains and sufferings that come with being a parent.

The smile on Daphne's face as she walked toward us gave us the answer we wanted to hear. Everything was perfect. I just broke down and cried. I guess I had an overdose of emotions running through me.

They said that Kaylee was just underdeveloped and that we would need to work with her helping her to sit up and to use her legs to stand while we hold her. No problem. We had planned on this anyway.

Did I mentioned what a perfect little baby Kalyee is? It's only been one day but I can't imagine having any other child.

When we got back to the hotel Kaylee was still sleeping so we put her in her crib. Then we ordered some Wonton Soup and Fried Rice. Room service delivered it shortly after we called. We sat on the floor and had some of the best Chinese food ever!

(thanks for letting me capture my thoughts...)

Mark (& Naomi)

Posted by Mark at 07:14 AM | Comments (7)

September Photos

Click on Photos in the upper left margin to see Kaylee's September photos!

Posted by Mark at 12:34 PM | Comments (3)

Bath Time - Rinsing Hair

Kaylee loves taking a bath. When we say "Want to take a splish splash" she gets a huge smile on her face! But one challenge we are having has to do with washing her hair. It's actually not the washing that's the problem. It's the rinsing.

She doesn't like it when we try to rinse the soap out of her hair. For a while we were just using a wash clothe. We would get it wet, and put it on her head to try to rinse the soap out. But now that her hair is getting longer, it's more difficult. So we tried rinsing her hair with a water pitcher. But she hates it.

We're also concerned about getting water in her ears.

Who has been down this road before? Does anyone have any suggestions? Help.... :-)

Posted by Mark at 06:51 AM | Comments (10)

Almost Walking

Kaylee is almost walking. She's been pulling herself up and standing while holding on to things for weeks now. But today, she moved from a table to the couch that was about 2 to 3 feet away. It wasn't exactly a step. But she had to let go of the table before she could grab on to the couch. She's doing GREAT!

Posted by Mark at 12:58 AM | Comments (3)

Swimming

Yesterday I took little Kaylee girl to the pool. This was our third trip to the pool. And Kaylee loves the water! The first two times I had to slowly work our way into the pool. But yesterday she was ready!

I haven't let Kaylee put her head under the water yet. And I'm very cautious with her. But she doesn't seem to be afraid.

Has anyone taught their infant/toddler to swim? Does anyone have any tips or suggestions? How do you teach children to hold their breath?

BTW, I posted the August photos. Just click on Photo's in the upper left margin! Or you can just click HERE.

Posted by Mark at 03:05 PM | Comments (6)

July Photos

Click on Photos in the upper left margin to see Kaylee's July photos!

Posted by Mark at 04:50 PM | Comments (0)

Feeling Better

Kaylee is feeling much better. Naomi and I are still recovering though. Is it true that we (Omi & I) will probably catch just about all of the colds & flus that Kaylee gets? :-) Oh boy...

Here's some cool news! Kaylee is pulling herself up and trying to stand. As long as she can hold on to something, she does great standing. She even lets go occasionally and can stand for a few seconds. And now that she has discovered this, she wants to stand all the time.

Oh, and we've discovered that little Kaylee girl loves cereal bars. Yum!

Posted by Mark at 01:17 PM | Comments (1)

Kaylee's Sick & Bumped Her Lip

Oops... I had a long, detailed, update posted for a few days and I went in this evening and deleted it by accident. Oh well...

This past weekend Kaylee developed a chest cold and an ear infection. The pediatrician prescibed Amoxicillin.

On Saturday night Kaylee bumped her lip on the floor and was bleeding. It scared all three of us. But Kaylee seemed to recover faster than mom and dad. Sunday morning, Kaylee had a fat lip. But by Monday the swelling had gone down.

It was an eventful weekend. But Kaylee is feeling a little better. Mom & dad need a rest...

Posted by Mark at 09:55 PM | Comments (2)

Kaylee Portrait Studio Pictures

Kaylee's Pictures

When you click on the pictures you will see a number at the end of each file name (kaylee_01, kaylee_02, etc...). What are your top 3 pictures?

Posted by Mark at 01:14 PM | Comments (25)

Kaylee is Crawling!

