45 Days

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We have had Hope in our arms just a mere 45 days. In some ways it's as if she has always been here and in other ways we are just getting to know the real Hope.

The reality is, she had a full year living a life we will never know of. She experienced life in a way we can only hypothesize about and some days we pray to discover.

She came to us a sweet, amiable, relaxed baby who melted into our arms and was happy to be held and snuggled. Now that she is settling into our family we are seeing new personality and a drive to catch up to her big sister!

Grief:
Almost on a daily basis, something will set her off crying seemingly out of the blue. Yesterday she woke from her nap, sobbing. Chris got her up and held her, rocking her inconsolably. He sadly looked at me and asked, "Do you think she's missing China?". With tears in my eyes for both of my children, I nodded and whispered, "Yes, I think you are right."

She also has moments of pure frustration and throws quite the tantrums. One night, she kept shoving a toy bin around, ranting. I offered her a couple toys, turned the bin a few different ways before I wondered if she wanted to get inside it and sit, just like Kate does. I lifted her up and put her inside, and she instantly laughed and bounced her hands up and down! I tossed in a few toys and she happily played inside the box for quite a while! However, there are times, it is not so easily solved.

Attachment:
While in China she seemed pretty easy going with strangers coming up and talking to her. Now here at home, she is a tough cookie. I have gotten comments from people saying, 'Oh, She's the serious one." She does warm up eventually to visitors in our home but will always look for me to make sure I'm still there.

She also is usually fine to play on the floor with her toys as long as I'm in the room but if I need to grab the phone or try and go to the bathroom she will begin to cry the moment I get up. We are also having a hard time capturing that beautiful smile on camera, it seems like as soon as the camera comes out, she locks up. That is part of the reason I have blogged so few pictures of her since we've been home. She is not co-operating! So all in all, I think bonding is actually going well.

Mobility:
After just a few weeks of working with her large motor skills, she went from learning to crawl, pull to standing and as of today, she is cruising along all of our furniture! Just like with the bin, she has her eye on Kate and seems so much happier to be on the move to keep up with her big sister! If she keeps this up I expect she will be waking before Christmas!

Sleep:
She is sleeping through the night and taking a nap each afternoon. She will occasionally have a little trouble settling down or stir in the night but for the most part no sleep issues out of the realm of normal.

Play:
She is very interested in whatever Kate is playing with and wants whatever she's having! Of course they have their moments, usually accidental toy throwing or bumping into each other. Kate does seem to like to push her over and say "Boom" when she falls down and Hope loves to pull on Kate's clothes and take toys away from her! Thankfully these moments are occasional and most of the time they play 'around' each other and stay out of each other's business!

Today I found them playing peek-a-boo with each other just giggling away. Kate looooves to sit on Hope's tummy while she is laying down and tickle her under the chin. They both giggle like crazy!

Kate also is starting to get into imaginative play and will walk around with a toy spoon and use a stacking cup as a bowl. She will stir the spoon in the cup and then 'feed' Hope. Hope will just sit there and open her mouth like a little bird. She doesn't even look confused when there isn't any food on the spoon!

When my mom was here on Saturday we noticed that Kate was staring at Hope and mimicking everything she was doing! It was hilarious! They also do this parroting thing. When Hope yells, "AH", Kate will yell it too and before you know it, they are yelling it back and forth. Hope also only says a few sounds, but she repeats them a lot. (Ah, Da, Mama, Avwa, Ba) Kate loves repeating them back to her. So I'm not sure if Kate is teaching her English or if Hope is teaching her Chinese... : ) Whatever it is they are interacting and we are very entertained by it!

Health:
We are still awaiting her lead levels, but today, we received her lab results and she is healthy as can be and free of any major illnesses. Our pediatrician gave us the go ahead to take her off of formula and move her over to milk. My plan is to give her a cup of milk a day in a sippy cup until she can drink it all, all by herself. Then I will move her over completely. I have to say, I will be happy to save the $30 a week on formula and the time spent washing bottles and nipples. Maybe a little sad to be through this milestone so quickly with her but I can still cuddle her with a sippy!

So that's where she's at after 45 days. Healthy, sleeping, on the go, bonding, learning to be a sister yet thinking of where she came from each and every day.