We had a great Christmas day yesterday. It was nice to be home and not traveling on Christmas. While we missed seeing our extended family it was very nice to have a quiet first Christmas home with Halle. I don't think she realized anything was too different from an ordinary day. She got a Dora kitchen set that she saw first and didn't really get into the other presents. She helped open a few but I still don't think she got it. We didn't try to introduce her to Santa partly due to time, not wanting to mess with the crowds at the mall and mostly because I think she would have been terrified. She was saying ho, ho, ho when she saw pictures of him and trying to say Merry Christmas but I think only a loving parent would be able to recognize it :) Halle also received a miniature trampoline that Paul & Jacob set up in the basement. She seems to be enjoying it. The weight limit is 100 pounds so none of us can demonstrate it for her! The big kids did fairly well considering it was supposed to be a smaller Christmas due to the trip to China. I'm afraid Jacob was a little less than thrilled with all the clothes he received. He is growing so fast that he is outgrowing everything. He and Paul are going to see the Buckeye's basketball game tomorrow so hopefully that will make up for the socks and at least I didn't buy him any underwear!
Halle's vocabulary continues to increase every day. She is starting to put together simple sentences now. She says good girl to herself and the dog quite a bit. Yesterday she didn't really take a normal nap so around 4:30 she was tired. She was trying to tell me something but I couldn't tell if she wanted to go to the bathroom or she wanted a bottle. We walked into the kitchen and an old bottle was sitting there. She pointed to it and said - there it is!
Her favorite activity continues to be dancing. She knows how to turn the radio on and will start waving her hands. Now she has added a pretty cute bottom wiggle too :) She's still not too interested in books I'm afraid. I'm trying to get her to look at them when she is sitting on the potty - a very long process sometimes so I've got a captive audience! She loves her cartoons. The Noggin Channel is very good. They have lots of singing and dancing. Most of them are above her level but she definitely gets her groove on with some of them. They even have a new cartoon out about a little Chinese girl. The show incorporates words in Chinese. I've only seen it a few times. I hope it catches on more.
We are hoping to get to the zoo to see all the lights. Unfortunately it has been too cold. Today it has finally warmed up but now we are getting a ton of rain. It was even thundering today much to Keisha's dismay.
We are heading to Elyria for a late Christmas dinner with Paul's siblings. It will be nice to see everyone and introduce them to Halle. With all the cousins it should be quite a gathering. I wish we lived closer to everyone so we could see them more often.
Friday, December 26, 2008
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Home for a month
Hi,
It's been so long since I posted and so much has happened I don't know where to begin. We've been home for a little over a month. It is amazing how far Halle has come. She is starting to settle into a semi routine sleep wise. She is only taking one nap a day for a little over an hour. When I'm lucky and catch her right when she is waking up I can usually rock her back to sleep for about half an hour more. Luckily she has an early bed time. We get in the "tub tub" around 7:15 and she is usually asleep by 8:00. We've started with a lotion rub down after her bath due to her very dry skin. She seems to really enjoy that and her skin seems much better.
We went to Children's International Adoption Clinic on Friday and Monday. So far she has gotten great reports. We met with a doctor, nutritionist, physical therapist, audiologist, psychologist and had blood drawn and gave 2 lovely stool samples. All the doctors think she is doing great. I have to agree. Her vocabulary is increasing daily. But what amazes me is how much she comprehends.
Last week was a struggle. Paul's first week back to work and I had a big work project and a sweats order. Grandma Sue came for a few days to help out. She and Halle did great for the first hour or so and then she only wanted Mommy. I'm finally becoming the preferred one although whenever Sami or Paul spend time with her it's all them - love the one your with is her philosophy. It was a struggle to try to get all the work done. Luckily I had a very understanding client and a great big kid. Sami gets home from school a little after 1:00. I don't know what I'd do without her help! Everyone said that sometimes "the wait" was because the perfect child wasn't ready for our family yet. While I tend to agree that Halle is the perfect child for us, what I think now is that the wait was necessary for Sami & Jacob to grow up. If we would have gotten Halle 3 years ago Sami & Jake would be 3 years younger and in much more need of mommy time. They wouldn't have gone with us to China which would have been a travesty. I keep saying it was an amazing adventure but that of course is an understatement. It is hard to describe it. Now it seems almost like a dream. I feel bad that I'm not spending as much time with the big kids but Halle takes up so much time. I get to see Sami more because she is home more in the afternoon. It's Jacob that I worry about most. We talked briefly about it the other day but I'm sure he feels left out. Hopefully we can have some good quality family time together over Christmas break.
Jacob has his first basketball game on Saturday. He is playing in the community recreation league. It seems funny that both kids aren't at basketball practice and/or games every day. It has been great for me that it means I'm not running every where every day with Halle in tow but we do miss the games, especially Paul. Jacob is also playing on a club volleyball team. They practice twice a week and have tournaments. I think that will be kicking into full swing in January. Sami has her soccer practice twice a week and she is hopeful to play on an indoor team in January. I think January is going to be a blur.
