The First Days Home

Home. It’s good to be home. How have we faired these first couple of days? Let me count the hours of missed sleep! I’ll recap the first 3 nights as our little Linda still is adjusting to Pacific Daylight Time.

Midnight. Wake up! Linda woke up at approximately 12 midnight and would be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. She was very playful. Well, it’s 3pm in China, so it made sense. The first night she was up for about an hour as we decided we would take turns if she went longer; Mel stayed with her. They played a bit and Linda rolled on the floor. Away from Mel, back to Mel, away from Mel, and back again. Eventually she nodded off.

Night two was even better, as she woke up at 12 midnight once again. This time she was up for 2 hours. This time we both played with her on the floor. We just went with the flow as nothing seemed to work. Once back to sleep she was out.

On night three she was up at, you guessed it, 12 midnight. This time she must have been frightened of something or just plain did not know where she was. She did not want to have anything to do with me this time. Very interesting it was. In this case Mel got the honors of holding her and we all ended up in the living room. Mel played with her on the couch and I sat and read a book. I did all the “errands” of the evening; if something was needed, I fetched it. It worked out very well. Two and a half hours later she was asleep.

As we discussed, the weekend was “over” and it was time to get the kid on a schedule that matched our time zone. I did the honors of waking Linda up at 7am Monday morning. Yep, that was the morning after 2 ½ hours of Linda time. Linda did not really know what was happening and actually woke up pretty well. She was tired and just a bit out of it. I’ll elaborate on the days in a bit, but what we did on Monday worked pretty well. Other than a 9pm phone call that woke her up, she slept the whole night. Today I woke her at just before 7am. We hope she makes it tonight, too.

As for our days together, Linda has been a little princess except for Sunday afternoon. This was the most traumatic day. We set off to the mall to pick up a couple of items. A “quick” trip and figured that Linda did well in the morning riding in the car seat in the back seat alone. This is also the second time in her new stroller. All was going well until we got back to the car. She lost it! She began to bawl. Oh, can this girl let loose with the screams. Since it was only a couple of minutes drive to get home we went for it. Well, she cried so hard and loud she puked right at the end! OMG it was amazing. Once home and walked around, she calmed down and was good. That was it.

Fast forward to today. No problem in the car seat or stroller! I don’t know what set her off that time, but we are going to do the couple of days with someone in the back with her and then to the alone ride. We need this because Mel will have to do errands while I am at work. We hope to change her from rear facing to forward facing soon. We are doing the recommendation of rear facing for children younger than 12 months, but I think we will change sooner as she is a bigger baby and seems to have decent muscle control.

I found it quite interesting to watch Linda develop from Friday’s arrival through today. She was unsure about the house and the people. Saturday she was a bit more comfortable, but we could not leave the room without her whining. Sunday, other than the above experience, she was more comfortable with the house and the fact that we were not going anywhere. We could leave her with some toys and leave the room, but not stray too far. Monday and today we were able to leave her with the toys and leave the room and go to another room. She would put out a screech at times, and then laugh. She also likes it when we come out from around a corner. She puts on this great big grin and sometimes adds a giggle.

Out in public she is wary of her surroundings as expected and also of strangers. We met neighbors down the street and she went into that blank stare mode, yet she would respond positively towards me or Mel. We let the lady hold her and within a minute Linda was turning around reaching for one of us. You might say we are experiencing good bonding mojo. Linda responds to either of us equally. I could be holding her and then she would reach for mom, and then vise versa.

Other than our time change issues and lack of sleep, we are doing pretty darn well. We think we may accept casseroles beginning Thursday. (Wink Wink, Nudge Nudge)

Let’s hope for a peaceful night tonight! Later!