Mush brain

I do feel that my brain has gone a bit to mush since we have been home. I have always laughed at this because I have seen this happen to so many of my friends. Just ask Gerard he says I NEVER forget anything. I think that is a bit dramatic but I will take it as a complement.

I too am now part of the mush brain society. My friends at work laugh as say "Why should you look more rested then us!" I guess I asked for that one.

Thank goodness for lists is all I will say, when I remember to bring them with me or cross things off the list or when she is not hiding them from me. The one thing that I realized the other day is that I felt rushed. I mean in a hurry for no good reason.

The last thing I want to do is to rush any part of my time with her. So as I drove in the car I made a vow not to rush. Not to rush her or me or Gerard, okay maybe Gerard but he needs to be rushed sometimes. I just want to enjoy every minute so my plan is to sit back and enjoy life with her.

So hopefully with my decision to not rush I will be able to mend my brain so that is not so much like jello. After all I have a lot I want to remember forever.

First Doctor's Visit

Gerard and I took her for her first doctor's visit. I know that many of you may be thinking wow they waited a long time to see the doctor. Just to clarify this being a nurse who knows the pediatrician I was given instructions to bring her immediately if she seemed sick if not then take this time to bond, get to know her and her personality first. I am glad that I did wait because one of my concerns only surfaced after the first week home.

In all Anna is quite healthy. In my opinion she is quite smart in most respects. I tease that she likes heavy machinery but the truth is it appears that she has the type of mind that is very inquisitive. She likes to see how things work. The other running joke in our house is she watches our hands to see how things work, mostly the doors and the bath tub fixtures.

I will not paint a completely rosy picture here because we have had one challenge that I am doing my best to deal with. During the time that I waited for Anna to come home I worried about so many things, court, traveling, money, attachment and bonding. Quite honestly the one thing that I never worried about was her eating. I figured she would just want to eat. Actually I worried about having to set limits on what she ate and how much she ate.

When I visited with Anna in March 2009 she 8.9 kilograms or 19.5 lbs. At that time she was only 18 months old and she was just slightly under the charts for all of her measurements. When I picked up Anna in August she weighted 9.4 kilograms or 20.75 lbs please keep in mind that this was 5 months later. For her first visit she weighted 9.75 kilograms or 21.5 lbs. During this last 2 weeks I have been weighing her at home and seen her fluctuate from 21.5 lbs to as low as 19.5 lbs.

In all this time I have done my best to offer her food and mostly it has been refused. Yes refused. Now before you say 'She is crazy' This refusal of food is something that even Gerard has noticed and seen. Most of the refusing of food started to happen during the second week home. The foods that she is refusing are ones that she was eating the week prior. Getting 8 oz of fluids into her in a day has also been a struggle. Yes, I have tried a number of different cups and bottles. I do believe that we have found a system that works by @dvent, and for that I am thankful.

I feel as though I have been proactive in a scenes, mostly because she is small and I was so concerned about the lack of weight gain in the 5 months that we were apart.

So what have I done? First of all I started to read labels. This has been both a good and bad thing. I will say that I am encouraging the foods that she will eat that are high in protein. Mostly because she will eat most berries, this has been the only food that has been consistent. Can you live on blueberries?

In my search to find things that she will eat the one thing that she seems to love is Kr@ft cheese in the plastic wrapper. She can eat 3-4 slices of that stuff which I am glad she does but yuk! I am a cheese lover and have often laughed at that cheese and now I am buying the package with 100 slices in it. I have also found that she likes the strawberry pedi@sure. I about 4 ounces with a yogurt and she will drink that. Tonight I found Kefir (Russian milk/yogurt drink) at the store. To my surprise it has more protein and less fat then the pedi@sure. What the hey I figure lets try it. She drink almost 4 ounces.

I will continue to monitor her weight, intake and output. I will measure her head and height weekly and if something seems off I will have her evaluated further. I think this not eating has been something that has been a long standing problem and not so much the change in environment. I say this because now as I look back on the video that I have of her eating the person who is feeding her seems more anamated then necessary. Another interesting side note that I noticed if I speak to her in my broken Russian she eats better. So it seems that she appreciates my hard work to learn a bit of Russian. I would like to find some Russian children's music to play for her so if anyone has a site for me to find some please send it my way.

As things progress I will update this topic.

P.S. MandyJo I could not find your email address but mine is under my profile. Please email me.

Funny story about the monitor

As you all know I purchased the monitor with the screen where I can see if she is up. The verdict is in I LOVE it. It is great I can actually here her breath which is very comforting.