We had a very nice visit with Paul's sister and nephew and his family (Linda, Johnny, Erin and Lauren). Lauren just turned one year old last month. Halle was definitely territorial with her toys, especially the stuffed dog they brought her. She put all of her toy's on her lap or behind me. When the baby came near she would cry and try to gather all the toys. I'm guessing she had to fight for what was hers in the orphanage. That makes me so sad to think about. By the end of the visit she was offering her toys to Lauren so it seems she is starting to understand the sharing phenomena.
Last weekend we went to Westlake for Christmas with my whole family. My dad and step mom flew up from Florida for the gathering so almost all the gang was there. The only one missing was my nephew Gary who lives in California. I think that made 27 in total. It was a nice chance for most of my family to met Halle. We had planned for her to nap on the trip up. Unfortunately she had other plans and decided to fall asleep 2 minutes from home when she was coming home from shopping with Paul & Sami. We couldn't wake her up until just before we left. She did pretty well on the trip, just a few minutes of all out screaming. Paul has taught her that gummy bears come out of her ear and that seems to be her best treat that helps settle her down. Halle did amazingly well considering so many new faces were so eager to meet her. She had a good time rolling around the floor with her cousin Blake that had just turned 10 the day before. She loved the swimming pool. It was so warm that I even got in and enjoyed it. Halle had fun swimming with many of the teenage cousins.
It has been an incredible month. Never a dull moment in our household any more and I wouldn't change a thing! I feel so lucky to have such a wonderful family.
It's been so long since I posted and so much has happened I don't know where to begin. We've been home for a little over a month. It is amazing how far Halle has come. She is starting to settle into a semi routine sleep wise. She is only taking one nap a day for a little over an hour. When I'm lucky and catch her right when she is waking up I can usually rock her back to sleep for about half an hour more. Luckily she has an early bed time. We get in the "tub tub" around 7:15 and she is usually asleep by 8:00. We've started with a lotion rub down after her bath due to her very dry skin. She seems to really enjoy that and her skin seems much better.
We went to Children's International Adoption Clinic on Friday and Monday. So far she has gotten great reports. We met with a doctor, nutritionist, physical therapist, audiologist, psychologist and had blood drawn and gave 2 lovely stool samples. All the doctors think she is doing great. I have to agree. Her vocabulary is increasing daily. But what amazes me is how much she comprehends.
Last week was a struggle. Paul's first week back to work and I had a big work project and a sweats order. Grandma Sue came for a few days to help out. She and Halle did great for the first hour or so and then she only wanted Mommy. I'm finally becoming the preferred one although whenever Sami or Paul spend time with her it's all them - love the one your with is her philosophy. It was a struggle to try to get all the work done. Luckily I had a very understanding client and a great big kid. Sami gets home from school a little after 1:00. I don't know what I'd do without her help! Everyone said that sometimes "the wait" was because the perfect child wasn't ready for our family yet. While I tend to agree that Halle is the perfect child for us, what I think now is that the wait was necessary for Sami & Jacob to grow up. If we would have gotten Halle 3 years ago Sami & Jake would be 3 years younger and in much more need of mommy time. They wouldn't have gone with us to China which would have been a travesty. I keep saying it was an amazing adventure but that of course is an understatement. It is hard to describe it. Now it seems almost like a dream. I feel bad that I'm not spending as much time with the big kids but Halle takes up so much time. I get to see Sami more because she is home more in the afternoon. It's Jacob that I worry about most. We talked briefly about it the other day but I'm sure he feels left out. Hopefully we can have some good quality family time together over Christmas break.
Jacob has his first basketball game on Saturday. He is playing in the community recreation league. It seems funny that both kids aren't at basketball practice and/or games every day. It has been great for me that it means I'm not running every where every day with Halle in tow but we do miss the games, especially Paul. Jacob is also playing on a club volleyball team. They practice twice a week and have tournaments. I think that will be kicking into full swing in January. Sami has her soccer practice twice a week and she is hopeful to play on an indoor team in January. I think January is going to be a blur.
We had a very nice visit with Paul's sister and nephew and his family (Linda, Johnny, Erin and Lauren). Lauren just turned one year old last month. Halle was definitely territorial with her toys, especially the stuffed dog they brought her. She put all of her toy's on her lap or behind me. When the baby came near she would cry and try to gather all the toys. I'm guessing she had to fight for what was hers in the orphanage. That makes me so sad to think about. By the end of the visit she was offering her toys to Lauren so it seems she is starting to understand the sharing phenomena.
Last weekend we went to Westlake for Christmas with my whole family. My dad and step mom flew up from Florida for the gathering so almost all the gang was there. The only one missing was my nephew Gary who lives in California. I think that made 27 in total. It was a nice chance for most of my family to met Halle. We had planned for her to nap on the trip up. Unfortunately she had other plans and decided to fall asleep 2 minutes from home when she was coming home from shopping with Paul & Sami. We couldn't wake her up until just before we left. She did pretty well on the trip, just a few minutes of all out screaming. Paul has taught her that gummy bears come out of her ear and that seems to be her best treat that helps settle her down. Halle did amazingly well considering so many new faces were so eager to meet her. She had a good time rolling around the floor with her cousin Blake that had just turned 10 the day before. She loved the swimming pool. It was so warm that I even got in and enjoyed it. Halle had fun swimming with many of the teenage cousins.
It has been an incredible month. Never a dull moment in our household any more and I wouldn't change a thing! I feel so lucky to have such a wonderful family.
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