Home for two weeks

We have been home for two weeks. Yesterday, I was ready to tear my hair out due to all the temper tantrums early in the morning. Today was great though. We went to a local playground with Uncle Mike and also to see my aunt in the nursing home. Claire loves to go places now. Last week when we took her to a playground she was afraid and would only sit on my lap. Today, she was off and running. She must have gone down the slide 25 times. I think Uncle Mike was getting tired.

Claire's test results from last week were all fine. No intestinal parasites I am happy to say. I was sure we all had giardia by now. This little one has peed on the floor twice in anger since arriving home. She has quite the temper. This morning she hit Carly so I made her sit in time out from where she threw her bowl of cereal. It's a good thing there was no milk in it. She picked it all up within five minutes which is great progress from last week.

We have an appointment this Tuesday with early intervention to see where she is at developmentally. I am curious as although I know she is a little behind there has been much progress in two weeks. She is walking much steadier and also trying to say some words. The temper tantrums are diminishing also especially after teaching her sign language for the word "potty".

I have also have an appointment with an excellent cleft doctor this July. He saw her photos and wants to do her nose revision this Fall.

Home for 9 days

We have been home for nine days and Claire is feeling much better. Her cold is almost gone and she seems happier. She loves "Uncle Mike". He took care of her today while I went to have my hair cut. She did not cry at all while I was gone. She has her second doctor's appointment on Monday for her shots and also hopefully they will have all the test results from tests this week. The doctor is checking for lead, a urinary tract infection and parasites. Her tummy seems much better than in China. I am not letting her woof down so much food. Here are some current photos of the girls and their grandparents.

local photos

Here are some more photos of the local Guangzhou area. I loved the market and the park where the adult exercise area was right next to the playground. They have the right idea in China about keeping fit. I walked by the park the night before we left China while returning a borrowed stroller to the "Home of Love" store. The park was alive with folks playing hacky sack and exercising.

Sight Seeing

During our trip, we went to the zoo in Guangzhou. It was quite large and we enjoyed it except for the mosquitoes and the humidity. Both of the girls were bit even with repellent on. Our guide took us to a pharmacy so I could buy a prescription and it helped greatly. We also went to a temple with beautiful architecture. Our guide for the adoption, David is pictured above. He is very dedicated to helping the adoptive families and has told me he is my friend always. Carly wants to write to him and he has said he will respond. I hope we have a long friendship.

Enough said

I thought I would post a photo or two to show how stressful an adoption trip can be!

More photos

The girls are asleep early and it's a good time to post more photos.

Home

We arrived home last night. It is so good to be back! My family was at the airport and Kathay's family came also. Uncle Mike took us home and Claire did well for the first time in a car seat. She only cried a little when we were almost home. The girls and I went to bed at 11:00 last night and slept until 7:00. I was concerned they would be up all night due to the time difference plus they both slept on the plane. Today was nice and quiet. The trip home was like an endurance test. We had the girls with their Princess luggage and our own carry on's. Claire was not feeling well and also scared so at times she refused to walk or pull her bag. We must have really looked comical at times. WE kept trying to get Claire to walk and follow us and sometimes she just refused. I will never forget her just sitting on the floor in the Detroit airport in front of the McDonald's. When we arrived in the U.S. I thought it best to check those carry on's.

Claire has a cough and a she had diarrhea in the Guangzhou Airport and on the plane. Today, she had one incident. She does not have a fever so I think it may just be the travel. I spoke with a nurse at my pediatrician's office and she thought the same. So, she has been eating banana’s and soup and drinking pediatric electrolytes.

She played with Carly this morning while I took my shower. Also, this afternoon she took a nap easily unlike Carly. She seems much more independent. I will post some more photos. It was not easy to post from China as I had a hard time accessing my blog.

I almost forgot to tell the best story. On one of the group day trips we went to a temple/museum. Claire wet her pants so the bus driver took us myself, Carly and Claire back to our hotel. He carried the strollers into the lobby and just as I walked in with Claire she decided to strip. My daughter dropped her drawers and ran butt naked across the lobby to the elevator with me chasing her. All the Americans in the lobby laughed. I am not sure what the Chinese thought. Another family helped me get the girls and the strollers to the room. Also, there was Chinese man who helped. I did not realize he was a shop owner until I saw him later in the week while in his shop. He certainly remembered us though!

Here is a clip of the girls in their hats.