Therapy, visits, and football...oh my!

Anna continues to work hard and scream her way through therapy sessions - below is a picture that my OT friends should appreciate, as she is starting to bang 2 objects together.  She is really enjoying playing with toys, which is such a change from when I first met her in China!  David and I were just saying tonight that we almost never see her just staring at her hands anymore, as she would do almost constantly when she first came home.  In the beginning it seemed like I was almost constantly trying to redirect her from just staring at her hand 2 inches from her face...and now she is fascinated with her toys!  I also feel like Anna is giving me a look of "Mom...do you really have to take a picture of me now?"

Anna is getting a jump on her technology knowledge - pretty soon she will probably be using Skype on her own to call her grandparents.

My friend Allyson came for a visit last weekend, and Anna had a great time getting to meet another new friend!  Ally was a good sport as she endured 2 back-to-back football games on Saturday in about 125 degree heat and took care of Anna the whole time.  This enabled me to nervously watch the 1st 2 games of the season with Nate playing quarterback, Alex in his first football game, and the inaugural game for Coach David (who was quite anxious, I must say...)

A day I am thankful to have behind me is the nightmare checkup/doctor visits yesterday.  All four Goza children received immunizations, for a total of 10 shots.  Poor Anna is still in the process of catching up on her immunizations, so she is going every 6 weeks for shots.  Two of my boys had their yearly well-child visits, and then Nate just came along for his flu shot.  At one point, Anna was screaming (because I had put her in the stroller while the boys were getting their shots), Will was yelling/asking over and over if he was going to get "a bandaid" (translation: a shot), and Alex was sobbing uncontrollably as Nate received his flu shot...when I asked Alex what was wrong, he cried "I just feel so bad for Nate!"  Nate and Alex stood outside the exam room when they were finished so they wouldn't have to see their younger siblings receive their shots...and the nurse said she overheard Alex saying,"That wasn't so bad - I can't believe I cried that much!"  The easiest part of the day was the hearing test, seen below, which Will happily participated in until I think he started getting a little claustrophobic in that little room.  So Nate gladly went in there with him and helped him out.

 Finally, a few pictures of a happy Anna today.  She is quite flexible, as you can see - we have a lot of work ahead of us to get her hip muscles stronger, but she is doing better every day!

And this is a typical Anna reaction when she is having fun - David was laughing and playing with her when I took this picture. When she gets really excited and happy, she waves her arms and legs in the air like a little "crazy baby" (one of Nate's favorite nicknames for Anna).