Wednesday, December 05, 2007

Ana Claire's 4 yr check up and more


Ana Claire went to the doctor today. She weighed in at 27 pounds. She is now in the 10th percentile for her weight. She is 38" tall. This puts her in the 25th percentile for height. She has had a big growing spurt, she was in the 5th percentile for her height last year. They estimated she would be 5'2" to 5'3". So I guess time will tell. It is so hard to believe that she is four. It seems like yesterday she was placed in my arms.

December 13th marks the anniversary of our referral. I love this child more than I could ever imagine. People have asked me if I love her any differently than the boys. I guess some people may think there should be a difference since the boys were ours biologically and she is adopted. The answer is I love her the same. She is truly my baby girl. I don't look at her any differently than I do the boys. I struggled in the beginning with each baby but in a different way. With the boys the bond was naturally there. I loved them from the moment I knew I had conceived. With her we both had to work on bonding. I loved her from the beginning, but she had to learn to depend on me for her needs and then she had to decide that she liked me. There were some days when I don't think she liked me very much. I know now that this baby girl loves her Momma and I love her to the moon and back.

Josh was our colicky baby. I love him dearly, but there were some days when he would cry all day and I was frazzled being a first time mom and feeling helpless when I couldn't comfort him. When the colic finally disappeared, he was the happiest little baby. All smiles and giggles. He was and still is the Energizer bunny's twin brother. This kid is always on the go.

Clay was premature and sickly. He was very needy in the beginning because he was so tiny and sickly. I felt like I needed to protect him from every germ in the world. If there was anything weird to be gotten, this child had it when he was little. He was also a great napper. He is healthy now. I am so thankful for that. He is into sports and is our laid back child.

Ana Claire had more emotional needs that had to be met. She was very slow to trust us. For a long time I was the only one she would let meet her needs. She thought I was supposed to do everything for her. Looking back over the past two years, I am hoping that as close as we are now, she will want to always have a close relationship with me. She was very scared of men for a long time. Today she is still stand offish to grown men. Now her brother's friends are a different story. She says they are all her boyfriends. It will be a long time before she dates. I am thinking 30 something sounds good. She is our sassy child. She made my heart whole and our family complete.
I love my family dearly and I am so thankful that all my children are healthy. That in itself is a gift from God.
I don't mean to bore anyone here, but I use this blog to help journal, so we can look back and remember somethings. Today was one of those days I felt the need to ramble.

13 comments:

mommy24treasures said...

lovely thoughts on the upcoming anniversary of seeing your daughters beautiful face...
Ana Claire is a true blessing. So precious.

Grace said...

You are very blessed! What beautiful children you have and you know what??? You sound like me.... if I had a daughter, she won't be dating until she's 30!!!

The Ferrill's said...

Ramble away, Lisa! I love it! AC is so tee-tiny! Kimmie weighs almost 28 lbs.! She is a chunk now!
I love how you touched on all the differences in your 3 children. My first (KL) was VERY colicky, too. I cannot believe I ever had another baby after her, but I sure am glad I did b/c Colby came and was so calm and quiet, I thought something was wrong!
I love reading how the bond between you and AC has grown, it encourages me! :)
She is a special little girl and I can't wait to meet her...probably not this week, sorry! But either the next or the next? Thank you for understanding, Lisa!
Love,
Laine

Our Family of 5 said...

awww, what a great post!!

Sheri said...

You are not boring me! You've expressed things that I feel the exact same way about. I do not love Sarah any differently than the boys, and she has so totally completed our family. What would we do without these sassy little girls?!? I cannot imagine our family any differently!

Jake and Taryn said...

Great post!! Ana Claire is such a doll and looks like she is such a joy in all of your lives! :) Blessings!

Doug and Melody Kemp said...

Ana Claire is adorable, she has such a beautiful smile.

Melody & Zoey

LucisMomma said...

you certainly didn't bore me. I love reading what you write.

I agree with you, adopted children are just as much a part of us as the biological children. I loved reading about all of your kids.

Those pictures at the beginning of your post are just precious. Did you ask the doc to estimate her grown up height? I am curious about our little daughter, too.

susan

missy said...

This was a lovely "ramble". It is so nice to look back and reflect about such special events and people in our lives. AC and all of your children are lucky to have a loving mommy like you!

Pandamonium Mom said...

Aw..that was a sweet ramble. Ana Claire is simply precious! Hey..if you get this today (Friday), leave a message on my cell phone. I don't have your phone number or e-mail address with me and I can't access my home e-mail account from work. I wanted to see if you still want to do something this evening. Chick-fil-a maybe? or whatever!
DeEtte

Holly said...

Great post. She is such a cutie! So glad her checkup went well.

Melanie said...

Great post! I'm glad the checkup went good.
She looks adorable in these pictures!!
"It will be a long time before she dates.I am thinking 30 something sounds good" LOL That was really funny, It sounds like my mom, I guess you all think the same?? It's always different for girls than boys, I've never heard her saying something like that about my brother but about me LOl!

Linda ★ Parker's General said...

I love this post and all the feelings you put out there. Your children are so lucky to have you for their Mom.