Yeah, I finally posted some pictures. Be sure to check all the way back to 5/25. It's only been a month, but it seems like she has grown leaps and bounds. Dan put her on the scale tonight and she has grown a few pounds.

6/18 - 6/21 After her two hour nap on Thursday after the zoo, we went to Gander Mountain, one of Dan's favorite hunting stores, and the Chinese Buffet. This was the second time that Dan and I have been to the restaurant and the first time for Kim. We loaded her up with a bunch of favorites from our time in China and she decided string beans were her favorite for the night. She ate probably five plates full of beans. I cut them up for her and at one point she used both hands to shove them in her mouth. She loved them, of course it could have been the fact that they were soaking in melted butter, too. After dinner we stopped at Home Depot to buy the child some beans for Daddy to grow in the garden. Around bed time, she had a belly ache. Her belly stuck out further than Dan's and was rock hard. She cried and cried and just wanted to be held. Luckily, Dan had stocked up on some Infant Gas-X. In less than 30 minutes she was feeling better and almost asleep. I guess we know we have to limit the beans.

By Saturday afternoon Kimberly was on Dad's nerves. No matter what he did, she whined and cried. We stopped at Bob Evan's where she tried some mac & cheese and we found out that the zoo animals are coming to Streetsboro Tuesday evening. I might take her back to Bob Evan's that night so she can see the animals up close and hopefully pet. We've been working on petting the dogs and cats "nicely". She is usually pretty good, but occasionally it turns into grab hair and pull. She's been scratched a few times by the black cat, when she has had enough of Kimberly. For some reason though, she always comes back for more pets. She is a good kid's cat. The dogs have been great, too. Charlie just lays there, even when Kimberly has to climb over top of him. Neeko is good, but grumbles when she gets to close at dinner time. I usually feed him when she is strapped in the chair, eating her own dinner.

Sunday morning Kimberly woke up happy, like usual. I set her up to give Daddy his present and card, but she decided she didn't want to give up the present. Lucky for her, he let her open his present, which was a book, "My Daddy" for him to read to her. So really, the present was for both of them. She played around in the morning and then we ventured up to Chardon around nap time to visit with the Carvers and Palmers. She was well behaved at both stops, even though she was getting cranky at the end. At Palmer's she saw Sammy and Jack, their two yellow labs and even got to pet a stuffed mink that Glen had trapped. She got more presents and then "leaked" on the porch. They don't make diapers like they used to! (Now, how would I know that?) We cleaned her up and it was time to go. She was asleep in the car in about 5 minutes and slept at home for another hour or so. When she woke up, I decided we should try another hike on Headwaters Trail. This time, I took the stroller and the dog. We walked a little over a mile and she had a good time. When we were almost back to the car, I let her out of the stroller and she pushed at such a SLOW pace. She had fun, the dog was tired when we got home and I got some much needed exercise.

We did get the final report back from the international adoption specialists last week. Everything basically came back normal. They made some recommendations to our pediatrician - like have a hearing and vision test, see a dentist and cardiologist, visit with a speech therapist and follow up with early intervention. Most of the blood work and samples came back negative. They suggested some immunizations to give as a 2 year old and some that may need updated. University Hospital suggested that Kimberly comes back in 3 months and 6 months for some more follow up visits, just to make sure that she is adjusting, growing and that she is on track. I'm not worried, but it is good to know that there are experts out there in case we need them.

