Sisters

The weeks are flying past and we're still trying to adjust to being a family of four! This last weekend as we try to wrangle two active girls through the grocery store we decided that we'll divide and conquer the regular weekend chores and errands from now on.


Gabby continues to be a great big sister (albeit a little overzealous at times). Gabby has started first grade and has lost another tooth. This time it was with much more drama. One evening she managed to knock her tooth while eating and it bled a little, the next evening it came out while eating - very dramatic but at least she didn't swallow it.

Lydia continues to make her thoughts and feelings known, I'm trying to figure out how much sound can come from someone so little. I think both Gabby and Lydia are learning how to push each other buttons. Lydia has her surgery scheduled for Sept. 16th. We're anxious about the surgery but these last couple of weeks has shown us that she's right at the critical time to get her palate fixed and start on speech therapy too.

Gotcha Day Video

We finally got around to looking over the video from our video camera and not just the short clips from the digital camera. In many ways it already seems like a lifetime ago since we got Lydia, but in other ways it's feels like yesterday when she was handed over. When we got Gabby she cried for the first couple of days so we were expecting anything from Lydia. It's hard to hear her crying on that day but we know that the tears soon dry as the bonds begin. Driving from the adoption office feeling her cling to me as she fell asleep is something I'll never forget. I wouldn't change a single thing about our time in China.

Another loose tooth gone

After what seems like weeks of Gabby having a loose front tooth, tonight it finally came out. With barely a whimper but much excitement Gabby found the tooth lying in her palm while reading books with Kara. Now the tooth is inside her tooth pillow waiting for a visit from the tooth fairy.

Wiggly...

... and finally out!

First Cleft Team Visit

July 30 was our first visit with the cleft team that we'll be working with for Lydia's cleft repair. We arrived for the appointment around 8am and there were quite a few other families in the waiting room including a few China girls. We were shown to into a waiting room that had a few toys and such to keep Little One occupied.

Four hours later we were done and Lydia had been seen by an ENT, audiologist, geneticist, speech pathologist, dentist, behaviour, plastic surgeon and the cleft team nurse. Lydia did great, a lot better than we had expected her to react to seeing so many strangers in such a short amount of time. By the end of the day she was cozying up to the plastic surgeon and trying to get his attention. The cleft team visit is something that we will have every year and right now we're feeling lucky to have such easy access to a team of physicians that will give Lydia all of the care she'll need.

Lydia has some fluid in her ears so she'll be getting ear tubes at the same time as her palate surgery. In the hearing test she was not responding on her left side as well as she did for her right side, but hopefully the tubes will take care of that. The plastic surgeon said that her mouth and jaw look good and we're hoping that she'll only need the one surgery. There's always the possibility that her palate will be too short, or that holes (fistulas) in the palete will form after the surgery. She does has some thick scarring on her lip that may need to be fixed later but it is still healing as her lip surgery was only performed at the end of March.

We're currently waiting on confirmed dates for her surgery but it'll probably be sometime in September. It is best to get the cleft repaired as soon as possible to avoid any further speech delays or problems.

Jesus wants my Cheerios

Sunday we had Lydia baptized at our church. It was a special day for us because it was our 11th wedding anniversary as well. The service was very nice and Lydia did great. There were two baptisms in the service which they performed at the beginning of the service. We expected Lydia to have a melt-down but she was happy looking at everyone and getting attention. We were so happy that Kara's sister Kathy, husband Don and niece Rachel came in town just for the occasion.  They, along with Kara's brother Steve and sister in law Kelley, served as godparents to our little Lydia.

Back in our pews and Lydia got a little fussy so we pulled out the crackers (gone in 60 seconds...) and her Cheerios (in a 'snack trap' that slows down the shoveling of food into the mouth). Lydia settled into a steady rhythm of eating and started to look around, at this point she notices the big banner next to us with Jesus on it. She makes her usual little screech and pulls her Cheerios as far away from the banner as possible and looks at us like "He wants my Cheerios", we told her that she's okay her snacks are safe. She's quite the character....but we have learned that she doesn't want anyone messing with her when she is eating!

