Some of you may remember the 3-week trip I took to India last September to research a piece on the massive aborting of baby girls there. The first part of my 4-part series (it ends March 1) ran today - you can see it at this URL: http://www.washingtontimes.com/world/20070226-124608-6785r.htm - or just call up www.washingtontimes.com. It was a ton of work but I am very proud of how it came out. I've attached a photo of Mary Calvert, the photographer who accompanied me, shooting colorfully-dressed women at dawn prayers in Jaipur.
Meanwhile on the home front, we are still getting Veeka's schedule to work. Today we visited the doctor, who advised me to be more regular with Veeka; easier said than done, as any time I take her somewhere in the car, she naps, which throws off her sleeping schedule. Things are are 6s and 7s here - piles EVERYWHERE around the house. I cannot get anything done and I am constantly interrupted. I am still struggling with how to get up the baby gates; mind you, no one has offered to help me so I am on my own with a drill, nails, screws and lots of little things to stick into the wall.
The Little One had lots of blood drawn today for titers - which caused many a screech - because the adoption agency in Almaty dropped the ball on getting us her vaccination records. They say one cannot trust medical records from overseas anyway so she might end up getting a lot of the same shots done again. So we have to do titers to see what antibodies there already are in her blood. And I also have to get poop samples for the next 5 days to test for other nasties. Icky.
Anyway, it is hard to get this child down for one nap, much less two. Yesterday was horrible; she would NOT go down in the afternoon. Today was not much better. I sometimes put her in the crib and walk off but when she's howling 20 minutes later, what to do? Today I brought her into my room, plunked her under my quilt and we both took a nap. She wants a lot of lap time - as do my kitties, who are looking very peaked and unhappy about this interloper moving in. If Veeka is not on my lap, one of the fur balls moves in.
Meanwhile, gifts from my sister-in-law Susan keep on pouring in. The new PJs were much appreciated as they cover her feet, which tend to get icy when she sleeps. The doctor said that's no big deal but it's a bit odd to pick up a child and find her extremities are so cold. I was also advised to stock up on milk that is at least 2% if not more and to work on the fine motor skills, ie making Veeka feed herself. Which she wants to do, part of the time. Being premature and from an orphanage means she's in the lower percentiles of almost every graph (height, weight, head growth, etc.) in the doctor's office. Her head has not grown since September - got to find some kind of food that feeds those grey cells up there.
The amount of trash outside my back door has quadrupled from my usual output. I did get busy and put together a bureau from Ikea; problem is, one of the measurements was off, so the bottom portion is too big, meaning the drawers do not shut correctly. This happenes EVERY TIME I put together a piece of furniture - something always screws up. And I know I followed instructions. I did drag Veeka to church (in the midst of a snow storm) yesterday. I thought my buzzer would be going off because she would be in the nursery missing me. Not a chance - the folks there told me she was incredibly social and loved being with the other kiddies. Then after the service, she found my lap and - ZONK- out like a light.
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