Dolls, Doctors, & A spoiled little girl

It has been awhile since I posted. Work, plus watching Katerina plus moving has taken up a lot of my time. A lot has gone on in the past three weeks.

First up Katerina had her 15 month check up. It was out first sick time with Katerina. Her vaccinations and immunizations caused her to spike a fever around 103 the day after. We felt so bad. It dropped significantly by the following evening and the second day she was back to her happy self. The appointment went well. She is still petite but has gained some weight. It appears she will just be a short beautiful girl. She did not take shots very well. I hate watching her get them.

We also had professional pictures taken at home. The photographer, Rick O, was amazing. The pictures were even more amazing. We are so happy with the outcome. I will post a couple of pictures when I am on the computer with them.

Now more interesting stuff. Katerina has started to climb stairs which I do not like. We finally put the gate up to prevent that. Then we walk into the living room and there she is on the coffee table. She has learned to lift her leg up and pop up onto the coffee table or the lift near the fire place. It is cute but a bit scary. She was just sitting on the coffee table watching cartoons.

She is also getting used to being spoiled and showered with attention. Now she whimpers a bit if we are not giving her 100% attention or doing what she wants. It is hard to be strong and not give her what she wants though. she is such a little cutie pie. Part of us feels like we are making up for what she lost in her first year without us.

She has also come to love her Matroyshka dolls. Wants to hold them with the russian music box playing every morning after a diaper change. We bought one as a gift for a friend and while we were at the friend's hosue this past week, Katerina locked right in on it. Wanted to play with it, which of course means hold it and try to eat it :).

All in all, we love her to death. She is the cutest little girl in the world to us.

Tough Day for Katerina

It has been a few days since I posted. I apologize. The jet lag and looking after little Kat has me quite tired. My sleep patterns are atrocious and annoying. I can;t wait to get back to my normal sleep pattern and then have that interrupted by Katerina. She is sleeping through the night and has nothing to do with my horrendous sleep.

Now enough of about me because no one cares about me. Katerina is the important one. We brought her for a check up today. Was a tough day for the little tyke. She received four shots plus the Tb test (I always forget the actual name...ddp or something like that). Then we needed blood drawn and Kelly and I agreed it was better to get it all out of the way at once rather than spread it out over multiple days. So we went to the lab which had a difficult time with her little arms. Although it only took two tries, I was getting annoyed watching them move the needle from side to side and in and out while attempting to find a vein. Katerina was screaming and I just felt so bad for her. I hate knowing I am helpless to help with a bad situation. I would assume all parents feel this way. The great thing about Kat is that a half hour later she was back to normal and smiling, although a little tired.

This did however lead to a first for Katerina. As a reward for her bravery, she got her first soft serve ice cream. And boy did she like it. She was licking mine while in the car and then ate half of the kiddy cup we got her when we got home. While in Russia she was never fed any sweets or anything cold. So this was a double first. She probably can't believe what she was missing.

I suspect she will be sore tomorrow in her legs where she received the vaccinations and in the arms from the blood draws but at least we will be able to have everything done for now. Her next vaccination as part of the MMR will not be needed until she is four years old.

Most importantly, the doctor was quite nice and every thing seemed fine health-wise although there are a few follow ups we have to do. We also learned she is a petite gal (short and light) for her age. Although this could be genetics but the weight could be a orphanage thing as well.

Day Two

Day two was also a good day. We had a bumped head which caused some crying but otherwise a very good day.

First up after the good night sleep was the bumped head. Then off to the doctor's office for a quick physical for the American Embassy. Boris, the Pediatrician, was very nice and great with Katerina. He joked with her and got her to laugh while running his exams. He also confirmed our thoughts that she must have been a favorite at the orphanage because she did not look like a normal child from an orphanage. He said he could I better get a shotgun to keep all the boys away from when she gets older because he could tell she was going to be trouble. Kelly and i thought it was cute. I told him I would just invite Uncle Jim over in uniform. The doctor responded, "yes, but he may be working some times, so I still recommend a shotgun."

He called her a little drama queen and explained that while at the orphanage most children would be relatively quiet because they would be fighting for attention and then just give up on trying. But he said he could see she was quickly learning how to work her parents. It would be important to let her know she cannot always be picked up when she wants. Although we pick her up nearly anytime she wants :). And will continue to do so for a little while. We still have to reinforce that we are her parents/care givers now.

After the doctor's appointment it was back to the hotel for a nap for all of us. A good nap of over 2 hours although Kelly and I still felt like we barely slept. The Jet lag is kicking in big time now. Then we went to the ultimate Russian restaurant for dinner for Kelly and me. Okay that was a joke, we went to MacDonalds, which tastes the same here as it does in the United States. Katerina ate a good amount of her oatmeal and juice mix.

And now it is bed time for our little girl and probably us soon. I am sure we will be up some time this evening with Katerina. And giving my sleep patterns, hopefully it will be near the same time I wake up without any help from Katerina.

Tomorrow is an easy day. I go the Embassy to file all of our paperwork and then back to the hotel probably by 11:00. The rest of the day is ours to do as we wish. I am hopeful, we can get to the park tomorrow as the temperature is supposed be near 30 tomorrow after being around 15 today.

Getting closer to being final! We are only three days from returning to the United States with our little princess.

Doctor's Appointment

Kelly and I have doctor appointments this afternoon to have blood drawn and be given a clean bill of health. Once we get this back, we can officially get our Court date in Moscow. Besides paying the bill, this is the last thing for us to do in the United States relative to bringing Katerina home. That is until after she is home.