One Year Check Up and First Birthday

So Micah had his one year check up on Wed. He is doing so well! Below are his stats :) I just love stats! The doctor typically doesn't print out the growth charts but when she came in she said "I just have to show you his amazing progress - look at that steep incline!" Micah doesn't quite have a curve - it's more two big steep lines :) He went from under 0% in everything, especially weight, to 50% weight, 40% height, and a little over 50% for his head circumference! We definitely can feel that he is a chunk! He is 22.7 pounds now and 29 inches tall - his head is somewhere around 18 inches or so.

So he had his one year check up - so you're wondering why on earth I haven't posted about his birthday? Well, here is that story. We first did not feel as if we wanted to post many details on his story. It is his story. But it's not shameful, it's not bad - it's God's sovereign plan in the midst of a fallen and broken world. That's how we see it. So while you may not learn the nitty gritty details, we will share enough of an overview for our adoption to make sense and to shed some light on some occurances of how children come to be adopted into forever families. Micah was found on November 13th under a special tree - a eucalyptus tree! That tree can withstand drought and the worst of all circumstances. I don't think it's a coincidence that God chose to place him there to be found by his angel. Micah has such a strong and determined spirit - much like that eucalyptus tree. He could withstand much sickness when we brought him home and fought a tough battle back to health. Back in an earlier post just after our referral, I noted that Micah's eyes showed us he is a fighter! How true that gaze in his pictures turned out to be! While we know nothing about Micah's first few months, we prayed for joy and peace to be filled in him. He emanates joy and peace today!

So this brings me to his birthday. When he was found on November 13th, his age was estimated at 2 months. When we received his referral on December 17th, 2008, he was estimated at 3 months old. We consulted a doctor at the International Adoption clinic at Nationwide children's hospital and it was first mentioned to us that he appeared to be only 2 months at referral and not 3. At time of referral, he was 7.9 pounds and 20.9 inches long. He looked well nourished. When we passed court on March 13, 2009, the ET govt issued a birthday of 9/14/08. There is no significance with that date. It is just an estimate. After having Micah home and watching him grow, we agree more and more with our doctor. We feel his estimated birthdate was not accurate. It is not a big deal - not even that big that we had thought we would not change it. But as we thought more about it and realized there is no significance with that date, we felt more compelled to change it. After all, we have to re-adopt him and change his name anyways. For me, I will always believe he was born in October. We love the month of October and love the odd number days that Micah's God ordained milestones in early life occurred on (found by a special angel sent from God on 11/13, referred to two overjoyed and grateful forever parents on 12/17, deemed our legal son in the eyes of ET court on 3/13). Therefore, we have chosen October 21st as Micah's birthday. This date feels appropriate for his story as it has significance to us and to Micah. You'll have to stop back in October to see the 1st birthday bash photos :)