Belated One Week Home Post

Well, here we are home for one week and three days. We've had Katie for three weeks today. Brian is back at work full time today as well.

Wow, time flies! It does NOT seem like we have had Katie three weeks. It DOES feel like we have been home a week. We're still working on a routine or at least expanding the one we have. I feel pretty comfortable with the basics... how to get everyone up, dressed, feed, down for nap, down for bed, etc. I *think* I'm getting the hang of keeping up with the basic house stuff... laundry and dishes. But I'm not sure about the rest of the house upkeep, to say nothing of the yard!  I also have to figure out how to do preschool with Miriam since Katie doesn't want me to pay too much attention to her siblings.

Sleep is going better. Katie is sleeping from 9 to around 1:30-2 AM. Then she needs help getting back to sleep... mainly she wants to sleep with me! Some nights I get her back in the crib and some nights I can't. She will then sleep until 7-8 AM. She also takes a 2-2.5 hour nap each afternoon.

On the health front, things are better. My stomach is finally better. I have fought off a sinus infection/ear ache. Katie has a mild cold, but it isn't too bad. She is also cutting teeth. We are no longer having blow out diaper issues since I took her off lactose formula and put her on lactose-free milk! Now we have nice formed stools. :) We went to the pediatrician on Friday. Poor Katie got two shots, two pokes for lab work (and we need to go back for more), plus a poke for the PPD. She was NOT a happy camper.  On the good side, Dr. Meg thought everything looked great. We will be referred to see the cleft specialist, but Dr. Meg did of course take a look at her mouth. She thought that the tiny cleft might still be technically considered a cleft palate, but agreed that it didn't go beyond the gum area. We do have reason to believe that it is open into the nose as the other day Katie managed to blow milk out of her nose on that side. Guess will wait for the experts verdict. :)

Katie is doing well. She is now crawling quickly and cruising along anything solid. She will also walk holding onto one hand. She can stand for about 30 seconds on her own. I think we're getting close to walking in the next few weeks. I can tell her language skills are growing even though all we can understand is "Mama", "dada/baba", "hi", and "bye".  If I ask her if she wants a drink, she looks at her cup so receptive language is coming along. She can sign "more" and "drink"... we're working on a few others. This morning I was trying to see if she would mimic sounds (she will "la") and say "go". I got her to say "g". She is also good at using pointing and facial expressions to communicate. Although she is small after being around her a bit it is obvious that she is a 16 month old intellectually. She's still a ham when in a good mood.

Speaking of good moods. Those have been a bit fewer over the last few days. The child who has had the hardest time adjusting to the new addition has actually been the new addition! I think she feels like she got a bait and switch. In China, she was the center of everything. Here, I have a house to take care of and two other children who think that my world revolves around them. Poor Katie has a hard time sharing Momma. Sunday morning while I did Miriam's hair for church and got both older children ready, Katie screamed the whole time. It didn't matter if Daddy held her. It didn't matter if she was standing right beside me holding onto my knee. If I was not holding her on my lap using at least one hand, she was screaming. It was a long 45 minutes while I did Miriam's hair! She was actually mad at me by the time it was over. The good thing about that is it made Daddy seem a little less like chopped liver! :)

The other good thing is that the children are starting to gel as a sibling pack. More and more the two amigos are becoming the three musketeers. It's fun to watch that happen. And I tell you, the day is coming when I pity the fool that picks on one of them! This is going to be a fun ride I think! More pictures coming soon!