6/15 - 6/18 The Cleveland Zoo was the big trip of the week. We went there on Thursday with Mom (me), Grandma & Grandpa, Jodi & Russell and Mikayla & Emma. We passed her off as Jodi & Russell's adopted child, so she could get in free under their family membership. Kimberly rode in the wagon with Emma most of the day. She had the option to walk, ride in the stroller or push the stroller and she chose the wagon with her buddy. Actually, she would have preferred Mikayla in the wagon, too, but there wasn't enough room. So she settled for holding her hand while Mikayla walked next to the girls. Kim saw all of the animals and I told her their names. She wasn't "jumping up and down" excited, probably because most were at a distance and she couldn't touch. She saw the leopard sleeping in the tree, monkeys sleeping on a rock and rhinos eating some hay. Then we walked past the giraffes and into the butterfly house. They were up close so she liked them. She even grabbed one by the wings and we instantly told her no. After that we caught the tram to the Northern Trek to see the wolves and bears. The bears and tigers were sleeping, so they didn't really impress Kim. She did get to feed a dead frozen fish to a sea lion. Nothing like Sea World - it was more like pay $1 to get a fish and drop it over the fence to the sea lions below. Then we went to the wolf cabin and she saw a Mexican wolf, pacing close to the glass. Next, we went into the pond and she saw turtles, fish and a beaver swimming around. She was able to follow the animals and touched the glass like she wanted to touch them. Best of all, she learned how to drink from a drinking fountain in the cabin. After our trek we headed back to the front gates for lunch. She wanted lunch from everybody other than me. In fact, she ran from me as I was trying to feed her. She dropped all of her pretzels and the sea gulls figured out that we were easy targets. They flew in and ate whatever food the kids would share. If I wasn't watching Kim, they probably would have taken the crackers out of her hands. After lunch we saw the sleeping tigers, pink flamingos, koala bears and the laurakeets (birds). Mikayla and Emma each got a small cup of nectar (fruit juice) to feed them. Kimberly liked the birds and laughed when one stole the cup out of Mikayla's hands. Then we went to the Australian exhibit and the petting farm. Kimberly saw sleeping kangaroos and wallabies and even a baby joey hanging out of a momma's pouch. At this point, she was starting to get tired, but we went to the petting zoo, where she touched a goat and miniature donkey. She followed that up with washing her whole body (instead of stopping at the hands) at the sink. She sure likes water! Next weekend she is going to Cousin Samantha's swim birthday party so she will get to go in the water to play! Papa bought ice cream for everybody and we took a 15 minute break before heading to the new dinosaur exhibit. Emma and Mikayla loved that, Kim was not so sure, especially when T-rex ROARED. She wanted out. She laughed at the baby dinosaurs and then pulled the wagon the rest of the way out. We packed her up and headed home around 3:30. She was asleep in her car seat before we even reached the top of the hill. It was a perfect day to go to the zoo - overcast, cool, no rain, no crowds and no blazing hot sun. In fact, I even put her sweater on in the morning because it was a little chilly in the shade with the breeze blowing. In the future, when she understands English better, and she can ask questions, I'm sure the zoo will be one of her favorite places to go. Every Memorial Day Weekend, EAC, the adoption agency from Strongsville, has a big event planned at the zoo. I'm sure we will make it a yearly tradition to go to the zoo, meet new and old friends and be in the parade on Saturday.

6/14 Ice cream and real screams - we had both on Sunday for Kimberly's 2 year old birthday. Her birthday is on flag day and also the same day as Dan Needham's and Jill Porter's birthday. Is there anybody else that I don't know about? The day started out quiet since she didn't know what was in store for her. She didn't have much for breakfast and nothing for a mid-morning snack since we were busy "preparing". That was our mistake. Around lunchtime Dan took her to my parent's house, while I swung over to DQ to pick up an ice cream cake. She met cousins Samantha and Rachel and played with everybody in the grass. Soon she opened presents and we all had some cake. Kimberly LOVES to open gifts. She figured that one out pretty quickly - rip, tear and throw. She got some clothes and toys - some to come home and some to stay at Papa & Grandma's house. Between Grandma Carol holding and Papa feeding, she ate a piece of ice cream cake. And then it was back to playtime and Emma's 5 year old birthday party. When it was time for hotdogs and hamburgers Kimberly was still interested in playing and not eating. She barely ate the food on her plate, but did nibble on Dawson's hamburger and potato chips when he wasn't looking. About 3:00, well past nap time, we headed home and put her down to sleep. Dan napped while I "prepared" some more. Around 5:00 I woke the sleeping bear - Kimberly (Dan was already awake). There were already a few people over for party #2. This is when the real screams started - off and on for 30 minutes. Dan tried to comfort her; I tried; he tried to feed her; I tried - nothing worked. Finally he went outside to entertain and I started shoveling the food in her mouth every time she opened it to scream. After a jello cup, a slice of cheese and half a bowl of cheerios, she realized that she could stop screaming and start eating. Kimberly turned from a cranky bear into a cute bug again. She came outside and was a happy baby for the rest of the night. Dan and Sue stopped by to see us, along with Dean & Michelle, Phil & Cheryl, Carol & Carrie and Randy & Laurie. We sat on the porch at the new table and enjoyed burgers, dogs and a few beers. The little one turned into quiet the ham. After I cleared the table she got to open a few more gifts from Aunt Michelle - rip, tear and throw - followed by more ice cream cake. At the end of the day, she went to bed a happy two year old.

