One Week Home

This blog used to chronicle journeys to neat places in China. This week we're a lot more concerned with the mundane, like getting through each day with a doable amount of sleep!

Sapphire asleep over her bedtime snack.

We're still in the adjusting period.  Nights have been much more active than I tend to like. Ruby was waking up to play for a few hours, then the grown up on duty would either get some sleep or hear the patter of Sapphire's early-rising feet.

Right now, with sleeping, Ruby likes to see someone until she falls asleep. Friends dropped off a very soothing crib toy (thanks Katie and Jake!), and that helps distract Ruby so we can move our arms out of the crib and start to edge away from it. Then I sit and read just inside the door while she drifts off to sleep.  An excuse to read! How wonderful! 

Then, when everyone is awake together, I feel like I need to be in the room to referee. The littlest two are not satisfied with sharing a lap, or with taking turns, but we all knew that was going to happen! There are periods of quiet, happy play, and then there are bouts of screaming over something that neither of the little ones really wants.

But, finally, last night we all slept and woke at 8am. Sapphire was sick in the night, but still, 8am!! Ruby slept for 13 hours, and we all feel better after sleeping that long. And it worked. Our one week home anniversary was our first calm and peaceful day. 

Here she is in her favorite spot. She'd out-eat anyone in the house, I think. I know our food is delicious and varied, and I've read that this is pretty common in kids in her situation. The three girls produce a mountain of crumbs under the table. 

The rest are up to their silly tricks. On Tuesday we celebrated the last day of my summer break with a big girls' outing to see *Brave* in the theater while Ruby napped. It was scary, but with constant whispers of "It'll be ok--the bear doesn't eat her!", we got through it.

Pearl is my hero when it comes to wedging herself into the four door Fusion between two leaning car seats without complaining.  We will at least try to stop the leaning. She's been great all around. She certainly has her daddy's portion of patience. We also enjoy some oldest sister special time in the evenings when we get a chance and the Sleeping Queens card game or *Horse and His Boy* are  calling to us.

Our first family outing was the worship service at church. Ruby stayed on my lap eating Cheerios for most of the service.  Our church family has a tradition of placing a single rose on the communion table the first Sunday after a new baby arrives, and this time I got to see my new daughter's rose along with everyone else.  Everyone was so kind and gracious to us. I'm thankful to be raising my children with you all!

Sisters

Ruby had no idea how big a day this was going to be for her. We all woke up at 5am due to jet lag. She explored the house some more. She may have realized that this place, unlike our recent hotels, is clearly lacking in the breakfast buffet department.

I took her to the orchard to stock up on fruit and try out the car seat again. For dealing with restraint when she's used to wandering around car interiors, she's doing great with the car seat. But little did she know that the tension was building. Her sisters were on their way home.

Pearl burst out of the car and ran to give her daddy a big hug. Sapphire was groggy from a nap in the car, but recovered pretty well. Ruby just stood on the hillock in our front yard watching all this, but soon the girls edged up to her.

They showed some wise restraint, when really they just wanted to hug her to pieces.

Sapphire sidled up to her little sister and made friends. 

Ruby just sort of stood there, not sure what to do, but didn't cry, which was a blessing. The girls and I walked her around the boundaries of our property, and Pearl was thrilled when her littlest sister held her hand.  

The presents awaiting them on the table were a treat, and they look forward to dressing as triplets in the very cute matching hoodies. The three hairbands were also a big hit.

We brought out the shoes that Grandmother Li, Ruby's caretaker, had made for all three of them. They are a little big for Ruby, but she stumbled around in them for a while before I could sneak them away.  She's very attached to her shoes.

Nana brought the fixings for a huge chicken dinner, and she commenced to cook.  Soon the familiar smell of chicken was filling the house, the girls were following each other around, and things felt pretty comfortably normal.

Sapphire has started a little baby-talk, which hopefully will be the extent of her regression as she sees a new baby sister on my lap.  Both big girls were very interested in the diaper change, and Pearl even helped put on the new diaper. Why this is a thrill I have no idea.

The big girls had a chance to cuddle with their parents too, and Sapphire assured me that she really did miss me. She's very eloquent for a not-quite-three year old. 

Ruby's sleep patterns are going to be a challenge for a while as she acclimates to PA time, but also as she learns to feel safe in this new place. She wakes up calling for the night nurse pretty frequently, and while sometimes I can calm her down, other times the realization that she is away from her comfort zone really upsets her.

I'll be updating this when there is news to tell, like after our big trip to the cleft palate clinic, the two September birthdays, and get-togethers with family. We look forward to seeing those of you in PA in the near future and catching up on what your last few weeks have been like.  Now we're all finally home!
 

The Newest American Citizen

The total travel time to get home was 28 hours, door to door. We are very happy to be at this particular door now!

My husband did ask our last guide, John, if he'd come along home with us to tell us what to do and prepare us for every day's events like he's done for the last week.It has been nice to have a personal adviser to make everything run smoothly. 

The prayers worked. Ruby had a sudden, surprising bout of airsickness, which I fielded pretty well, but only because my husband saw the signs a moment before it happened. That was during the landing of the first of our two flights. At our long layover in Beijing, she got to play on two different indoor playgrounds.

The second, longer flight, was much better than expected. Since she is under two, we opted to get only a lap ticket for Ruby. There weren't many extra seats on the plane, but we were able to switch with a woman and get a row of three seats, which made all the difference.

Ruby spread out to sleep, often in the oddest positions. She tends to wake crying often when she is only sleeping lightly, but then she hit the deeper sleep for several hours. We had only one tantrum on the long flight, which was a huge blessing, though we are getting used to them. We were tallying the tantrums for fun, and I think we reached seven during the whole extra-long day. They didn't get us down, and they were totally understandable since everything was new and strange to her.  One passenger said he felt like throwing a tantrum too.

Ruby became an American citizen while standing at the Passport Desk. The officer whistled while he stamped her paperwork, then he greeted her to the United States. She was pretty dopey at that point, swaying sleepily in my arms.

Being strapped into a car seat for the first time ever at age 23 months is a shock, but she got over it pretty quickly. Her exhaustion helped with that. The drive home was smooth, and we got home at 11:30pm Wednesday, fourteen and a half days after we left.

When we got home we found a wonderful surprise from our church family.  We'll wait to open the presents when the girls arrive with my parents tomorrow afternoon.  Thank you so much for your supportive gifts and all the love that comes with them!

The house also looks cleaner than when I left, so I wonder what elves gave us that present. I imagine a Nana elf was in charge.

I woke Ruby up to bring her into her new home. She's been exploring.  She's been reading. I look forward to the time when she realizes that this is not another hotel room, but her permanent home.