Our little Mikaela had her first birthday this Sunday. Since my parents had returned from China just the day before, we celebrated her birthday on Monday the 2nd. That was a really special day, because it also marked one month since we returned home.

This past month has been wonderful, and it is already hard to remember what life was like without Mikaela. She has seen several doctors in that time, and we have gotten quite a bit more information on her condition. The only bad news that we have gotten so far is that she has hypothyroidism. This is pretty common in Downs kids, and responds well to medicine, but does not have a cure. She has been on her medicine for about two and a half weeks now, and it is making a pretty big difference. Her muscle tone is much better now, and we think her weight gain has been steadier since she started her medication. The good news is that her heart condition (VSD) seems to have corrected itself completely. We have a few more tests next week to confirm that, but we are pretty confident already. This was a huge relief to us. Her parasite checks all came back negative, and we are really excited about that.

At first she was a little scared of her brother and sister, but she is pretty crazy about them now. It is really cute to watch her play with them. She still doesn’t sit up by herself, but she is getting closer, and I think once she hits that milestone, she will really be able to play well with the other two. Her fine motor skills are very good, but her hands are weak, so she can’t hold toys that are very heavy, and this also limits her ability to play with the other kids. We are working on that too.

Well, I hear her crying now, and I think she is hungry, so I need to run.