First Doctor Visit

Alyzabeth made the first visit to her Doctor early yesterday morning and let us just say upfront that she handled it far better than the expectations we had laid out for her!
Dr. Chris spent better than an hour with her. We know this is not a typical visit but it must be said that the good Doctor spent a great deal of time just soothing Alyzabeth and allowing her to get to know him before he began poking around. We kept remembering the "exam" in China and the resultant meltdown but Dr. Chris did not force things and what a difference it made.

Bottom line health assessment, Alyzabeth is a healthy little girl while tilted to the small size on the Asian growth charts. No surprise there on the growth charts. (we still have the blood work to get and then return to go over the results in 6 weeks with Dr. Chris)
We've elected to update her immunizations and Dr. Chris has outlined a plan to do so without starting from scratch. We know the blood work will show antibodies but the unknown is always the strength of the shot she received in China. Yesterday, she got 3 shots and a TB test. Did she cry while getting the shots? Oh yeah but the nurse was GOOD and QUICK and baby girl recovered in a flash!

We celebrated with a nice lunch at one of our favorite restaurants, The Blue Grotto.
Hint that most of you know. You can still enjoy a meal out together without putting fear in the eyes of your fellow dinners when you walk in with your little one. Go early or late. It's generally not crowded and distractions are fewer for the little one and the servers are a bit more relaxed as well... And of course the big reason. There aren't as many people there to give you the evil eye :) (added from Aly: For those not in our travel group, while in China, ALL babies/toddlers ate out every meal, so AA is VERY familiar with restaurant etiquette; we had family meal time out for breakfast, lunch and dinner; every day. We mastered the art of wiping one's mouth with a napkin there. :)

We finished the day with a trip to Palatka. Aly kept Livi and Alyzabeth while I ventured off for my music lesson.
Livi and Alyzabeth danced and played while we waited for Leaa D and Jesse to arrive home from work. No dinner this Thursday as they were all heading to the beach to meet up with Leaa's sister Nicole for a quiet birthday dinner together.
Next Thursday we're making plans for a big family gathering at Leaa's before Aly's mom heads back to Maine!
peace
fm