Amelie Update

This evening will mark exactly a week since we got home with Amelie, and she is doing so great. We took her to the doctor yesterday morning and they did x-rays on her chest because of the congestion that still lingers after two rounds of antibiotics. We're told the x-rays showed nothing significant, and the doc said she actually sounds worse than her lungs look. She has bronchitis. Instead of more antibiotics, she's taking a few days of prednisone (a steriod) to reduce the inflamation in her lungs, and we give her albuterol breathing treatments 3X a day. Her spirits are high and she's enormously joyful, eating and sleeping well. She's still sleeping through the night, approximately 12-14 hours each night, and takes two naps a day which total about 5 hours.

Amelie is a dream in so many ways! We've noticed that she's really warmed up to everyone in the family, and as a result she smiles a lot and we've seen a very goofy side of her come out. She likes to imitate what we do and shake her head back and forth after us...it gets her laughing up a storm. She also gets a big kick out of her two youngest brothers and their funny faces. Last night Sky had her rolling, which resulted in the whole family rolling!

We've worked hard at getting her to use her legs more. She sits in an ExerSaucer and a Jenny Jump Up several times a day, and I hold her and make her stand up using her legs for longer and longer periods. She gets very excited when she realizes what her legs can do! We raised the height of her Saucer and Jump Ups, so she has been jumping more wildly and with intensity these days. She is a crawler, too...when she rolled onto her tummy last night I placed a wooden spoon in front of her, just out of reach (she loves kitchen utencils). She reached for it and started pulling herself forward with her arms AND her legs! She literally crawled several inches and got the spoon! I was cheering wildly.

Amelie still loves to eat, and we have yet to find anything she dislikes. I'm going to introduce foods with slight texture to them (tiny chunks) so she can get used to more solids. Right now she needs everything to be smooth and creamy or she spits it out. Of course, it will be easier when she gets more teeth.

Her hair seems to have grown since we first met her, not to mention she's gained almost 1/2 pound already. She wears 3-6 moths clothing, and the 6-9 month clothes fit, but they're a little baggy. Her feet are Newborn size, so we've had a hard time finding shoes. Her hands and feet are both super tiny, while her head circumference is in the 'normal' range for her age. She has some healthy chub on her upper thighs, and the super bloated belly she had has gotten much smaller with the better nutrition. I get the feeling she will be a different baby in a month; we love watching her bloom in so many ways. Today we started putting her in gDiapers and it's been great just flushing her inserts down the toilet. No smell, no mess in the garbage, and best of all no plastic in the landfill.