way off schedule

As I type this Sadie is in her crib sreaming bloody murder. She went to bed fine but within a couple of minutes she started screaming. Jackie went in to check on her twice and she immediately stopped screaming and said "bye bye" and waved. She's fine, she's just really into controlling her environment right now.

Last night she woke up at 3:20 AM screaming, when I went to her crib she was sitting up and said "milk" like it was time to get up. I got her out of the crib, changed her diaper but she wouldn't go back down, she wanted milk. I took her into the kitchen and she was wide awake and in a great mood, except it was 3:30 in the morning. After a full cup of milk I took her back to our bed and layed down. She layed on top of the covers and stared up at the ceiling for about 40 minutes then let me put her back into her crib. Needless to say today has been tough. Her mood swings are frequent and dramatic. Dinner was a fiasco i.e. she didn't eat and just sat in her chair screaming.

She is extremely particular and demanding, she must choose her own plate, her own cup, her own straw, her own fork and if she doesn't get to choose there is hell to pay. Her granola bar has to be unwrapped exactly so or she will through it down and cry as if mortally wounded. Getting dressed, getting in her stroller, food, on and on - she's in total control. Its kind of nuts and wears us down.

All that being said she is so cute and loveable most of the time you just want to eat her up. She's got personality in spades and charms everyone she meets. She's such a great kid it makes the tyrannical behavior almost tolerable.

Here's a video from today:

Catching up

Sorry for the long delay in posting but its been a busy few months. Sadie's first holidays in the US were low key for the most part and we all spent a lot of quality time together. After the holidays things at home really changed with Mom being home full-time and Sadie leaving day care. The transition has been great for Sadie, she's happier, healthier and more secure.

Sadie has been making lots of friends in the neighborhood and is going on play dates nearly everyday. Her vocabulary is exploding too; banana, tunnel, Mommy, stuck, help, big star, keys, taxi, big bird, Ernie, airplane. She understands everything we say to her, even seemingly obscure things like "catch you later" said in an offhand manner and she'll respond without missing a beat, "bye" and not even look up from her playing. Scary.

She loves her "blanky" and keeps it close by most of the morning. When she's ready for bed or nap time she'll announce "nigh nigh" and motion to the bedroom. When we put her in her crib she'll mess around a bit and say "bye bye" when we leave the room.

In the mornings we hear her wake up about 6:45 most of the time and sing and talk to herself for a half hour before calling out for us. Her little voice is so soft and sweet as she babbles it brings tears to your eyes. I can't think of a sweeter way to wake up.

Recent pictures....

first haircut. it was not fun. Sadie lost it.

first snow was fun, she liked it. the matching leopard skin boots and jacket helped.

January day in Central Park.

Mom and Sadie on Bow Bridge in Central Park.

Often meals become a test of wills.

Sadie in Winter

Its finally gotten really cold in the city and Sadie is taking it in stride. So far she doesn't put up too much of a fuss when we put on her hat and mittens. I'm sure that will change but for now its good.

Sadie has been seeing Christmas trees since late October and now she finally has one in her own living room. She doesn't pay it much mind, occasionally stopping to poke at an ornament but otherwise its just another big "flower" for her to smell and admire when she notices it.

We're going to be around the city for the holidays this year so her first Christmas will be a low key, calm one with just the three of us. I'm glad about that.

Jackie has been putting together Sadie photo albums in chronological order and its amazing to see how little she was just back in June. Looking at the China pictures it feels like we were just there. I can't believe how much Sadie is changing.

Today Sadie is at her first birthday party. A girl a bit older than Sadie who lives in our building is having the party at an indoor gym in Tribeca. I hope Sadie leaves some cake for the other kids.

Girls Gone Wild

Last Sunday we went to a christening for Kai, one of the girls who was a adopted with Sadie. At the reception afterwards, held at a great Irish pub in a private dining room, Sadie and the other girls were the life of the party - and they weren't even drinking. Something about the party atmosphere really inspired the girls to cut loose and have a great time.

We saw a new side to Sadie we kind of thought was there but never saw it in full effect. Sadie worked the whole room all night, table hopping, giving hugs and kisses to anyone who wanted one. At one point she disappeared for a moment only to show up on someones lap 3 tables away.

Either Jackie or I spent the night following Sadie around the room as she visited one table then another. I can only imagine what she's going to be like at her first wedding reception when there's a band playing and people dancing.

When it was time to leave we had to visit each table for Sadie to say goodbye. We left the party to choruses of "Bye Bye Sadie!!" from all of her new friends.

In the cab ride home we were speechless. We'd never seen Sadie on fire like she was at the reception. We were saying to each other "Who is this kid?"

After we got home the party didn't stop - Sadie had her own personal after-party. She took all her clothes off except for her patent leather shoes and danced to her favorite songs for another hour before finally passing out. Should we be worried?

Sadie's own personal after-party...


See the video below of Sadie working the room at the reception.

Sadie works the room

More milestones for Sadie

Sadie saw her first Christmas tree today in the World Financial Center. She wasn't too impressed but did say 'bye bye' to the tree when we walked away. Sadie is hitting all of the 16-18 month milestones including major melt downs and tantrums. Last week we took the train up to Tarrytown from the city to visit friends and Sadie had a great time however on the 40 minute train ride home she screamed bloody murder the whole way. It was pretty bad and pissed off a lot of people - including me - but thats how it goes with kids past their bed time on a commuter train.

