Saturday, December 31, 2011

3 Months Gone... Poof!

For being so addicted to reading other RMI adoption travel blogs, I'm terribly lazy about updating our own. Although it's no longer a travel blog, I still want to add things from time to time as I know a lot of folks stumble across it while searching for information about adopting from the RMI. To any new readers, welcome!

It's hard to believe that 3 months has gone by so quickly but the title of my last post was something about Grace's 6-month well baby visit and guess what... her 9-month visit is coming up next week!

So what has Grace done since the last time... She's now a champion sitter - daycare said so. Less than a week after my last post where she was almost sitting... she decided it was time. She's also getting around the floor by scooting backwards and/or rolling - the girl can move! As of this post she's this close to crawling and I imagine walking won't be too far behind. She pulls herself up using Jeff's or my hands and occasionally a standing activity center we have for her - but so far she's been unsuccessful at using any of the furniture. Part of me is glad as it makes it easier for us to do things around the house/room while still keeping an eye on her but I'm also excited to see those first crawling and then walking steps!

Grace is pretty good at a lot of things - eating, sleeping, smiling, and laughing! We continue to be blessed that she's such a good sleeper. When I tell other parents that she usually goes down for the night around 6:30 pm and wakes the next morning with smiles, singing and ba-ba-ba'ing around 6:30 am, I can tell there's a tiny part of them that wants to sock me in the nose. Of course we know how lucky we are and that it can change at any moment so we take advantage of it while we can.

The past few days have been slightly more difficult. Grace has a pretty bad cold - sniffles, coughing and not eating much. Daycare thought it was croup but I don't think so - no barking cough. But, we still thought it was a good idea to keep her home the past couple days. With the New Year's holiday she'll have 5 days to recuperate before going back to daycare.

As I said, her next well-baby visit is coming up next week. Her pediatrician's office sent us a multipage questionnaire to fill out before the appointment. Seems like she can do almost everything on the list so I'm expecting she's right on track developmentally. I had to laugh at the one that asked "If you were to support her with your hands under her arms, can she support her full weight on her legs?" Well, yeah... she's been doing that since we met her at 10 weeks old! She could barely hold her head still at the time but boy could she stand! I actually expected she'd be walking really early because of that but maybe the balance part or even the desire to do so isn't there yet.

Daycare has been going very well. She adores her teachers and we love them too - they take such good care of Grace and she's always happy to see them when we drop her off. Of course, that doesn't mean she's happy to see us go - we get a few tears occasionally but that's to be expected. I think she's just getting into that stage where she's more wary of strangers (or folks she doesn't see often). We try to spend time with family and friends as often as possible and, honestly, I'm glad for the timing of the holidays. It made it so much easier to make sure we were seeing everyone - more specifically that Grace was seeing everyone.

So, the holidays! Yes - our "first everything" with Grace: Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and tonight, New Year's Eve! In addition, we had her 6-month photos taken by a great photographer here in the cities - check out her work at Honeybee & Peony. Here are a few photos to document the firsts - get ready for cuteness overload!

Dad & Grace
Makes drooling look cute!
Grace in her guam (that's way too small now) and flower hair clip.
Our pumpkin!
Bumble-babeeee
Look at all that candy!

Look mom, I got a bag with handles!
Hanging out with my new friend :)
I love the rough side of the velcro - don't judge me...
Bows are yummy.
Lorilai is helping hand out the presents.
An interactive Elmo book from Grandma Nancy!
Sort of gets that there are things inside the package worth seeing!
Lorilai "helping" Grace with her new toy...
Here's hoping it won't be another 3 months until the next update.

From our family to yours, have a very happy and healthy New Year!

5 comments:

  1. Hello! I came across your website while I was doing some research about Marshall Islands adoption. I was wondering if you would be willing to answer some questions about your experience? I'd love to get some information from parents who have already gone through the process! If you are willing, is there an email address where I can contact you?

    Thanks!
    Peggy

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  2. Hi Peggy! I'd be happy to chat with you in email. If you're on Facebook, friend me (Claire Warren) and we can exchange email addresses there instead of this public forum. Unless you're comfortable just posting yours here...

    Hope to talk to you soon!

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  3. Hello,
    I like Peggy ran into your blog when researching the Marshall Islands! My husband and I recently decided to adopt. We have met with LSS in Mpls and I have fallen in love with the Marshall Islands! Your blog has been so informational to us and your story has just melted my heart. Grace is sure a cutie! This week we are meeting with a woman from Catholic Charities in St. Paul to find out more about their international adoption program. I would love to connect if we do go with the Marshall Islands adoption program. I know it's very important for children to know where their roots lie and of course any words of advice while we go through this process would be very welcomed!
    Thanks!
    ~Kristi

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  4. Hi Claire-
    We are just on the notification list for RMI at LSSMN and I have a few questions. Could you email me at jojocurtiss@yahoo.com? Thanks!

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