One Month Home : )

Friday marked the day - one month since Josie and I began our life together at home. I can't say it hasn't been an adventure; it has been the biggest, riskiest and most monumental of my life so far.

But it's also been the richest and most rewarding month of my life: watching Josie learn all the new skills that babies seem to absorb like sponges; experiencing all the riches and sacrifices a new parent makes; and seeing the joy and welcome in the faces of my family, friends and neighbors (and in nearly every person we encounter at the store, on our walks ... well, the child IS adorable, if you forgive a mom's biased opinion).

We have 2 more weeks of leave time left, and then on to the new challenge of balancing work and family life. I'm sure that will be challenging and rewarding, also ...

Sharing with you a couple of shots of my happy little girl. Hopefully I can sort through the photos from a recent baby shower given by friend and post of few of those, too!

HALT!

HALT! Is my baby a Dr. Jekyl/Mrs. Hyde? or what?

I continually bow to the wisdom of my friends and family (many are seasoned parents). My good friend, Karen, gave me this succinct summary of baby's crankiness and how to deal with it recently when I complained of a diet heavy in whine ...

H-A-L-T. It stands for Hunger Anger Loneliness and Tiredness. The idea is that after checking for physical reasons for whining and fussiness, you should HALT and think of those four words. You're sure to find an answer, if not a solution.

Works like a charm to calm (me anyway, if not Josie : ) Even when I can't imagine she could be hungry or tired, she sometimes is. The lonelies and anger I sometimes can't help with, but at least I get where Mrs. Hyde is coming from.

Karen says that even with her three, who are 9-16, the HALT explanation still works. (I think it works at 45, too ...) Thanks!

It's Real!

After two weeks settling in and getting to know each other's ups and downs, Josie and I are really a family. I don't know what I'd do without her (although you know I do wonder what it'd be like to grocery shop alone, just once!). Every funny face, every sleepy cry ... even the teething-inspired whine or two ... just became a part of everyday life. Snuck up on me, you might say, without my seeing it coming : )

She's grown so much since she came home, and I don't mean just her chubby little belly (that's a good thing ... she was a bit low on the weight percentile). How do little people learn so much and figure out how everything works in such a short time? I AM IN AWE of this child. If only my brain cells were still firing that well ; - )

More later. I hear the dirty dishes calling from the sink.

Tomorrow the cable people come and reconnect me to the electronic world. Yay! A home office and my own internet connection! (No, don't even ask how I'm doing it now ...)

paka paka

More Josie at home

Some "hangin' around the house" shots ...

Josie at home

After 2 weeks together, and one week taking it easy at home, Josie and I are feeling much more mellow (and well rested). Last night, 10.5 straight hours of baby snooze time! I know that's not necessarily the new standard, but did it ever make us each more pleasant this morning?!!!

We've been to the pediatrician (thumbs up, but with some blood tests, etc to go) and the grocery store (go faster, Mom!) and hosted my brother and sister-in-law and their 4 kids for the afternoon. That was tons of fun, and some of the photos I'm posting are from that day. Connor, especially, was very excited to meet his new cousin. That's so great, since he's the closest in age at six. Andrew, Caroline, Patrick, Aunt Laura and Uncle Chris all had some fun Josie time!

more later

K&J

airports

Had a comment/question posted about spending time at the airport between flights ...

I think the reference was to Almaty's airport. It's a different experience, for sure. The airport is small ... but also a very different kind of terminal than I'm used to here in the States. Everyone waits in a central location until the flight is ready to board, then the officials open a door, where there's a mad rush to the front, where they check passports/tickets and you're off down a hallway to your gate. Announcements are in 3 languages, one being English (the others Russian and Kazak, I presumed). The departure boards are in 2 languages - one being English, which helps.

It's a bit confusing the first time. They also control the timing of who can get in to the ticketing area ... a certain amount of time before flights and they announce that you can go in ... maybe 1.5 hours ahead of boarding? I'm not sure. Then you go through passport control before entering the waiting area. Outside the ticketing area there's the luggage scanning area and shopping (also some shopping inside the waiting area).

Amsterdam, of course, is much, much larger and there's lots of options for shopping and eating and even leaving the airport for a tour of the city.

Hope that helps : )

ahhhh ... home at last

The divine Ms. Josie is taking her afternoon nap, as I will be in a few moments, also : ) We're still working on the time zone changes and a little girl who doesn't seem to sleep more than 2-3 hours at a stretch. Now that she's getting a bit more settled in at home, I'll start working that out.

Met a nice family at the Almaty airport, as we were both waiting to depart. She was traveling with her newly adopted 4 year old son and her sister in law. We chatted about the state of adoption in Kazakhstan in general, and it brought home to me how really, truly lucky I am to have Josie in my life.

It's becoming difficult to adopt infants from Kaz., according to this experienced mom (this little guy is her second adoopted from the same Baby House), and rarely are any children under 12 months availble. Her sons both had fixable medical conditions that the Kaz. citizens apparently felt was too much to deal with. She's got a real gem, anyway. He smiled and entertained J during our long wait at the airport and seemed a really happy little boy.

My happy little girl is having a blast, playing with mom and her kitties. (Grammy just went home. We owe her such a HUGE thank you for all she did ... supporting, loving and nurturing both J and me through 3 international trips and all the way on home. Talk about teaching by example. I only hope I can be as giving as a mom.)

Well, the extra wide hallway gate came today, thanks to my dad working behind the scenes to get everything ordered, so we could have a good trip and safe, secure home. Can't wait for him to see his newest little grandchild again.

Off to grab some sleep while I can. I'll take some pix and post them as soon as possible.

Special "hi" to Katie (and Jenny). I can't wait for you to come to visit, too, so Josie can meet her new "California cousins." ; )

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