We’ve been home one week today! It’s been a great adjustment period, and Parker and I are doing

great! We took most of the week to just readjust ourselves to the time change, and get Parker

used to the house and Lexi, our Great Dane. Lexi and Parker are great together, they are both

semi-interested in the other. Lexi will sniff him every-so-often, and Parker will sometimes

reach for her or watch her walk around the room. For the most part, they ignore each other.

Last Friday was my 31st birthday, and Parker and I went to dinner with my parents at Carrabbas

Italian Grill, which is like Olive Garden but about 500 better. Better service, better food,

cozier atmosphere. Parker was great. On Saturday, Parker met many of my friends at a potluck

picnic at a local Park. It was lots of fun. Yesterday, Sunday, my brother had a cookout at his

house for my family. We went over from about noon until 4 PM. We went swimming in his pool and

played a lot with Aunt Angela and his new cousins.

In addition, on Thursday, we had Parker’s first doctor’s appointment. I took him to the Oak

Adoptive Health Center at Akron Children’s Hospital. They specialize in all aspects of adoptive

kids’ health, from illness and adjustment to attachment and country specific issues. It was

great, I’m so glad to have a resource like that 10 minutes from my house. The doctor said Parker

is doing very well. He weighs 14.5 pounds and is 26.5 inches tall, at 5 months of age. She said

he’s very healthy, and seems to be attaching well already…as he screamed when the nurse took

him to weigh and measure him, then was instantly quiet when back in Daddy’s arms. She was

impressed by that.

At 5 months Parker:
-Sits up for about 2 seconds before falling forward (he always falls forward)
-Roll over at will, in both directions
-Skooches backwards
-Turns himself in a circle to change direction
-Pretends to hold his bottle
-Laughs at himself in the mirror
-Smiles and laughs a lot
-Tracks daddy when being held by someone else
-Is fascinated by ceiling fans
-Sleeps through the night 90% of the time (last night he slept from 7:30 PM until just now at

6:15 AM)
-Just had his first rice cereal yesterday

I am working on pictures, I just finally got all my pics from Vietnam onto my computer, then will post them up online, hopefully this week.

Here’s a picture of Parker from yesterday.