Kaylee is beginning to crawl. Does this mean we have to baby-proof the house? :-)

Any tips or suggestions?

Posted by Mark at 11:58 PM | Comments (3)

"May" Pictures Are Up!

Each month I add a new gallery of pictures. I just uploaded the pictures for May. You can click on Photos in the upper left margin to see all of the different galleries. Or you can click on the link below to see just the new ones!

Kaylee - May 2005

I think the last picture (#129_2958) is my favorite. I just know how excited Kaylee gets when she claps her hands. :-)

Posted by Mark at 01:03 AM | Comments (5)

Exploding Baby Food

The other day I reached way in the back of the shelf and pulled out a jar of baby food (chicken flavored). We had bought it a while ago, but it just didn't look very appetizing so we never tried to see if Kaylee would like it. I decided to finally give it a try. So I took the lid off, and stuck it in the microwave like I always do. When I looked in the jar to see what it looked like, I noticed that the top sort of looked like it had formed a solid layer. After gently warming it for about 15 to 20 seconds, I took it out. I grabbed the spoon to stir it up. As I put the spoon in the jar I broke through that layer on the top.

All of a sudden...

POP! And baby food went flying everywhere. It got in my eyes, my face, my hair, on my arms, on the fridge, the stove, the cabinets, and all over the floor. What a mess. Yuck!

I guess pressure had built up and got released when I put the spoon through the top layer. The thing that was odd was that it wasn't very hot. I should know, it was in my eyes and all over my face.

Naomi and I actually had a good laugh over it. I sure looked funny with baby food all over me. :-P

Note to self, if you see a solid layer on the top of baby food, stir it first before warming it up. Oh yeah, I might want to reduce the amount of time I heat things up. Maybe heat for 10 seconds, stir, check, and heat again. :-)

Posted by Mark at 07:28 AM | Comments (5)

Kisses for Dada

I stopped by the house today during lunch. When I walked in the door I saw Kaylee laying in the middle of the living room floor and I said "Kaylee, it's dada." She spun 180 degrees around, and balancing on her belly she started kicking her legs and waving her arms in the air like she was trying to fly. She was yelling something in baby talk with great excitement. And so I rushed over to her, got down on the floor with her, and as I put my face close to hers she opened her mouth and put it right on my cheek. Yep... she gives dada kisses.

Normally, if I say "kiss kiss for dada" she will give me a kiss. But today, I didn't even have to ask! :-)

Posted by Mark at 11:51 PM | Comments (2)

Haircut?

Nooooooooo! I won't do it. I won't! I don't want to cut her hair. But it is really starting to get in her eyes. We keep it up in a ponytail on the top of her head most of the time. But sometimes Kaylee just pulls it out.

What do you think? Should we cut her hair? If so, should we do it or should we have someone else cut it?

Is that a lot of hair for a 13 month old? It seems like it to me but I don't really know about these things. :-)

Posted by Mark at 05:38 PM | Comments (17)

Learning to Crawl

Kaylee is right on the edge of crawling. She gets up on her hands and knees, sort of rocks back and forth, and then usually just collapses or rolls over. For a while she was moving backwards. But now she is actually starting to inch forward a little. She does this sort of inch worm thing after rocking back and forth and she can actually move forward a little.

We get really excited when we see her do this. And we encourage her to crawl to us or to get toys. But the truth is I know things will suddenly be more challenging when she becomes mobile. But we don't care. We just love to watch her as she gets stronger and makes progress. She sure has come a long way and she is definitely getting strong!

Posted by Mark at 05:26 PM | Comments (2)

Kaylee has a Cold

Last night, around three in the morning, we woke up to the sound of Kaylee crying. We fed her. Held her. Rocked her. And put her back in her crib. About thirty minutes later she was crying again. She fell back asleep but woke up again. This went on until morning.

We took her to the doctor today. She just has a cold. They told us to give her a decongestant. I guess as new parents we are a bit jumpy and quick to rush to the doctor. But we learned a few things while we were there.

BTW, did you see the new pictures (Kaylee - April 2005)? Most of the pic's are from Kaylee's birthday party down in Florida. Click on photos up in the left margin!

