We've been home about three weeks now. The jet-lag was intense coming back. It literally took us two weeks to get over it. We really had not anticipated all that, but, finally, we're over it.
Lily is doing great. She's healthy, beautiful and just brilliant. Do I sound like a proud mom? The time adjustment was difficult for her, as was the formula switch, but we're finally on-track.
The issue we haven't quite mastered is sleep. She can be exhausted, falling asleep in my arms, but the second that little head touches her crib mattress, she is standing-up, holding on to the crib rails, screaming and crying. It's gut-wrenching and, yes, I pick her up and everything is OK. I did give her fifteen minutes once to "cry it out" as the "experts" recommended to see if she could soothe herself too sleep. It was the longest fifteen minutes of my life; it did not work; and I will not do it again...at least not for a while. The report we received from China prior to traveling was that she did not like to be left alone. Considering her history that is no surprise so we will not force the issue right now.
We were very concerned that Lily would be scared of our animals. As soon as she saw the dogs and cats, she screamed with delight. Whew! They were not quite as enthusiastic about her, especially our toy poodle, Luca. Luca has warmed to her a bit but only supervised contact is permitted.
Lily weighed only 14.3 pounds at our last doctor's visit. She's still taking the formula as a supplement, but she has been eating solid foods (baby) for her main meals, which will hopefully help her to put on a little more weight. She loves her vegetables! The clothes that fit her best right now are size 6 months. The 9 month clothes are still a little big on her, but she'll get there. She, by the way, turned 10 months old three days ago. The good news is that developmentally, she is where she should be, according to her doctor. She's crawling, babbling, standing up, turning over, etc.
We've been with her constantly since she was placed in our arms and she definitely knows we are mommy and daddy. She is a lot of work, but we are enjoying every second. We are both very fortunate in that our careers afford us a lot of flexibility so we haven't yet had to rely on outside care providers.
We cannot thank our friends and family enough for all the support they have given us during our journey to Lilyanne. We often hear "lucky baby" from well-meaning folks, but the truth is we feel like we are the lucky ones. We have been so blessed by her presence in our lives.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all!
Debbie, Roy, and Lilyanne
