So, Elise has looked liked she’s been trying to pull up on things, but she can’t quite reach the furniture in the living room. Yesterday, I had the brilliant idea to show her how to pull up on some low red chairs in our living room. I lured her there with a toy, and she reached up to get it and pulled herself up. Now she can only stand like maybe a minute by holding or leaning onto the chair, then she falls over. She practiced a couple of times. Well, this morning I could only see little standing feet on the monitor, and after breakfast she applied her new skill to another piece of furniture. (I didn’t think she would catch on this quickly.)

Well, I heard the ice hit our bedroom window all night, but when I woke up there wasn’t as much ice as I thought. It is 20 degrees out, so I’m glad to be inside. Our window was frozen over with ice, so we couldn’t see out. We looked out Elise’s window. There are some icicles, but we did not get the worst of it here in West Plano. It sounds like to the west and south of us got it worst. Still almost everything is covered with a light layer of ice. Here’s what we got:

We got Elise’s Certificate of Citizenship, so glad that came. She was a citizen as soon as we entered the US; this is the official piece of paper from Homeland Security. Now, we get to start the process of re-adopting her in Texas, so we can officially change her name to Elise and get a Texas birth certificate. It seems that the paperwork is never ending.

Yesterday Elise had a full day of playing with Shiner, playing outside, and crawling at Scott’s office! A crowd of Scott’s co-workers watched as Elise crawled. Scott and I were surprised and without the video camera. Luckily, Scott’s boss, Rob, grabbed his video camera and filmed the momentous occasion!

And now for the video…

Crawling! from Scott McClellan on Vimeo.

We had our first post-adoption visit today. Everything went well; the social worker was great. She took some notes and asked for some pictures to send to Vietnam. She’ll be coming back in three months, then six months, and then I think every year. So, we should get to know each other well.

Two weeks ago, January 9-11, we went to Houston. My family got some really great pictures, and there appears to be a front runner for favorite uncle. With seven uncles there was bound to be some competition whether intentional or not. Enjoy!

As Annie mentioned this morning, we shot some video of Elise “creeping” for my iPhone. She really wants to get her hands on the thing even though it lacks 3G connectivity–amazing. At just seven months old, Elise has an insatiable hunger for gadgets and technology. Check out how our little girl is quickly becoming mobile:

Elise Starts Creeping from Scott McClellan on Vimeo.

On Saturday, Elise met her third set of grandparents and her seventh uncle. That’s right, she has seven uncles, so she’s got a lot of names to learn. Luckily, half of the uncles are not of the marrying age, so she doesn’t have seven aunts, yet, she has three.
Here are her pictures:

Elise opening presents. She always gets presents.

Kari (grandmother name TBD), Elise, and Papaw

Kari (grandmother name TBD), Elise, and Papaw

The grandparents got some good pictures of Elise at the house, so maybe we’ll be able to share those, too. We also got video of Elise “creeping” for the iPhone. She can move when she’s motivated, so stay tuned for that!

Yesterday, Friday, January 16, we were without heat. The heat had been working when we went to sleep, but did not staying work the entire night. Scott, Elise, and I had a slumber party. It was 55 degrees in the house when we woke up Friday morning, so I called our friends the Violis who graciously let Elise and I come over. Scott went to work.

Elise had breakfast and some play time with the Violi boys, Luke and Cade, and then we went to playgroup at our friends the Monroes. The playgroup had a “Sprinkle” for me and another mom, meaning a mini baby shower. We got books, diapers, wipes, formula, socks, and hangers - the essentials. It was great.

Then the Monroes let us stay over after playgroup and have lunch until our heater got fixed. Elise and I got to go home at about 4:00pm. It was a little chilly when we got home, but the temperature was steadily climbing. Elise and I were grateful to have friends let us hang out in their warm homes!

Here are the pictures of our day:

Elise and Cade playing (Cade's mommy is already hoping for a love match.)

Cade, Elise, and Luke

Debbie and Isabelle, Me and Elise getting sprinkled (Elise was napping.)

Carter and Elise after playgroup

Today, Elise and I went to the ophthalmologist. First, I must confess that I didn’t make the appointment with the doctor I thought I did. Our pediatrician gave us a list of ophthalmologists and put a star by one name, so I looked for and found that doctor on my insurance. I go to the appointment thinking I’ve made the appoinment with a female doctor, but when I read the name on the door it’s not. I think what happened is the female doctor has a male doctor in her practice with the name of David, and I made the appointment with a guy named Davis. I’m guessing I got those confused, but either way Davis was on the list, too.

So, we go to the appointment, and everything is going great. Then the doctor makes a comment about Asian children appearing to have crossed eyes. I looked up at him, and I said, “Really because I totally thought that in Vietnam.” (One time Elise looked liked her eyes crossed, and I showed Scott. Then her eyes looked normal, and Scott said, “Elise, don’t scare mommy.”) Anyway, the doctor said that because Elise, who is Asian, has a flat bridge of the nose more of the skin around the eye is covering up the white area - makes sense. When a child looks right or left, less of the whites of the eyes can be seen, so it looks like their eyes are crossed. Then he gave me a pamphlet called “Pseudostrabismus, A Closer Look.” Pseudostrabismus is the false appearance of misaligned eyes. Their photo example is an Asian male infant, and Elise has had a similar look. I thought it was interesting to learn. The pamphlet also tells how to check for a true misalignment which Elise doesn’t have. The doctor gave us a clean bill of health; he said, “She’s perfect.” But we already knew that.

Pseudostrabismus:

See how Elise's left eye looks closer to her nose than her right eye, but the light reflects in the same place/symmetrically in each eye; therefore, no pseudostrabismus.

So yesterday I took Elise to LabCorp to get her blood drawn. I was a bit apprehensive because I didn’t know how well it would go. I called to make sure they did children, and they seemed a bit exasperated by the question. So, I went.

When they called our name, we went back to waiting room one. I sat in the chair restraining Elise. They tied a tourniquet around her left arm, felt for the vein, found the vein, but Elise’s blood only dripped out. So, since that wasn’t working, they decided to put a heat pack on her right arm, have me give her some fluids, and try again in about 10 minutes. I went back in the waiting room where I’m pretty sure they heard her scream because they all said, “Awww,” when I walked out. To which I said, “It didn’t work. We have to try again.” Nobody said anything else to me after that.

About twenty minutes go by, and they ask me if I’m ready to try again. I said sure. I sat in the chair again restraining Elise, but this time as soon as they tied the tourniquet on she started screaming. (I guess she remembered.) They got her vein on the first time, but this time her blood flowed out - thankfully. Now, I have one more appointment checked off my list. Today we are going to the ophthalmologist, but I’m assuming that won’t be as traumatic as the hospital and LabCorp.

Here are our pictures: