What's life been like

Its been about a week since we returned home, alas Kevin just left for his first day back to work.  I seriously miss him already, hard to believe 3 weeks together, no fights (couple small bickers but we had promised ourselves that we'd not take out our stress on each other - and through the Grace of our sacrament of marriage, were able to stay true to that promise!!).   I am so grateful for such an amazing marriage!!  and do so wished he worked from home every day !!!  but alas no.. and I'm on my own today!!

So, what have we been up to -- most battling severe jet lag!  The first day it didn't feel so bad, thought we'd somehow escaped the clutches of it, yeah ha - NOT so much!!  What does jet lag feel like -- being stuck in a corn maze.  You get on a roll, when you feel like you are definitely onto something, making progress, almost out of the maze,  when BAM you hit a wall and realize you can't move forward in that direction any longer and either have to rest (aka nap), or turn around and regroup (aka go to bed early and try again tomorrow).  You are also extremely irritable - at least we are!!  And every issue feels like a mountain - when its truly only a molehill - especially if you fix your eyes on Jesus, and let Him carry the burden.  The devil lives within jetlagged brains too I truly believe that, as you are tired and less likely to turn to prayer, and can easily feel defeated or incapable of the new normal you have been given.   Its funny when we were in the midst of the traveling,  the danger, the unfamiliar surroundings, the uncertainty, prayer came so easily and without question.   Back home surrounded by the comforts of our home, family and country, although still praying, we both said this morning that we were surprised at how quickly we returned to the more inward prayer, leaving our newly developed praying together outloud habit behind.  Aware of this, we are vowing to get back on track, I guarantee it will start to turn all the heaviness of the last week around!!

Enough about us, how's Faith doing?  Excellent question - to which there are many answers!!  I will start by answering some of the many questions I've been receiving:
1. Does she laugh?   Yes, she laughs out loud, she has an adorable giggle, it is hysterical and so flippin cute!!

2. Does she like her baths?  YES , when she's not trying to reach for everything she shouldn't be having lol... I have been taking them with her, to continue our bonding process plus its easier to manage her in there with her, she is very floppy and squirmy, so has no muscle tone whatsoever, and just collapses or throws her body around at will... very dangerous for all involved, she is so funny though when she bumps her head or falls down where most kids would CRY, she just cracks up!!  As an aside:  we actually have some concerns in this area -- Dr. Tomase (we went for her check up today) is going to have her see a neurologists, there are some concerns on her coordination and balance as well that is not due to a phsyical issues (as in her legs are the same length, etc). We'll be going to children's , I will be receiving a call from them in a few days to make an appointment - Not sure at all what we are dealing with , if its a past injury or if there is something more progressive going on -- regardless, we won't speculate or get worked up, until testing is complete.  Whatever it is God will guide us through, and we'll do what we need to do!! 

What else does she like?   She enjoys coloring, playing with blocks, the fisher price circus toy, hoarding lol -- today she had every webkin from her room in her arms! Yes we got a picture, I will have Kevin post it later. She does not like tv as they had told us, which was a relief, though some days it would be nice to get a 1/2 hour reprieve to get something done knowing she was duly occupied :))) She LOVES outside, and rides in her stroller, oh and tea parties!

Have you taken her to church or to the grocery store? NO , not yet. Our only public outing was the doctor's office yesterday.  We just got her h1n1 today, I was trying to keep her out of public til then, plus I am keeping her away from other woman until we can forge a deeper bond.  Since she's not been exposed to American germs yet, and I don't feel like dealing with a sick kid, especially Thanksgiving a week away, we are keeping things low key!!  Although I know its been difficult for people to stay away, I am so appreciative of everyone's understanding.  The seclusion though difficult at times on us, has been the absolute right decision on building our mother/daughter relationship.  She now comes to me on her own, sometimes chosing me over daddy.  She allows me to comfort her, like yesterday morning when we did a test run of her waking to no daddy, she cried, but cuddled up to me, and was over it rather quickly.   She even got a little upset when I left to work for a few hours, I would have never anticipated that a week ago!   I think choosing to be her #1 source of all things food, clothes and necessity was the absolute right choice - and the reason behind our successful start to bonding.  It will still be months, maybe even years before we forge a deep bond of true trust and security, but every day we will strive to get closer to that - by meeting her needs in a timely, complete and loving manner. 

 How is she with the potty?   This has been such an interesting transition from squatty potty to western potty - thank YOU Danielle for shlepping to Target for me to get the Dora potty seat - has been our saving grace!! As I mentioned,  she was potty trained in china, but with her split pants, that whole just squatting where you are when you gotta go method (which we discovered first had at a restaurant in Guangzhou when she finished her meal and decided it was time to poo, oh yeah should have seen Kevin run to grab her and whisk her off to the bathroom, pricelss!)   So we are pretty much starting over with the western toilet. She does hold it, and most of her pull ups are completely dry when I take them off, which is great -- I am hoping to move her into undies during the day, and just keep the pull ups for night, but we'll play it by ear.

Has she had her first check-up?   We met with Dr. Tomase yesterday to begin what will be a long journey of doctor's visits, tests, and therapies.  She was only in the 5 % for weight, and 15% for height for her age, funny how BIG the Chinese thought she was - she is a 3T but is usually sporting a plumber bum LOL or the teenage boy sag as my boys refer to it!!   She was very cooperative, squidy, but not nearly the squid of Guangzhou Kevin blogged about.  Her chest extra was normal/negative of TB, yeah!  We wait now for appointments in Boston (Children's Hospital) with an ENT and Neurologist -- will keep you posted.

The sun is rising between the trees, as a nocturnal creature, these mornings have been sort of nice to experience the beauty and splendor of dawn.  God sure has created some amazingly beautiful pastel colors.  I pray your days are filled with beauty and splendor, and look forward to seeing you all in person very soon!