Posted by Mark at 02:10 PM | Comments (3)

Ceiling Fans

I never knew how much fun it was to lay on the ground and watch a ceiling fan go round and round and round until Kaylee pointed it out. She's totally right! Ceiling fans are the best!!! :-)

Posted by Mark at 07:56 PM | Comments (3)

Happy Birthday Kaylee!

Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday dear Kaylee
Happy Birthday to you

Today Kaylee turns 1 year old.

We LOVE YOU little Kaylee girl!

Posted by Mark at 02:15 AM | Comments (5)

Kaylee's Big News!

Big News! Big News!

Kaylee ate from a spoon today for the first time ever! Up until now, all she would eat was her formula from a bottle. Our pediatrician told us to keep trying. He said one day she will just surprise you and eat. And sure enough, today she had a big surprise for us!

This morning, Naomi was at the dinning room table eating a salad (of course - hehe). I brought Kaylee downstairs and put her in her chair. We try to put Kaylee in her chair when we eat hoping she will make a connection. And we always try to feed her baby food with a spoon. But it is usually a major battle. And she never eats it. We can trick her and sneak the spoon in her mouth. But she just spits it out. This has gone on from the time we brought her home.

Today as she sat in her chair I heated up some apple flavored baby food. We had never tried apple. And we usually add a little apple juice to her formula. So I was hoping she might recognize the flavor.

Kaylee and I play this game where I put my hand way up in the air in front of her and I open and close my fingers fast as I move my hand closer and closer to her face. As I get close to her face, I take my hand and gently grab her entire face. She laughs and I do it again. And again. And again.... She thinks it's fun! I discovered that if I bring my hand down and stop it about six inches from her face, she will lunge her face into my hands. It's hilarious.

So I held the spoonful of baby food up in the air the way we play the hand game. Then I made circles in the air with it as I brought it down to her mouth. As I stopped the spoon a few inches from her, she opened her mouth up and I put the spoon in. She had a slightly confused look on her face but she was licking the food on her lips. I tried again and she opened up her mouth like a little bird waiting to be fed.

I only managed to get 3 or 4 spoonfuls in before Naomi started saying "I try!" "I try!"

Naomi took over and fed her almost half the jar.

We were so excited. We were clapping and celebrating. I ran upstairs and got the video camera and filmed Naomi feeding her.

Big day for little Kaylee girl! Big day for us! This is so exciting.

I love being Kaylee's goofy daddy!

Posted by Mark at 03:19 PM | Comments (3)

2 New Teeth

Kaylee has two teeth on the top and two on the bottom. We just noticed that she has two new teeth coming in on both sides of her bottom teeth.

Can someone tell me how this teething thing works? My understanding is that teething is the discomfort and pain a baby experiences when new teeth come in, right? But aren't new teeth coming in for a long, long time? It's not like all of the teeth come in at the same time. So does that mean that babies experience teething from the time the first tooth comes in until the last? And is there pain during certain stages of the tooth coming in? It seems to me, there should be some pain and discomfort during the entire time the tooth is coming in. But that doesn't appear to be the case.

Any advice on how this works? What about medicine - what kind and how often?

Oh yeah, I even heard that teething could cause the lovely smell of a poopy diaper to intensify. Now that just doesn't make sense!

Posted by Mark at 12:41 AM | Comments (9)

A Sleeping Baby & a Smoothie

This moring I was doing some work at my computer, listening to Kim Hill's Surrounded by Mercy CD, and watching little Kaylee girl play in her ExerSaucer. Naomi was downstairs doing something in the kitchen.

I noticed that little Kaylee girl was getting sleepy so I picked her up so she could sit with me at the computer. Kim Hill's CD was playing and I began to sing along as I cradled her in my arms...

As I sang along with the CD, Kaylee's eyes grew heavy. And as she layed there in my arms, she fell asleep.

What an incredible experience. So simple. So basic. But one that might be remembered many, many years from now.

A few minutes later Naomi came upstairs. I had heard her making all kinds of noise in the kitchen and I was wondering what she was doing. She is so awesome. She was downstairs making us smooties!

Webster defines a smootie as: a creamy beverage made of fruit blended with juice, milk, or yogurt.

