Our new family in the new year

We’ve been home for a little over three weeks now and things are going well.

Maylie has made some major developmental leaps. Our social worker had told us to expect developmental delays but to expect her to catch up quickly. Here’s a quick synopsis: when we first got Maylie (over a month ago) she did not know how to eat from a spoon, she did not put any weight on her legs, and all she said were vowel sounds. I couldn’t carry her on my hip because her back muscles were not strong enough. NOW…. She’s eating just about anything, and can feed herself crackers and Cheerios. She’s making all sorts of “words” including “mama, papa, baba, mamba ba” etc. We don’t know if she’s connected them to any meaning yet but it sure is fun to hear them! She can stand with help and alone for a couple of seconds.
Although we haven’t settled into a consistent schedule yet, Maylie sleeps through the night about 60% of the time. Naps have been tough. She is a cat napper and wakes up when she realizes she’s no longer in my arms but even naps are starting to get better. Slowly!

Okay, I’ve gotta brag on Elijah. He has been amazing! He was home on break for a week and I told him I might not let him go back to kindergarten because he is so good at entertaining Maylie. (and every now and then I like to take a shower!) He’s very protective and engaging and is filling the big brother shoes like a pro. Christmas was fun (although somewhat of a blur!) as we were able to introduce Maylie to Aunts, Uncles and her three cousins. Her cousin David looked so cute in the tiger hat we got him!

Maylie is still quite the screamer and has a scream for any emotion (is this a girl thing?) And when she’s in her Johnny Jump-Up… look out! One of these days she’s going to hit the ceiling. She’s also a real snuggler and loves to be held. We are enjoying her immensely and getting used to the busyness of having TWO kids. What a joy to watch them interact with each other.

(Doug now..) Rachel learned how to make congee, and Maylie brightens when she sees it and even when she hears the word. She loves to play Pat-a-cake, and our own version “Pat-a-cake, Pat-a-cake, congee man… make me some congee as fast as you can.”

Maylie also now has a total of 5 teeth and loves to try them out on most anything she can get near… our fingers, the table, my foot, her crib.

We found out that our ‘genuine’ jade chopsticks were nothing of the sort. Once through the dishwasher and they crumbled. I guess for $2.00 we got what we paid for :)

In an earlier blog we tried to come up with the top ten things we learned in China and never arrived at #1. An additional entry could have been:

- if you’re really enjoying your meal and weren’t completely sure what it was when you ordered it, it’s best just not to ask (aka “Bird’s Nest Soup”)

We’re currently working on a DVD of our voyage in bringing Maylie home and will be excited to show it once it is complete.
Our hope is to also have a shorter (5 min) vversion that we can post on the web

We hope you enjoy the photos and invite you return at the end of next month