Last Sunday, we all packed our bags for a drive up to Seattle where Xiao Yu would have his first check-up with his pediatrician. We chose one in Seattle because this doctor specializes his practice on international adoptions, so he has seen a lot of kids adopted from overseas and knows exactly what issues to look for.
The plan was to drive up Sunday afternoon, stay in a hotel, and see the doctor the next morning.
On the car ride up, Eliana got to listen to her book-on-tape on her iPod. Karina, unfortunately, does not have the attention span to do that, and so ended up getting pretty bored on the 3-hour drive north.
We timed the drive to coincide with the boys' naps and Xiao Yu took a two hour nap. Gabriel, however, chatted all the way up and resisted sleep successfully.
We finally made it! Our hotel room came with a "complimentary" view of the Space Needle, according to the guy at the reception desk. It also came with a view to a construction site, also free. The kids asked of the Space Needle: "What is that thing?"
As soon as we got there, we got all the kids changed, and ready to go swimming! We figured if we were going to go to the effort of staying in a hotel, we might as well make it a fun event for them.
Everyone is in! Xiao Yu really likes the water, although he is clearly not used to swimming pools. He didn't like standing on the steps, and every two minutes would squirm in our arms, trying to "get down"...not sure where he thought he was going to go if we actually let him slip away! Gabriel made huge pool progress on this trip, and starting jumping to us from the side! He usually doesn't even like the pool very much, and never ever wants to get his face wet. He was splashing everywhere!
After a nice swim, we bathed everyone, and went over to Emily's sister's house. Gretchen, her sister, has a little dog, Asia. Xiao Yu had clearly been around dogs, and really wanted to pet it. He struggled with being gentle, and we had to hold on to his arm while he pet Asia. He thought it was pretty fun, though!
We also toured the house, and the kids got to see their cousin's rooms. (Anders is 14, and has a HUGE Lego collection -- here Gabriel is checking it out.) We had a hard time having the little kids not touch the toys.
Kelly, Gretchen's husband, had made a very nice dinner for us. There were even candles on the table! Because we have celebrated three birthdays in the short time Xiao Yu has been with us, he now associates candles with blowing them out. So, he spent the first five minutes blowing/spitting his food, until we successfully distracted him to just eat his dinner!
What was the real turning point to just eat, was when we gave him a rib bone. Kelly had made pork ribs, and it turns out that both boys really liked just gnawing the meat off the bone. We had cut it off in little pieces, which was not nearly as much of a hit! Xiao Yu gnawed on four or five bones. Gabriel on the other hand, only had two, but he cleaned them completely!!
Monday morning, we dropped the girls back off with Emily's sister, and headed for UW, for Xiao Yu's check up. This was a one hour appointment, to review all his medical history (that we know) and do a comprehensive evaluation of his health and development, order labs and immunizations, and make recommendations for follow up.
The waiting room was very well equipped...and the boys sort of played together...or near each other. There were no biting incidents or fighting. Yay!
Xiao Yu was totally fine with the exam, didn't really seem phased by the doctor checking him out. And, the doc said that Xiao Yu looks great! Also he is in the 50th percentile for height and weight. The doctor did recommend we contact Early Intervention, to see about getting him into speech therapy, and possibly physical therapy, to strengthen his muscles and help with his coordination. Xiao Yu is, in a strict sense, delayed in a couple of areas, such as verbal speech, but the doctor said this was normal and expects Xiao Yu to "catch up to his age" in the next 12 months. Also, as far as speech is concerned, we have been teaching him sign language and he has already picked up on about 6 signs. We plan on teaching him more and use that until his words come in.
He did need three shots, which he did not really appreciate.
Then, the worst part, he needed blood drawn, to test for various illnesses, as well as to do titers on his immunizations that were done in China. This part, he hated, and screamed the entire time as the 2nd lab worker pinned his little arm down. They had to take 11 vials of blood, so it was a looong time to scream! You could hear it throughout the entire lab as well as the entire lab waiting area outside. It made the other children in the waiting area a little nervous. Having said that, the lab staff were professional, relatively quick, and obviously used to taking blood from young kids.
Thankfully, he recovers quickly, and was back to his normal self when we went back to pick up the girls. He found Asia again, and tried to get in a few more pets.
Asia wasn't so interested, so Xiao Yu decided to try out her bed, instead. Apparently, he liked it!
Anders and Lena, the cousins, have a swing contraption in the tree out front. The kids all took a try on it...Eliana, flying high!
Karina, a little lower....
And Xiao Yu, just sitting on it, with Elvin holding on tight!
Back in the van, a quick stop at McDonald's...which was perhaps the longest fast food order we have ever placed -- extra cups and straws, this burger with no onions, this one with ketchup only, on and on! At least this order was in English instead of Elvin's version of Chinese. Xiao Yu's first time (probably) eating french fries and chicken McNuggets.
And soon, three of the four were asleep! We made it home in good time, and were glad to (once again) be back in our own house and in our own beds! Also, grateful to get the thorough medical evaluation, and to know what our next steps are.
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