Exactly! She made it with pineapple juice, strawberries, banana, blueberry yogurt, and protein powder. Yum! I filled up my new Jamba Juice - 24 oz mug that I got while we were in Hawaii a week ago.

Posted by Mark at 11:47 AM | Comments (1)

More Pic's of Kaylee

Here are some new pictures of little Kaylee girl.

Posted by Mark at 10:34 PM | Comments (3)

How Much TV Is Too Much?

In my last post I mentioned how much Kaylee loves to watch DVD's. Several people commented and suggested that we limit the amount of TV that we let her watch. We absolutely agree. We do not want her to watch too much TV. And we do not want to get in the habbit of just putting her in front of the TV because it is easy for us.

How much is too much? Does anyone have any data on this? What do the experts say? What do you say?

Posted by Mark at 08:37 PM | Comments (4)

A Long Overdue Update

Isn't she just the cutest...

I guess it has been a while since my last post. But guess what? I have been just a tad bit busy being a new daddy! :-)

Where do I begin? First, I just want to say thank you to everyone who has sent us emails asking us to post updates. It's so nice to know that we have friends out there keeping up with our story. You all are GREAT! And you know, blogging would be pretty boring if it was just me and my computer.

I guess this might be a long update. So please click below to catch up on life with little Kaylee girl!

Everything is going GREAT! Kaylee is absolutely wonderful. She is so much fun! I have never seen a baby smile as much as she does. But I can never get a good picture of her smiling. Every time she smiles and I press the button on my camera, she gets this serious look on her face when she sees the little red light that indicates the flash is ready. haha... It's hilarious. She goes from laughing to serious in an instant. I'll keep trying and maybe I can get some smiling pictures.

I'm not sure if I mentioned this before or not but she just loves the TV. Baby Einstein is her favorite. If she is watching it, and you stand in front of her, she looks at you like you are crazy, then she leans over and looks around you. It's just cracks me up.

We haven't had much luck getting her to eat solid food. She still only takes the bottle. But we try every day. I know a lot (most) of the babies in our group ate solid food along with their bottle. Kaylee just doesn't want anything to do with a spoon. In fact, the only two things she will put in her mouth are her thumb and the bottle. That's it. I'm sure she will begin to eat solid food eventually. Our pediatrician tells us to keep trying.

She has been making a lot of improvements with her muscle development. She can sit up by herself but we have to keep a hand close by because she tends to eventually tilt and then tumble. And she loves to stand when we hold her under her arms. She can't wait to walk! She is not crawling yet but she sure is rolling. She can move across the floor just rolling over and over. We have been working with her and trying to teach her to crawl. But I sort of think it is something she will figure out on her own. This is one of those things that we are a little confused about. We know that most babies start crawling long before their 10th month. So we feel like maybe we should sort of show her or help her. But we know that she will catch up in her own time. And we are beginning to relax more and let her grow at her own schedule. We still work with her daily to make sure she is getting enough exercise and opportunities to practice.

I listen for sounds that Kaylee makes. Then, at a later time I will make a sound. She will get an excited look on her face. And after I make the sound a few more times, she will make it back at me. Then she gets this huge smile on her face. It might be something as simple as ba ba ba. Or maybe a kissing sound with the lips. Or a clicking sound. And I have found that when I make a new sound that she likes, it's only good for about 24 hours. Then the excitement wears off and I need to find a new one. We've gone through a lot of animal sounds. It started with a bark, then a pig sound, then a quack like a duck, then this funky frog sound I can make. I cycled back through and had another run with the bark, but again it only lasted about a day.

We took her to the pediatrician about a week after we returned from China. We went ahead and had her immunizations done again. We just wanted to make sure she was fully immunized and our doctor told us there was no harm in repeating them, even if she had them in China. Then we had a bit of a situation. They needed to take some blood so they could test it for things like HIV, Hepatitis, etc... They tried but they could not find her vein. It was absolutely horrible. I had to hold her down. We finally stopped and decided to bring her back when another nurse would be there with the hope that she could have better luck. Unfortunately the second attempt failed. No luck. We tried. But they just couldn't get any blood. So they told us to take her to the hospital. They are hoping that there will be someone there who has experience dealing with these difficult cases. We decided to wait a little while since the two previous visits were a bit traumatizing. Then we had relatives in town. So we just haven't had time. But it looks like we are going to go tomorrow. Today actually, after I go to sleep and then wake up. It is after 1:00 in the morning. Ugh...

