5 Months Home for Mila!

Yesterday marked 6 months since we touched down in the good old US of A with our very sick little girl! She has truly transformed before our eyes!!! Here's a little update on our "meatball."

*Mila weighed in on Monday at 19 pounds, 6 ounces and 28.75 inches!!
*She was not even on the down syndrome growth charts when we arrived home and now she is in the 75th percentile for height and weight!!
*From simple positioning, her head has rounded out nicely and she will not need a helmet!
*Mila could not even hold her head up when we met her. She has been rolling over both ways for quite some time now, pushing up on her arms when on her belly, and her most recent accomplishment is sitting unassisted for 5 minutes! She is starting to get on her hands and knees, but with her belly still on the floor (maybe that belly is just too big??? haha)
*Mila could barely drink from a bottle (unless the nipple had a huge hole cut in it which was totally not safe especially with her airway issues). She can now drink from a straw! She eats stage 3-4 baby food, table foods that can be mashed or broken into small pieces, and has recently started feeding herself! She will hold a cucumber and chew on it (she actually bit a piece off with no front teeth!), and she loves "Pirate's Booty" (a gluten free snack) and has just started picking it up and putting it in her mouth! She's also grabbing for her spoon when we feed her and has gotten several bites of baby food from the spoon to her mouth! Yay big girl!
*Mila definitely knows her Mama and Daddy and sister and lights up when she sees each of us. She is started to get a little separation anxiety. Many times if a friend is holding her she will fuss and fuss until she can come back to Shawn or I.
*We now know how she survived so long. Girl has a fighting spirit that could be mistaken for one big giant ATTITUDE! HAHA. If she is not happy, she will let you know! She will play on her own for a few minutes but then screams to be picked up and then looks at us and giggles! Stinker!
*She is sleeping through the night pretty well. However, if she doesn't go to be super early (like by 6:30) then she is up between 5 and 5:30am!! She is pretty consistently taking two naps, her first nap around 9:30/10am for 40 minutes to an hour, and the second nap around 1:30/2 for about an hour.
*Mila needs glasses :( She is nearsighted. They're waiting until she starts doing a little more gross-motor activity, such as standing and beginning to walk, because right now her whole world is pretty close. But it explains a lot.
*She has an airway follow up appointment in May and they will determine if she needs a surgery to permanently fix the laryngeal cleft. Praying that answer is NO!
*Mila loves anything that lights up and plays music!
*She has just recently shown an interest in the iPad and likes the cause and effect games, songs, and she's becoming an Elmo fan!
*Her favorite songs are skid-a-marink, pat-a-cake, and Jesus Loves Me
*She still likes playing with her hands and staring at them when she's bored!
*She LOVES swimming and has already figured out how to kick her feet and move her arms to get herself moving!
*She is working on her first two teeth, which are both MOLARS :( (top molars). She has been in quite a bit of pain and pretty fussy from them breaking through...yuck.
*Mila is down to only 3 bottles a day, just before each nap and right before bed. She will only take a bottle if she is sleepy.
*Just like her sister, she enjoys being outside and having the wind blow through her hair.
*She is wearing mostly 9 month clothing at this point and size 3 diapers. I remember when she was in size 1!
*She is adjusting well and coming out of her orphanage stupor more and more every day!
*She is a thrill seeker and a dare devil. She can't swing high enough or be moved around fast enough!

And now what you really wanted to see. Pictures of our growing girl! (Pictures from her party coming in a separate post).

Big girl sitting up!

Silly girl!

Loves practicing her swimming on dry land!

"Oh sorry, I was busy, were you saying something to me?"

num num num

Feels so good on the teeth!

Okay, so I'm going to have to pick that thing up again...this is hard work!

AAAHH much better!

Look at my cool spoon!

We may or may not have taught her to do "the worm" SERIOUSLY! What is she doing!!!!????

She wants to move SO SO SO BAD!

And when she can't, we get this face along with some annoyed grunts and tears

But have no fear, big sister Zoya swoops in to save the day!

Eating some Pirate's Booty

What are YOU looking at?

Woah, this goes WAY faster with TWO hands!

Focus, Focus, Focus, Don't drop it!

SUCCESS!

What's that you say? I have something on my face?

Chub-a-love!

Look Ma, One Hand!

And some cute Phone Photos:

Playing with the iPad

falling asleep sitting up!

Love this face!