Well, that was easy so here's some more

She giggles on this one.


Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos

another Frankenstein walk (with a big smile)


Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos

video

This is my first attempt to upload a video. If it works, I have a few more to post.


Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos

Echo and brotherisms

Alyson had her echo on Tuesday. She was hysterical during it but the cardiologist persevered and got as much info as he could. She will need another echo under sedation but since we are moving to our new base in a couple weeks he said it could wait a few months. He said that from what he could see the repair looks good and there are no signs of pulmonary hypertension. That's the best news! There are also no signs of any other defects. In 2 of 3 views the VSD repair looked complete with no leaking but he said that in one view it appeared there might be a little flow across the patch. It was hard to tell though with her screaming and fighting. Even if there was a tiny leak it might close on it's own as the scar tissue and heart muscle fills in. Her left ventricle is still slightly enlarged but that's very normal. So all in all great news!

On to the brotherisms. Andrew is an awesome big brother. This new role is bringing out parts of his personality that I hadn't seen before. He is very patient with her and tells her he loves her several times a day. It is so sweet to see this relationship develop. As sweet as it is, Andrew is still an 8 year old boy and 8 year old boys say and do such funny things. The other day when Alyson had a poopy diaper, Andrew announced that if I didn't change it soon he was going to DIE. Right, the dramatic death by baby-sister-stinky-pants that we hear so much about. Then when I still didn't move quick enough for him he said "can we PLEASE go to the grocery store and buy a gas mask?" Our Kroger is pretty well stocked but I don't think I've ever seen gas masks there.

As responsible as Andrew is, it's still a little risky having him "watch" (i.e. distract) Alyson while I try to do things like take the world's fastest shower. When I came out of the shower the other day I found him playing "bowling for babies" with Alyson. She was sitting on the floor in our bedroom and he was rolling a large beach ball at her to see if he could knock her over. Great game huh?
Some things I learned from this:
-showering daily is so overrated at this stage of the game.
-"Daddy taught me the game." Hmm.
-8 year olds frequently appear brighter than they really are.
-Alyson worships her brother and will do anything he does and says. Uh oh.

Good news is no one got hurt and Alyson thought is was very fun so no one call the social worker, I've learned my lesson :-)

In other news, Alyson is eating well again. She kind of went on strike for a couple days but on Monday I got a recipe on the internet and made a big pot of congee. She loved it! We're trying to stick to our routine as much as possible and I can tell that helps. She's been napping well and sleeping through the night with the exception of the night before last when she woke at 2:30 and 4:30. I don't know what that was all about but I got her back to sleep pretty quickly.

She's walking independently a lot more. It's still a bit of the Frankenstein walk with outstretched arms and a little wobbly but she getting more secure. She also crawled away from me the other day and was so excited to see me still there when she crawled back. This is big in attachment land. She's feeling more secure and is not as afraid to be a few feet away from me. Making dinner is so much easier now. Up until a couple days ago she would scream and cry if I tried to go into the kitchen without her. It's only 10 feet away from the living room and there are no walls, she could see me. Now she'll sit and play with Andrew happily while I'm in the kitchen. I've also resorted to using The Wiggles to help babysit. We've been home less than 2 weeks and I'm already relying on TV. Sad, but with my husband out of town I gotta do what I gotta do to get the little buggers fed :-)

I think that's it for now. I have some more pictures to post later and I'm trying to get a video clip of her walking.

some pictures from our first week home

Seeing her room and toys for the first time last Saturday night.

Jet lag is tough. This was on Monday. She crashed on the couch with Daddy.

Happy girl at dinnertime. She's not really feeding herself but she tries.

A different night. First time with Spaghetti but she's all about those noodles!

Role model?

My brother is funny :-)

We can be friends, but don't get too close to my blankie!

Who can resist these little feet?

Trying for a decent picture of the 2 of them again.

Funny face.

First trip to the playground today. She liked the swing.

Ok. This is our sweet Baliey. She's resting her head on my leg intently watching Alyson with her snack and hoping she'll drop some.

