Mia's Check-Up

Mia had her 9-month checkup at the pediatrician this week. (Yes, she is 11.5 months old, but apparently they don't round up.) She was seen by a pediatrician who has treated many girls who were adoptive from China. They told us she is at the 97th percentile for length and 50th percentile for weight. 97th percentile? No wonder that while we were in China, so many people expressed surprise that she was only 10 months old!

They did lots of tests and everything was normal. The only finding of note was that the lead levels in her blood were a little high. The Dr. said that is unusual, even for girls from China. The good news is that it isn't so high that treatment will be required. They expect it will return to normal levels over time. The bad news is that we have yet another encounter with regulatory authorities. The Dr. had to report the result to the State, who says they will have to inspect our home to determine the source of the exposure. The fact that Mia had spent only 10 days in our home at the time the test was taken didn't persuade officials to waive this requirement. As the Dr.'s office said, "It's the government."

But who's complaining? We have a beautiful, healthy baby girl who is developmentally on target for her age. We continue to see signs that she is attaching with us. This past week, she wanted to be held a lot more than before. In her case, being clingy is good. The first photo below is Mia watching for Jeff to come home from work at night. Sometimes, Sam watches with her. In the last photo, she is getting read to stand on her own, without support. She can do that for 2-3 seconds at most.