Melamine

Melamine is a chemical with a number of industrial uses, and an already scandalous history as one of the major contaminants in the 2007 Chinese pet food debacle. It is suspected that it was added to milk at milk collecting stations in China to disguise the fact that milk was being watered down, since melamine artificially increases the testable protein content. We don't yet know how long this has been a problem. According to Sanlu, a popular budget formula manufacturer implicated in this event, contaminated milk was used in the manufacture of infant formula processed before 8/6/08, as well as in other dairy products like liquid milk, frozen yogurt, and coffee creamer.

Turns out that children who were adopted from China as far back as 2005 were exposed to the melamine tainted powdered milk. Given that Josie was born in 05 and lived in China until March of 2006, we are having her tested.

We are unable to learn what brand of formula she was given by the orphanage or her foster family. Also, news reports state that 22 different brands were found to be tainted but not one report lists all those brands. I have spent endless hours on line trying to find pictures... turns out we have some photos in which our bags of formula are in the background. I was hoping to match the photo to find out if the brand we were given in China was included in the recall. I also brought back one package of the formula from China because we were transitioning Josie from the Chinese formula to American formula.

Josie is an exceptionally healthy child, so we're not in panic mode. We're working with our pediatrician and following the advice and treatment plans offered by the American Pediatric Association for Adoptive Families.

Josie will have a urinalysis, a blood draw and a renal/urinary tract ultrasound to be sure all areas of concern are addressed. We are on the same tract as our pediatrician who believes "better safe than sorry".

We'll let you know how our little one makes out.

Baby's Day Out

Josie spent Saturday on an adventure with her Dad. Mom got to stay home and do laundry, while big sister, Maddie, went to her High School football game...

She rode the carousel outside the Smithsonian 'Castle':



She ate Dim Sum:





She flew an airplane (at the Air and Space Museum):



And took in a few of the exhibits:



What a lucky girl!!

Hershey Park

This past weekend, Josie, Maddie and I visited with Aunt Claudine. We drove to her house in Maryland on Friday after school. Grandmom & Pop-Pop drove over from Delaware to get in a quick visit with the girls. On Saturday morning we (Aunt Claudine, Maddie, Josie and me) drove up to Hershey Park, which was about a two hour drive from Claudine's house. The park was open for a special event - allowing only employees of Claudine's agency and their families.

The weather was beautiful as we departed Maryland, but the closer we got to the park - the more cloudy and cool it got. When we reached Hershey (where all the street light tops are Hershey kisses - really!) it was rainy and very chilly. Just about 50 degrees. The weather did not dampen our enthusiasm, though. We took the tour of 'Chocolatetown' and waited for the weather to clear.



Once in the park, Maddie and Claudine headed for the rollercoasters. Josie and I headed for the kids rides. I did persuade Maddie to ride the merry-go-round with Josie before making herself scarce. The picture above was the best one I could get... that thing was really spinning!

Josie rode a few of the rides by herself... Not willingly, but she did it! Worse ride was the kiddie 'pirate ship'. The pendulum effect always gets to my stomach, but I figured Josie would be okay on the kiddie version. I was wrong. In Josie's own words, she "freaked out a little". She was practically climbing behind the little girl next to her, hiding her face. Then she would hold the bar in front of her with a death grip and grit her teeth. There was nothing I could do - longest minute and a half of my life! Just as the ride was at a complete stop, she raised both her hands up in the air and came off smiling. Whew!

After riding on the antique cars we ran into the Hershey kiss. Josie was thrilled!



We returned to Claudine's house around 6:45PM and my Mom had made a delicious roasted chicken with stuffing, mashed potatoes and green beans. Awesome! Nothing beats Mom's cooking! Here's a photo of Josie with Aunt Claudine's 'baby', SoCo:



Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

My Birthday Dinner

From Birthday Dinner 10/1/08 8:37 AM

I'm coming clean right now... I totally blew my healthy eating plan last night. I haven't had a hamburger for nearly half a year. And french fries? Well, it's been a long time since I've had those too. James & the girls decided that I deserved a treat, so the picture above shows what I had for my birthday dinner. It was awesome!!!

Oh, and the cake was fantastic too! Although the sugar gave me an upset stomach, it was soooo good going down!



Regretfully, I'm back on track today. But, I'll only turn 46 once. 'Nuf said.