Now Alyson's getting bold and is actually taunting her. Bailey is being soooo good and patient.

Even bolder taunting but Bailey's completely fixated on the cup of gerber puffs.

Hey look Bailey, I can retrieve stuff too!

She slept through the night. Hallelujah!

I know we've only been home 7 nights and it can take weeks to get sleeping straightened out but knowing that hasn't made us less tired so we're so thankful that Alyson slept all night last night :-)
Well technically she woke at 2:30 with a bit of a cry/whimper but before my feet even hit the floor to go get her she had soothed herself. Our first few nights home when she woke up one of us would go get her and sleep with her in the big bed in her room. Then the night before last Michael was able to leave her in her crib but sit next to it and rub her head until she fell back to sleep. Maybe that helped her put herself back to sleep last night.
Alyson had her first peds appointment, immunizations and a chest x-ray this week. The peds appointment went pretty well, she has a very nice Nurse Practitioner for her primary care manager. We decided to start all her immunizations over again even though we got somewhat of a shot record from China so she got 6 shots and that went about as well as one could expect. The real nightmare was the chest x-ray. She screamed and trembled like I've never seen before. She was clearly traumatized by the room. She kept looking around and screaming as if she was looking for a way out. When she couldn't find one, she shut her eyes and started twitching. I thought she was going to have a seizure or pass out. I picked her up off the table and told the tech to open the door. I just had a feeling she needed to see the way out. As soon as he opened the door she started to melt in my arms and relax, still screaming but her body relaxed. I told them I couldn't put her through anymore so we'd have to skip the rest of the x-rays for now and I walked her out. She was almost immediately better when we got in the hallway, I hadn't even stopped to get her clothes back on, I just wanted to get her out of there.
That was rough but she recovered quickly. I on the other hand cried for 20 minutes then was frustrated and angry for hours. Clearly the x-ray techs at the base don't work with children very often and have no clue that when a mom and child have a fragile bond, the mom shouldn't be the one to restrain the child for a procedure. I should have been there to comfort her but a tech should have been the one holding her arms up.
We survived that and have our next challenge next week, her first cardiology appointment, an echo, and an ekg. That should be fun for all ;-)

I have more updates and pictures for this post but Little A just woke from her nap so I gotta go! I'll try again tonight after she goes to bed.

We're home!

The travel was a little brutal but we made it and we are settling in at home. Alyson is, as expected, a little off in the sleep department. We got home last night around 10PM and she got to bed around 11:30 then was up at 5:30. No suprise when she had a major meltdown around 9AM so back to bed she went :-) We'll get back on track in another day or two I'm sure. It is so nice to be home and have clean running water, our own washer and dryer, our own beds...etc. etc.
It was so awesome to introduce Alyson to the house and her very own room and toys. She had no trouble going to sleep in her new room by herself. We talked to her from our bedroom for a bit so she'd know we were still in the house. We were prepared to have her sleep with us or for one of us to sleep in her room but she was fine on her own. Hopefully we're on the path to a good routine for all :-)
Once Andrew was in bed and Alyson was sleeping in her crib I just stood in the hallway in awe of the fact that we had 2 children in our home. We've been through so much to get to this point, it was overwhelming to stand there in the hall and be able to see both my sleeping children and know that we've made it. It's done, our family is complete and we get to start really living now.

I really feel for all the families that are still waiting for their blessings to come. One day soon you too will be able to stand outside your baby's room and realize that every moment of stress from the last 2 years (or maybe 10 years) was worth it.

We're heading home.

We're packing up and heading home. You won't hear from us for a few days probably but I'll try to post a quick hello once we're home so everyone knows we made it safely.

A couple more pictures before we go...

This morning we began the eternal quest for a photo where both kids look good. Now I know why my sister can never get a good family Christmas picture. It's much harder with 2 kids! Worth every second of trying though :-)

Hey, there's fish down there!

I don't have time for pictures, I want to be with the fish...

Don't they look cool in their Chinese duds?

Farewell China!

Look out USA, here comes your newest immigrant soon to be citizen!! :-)