After the baptism we went to our favorite Chinese restaurant for a post-baptism/welcome home party. We were so lucky to have many friends and family come by to celebrate with us!  Lydia fell asleep during the short drive from the church to the restaurant and missed half of the party, but was much happier once she woke up for the rest of the party.

Gabby had a great time seeing her cousins and her 'China girls' who were anxious to play with Lydia once she has settled in a bit more.  It was such a special day to officially welcome Lydia into our extended group of family and friends.  

A New Bike For Gabby

Gabby has been asking us for a while to get a new bike....her last one still had a handle on it for us to push her so she was LONG overdue for an upgrade. Since she's not the sole focus of our attention anymore we thought it'd be a good time to get her a new bike.

She has been doing great with all the changes, but there are times when she feels jealous and left out of the lime light that for the last 5 years shone brightly on her alone. She has been a big help and a great big sister, but at times it is tricky to keep both our girls happy.  Lydia is clearly trying to stake out her territory as well so at some point during the day there are tears.   We can't give both Gabby and Lydia 100% of our equal attention, eventually someone gets jealous - Gabby pouts, Lydia screams.....we roll our eyes knowing that this is part of parenthood.  However it is amazing to think that they have both been sisters for under two weeks and already can see the bond forming between the two girls.

It was rainy on Sunday by the time Rob got the bike put together, so we took Gabby and Lydia to a local park on Monday afternoon to test it out. Gabby did really well (with the training wheels for now) and we all had a good time. Lydia started off on her little trike but soon figured out that the stroller was easier.

We also found that a new play area had been installed in the park so we stopped off and gave the girls time to run around.  It was fun to see Lydia try to keep up with Gabby as she climbed like a monkey....she is definitely going to be a "me too" little sister.  She is always checking out what Gabby is eating to see if she has the same snack.  It goes both ways....Gabby has eaten more crackers this week than ever because that is one of Lydia's favorite snacks so of course Gabby has to have the same.

The up side of this "me too" game is that today when Kara took Lydia to get new shoes, she was reluctant to put her foot down to be measured by the salesperson.  Of course Gabby was right there to do it first and then Lydia couldn't get her foot measured fast enough. 

Ready to go to the park.

Peek-a-boo Lydia!

Peek-a-boo Gabby!

Getting  along great on her new bike.

The First Week

We've been home a week, in some ways it seems like a lifetime ago since Lydia's Gotcha day.

We had to redo one of Lydia's blood tests but everything came back clear. So far so good on the health front. She's been eating well and while she's healthy and obviously well taken care of in China we're determined to feed her until she pops and pack some weight onto her. Fruit firmly remains her favorite food.

Rob went back to work on Wednesday and Lydia cried after him. Thursday she cried a little less and Friday there was barely a whimper. Rob has mixed feelings about this but as soon as Rob comes home she turns into Velcro baby and wants to be held.

She has a healthy fear of strangers and turns very shy when people come over. We had a visit from the McCluskie clan on Friday afternoon and it took a while for her to warm up but even them it was a luke warm reaction. "Uncle Pap" and "Aunt Mimi" surprised us with a rocking horse for Lydia. It's the perfect size for her and even Gabby can get on it too.

Saturday morning we had a visit from Jamie, Betsy and Maeve. Lydia at least manged to get off of Rob to play a little. The biggest motivation came when we put snacks in the cup in her table and then it was time to grab hand fulls and shove into her mouth before Maeve could get any... all I can say it that daycare is going to be fun! Little One did offer one puff to Maeve so there is a glimmer of hope that she'll learn to share.

Nana also came on Saturday and Lydia is finally warming up to her too, playing with barrettes in her hair :)

Discovering the Wiggles!

Playing on my new horse.

Sharing with Maeve... almost.

Okay...okay.....I'll share with the baby.