The rhythm has changed ... oh how we loved the rhythm of our early family life together in China and oh how we love the new rhythm of our life together back home in Chicagoland. China will always be a place of very fond memories and part of our heart is forever changed by our experience there.
So after a little over a month home you may want to know how thing are going. The short answer is very good, but the details are all interesting and fun.
Jet lag was the big downer. We had heard that children are adaptable and quickly make the transition to their new time zone. Based on our experience this is only a rumor that we have proved to be false. Dad got over jet lag first (about day 2), mom got over jet lag second (day 3 or 4) and Aliyah pulled up the rear taking a full 10 days to get on central time. Those 10 days were very challenging. Often, Aliyah would wake at 2:00 am and while we tried to comfort her and get her back to sleep, in the dim light of her room, you would see two beautiful brown eyes fully open looking back at you from a smiling face telling you LET'S PLAY. The good part was two weeks after our return Aliyah was on a very good nighttime schedule, but will still wake up one or two times each night and needs to be rocked and settled back down.
Our first fun outing was to the Chicago Botanic Garden. It was a beautiful summer-like day in early October and with Aliyah all set to cruise in her new stroller we took to the gardens. It was good to get our after six days, more or less, getting our bearings. Aliyah liked the ducks in the lagoon best.
Doctors appointments ... the good and the ugly. Our pediatrician, who specializes in orphan adoption, loved the health and development of Aliyah. His words were of great encouragement to us and a great confirmation to the wonderful care Aliyah received at the Yang-xi SWI. We also took her to a child development clinic for a baseline evaluation where they described her as right on track ... all very good news to us. The ugly came when Aliyah had a blood draw for her medical lab work. To see your little girl with giant tears in her eyes looking from mommy to daddy for help from “the people with the needle” made us cry.
Long before we had left for China we had decided that we wanted time to establish our family bond with Aliyah. At this point we feel this was a wise but difficult choice. The advice we were given and our instinct led us to do this but there is a natural desire to want to share our precious treasure with all the people you care about. It was not easy on our families or close friends but we are glad we took the time and appreciate everyone's patience with us.
Now about our daughter. Wow is she a great joy to us. We still pinch ourselves after this long wait that we are now all together as a family. Aliyah is a very active girl as we began to see while we were yet in China. Her go-go personality leaves us very busy. Naps are short, just enough time to refresh her and then she is on to explore and play again. Aliyah appears to live to crawl and stand. There is always a smile on her face as she begins to crawl and with great vigor she slaps her hands to ground with each crawl-step (you can hear her coming). Until her last bit of energy is spent each evening she will move to anything she can pull herself up on to stand. She usually does this with a toy in one or both hands. The first couple weeks she was rather unstable and we were required to be right alongside to prevent the (timber) crash to the floor. When we arrived home from China Aliyah would not eat off a spoon or take a finger food by her own hand. In several days mommy had a plan and worked all this out. Now Cheerios are a favorite and she does great with cereal and fruit mixtures from the spoon. Aliyah is a generally happy little girl. She is very engaging and easy to get to smile and laugh. When she is really excited about something, her mouth breaks into a full wide grin so big it almost shuts her eyes. This is usually accompanied by some type of playful screech. We love one of her mannerisms which is to nod her head in agreement when she likes what is going on. We suppose someday soon this will be replace by no.
As we have told may of our family and friends, we can see God's guidance in all it took to make us a family of three. We can see how prayers were answered so directly regarding her health, the care she had at her orphanage and that one special nanny who took a special interest in Aliyah and gave her extra care and love. We know Aliyah is the special little daughter that God had planned for us and together we are the family God intended.
Thanks again for following our journey and keeping us in your thoughts and prayers.