I could go on and on and on... Kaylee is just so awesome! I will try to post a bit more frequently. Thanks everyone for the emails and for posting comments. It sure is nice to read all of your kind words, advice, and friendly notes.

Posted by Mark at 01:29 AM | Comments (14)

Sleep Deprivation

Little Kaylee girl is slowly adjusting away from China time. She wakes up every morning between 2:30 and 4:00. And when she wakes up, she is ready to start her day. It started out around 2:30 and for the last two days she has made it to 4:00. Maybe this weekend she will make it to 6 or 7.

I really enjoy the morning time with Kaylee. We watched Star Wars, The Phantom Menace early in the morning on Monday and we watched Star Wars II, Attack of the Clones early in the moring on Wednesday. She enjoyed the movies, but I don't think she understood a word that Jar Jar Binks was saying. :-)

Posted by Mark at 05:04 AM | Comments (4)

Right Around Her Finger

Little Kaylee girl and her daddy catching up on some sleep after a long flight home from China.

This morning at 3:30am Naomi and I woke to the sound of a hungry baby. We both got up and fed her and changed her diaper. We put her back down hoping she would sleep until 6 or 7 but after about a half hour...

I got back up and brought Kaylee downstairs with me. She just wasn't tired. But you know, neither was I. I just wanted to hang out and play with her. So we've been sitting here entertaining each other.

She started getting a little fussy so I put her in her swing, turned the TV on, and put in her Baby Einstein DVD. She just loves those Baby Einstein DVD's. She is now sitting next to me in her swing and she is making all kinds of baby talk. And boy she can talk a big story! :-)

The past 72 hours have been more of a challenge with Kaylee than the previous week and a half. We know that she is just trying to adjust. And 31 hours of travel will make anyone a little cranky. She has good moments and bad moments. But overall she is doing great. Her muscle development is coming along well. She is doing much better sitting up. And we are giving her plenty of tummy time hoping to develop the muscles she needs to crawl.

It is our understanding that the orphanage takes the babies out of their cribs and puts them right into walkers. Unfortunately, if the baby is small, their little legs don't reach the ground in those walkers. And in Kaylee's case, she never had the opportunity to develop her leg muscles. This is the case with many of the babies from China. But the good news is that they all seem to catch up very quickly. And as I have mentioned, we have seen improvements in just the 2 weeks that we have had her.

Another area where Kaylee is under developed is in her hands and the ability to hold things. She hasn't figured out how to use her thumb to grip things yet. She tries and she is making improvements. But she still doesn't reach for things and pick them up. I noticed that all of the other babies in our adoption group where constantly holding things. Then it occurred to me that of all the babies from our group, Kaylee was one of the quietest and most content babies. She rarely cries. She is just always happy to be lying on the bed or propped up in a sitting position with pillows. So I began to put two and two together and I have come to the conclusion that the squeaky wheel gets the grease, right? If Kaylee did not cry much at the orphanage, and the other babies did, then the other babies were the ones that were held a lot. They received the attention. Of course this is all just wild speculation. I really have no idea why the other babies are more developed. And I don't know if Kaylee is any more content than the rest of them. But because my mind needs to find an answer, I will go with the squeaky wheel theory for now.

Doh! I just looked over and little Kaylee girl is sleeping in her swing. I will sign off for now and go put her in her crib.

Did I mention how absolutely wonderful this little child is?

Posted by Mark at 05:09 AM | Comments (10)

More Pictures

Click on Photos over in the upper left margin...

Posted by Mark at 04:25 AM | Comments (3)

Gotcha Day Story

After a long, emotional day on Monday (Gotcha Day), I sat down and wrote an email to our friends and family. I think writing the email was more benficial to me, then to those that received it. I needed to think this through. I needed to capture my thoughts. And I needed to put words to some of the most intense emotions I have ever felt.

Click on the read more link below to see the email.