This past week has been full of all kinds of doctor visits. Monday morning, we went to the pediatrician, who ran blood tests, gave her shots, and took urine and fecal samples to check on her kidneys and whether she was carrying any unwanted parasites. While the needle pricks weren't the most reassuring way to start a doctor/child relationship, at least her tests all came back as normal. She did have a trace of blood in her urine, which may just mean she's fighting off a virus of some sort (we were told to expect that whenever she has a cold, etc.) Anyway, her kidney function came out fine, and her blood pressure was also good, which was reassuring. We were given the contact information for the kidney center at Children's Hospital, just in case we need anything in the future from them for Eleanor's glomerulonephritis.

We also had an opthalmologist appointment on Friday, to follow up on Zitao's failed vision screening in China. Fortunately, they are able to determine prescription strength without any behavioral participation during testing (very nice), and that was helpful, since Zitao was very quiet and visibly nervous about seeing any more doctors after that first visit!

Eleanor Zitao is seeing a whole new world in all kinds of ways - here she is in her brand new glasses:





I admit that I resorted to bribery to get her to pick out some frames. She was fine for the opthalmologist testing, and even having dilating drops put in her eyes. But she was NOT going to cooperate with putting on glasses frames. So we took a walk, bought some chocolate, and went back. I scolded her gently in Mandarin (which got a couple of interesting looks from passers-by), and told her she'd have her chocolate once she tried some glasses, which she DID need (I could see the "Yeah, according to YOU!" look in her eyes as I said that). Amazing what a little chocolate will do for one's disposition. She picked out a cute pair of blue frames, and I think they look good on her face. (They were also the one and only pair she would put on, so it's fortunate that they DID work!) When we went back to have them fit, she smiled as she put them on, and I saw the "aha" moment right away. So that's why mom's been torturing me all day.... so I can SEE!

Eleanor has been settling in well to our home routine. She has, of course, had her moments of testing us, to see what happens when she refuses to eat her rice and roasted porkchops (but chows down on the broccoli, go figure), and what happens when she pouts and says "no" to mommy's request to do something, etc. And what she has found out is that her parents won't let her eat whatever she wants all day (she'd eat nothing but fruit roll ups and tortilla chips if she had her way - typical kid), and that her mom will pick her up and move her to where mom wants her to be, whether or not she's whining about it. Darn - and here she was hoping it'd be Disneyland. Oh well.

On the other hand, we've seen her obvious pleasure in simple things, and that has been a joy to watch. She loves our cats. She loves that there's an entire pantry full of things to eat, and she loves being held as she explores the various brightly labeled cans and boxes. Zitao has been to the park across the street several times, and thinks that's pretty neato-keen, too. And she likes that she has the top bunk now (Sarah and Gennie switched rooms - Sarah decided she needed some space, and I don't blame her - Eleanor is pretty high maintenance as a roommate, so Eleanor is sharing with Gennie, now). I've enjoyed watching her play with baby dolls, as she walks them in a little pram, holds them close as she "feeds" them play bottles, and dresses them in layers and layers of clothes (like the babies at the Chinese orphanages). She's been so enamored with dolls, which is fun, since neither Sarah nor Gennie care much for dolls (Sarah is much more of a stuffed bear sort of person - and Gennie likes stuffed blue rabbits and friendly dinosaur friends). And as Grandma Jean and Grandma Joanne both know now, Eleanor really likes to talk on the phone. "Ni hao, ni hao! Hello! How are you?" (This is usually followed with an enthusiastic recital of the alphabet). "Wo ai ni, I love you! Bye bye!"

Eleanor is very excited to start school; she asks me every day how many more days it will be until she starts "xiao xue" (elementary school). I hope it will meet her expectations - and I hope she's not expecting something that won't happen (like a majority of Chinese kids, or lots of Mandarin-speaking folks). At least school will be somewhat familiar format-wise, since Eleanor did attend 1st grade in China. And thank goodness for the Chinese schools in Boulder - where there WILL be lots of Chinese kids and Mandarin-speaking folks.

I am not finding very much time for anything lately (surprise, surprise), let alone blogging, but I am soon to close this blog chapter, and will move my journal to a new space online. I want to focus on all of my girls (not just my Chinese babe), and upload some pictures of Gennie's birthday, and the girls with their Easter egg stashes, and talk about Sarah's writing, and Genevieve's queenly decrees, and everything that I adore about all of my children. I like journaling every so often, and want to create a better venue for an ongoing blog. So - very soon - my journal will be found at http://www.lakeshoreladies.com

I'll post here when it's live, and will have a link from lakeshoreladies.com to this journal, as well. :)