Home Sweet Home - And Life Post-China
After a loooooooooooooooong flight (Lillie-Kat slept the whole way, but I had a brutal cold that made flying miserable and painful), a short night at an airport hotel in New York, and a commuter flight, on August 18, 2006, we were finally home! Friends and family met us at the airport, and we were so excited to finally see our house again!
My brother and his family and my mom and dad hung around the day we got home - a nice quiet day, and Lillie-Kat and her cousin Luke had a great time bonding over the stuffed penguin he gave her (which she loved!) We were too tired to take photos, but my brother has some. When Lillie-Kat took a nap, Luke whispered to me that he wanted to check on her, and he brought the penguin to her crib - too cute!
The next day, James' family, including aunts, arrived. It was a bit of chaos, but we figured we'd let them get their first glimpse in exchange for some time to adjust afterwards (they totally got this concept - thanks guys!). We were so touched that his family drove from far away to welcome home Lillie-Kat and we did not want her to "miss" this memory of knowing that she was eagerly anticipated and loved by the entire family*, but it was a tough day for me. My cold was still awful, I was jetlagged and exhausted, and my baby was jetlagged and exhausted. I enforced naptime for Lillie-Kat (and the relatives patiently waited in total understanding) and I took a little r&r myself. As my mom reminded me, I now got mommy privileges, including naps!
Most importantly, Lillie-Kat handled it like a champ. She played peekaboo with people, and played with the other kids, but she would check in with us very regularly (by looking for us and for our approval) and didn't want to go to other people (and no one made her). These were all positive signs that she was continuing to bond and attach to us as her parents and caregivers.
Everyone left Saturday afternoon, leaving just my mom and dad and me, James, and Lillie-Kat. Mom and Dad were great - sitting close to Lillie but never encroaching, and she warmed up to them quickly as you can see from this picture with my dad:
My mom stayed for a week to help with the house, shopping, etc., which was a godsend and please everyone arrange for help! The first day James went back to work (the Monday after we got home on a Friday) was awful - still jetlagged, Lillie-Kat wouldn't sleep, I must have cried ten times... without help I don't know how I would have done it (Note: We did all the Lillie-Kat care. Mom did all the rest! I couldn't even manage to wash a dish, and thankfully she did it for me!) After that, it got better and better, and by Friday when my mom left we were all in good spirits. Here is mom playing with Lillie-Kat in L-K's favorite chair:
Since then, we've been taking it easy. James (with Lillie-Kat's help) put together the jogging stroller:
When the weather is good, L-K and I head to the park and I get exercise while Lillie-Kat get a good nap in her chariot. We've had some visitors, who she has handled well, and we've visited with friends at the local coffee shop. We also took her to the beach for Labor Day - I'll post those pictures in another post. For now, enjoy some gratuitous Lillie-Kat photos taken since we've been home.
At the coffee shop playing with a friend's daughter:
Goofing around with the playwall:
Loving her kitty:
Trying out the sippy cup:
Apparently, we love that green dress! Oh well!
So that's it. To China and back, and now our lives happily revolve around a 20-lb bundle of energy and personality named Lillie-Kat. We've enjoyed the ride, and are looking forward to the road ahead.
I'm going to post a few more entries here, then I'll probably be moving to a password-protected site. I'll let you all know when I do that in case you want to follow us (though I will require some introductory info from those of you I don't "know"). This is to protect Lillie-Kat's privacy as she grows up, particularly as we deal with whatever challenges her heart condition may bring our way.
Thanks to everyone for your good wishes, support, friendship, and comaderie throughout this process. I know many of you are in the waiting process, and I look forward to the day when I get to see the smiling faces of all of your children!
*Yes, I know she won't remember directly, but it's something we can tell her, and we have pictures to show her (I look like crap in all of them so there's no way those are getting on the blog though!)
My brother and his family and my mom and dad hung around the day we got home - a nice quiet day, and Lillie-Kat and her cousin Luke had a great time bonding over the stuffed penguin he gave her (which she loved!) We were too tired to take photos, but my brother has some. When Lillie-Kat took a nap, Luke whispered to me that he wanted to check on her, and he brought the penguin to her crib - too cute!
The next day, James' family, including aunts, arrived. It was a bit of chaos, but we figured we'd let them get their first glimpse in exchange for some time to adjust afterwards (they totally got this concept - thanks guys!). We were so touched that his family drove from far away to welcome home Lillie-Kat and we did not want her to "miss" this memory of knowing that she was eagerly anticipated and loved by the entire family*, but it was a tough day for me. My cold was still awful, I was jetlagged and exhausted, and my baby was jetlagged and exhausted. I enforced naptime for Lillie-Kat (and the relatives patiently waited in total understanding) and I took a little r&r myself. As my mom reminded me, I now got mommy privileges, including naps!
Most importantly, Lillie-Kat handled it like a champ. She played peekaboo with people, and played with the other kids, but she would check in with us very regularly (by looking for us and for our approval) and didn't want to go to other people (and no one made her). These were all positive signs that she was continuing to bond and attach to us as her parents and caregivers.
Everyone left Saturday afternoon, leaving just my mom and dad and me, James, and Lillie-Kat. Mom and Dad were great - sitting close to Lillie but never encroaching, and she warmed up to them quickly as you can see from this picture with my dad:
My mom stayed for a week to help with the house, shopping, etc., which was a godsend and please everyone arrange for help! The first day James went back to work (the Monday after we got home on a Friday) was awful - still jetlagged, Lillie-Kat wouldn't sleep, I must have cried ten times... without help I don't know how I would have done it (Note: We did all the Lillie-Kat care. Mom did all the rest! I couldn't even manage to wash a dish, and thankfully she did it for me!) After that, it got better and better, and by Friday when my mom left we were all in good spirits. Here is mom playing with Lillie-Kat in L-K's favorite chair:
Since then, we've been taking it easy. James (with Lillie-Kat's help) put together the jogging stroller:
When the weather is good, L-K and I head to the park and I get exercise while Lillie-Kat get a good nap in her chariot. We've had some visitors, who she has handled well, and we've visited with friends at the local coffee shop. We also took her to the beach for Labor Day - I'll post those pictures in another post. For now, enjoy some gratuitous Lillie-Kat photos taken since we've been home.
At the coffee shop playing with a friend's daughter:
Goofing around with the playwall:
Loving her kitty:
Trying out the sippy cup:
Apparently, we love that green dress! Oh well!
So that's it. To China and back, and now our lives happily revolve around a 20-lb bundle of energy and personality named Lillie-Kat. We've enjoyed the ride, and are looking forward to the road ahead.
I'm going to post a few more entries here, then I'll probably be moving to a password-protected site. I'll let you all know when I do that in case you want to follow us (though I will require some introductory info from those of you I don't "know"). This is to protect Lillie-Kat's privacy as she grows up, particularly as we deal with whatever challenges her heart condition may bring our way.
Thanks to everyone for your good wishes, support, friendship, and comaderie throughout this process. I know many of you are in the waiting process, and I look forward to the day when I get to see the smiling faces of all of your children!
*Yes, I know she won't remember directly, but it's something we can tell her, and we have pictures to show her (I look like crap in all of them so there's no way those are getting on the blog though!)
posted by Heather at 9/08/2006 07:26:00 PM
1 Comments:
That green dress is really sweet! Thank you again for sharing your personal story with us. I have so enjoyed reading all the updates and seeing the pictures of Lillie. I hope that things are getting a little "normal"...(whatever that means). You know that I want to come along to the new site! :-)
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