Medical Exam (Saturday, Sept. 19)

Our newest cutie pie

I should have known today would be rough, when Abbey woke up at 4:45 am. Elijah had woken up crying sometime in the night, and I had put him in bed with us. So, naturally, Abbey wanted to get in also. Needless to say, we got up pretty quickly after that; four people in one bed is a bit crowded. We left the hotel at 9:30 to travel to Shamain Island for Elijah's medical exam. The bus we are on looks like it is from the 60's and the air conditioning doesn't work very well. The temperature was about 99 degrees with 98-100% humidity. Sticky! When we got to the clinic, it was a complete zoo. It was extremely crowded with babies screaming everywhere. Elijah passed all his examinations. He weighs more than I thought- 19.3 lbs and is 29 inches tall. The worst part of the morning, besides waiting in lines for 3 hours, was the Hague Plague's vaccination requirement. Our poor baby had to get 5 shots and oral Polio. He screamed bloody murder. John and Abbey were in there. It upset Abbey so bad that she wet her pants all over John. She has been so reliable with pottying, that I didn't even have anything to change her into. I didn't have time to go and buy her anything, because we were the last ones out of the clinic. The rest of our group was done shopping. So, I put one of Elijah's diapers on and she wore that and her shirt. We then went to Carrefour. I can imagine the comments about our girl parading in in a way too small diaper and a short shirt. Oh, well, as John says, they have their kids walking around with nothing on their bottom, at least she was covered. As I'm typing this, it is 10 pm and everyone is asleep. Elijah doesn't seem any the worse for having been a human pin cushion. We all survived!

Abbey asleep at the medical exam

Some tidbits about Elijah. He has been showing some of his personality. He loves to eat. With only 2 1/2 teeth he sometimes works on a piece of food for quite a while. He still takes a bottle several times a day. I tried a sippy cup today, but he didn't know what to do with it. He loves to be held and will put his arms up with his hand pointing down in a distinctive way(see picture). He loves to throw things. He's very curious and into everything. He's walking more and more every day. We took him to the pool, to Dozier-ize him. He's not a big fan. He didn't cry, even though I dunked him twice. He didn't cry, but he didn't smile either. He does cry in the bath, though. But, the tub is huge and cold. He sucks his thumb to go to sleep, which he hates to do. He will fight sleep with all his might. I knew that part was too easy with Abbey. I figured I hadn't paid my dues in that department. All in all, Elijah is pretty laid back and happy. We're enjoying playing and loving him! We can't wait to get home and share him with everyone!

Chewing his food. One night, he chewed a piece of chicken for 30 minutes before spitting it out
Elijah and his "pick me up" pose
The indoctrination has begun