6/8 - 6/13 - This was a pretty typical week for Kimberly. She woke up happy in the mornings, played with the grandparents around lunch & nap time and dinner, bath & bed with us in the evenings. There didn't seem to be as many tantrums as last weekend. We did have a small issue on Thursday when I locked Kim and the keys in my car at the Post Office. Kimberly was waving bye-bye to me the whole time that she was inside and I was out. Lucky for me the Police Dept was across the street and they had my car open in less than five minutes. Unlucky for me the officer told me that my license was expired. Lucky for me I didn't get a ticket, but promised to get it renewed on Saturday (which I did). Friday morning we had our first doctor's appt with the pediatrician, which lasted two hours. She looked her over and reviewed her charts. We talked about her progress and our concerns. She didn't have any of the results back from University Hospital, so it was hard to decide what to do. She prescribed a multi-vitamin with fluoride and suggested we see a pedia-dentist. She also recommended a hearing evaluation for now and speech evaluation down the road. She will make a referral to Help Me Grow, the early intervention people in Portage County. She is between the 25 and 50 percentile for height and weight in american kids and Dr Adams was pleased with everything she saw. Best of all - there were no tears! We'll go back in a month for a follow up visit and 2 year old immunizations.

5/31 - 6/7 It's not all sunshine and roses; we've had some issues this week. Kimberly has turned into a two year old (which is actually a week early) before our eyes. She wants what she wants and can scream if she doesn't get it. I told Dan that we have to be careful. There is a fine line between giving her love and comfort and rewarding a spoiled child. I believe she is trying to work us into the second one. She has really taken to Mikayla and Emma with lots of hugs and handholding. Cousin Jillian came over one day last week and she played very well with her, also. Dan has been working mornings and I have been working afternoons, so the grandparents are watching her for a few hours in the afternoon. Last Thursday, Dan didn't have to work so he got her for the whole day! He found out that it is hard to keep on her schedule and still get your daily work done. Everything I do revolves around her schedule. Is it snack time? Is it nap time? Is it potty time? She loves to go. If she had her way, we would shop everyday. Lucky for us, she hasn't figured out that she needs toys or cookies every time we go out. On Monday she went to her doctor's appointment with the international adoption specialists at University Hospital. The appt was almost two hours long and they examined, measured and charted every inch of her body. Her growth is on track with her measurements from a year ago and she is around the 50 percentile on the international growth charts. I don't know how that compares to the US growth charts. She screamed and cried when they did the eye, nose, ears and mouth exam. She was pretty good for the blood draw and TB skin test. We won't know results till later this week when everything is sent to our pediatrician. We have an appt there on Friday morning. University suggested we follow up with a cardiologist to assess the heart. They felt she was a healthy child with no obvious conditions. Developmentally they ranked her younger than she is, but I have already seen tons of improvement since we have been home from China. In another 3-6 months I suspect she will be on track with her age group. Wednesday evening April (Stepnicka) came over with her three boys. Kimberly had never met them before, but took straight to playing with them. She was sharing toys and knocking down the block towers they were building. She has gotten pretty good at waving and saying Bye-Bye. That is the one word she really knows and uses correctly. She has started to repeat some words, but I don't think she knows what they mean. She doesn't say the words "I'm hungry" or "I'm tired", but we can read the signs! This coming Friday is her doctor's appt with the pediatrician and Sunday is her two year old birthday. We are latching on to Emma's birthday party and having an hour for Kimberly while the family is all around. This coming week will be a full month since we've been home and we've got to take some more pictures!