Recap of Our First Week Home!

This is a recap of our first week home in photos and snipits - Enjoy!

Visiting MaGraw and PaPa

We took MeiLin to visit her MaGraw and PaPa on Thursday and Saturday upon our return from China.  Amber, Walter, Lexi, and William joined us on Saturday for even more fun!  I didn't realize how far behind developmentally MeiLin was until I saw her next to Lexi - who is 5 months older.  It was like night and day...but Brandon and I will be working with her the next few years to get her caught up!  The cousins had a great time playing together!

I stayed with Mom last night (and cried having to leave MeiLin for the first time!)  Daughter-of-the-Year - I didn't wake up when Mom got sick last night.  I slept through it and then heard Dad already in her room - UGH!  But it was actually nice, because it was Mom at 3:45 in the morning and she was fully lucid!  She asked about MeiLin, we talked about the trip, but then the pills began to kick in and she drifted off to sleep.  When she woke up in the morning, she was back to her disconnected thoughts.  But I was grateful for getting to talk with her again, if only for a little while!

Lexi and MeiLin playing together

Aunt Amber playing with MeiLin

Walter lost his wedding ring while playing ball in the backyard.  We all heard it fly off, but we were never able to locate it.  He even bought a metal detector to help with the search!

First Blood

Daddy was on duty during the first two "spills" where she fell and bonked her head.  But of course, it was Mommy on duty when we drew First Blood.  We were playing with her adorable pink kitchen set where she kept opening and closing (or should I say slamming!) the doors.  Sure enough on like the 30th time (have I mentioned MeiLin loves repetition?), she slammed the microwave door but forgot to get her head out of the way.  So the corner of the door caught her just to the right of her nose.  She started wailing instantly and I saw blood.  :(  Luckily it didn't bleed very badly and my little institutional baby was back to playing in like two minutes.  But still - I felt terrible!  Guess I shouldn't be smiling in the picture...

See the red blood spot on the right of my nose?

 Our Daily Strolls

MeiLin loves the walks we take twice a day.  (Since we had to stroll everywhere in China, MeiLin thinks that is the primary mode of transportation!)  Holly, our dog, is really liking them, too.  

Bundled up from the cold!

Someone fell asleep mid-stroll!

My great view! Notice her shoes and socks are off; she is always pulling them off...

Where is All this Water Coming From?

MeiLin LOVES bathtime!  Apparently they were still bathing her in the sink at the orphanage so she had not yet experienced the greatness that is bathtime until we came along.  During the day, she will walk to the bathtub and point.  (As she is in the photo below.)  And sometimes we just let her play in there with it dry...she still has a blast with the toys!

Well the other night, Mommy was in the shower so Daddy was in charge of bathtime for MeiLin.  He got her undressed in her bedroom and then carried her into the bathroom.  I could see her cute little butt through the shower door - so cute!  She just couldn't wait for Brandon to get the tempature of the bathtub right so that she could get in.  That was when Brandon asked, "Where is all this water coming from?"  I knew instantly that MeiLin was peeing but Brandon was honestly perplexed - he he!  Apparently he wasn't aware that babies tend to pee when they get cold.  Well, now he knows to not take off her diaper until he is ready to put her in the tub!

Someone wants to take a bath!

Spoken Word

MeiLin has started repeating English words!  Her first word in China was "Mama"!  Then, Amber got her to say Water and Basket.  (All of Amber's speech therapy lessons with William sure came in handy!)  And has since said, Baba (Daddy), Doggy, Book, One, Two, and Duck.  The only words she has actually used are Mama and Water - we can't wait for her to start using more words!

Doctor's Appointment

MeiLin had her first doctor's appointment this week.  It was at the International Adoption wing of Children's Medical Center.  She passed with flying colors (assuming none of the worms, bugs, or diseases come back positive in the blood tests!)  They even told us she is ahead for her age in Fine Motor Skills - proud Mommy and Daddy!

We missed her snack time while we were in the hospital.  The International Adoption wing shared a waiting room with Infectious Diseases - yeah, I wasn't getting snacks out when I saw that sign!

Mommy didn't like the blood draw, though.  They poked in the needle, but then dug around for a vein - UGH!   Finally she got enough blood to fill the 5 vials.  Afterwards, I was able to get her to calm down and stop crying.  That was when I heard the lady say that she forgot about 3 more vials that she needed - REALLY?!?  So then she had to dig around in MeiLin's other arm!  Tough afternoon for MeiLin and Mommy!

On the way to her appointment

My future ballerina playing in the waiting room

Poor MeiLin did not like getting her blood drawn!  (This was just after round 1.)

Photos

MeiLin wanted to put on her hat from China while we were still in our pjs!

Playing in the living room before the SuperBowl!

Holly wants to sleep in MeiLin's room, too!

MeiLin's first Mac 'n Cheese - she loved it, of course!  And she is wearing her new shirt.  Thank you, Emley's!

Playing in her room with Daddy!

Mommy is helping me learn to walk!

MeiLin loves stacking herMega Blocks - Mommy helped, but she likes to stack them as high as possible!

MeiLin drinking from her new straw sippy cup; she likes to drink from Mommy and Daddy's straws!

Helping to "sort" the mail!