Week One at Home

We've been home a week now and have enjoyed a whirlwind of visitors! We only "allowed" the visitors because Mia was adjusting so well to us. There's more on that below.

Look Who's Walking! Monday she stood up and walked like a pro - well - a wobbly pro!

Uh - Matt do you think that's fair?

That's more like it!

The inflatable bath tub is the best invention in the last 9 years! Sidebar - I can't believe Mark is turning 9 soon!) I thought it was a complete waste of money when I bought it. A fellow blogger bought it and loved it but I stand corrected. No falling over like those bath seats from last decade, no slipping, just lots of fun splashing! We used this immediately when we got home and it was the first bath that she didn't scream and she has not cried since! Highly recommend buying one and taking it to Thailand if you haven't gone. I concluded there wasn't enough room in my suitcase so I guess what I'm saying is I would have made room if I had known.

Saturday was back to life as we know it plus toddler - Matt had a basketball game at 2pm so we had to set an alarm to make sure we wouldn't oversleep. One thing with Mia's AM parties is that they normally end at 5AM and then we sleep like it's nighttime until noon-ish which obviously is why we aren't getting back on schedule. So not complaining about the amount of sleep just which hours we are doing the sleeping. Mia did fine at the ball game - the whistles and buzzers did not scare her which is a relief since we do this a lot. Actually, Matt ended up playing a pick up game after his game so we were there for a couple hours. She ended up taking her nap and was great.

Sadly, Chris had to go back to work on Monday. Mia was very out of her element all day. She woke up looked at his pillow and screamed the WHO STOLE MY DADDY?!!! scream. It took me a while to figure out what the deal was because this was definitely a new scream. Nothing I could do except put the bottle in her mouth, rock her and say Daddy will be right back. It didn't last too long but she was not herself Monday. Matt had another game and again, no problem with the loud buzzers. Mia was ecstatic to see Chris walk in the door from work. (So was I - no really, the kids were good, but I like having him around all day).

Tuesday I awoke to more Who Stole My Daddy? screaming and immediately grabbed the bottle and rocked. Matt had another basketball game, plus Mia had her doctor checkup. Chris met us at the doctor. He said she looks great and gave her 3 immunizations. They did not repeat any vaccines which is great news.

Wednesday brought the Who Stole My Daddy? whimper - much better. I was so thrilled to not have any basketball games or practices. No offense Coach, but man we are tired, need to unpack, open the mail and pay some bills! I can't even think about taking down Christmas decorations although it's killing me. A friend asked me what I needed, bottles, diapers, clothes, toys? and I said time to get organized - it's driving me crazy to have stacks of mail, filled suitcases, dirty laundry, etc. She was sweet to offer to come play with Mia so I could get organized. I may take her up on that eventually, Mia was cranky today from the shots but a little Tylenol did the trick.

She decided to bless us with sleeping during the AM hours by this week. I was thrilled beyond measure to sleep from midnight-ish to morning waking only for 2 bottles. I can deal with waking up for bottles but I was never very good at all-nighters - not even in my college days when I was supposed to be good at it.

Lots of visitors kept us busy this week. It was great to see everyone and share Mia with them. Everyone thinks she is adorable and of course, we couldn't agree more. She has been great with them. She definitely prefers men to women. Most of the male visitors were able to hold her but she has not warmed up to the female visitors as much. We know her well enough now to realize when she's getting nervous or uncomfortable so we can avoid crying. Fortunately, everyone has been great even if they don't get to hold her during the visit. I don't give parental advice very often so I won't but I will say that after 11 years of parenting, 3 children and dozen or so parenting/adoption books, we have learned to say, "It's not a good idea" and not worry about hurt feelings. We're all grown up now! LOL So far, I haven't lost anyone and aside from the airport and Christmas - we limited the visitors to one new set of new people at a time.

This week we taught her to say Aaaah after taking a drink. She also says MMM-MA when we kiss her but she doesn’t initiate kisses or MMM-MA when we kiss her on the lips. She only makes the sound when we kiss her cheek. She will initiate hugs though. And She says Yum Yum Yum if she likes the food. She prefers Asian fare to American but will try anything once. If it’s too cold (ice cream), she squints her eyes and if it’s too warm, she shakes her head No. Too cute!

She also loves music so we have lots of “dance parties”! No lullaby music - she’s jamming to Top 40. I just didn’t find any baby cds yet - well actually, there IS this one that I plan to buy but it's still in production. I'll blog about it when it's ready and once I get permission. ;-)