Back to Work

Yesterday marked 8 weeks since taking custody of Bailey, and it also marked the end of my adoption leave.  But it couldn't have gone smoother, which would have not been the case even a week earlier.  Right now I am working 6 hours a day from home.  For July I have the most amazing in-home babysitter.  Bakha is getting paid to watch Bailey and she takes her job very seriously, giving baths and fixing meals in addition to providing entertainment.  Bailey completely understands that I am working, and apart from the occasional hug, sticks close to Bakha.

In addition to becoming more secure in her routines and place in the family, Bailey is making pretty quick changes in her overall development.  She's a little sturdier when she moves, she's branching out in her play, and speaks almost completely in English now (apart from about three solid Mandarin words--all gone, look, and that's).  She has too many English words to count (in the hundreds) and mostly speaks in 2 word phrases.  Here's a video from this afternoon, playing "Go Fish."  She's a little hard to understand, but I'm guessing you can get the gist of it:

With Bakha getting an expander, headgear, and braces, and with Bailey's appointments, it seems like we are at a medical appointment every other day.  Bailey had her first eye doctor appointment.  Her vision in her right eye is perfect, but she has to get glasses in order to protect it from injury (and you would not believe how cute she looks.  Stay tuned for photos--they're supposed to arrive in a couple of weeks).  She has an appointment with a retinal specialist this Friday and an ocularist in a  couple of weeks.  Her preliminary blood work shows no immunity to hepatitis A and B even though she supposedly had the shots, so she is probably going to have to be completely re-immunized which of course I was hoping to avoid.  She is also anemic and has very low levels of vitamin D.  I opted not to do all the x-rays to see if she has rickets as it wouldn't really change the treatment.  Otherwise, no glaring health issues.

Here are a few more pictures from the last couple of weeks:

Watching Bakha play outside

Playing with a very expensive toy.

It says "ELLLLFT"