18 Month Check... Positive and Negative

Cora had her 18 month check today and it was a bit of a roller coaster for us. To start with the positives, Cora did great on her milestone assessment. She has caught up in her physical and language abilities. Most people assume that all kids that are adopted "catch up" when they are brought into a loving family. While this is true a lot of the time...it does not always happen. As a parent, you want to believe that your love will be enough but there is always the "what ifs". So any Dr. appointment where there are victories big or small are monumental. On the harder side of things, Cora has only gained one ounce in the last three months. I knew she had not gained a ton but was sad to see this when they weighed her. The nurse began asking me a ton of questions about her eating habits unintentionally making me feel upset. She was clearly just doing her job but Cora's eating is a source of major stress and anxiety for me. After months of feeding therapy, she is just not a big eater or drinker. I have experimented galore with this girl. We offer a wide variety of foods and do our best to make mealtimes pleasant. Cora actually eats a decent variety...just not a lot. It is SO TOUGH to create long term healthy eating habits in your kids. I do NOT want to get trapped into just giving her things she likes...it will just create more pickiness. Luckily my Dr. was reassuring. He did ask me some basic questions about her diet and assured me that I was doing "ok":). I definitely cried a little and it was embarrassing. I know on the outside none of this seems like a big deal. However, her health and eating have been a huge focus for me the last seven months so it is hard not to feel like I somehow failed. One thing that my Dr. pointed out is that we do not have a great baseline for her height and weight. Her first year was so tumultuous that is hard to know what her growth curve is. On top of it, her level of activity has increased ten fold the last couple of months...girlfriend is buring major calories trying to conquer the world. Basically the Dr. said that he wants her to stay on this growth curve the rest of the year. If she does....great. If not, then we start to worry. I aks for prayer in this area specifically. Much thanks! :)