Small milestones and happy news

This past week has been a flurry of activity as far as medical visits, tests, etc.  Poor Anna has had so many doctor visits and tests, but I am thankful to be getting through all of these.  I am turning into "that mother" - the one who calls and badgers the office staff to get things scheduled for her child - ha!  Generally everyone has been very helpful.  Today was the big test - Anna had a brain MRI.  She had a positive CMV test last week, and we weren't sure if she had gotten it while in utero (big trouble) or while in the orphanage (no big deal).  I had a mini-nervous breakdown last week when my pediatrician called with the blood test results, as I envisioned all the sad little patients I had who had been exposed to CMV while in utero.  Anyway, the only way to tell if Anna had been affected was to get the MRI.  It is an understatement to say that we were anxious to get the results, so I begged the nurses and techs doing the MRI to take pity on us and ask the radiologist to call our pediatrician with the results today if at all possible (especially since it's Friday).  Thankfully we got the results today and everything is normal!  Whew!

I continue to see positive changes in our sweet little daughter.  She actually reached for a toy and held on for a few seconds (1st OT goal met!).

She also has started to cry when she wants to be held - a great step!  It is the reverse of how she was when I first got her - then she would cry when I was holding her and wanted to be put in her crib.  Now she has figured out if she cries I will pick her up - good progress!

A few days ago Anna was wearing a "hand-me-down" bib from her brother Alex - and Nate observed that it had an inaccurate statement.  He quickly got a red Sharpie marker and corrected it -

And it is certainly true that she loves her big brothers - it is impressive how much attention they shower upon her.

Will continues to constantly want to hold her, help her into her bouncy seat, etc.  The other day I heard Will telling her - "oh no, Anna - you have an ouchie!"  The next thing I know Anna has a bandaid on her arm.  Pretty sneaky - but good thing it was only a bandaid.  I asked Will to please consult me before any further treatment in the future.  He is also intent on teaching Anna to say all the names of the family members.  Here's a picture of him working with her - and Anna seems to have a look of disdain for the whole process.  Hopefully speech therapy will go a little better!