doctors and nurses and lawyers

this past week baby dude had his 4-month check-up.  apparently, he’s in the 61st percentile for weight and the 15th for height.  i think he’ll fit in well with our family.  🙂  of course, each visit to the doctor nowadays comes packaged with some immunization shots.  this time there was a trainee nurse, so the two nurses coordinated their efforts and i think he got stuck with all three needles at the same time (J was holding him this time, i had to busy myself in another corner of the examination room) which was better (i think) for him than three separate stick-experiences, but still very ouchy and he let us know it.  poor baby dude.

we also have begun the paperwork with the lawyer who is helping us with our finalization in court at the end of this month*.  it feels sort of like when you’re in a plane and you’re approaching your destination.  you’re told to fasten your seatbelts and return your trays to their fully upright and locked positions and you get that sense of excited anticipation because you know that you’re about to reach the end of your journey.  i know this is really only the beginning of our journey of parenthood, but this is the last legal step in our adoption proceedings and i can’t believe it’s here so quickly.  we traveled to texas for our orientation with the adoption agency only slightly more than a year ago.  and here we are, traveling back again as parents.  i know that the finalization is really only a legal formality and that we’ve been a family for several months now, but i’m still looking forward to taking this last step.

while we’re in texas, we’re hoping to be able to visit with baby dude’s birthmother again and also maybe catch up with some of our orientation buddies at the annual retreat (for all 3 members of the adoption triad plus the agency workers themselves) that our adoption agency happens to be hosting that weekend.  it will definitely be a trip of a lifetime.

*in case you’re unfamiliar with the adoption process, finalization is when you show up in court, usually about six months after placement, and the judge decrees that you are now the child’s legal parents and you can officially change their last name on their birth certificate.  I’m not sure about how other states do it, but in Texas, we’re not worried about anyone changing their mind at the finalization hearing (as soon as placement takes place, it’s more-or-less a sure thing except in some rare cases where fraud occurs) and baby dude’s birthmother isn’t required to appear in court (unlike the laws in our state), and it only takes about 15 minutes, but we do have to show up in person.