Adventures in Babyland

Well, it's been another fun week in the Reeves household. We've been doing lots of different things, and Alex has been having fun with visits to different people and trying new things.

Our week started with a visit to a new doctor who has agreed to take all three of us on as patients. Since moving to this area, we haven't yet been able to find a doctor that is taking on new patients and is also not creepy or a bit frustrating.

A pediatrician that we saw soon after Alex came home was kind enough to get us in with a doctor he knew who was also an adoptive mom. She normally wouldn't take on new patients, but she's agreed to in our case and we were totally thrilled with our appointment with her!

Chris has been referred to an ENT for his hearing troubles and perforated eardrum and Alex got two shots that are part of the new vaccine program the Ontario government has launched. Alex didn't like that part, but the rest of the checkup went really well.

One of the biggest bits of excitement in our household was finally introducing Alex to some finger foods. I'd hesitated doing so out of fear he'd choke, but everyone assured me he was ready for this step (still not sure if I was ready for this step myself), so we tried him on some cheerios that were broken in half, and then also gave him a teething biscuit the next day.

Alex took to it all really well, and he concentrates so much on getting his new foods into his mouth (I put some pictures in the newest album). He's great at picking things up with his thumb and finger... but that doesn't necessarily mean it actually makes it into his mouth, but I'd say he's got about a 75% success rate for actually getting the food where he intended it to go. Failing that, I think he's realized that cheerios will stick to his hand if it's wet, so he just puts his hand down on a few of them and sucks them off his palm. We'll continue to introduce more finger foods, plus we're now focusing more on foods that have more texture and taste... once he got over the initial surprise of food that wasn't pureed, he stopped spitting it out and now is quite comfortable with the new tastes and textures.

We had a pretty busy Sunday with him, with a visit with our social worker for our two-month report (which is required by Korea). We had a lovely visit with her, and then she surprised us with having another couple drop by whose son, Nathan, came home only 3 weeks ago. We adore this couple, but haven't had any chance to see them in months, so it was a wonderful treat for us to see them and their adorable son (more pics in the same new album).

We then went over to my see my cousin Nick, Denise and their daughter Maddy and had a great visit with them and our Aunt Julie (who was there for a bit as well). The kids got along very well, and Madison was great about sharing some of her toys and keeping us all entertained (again, more pics in the album, including one that Nick and Chris thought would be funny with Alex and a bottle of beer *grins*).

After that, it was home for a couple of hours and then we were treated to a dinner out with Chris' sister, her boyfriend and her two daughters, Amanda and Sarah. We had a great time and the kids were all really well behaved.

Today starts another work week for Chris, and I'm hoping to get out a bit more with Alex now that I'm confident he'll be okay in new situations and with new people.

I'll be sure to post another update as soon as I can.