The monitor has an A and a B frequency. Do you see where I am going with this post. So I decided that we should go ahead and hang the electronic eye. I can still take it down and move it but that is easy. Did I mention that I was hanging it in my bedroom because that is where she is sleeping?

So I was showing Gerard how clear the picture was on the screen and remarking at the clarity when he said "Impossible, I do not have it plugged in!" You guessed it I was looking at a neighbors crib.

Here is the funny part we have had the monitor eye on non-stop in our room, yes even while dressing, (Keep your minds out of the gutter please non of that goes on in our room with her in there). I wonder if anyone has accidental seen us dressing. Too funny.

Gerard is a little leery about undressing in our room now. Which makes me laugh. Guess what outlet will be put on a switch?

Looking for opinions for the announcements

The other day My Mother and I took her to the beach, well not actually all the way to the water but to the dunes. My Mother went to school in a one room school house in Barnegat Light. Now the school is a museum with a flower garden.

I got the idea to take her picture there and then at the beach where my Mother went as a child. She says she would spend all day there.
Tell me which ones you like.

Things she LOVES to do

Take off the stoppers that on the cabinet doors so they bang rather then close quietly.

Wipe the house down with a diaper wipe.

Flush the toilet.

Fake cry (which I love sorry, I just pick her up and cuddle her when ever she does it)

Run to the water at the bay beach

Feed us those gross yogurt melts that she will eat.

Dance to the barn in the morning and the pig at night.

Drop stop, look down at the ground and says "Ka" and look is amazement that the thing that she just dropped in on the floor.

Cruella de Vil, yes it is a small doll that was given to me as a joke but she LOVES it and calls it "La-La".

What do you do when....

The other day I heard Gerard call me
"Bozz I think we have a problem!"

Okay not really words you want to hear, right. So I jump up run into where they were playing for him to tell me
"I think she pooped her pants!"

I know that I should not encourage this behavior from him he should just change her but that is not what I am writing about. But I think it is funny that he can do so many things but poop is not on his list as per him. Just like he only cares for the middle part of the dog. According to him the hands, feet, mouth and hinny are my parts of the dog.

Anyway, here is the problem. I started to change her and during the process clear as a bell she said
"Ka-ka" and pinched her nose until I was done changing her pants.

Things I bought in Moscow

I am very sedimental about life events. I am one of those people who likes to prepare for as much as I can and then throw a couple of surprises in there when possible. I know Anna will not be small forever and one day it is my hope that she will grow up to have a home and family of her own.

When I was in Moscow I tried to find things that were hand crafted. To me that is what really tells you about the people and culture of a country. Food is also a big part of all cultures. As well as celebrating holidays.

So in spirit of keeping her culture alive and making our own these are the things that I purchased for Anna.

First is the traditional Russian outfit with the head piece. I bought one that was bigger then her size for one reason. If I put it on her now and take her picture she will not ask me any questions about why I am doing that. She will think it is just another dress and crazy looking headband. I want to dress her and talk to her about how special she is to be both an American citizen and and Russian citizen. The size that I got her I think will fit her when she is about 4 years old. Although I have to admit the hat looks too cute on her now.



I also purchased the nativity nesting dolls. The scences on them are made through wood burning. This will come out at Christmas time when we talk about the birth of baby Jesus and what that means to us.


The next thing that I purchased were a couple of Christmas tress orniments, On my tree we hang Danish flags and other Danish paper orniments so now the Russian ones wil hang there too.


I am one of those people who always takes off my jewerly at the sink. My enagement ring is pretty tall so I find it gets in the way when I do things. I have gotten better and now I put them in my room so when I saw this dish I thought it was perfect for putting jewerly in when I am not wearing it.


Flowers are such a strong part of the culture and I found the most beautiful pins with flowers hand painted on them. The pins are made of polished shells. I thought that was so fitting since we live near the beach. I wore one the day I picked her up. So now I have 2 different pins that when she sees them I will tell her about how and where I got them. I think things like that are important to incorporate in to daily living.



The next thing that I purchased which made the driver laugh was a table cloth. I wanted one to give her for when she got married or perhaps purchased a home. It is white with pale blue trim. Timeless (in my opinion) and it covers 2 of the something borrowed rhyme.



By far my most expensive purchase and most prized by me is a hand carved angel. I have been told that it is over 200 years old. It came off a building in a small town north of Moscow. The angel is a 6 winged angel or a Seraphim. When I looked it up these were the angels who were gathered around the Lord in a vision that Isaiah had 6:2. I just thought it was an interesting fact. I was not familiar with this chapter or verse so I find it amazing that this little angel that I was drawn to has such a significant purpose.


I also purchased a small gold cross for her Christening but will wait to picture that until I put it on her for the big day.