This month we are taking her to an adoption clinic in Long Island for her 6 month adoption check up and 18 month baby check up. The clinic is great, Sadie and I drove out there a few weeks ago in a rental car and we saw a great doctor who checked her out and shed a lot of light on her development. My advice to anyone adopting from China is do not use a standard pediatrician to catch your child up on vaccines and to do the initial and early follow up exams. You need to be seeing a doctor who specializes in adopted children and if possible infectious diseases.

Sadie has had a bit of a cough since returning from China and its been an ongoing worry of ours. It was very reassuring to have a doctor familiar with girls from China exam her and tell us her cough was nothing infectious and probably just post nasal drip which apparently is common with some kids. Sadie also only has four teeth on the bottom and the doctor told us that often adopted Chinese girls are delayed in tooth development and need dental care sooner than American kids.

Sadie continues to amaze us with her sense of humor and resilience. The doctor also told us to take her off the bottle so without any ceremony we stopped giving her her morning, afternoon and bedtime bottle and she never once freaked out or asked for the bottle. That chapter is effectively over.

Despite the fact that Sadie is more or less a lit fuse ready to blow at any minute she's still an incredibly loving and sweet girl. I started a new job last week and worked late each night getting home about 7:30 or 8, just before her bedtime and each night when I came in the door Sadie would let out ear piercing shrieks of joy and run to me for a hug. Its pretty intense to be met with that much unbridled love and affection and as good as it feels it also hurts that I have to leave her at all. I'm sure its the same for every working parent.

Even though she's only 16 months I think she'll have a good holiday season and get off on all the lights and gift wrapping. She's also about to get her first real dose of cold weather and its not going to go away for several months. I'm wondering how that is going to effect her mood.

Here are a couple of other recent photos of Sadie:

Sadie loves to read with her mom.

Sadie helps keep my guitar in tune.

Couch climber

#1 Meal Time Series - Two Forks

#2 Meal Time Series - Golden Smog

#3 Meal Time Series - Fork Toss

#4 Meal Time Series - Granola Bar Rejection

slide

she's a good slider

Random pictures from the playground and beyond - Oct. '06

Whooping Cough and Coxsackievirus Infection

We found out on Monday that Sadie has whooping cough. She's had a cough off and on since we brought her home but two weeks ago she started having pretty bad coughing jags a couple times a night. We took Sadie to our pediatrician (Dr. Saken - Soho Pediatrics) last week and he said not to worry about it. He said a lot of kids have a bit of mucus that collects in the back of their throats and makes them cough but we weren't convinced that it was "just one of those things". Our pediatrician said to make us feel better he would give us a referral for a pediatric pulmonary doctor.

As soon as we described Sadie's symptoms to the pulmonary guy he said she's got whooping cough. Apparently its a fairly easy clinical diagnosis which makes me wonder about our pediatrician. The pulmonary guy prescribed an antibiotic but said not to expect it to do much that at this point, the infection would have to run its course - another 4 to 6 weeks. Apparently she should have received the DTP vaccination like most American kids but she didn't and she hasn't received it since she's been home.

I have to wonder about our pediatrician though. The guy has a nice manner with Sadie but to miss or dismiss something as serious as whooping cough is really scary. Sadie is still getting caught up on her vaccinations with him but once she is caught up we are going to find another pediatrician. I think the practice is just too busy to give each kid the attention they deserve. For all we know Sadie may have caught the whooping cough infection there - the waiting room is full of toys and sick kids all rolling around on each other. It seems nuts to me but I guess that's just how a pediatrician office is.

So that was Monday. On Tuesday we get a call from the nursery school saying Sadie has a rash on her hands that is probably coxsackie virus. I left work, raced down to the nursery school and took her to Dr. Saken who was able to squeeze her in for a 3 PM appointment. He confirmed she had coxsackie and said there's nothing we can do except wait it out - seems to be the standard treatment for childhood diseases. Jackie has taken the rest of the week off to stay home with Sadie who can't return to school until the coxsackie clears up.

The thing is, despite her whooping cough and coxsackie Sadie has been in fairly good spirits. Yesterday was tough - she was definitely moody but I think both infections were in full effect so I'm sure she felt like crap. So far no fever and no loss of appetite. (I doubt that kid will ever loose her appetite so that's not a good illness benchmark for her.) Last night was rough, she had a bad coughing jag at midnight and again at 4 AM and was out of the crib by 5 AM. She had a 4 hour nap this afternoon and was in great spirits all afternoon and evening. Those pictures at the top of this post are from her bath tonight - does she look like she has a double dose of infection raging in her little body?

Tonight she went down without a fuss at 8:45 after a big dinner and a bottle. I'm hoping she has a more peaceful night than last night. We gave her Pediacare 8 hour cough suppressant tonight before her bath - fingers crossed that it will work.

Threading the block

Sadie can usually thread the block but not when the cameras are rolling. August 06

Hide the blocks

Sadie likes to play games. 9-29-06

Dinner

Sadie enjoys her food.

Happy Feet

Sadie's got happy feet!

Garden Stroll

Sadie takes a short walk in the grass in Raliegh.

Sadie Swings

Sadie and dad on the swings in a west village playground.