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We're Home
January 11, 2009
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March 20, 2009
Sunday, January 11, 2009
AHHH, it sure is good to be home!
The flight home was not too bad. We managed to get our seats
rearranged so Mike & I could sit in the same row. Lauren was
like Velcro and decided that my lap was the place to be. She
didn’t sleep; so needless to say, Mike and I were awake for the
whole 14.5 hours home too. Thanks to the pacifier & the almighty
cheerios she wasn’t too much of a terror, though she did have
some pretty loud breakdowns when I got up to use the facilities
or stretch my legs. Thank God most people had their headphones
on so we didn’t get too many dirtylooks.
Upon arrival in Newark, we had to pass thru Immigration and then
Customs; we handed the Immigration officer our sealed brown
envelope& waited while he checked some paperwork, stamped some
documents and then officially welcomed Lauren as a new U.S.
citizen. Then we were off to claim our luggage & for Lauren to
meet her first family member – Poppie. It was so good to see
family! It took Lauren the drive home to warm up but once we
were in our house, Poppie got the smiles from our girl. He was
in! Nonna was waiting back at the house for us while Poppie made
the long drive to Newark. Lauren was not so set on her on that
first meeting but has since spent more time with Nonna and is
loving her bunches. Nonna has a gift for buying just the right
fun toys & Lauren has a ball playing& laughing with her!
Lauren also got to meet some of my family. My mom, brothers,
sister in law Leah, nephews Kai & Ryan and my cousins Deb, Alan
and Stephanie came to visit. Lauren took to the woman very well
& soon we heard giggles as she played up to them. The men…not so
much – though she did start to warm up to Uncle Steve who
engaged her in a game of jingle ballrolling. Lauren has a lot of
fun with her Grammy & even went to visit Grammy at her office
one day. It just melts my mom’s heart that Lauren lifts her arms
to her to be picked up. I think it’s safe to say that Lauren
will have many many fun times with both of her grandmothers in
the years to come!
Valerie was the first to come welcome Lauren to the neighborhood
and was even kind enough to bring us a recipe to make chicken
congee here at home. Meredith was the first friend to meet
Lauren &we are all looking forward to introducing Lauren to her
girls soon. There are still many more family members & friends
to know and we look forward to when everyone finally gets to
meet our girl.
Lauren’s bonding with Mike has been improving too. She trusts
him enough to sit on his lap for her nebulizer treatments and
likes to climb on him like a jungle gym. I think the change of
scenery has done her some good! She still prefers me when it’s
bedtime but we are hopeful that will change soon too.
Barkley came home two days after us. Lauren was not sure what to
make of the furry creature that kept sniffing her and she would
whine whenever he came near. A week later, they co-exist quite
nicely. Barkley likes to stay nearby his girl and they often
just hang out together. He likes to steal a lick once in awhile
and Lauren doesn’t even flinch. Too cute. As for Mufasa, he
couldn’t care less about her unless she’s crying. Then he just
runs for our room &hides under the bed. Lauren likes to watch
him walk by but hasn’t made any attempt at petting him or
approaching him.
Lauren’s cough and congestion had returned by the time we
arrived home. Luckily we were able to get her in with the
pediatrician quickly. It turns out that she has a nasty upper
respiratory infection. Poor baby! I think she must have had this
the whole time we were with her because I could hear the
congestion from the first night but neither the clinic we
visited nor the doctor’s at her medical exam addressed it. Hmmm,
makes ya wonder huh? Anyway, Lauren was put on an antibiotic and
a couple of meds administered thru a nebulizer every four hours.
She is not a fan of having that mask pressed to her face but
she’s being a trooper. She goes back to the dr’s in a couple
days so we are hopeful that we’ll be able to stop the breathing
treatments soon. Fingers crossed!
This little girl who wouldn’t make an attempt at movement in
China has found her legs. I mentioned before that she started
crawling around for us on New Years Eve…well as of our first
full day home she’s been on the move. Crawling around the house
and has even started walking…yes, walking! She’s primarily
surfing the furniture & walking with our assistance, but has
made several solo attempts as well. Today she took six steps on
her own! It’s so cute watching her do her thing. She gets very
excited for herself and stops to clap, which is just adorable. |
Brave girl getting her nebulizer treatment.
Having a little fun with Grammy, cousin Kai and mommy's cousin
Deb.
Lauren finally found her legs!
Lauren loves playing with her Popie & Nonna!
This face was made to be in pictures.
Pretty in pink! |
Lauren took to the car seat very
well; the first time brought tears but every time since has been
pleasant. She also LOVES bath time now; she could stay in the
tub forever. I can’t wait to start her on swimming lessons! She
has the best time in her booster seat at meals. It has an
activity tray on top with little rainforest animals and she just
has a ball entertaining herself while I prepare her meals. As
for diet, she’s been great about trying new foods and pretty
much likes any meat, protein or vegetable that I feed her. Got
to love that! She loves peaches and mangos but isn’t too fond of
other fruits yet. One thing we need to work on is self-feeding;
Lauren does not want to touch her food. She will eat a piece of
bread off of a spoon, but will not pick it up on her own if it’s
on her tray. Go figure. She also will not attempt a sippy cup
yet. So these are things we’ll need to work on.
Lauren is scheduled to start day care next month, which may be
more traumatic for me then her. I think she’s going to do great,
as she really loves being surrounded by people. We plan on
posting one more update after daycare has started and then that
will be it for our website updates, as we start our own personal
journals for Lauren. Thanks again to everyone who followed
along. It was great getting your comments and words of wisdom!
I’ll close with a nice little poem that speaks to my heart. Take
care all!
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I
didn’t give you the gift of life,
But in my heart I know.
The love I feel is deep and real,
As if it had been so.
For us to have each other
Is like a dream come true.
No, I didn’t give you the gift of life,
Life gave me the gift of you.”
~Unknown |
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