Transitions

Not only did P and I come home with a living, breathing souvenir from our trip, but we also came home to a house that we have lived in for a total of 2 days.  So, we went from living out of suitcases to out of moving boxes.  Need a clean pair of underpants?  Go to the basement and rifle through 50 unlabelled boxes.  So, from chaos to chaos.

Our trip home from China was as good and as bad as can be expected.  It's a freaking long plane ride.  Period.  No way to slice it.  No number of snacks or toys or distractions will change the fact that it is basically 24 hours of travelling until you are home.  The highlight was that E slept for most of it.  The lowlight was that I quickly and violently came down with some sort of flu and a 104 degree fever.  So I spent the trip with my teeth chattering and crawling out my own skin.

We arrived home to a small welcoming committee at Logan, still too big for our little E.  She kept her little eyes down as her new family marveled at just how beautiful she is in real life.  We headed home to a kitchen overflowing with homemade food and all kinds of things for E from Auntie Sue Sue and Nana and Grampy.  Her room was decorated beautifully and there were so many new things for her.  P and I walked around in utter amazement at what had been done in our absence.  It literally brought tears to my eyes.  Or, were they frying from my fever?!  Either way, it was the kindest gesture I had ever seen.

Our first few days have been a little bumpy, mostly with bedtime and dinner time.  Otherwise, E has been very happy full of giggles and smiles.  She's warming up to P and getting used to her new home-as are we!  Her favorite thing seems to be the Wiggles, and I'm pretty sure her first words will be "Hot Potato."  She still has moments when she has to stand at the shower door and stare at me, but overall we are absolutely shocked at how well things have been going since we have been home.

E reading her awesome Hello Kitty welcome home card from Kaylyn

Things that we have seen emerge since we got home:

• She says "bye bye" and waves if she's in the mood.
• She's learning some of the moves to the Wiggles greatest hits.
• She will taste ANYTHING, and pretty much just eats what we eat. 
• She loves quiche!
• We put long noodles in Nana's homemade soup and she slurped them down like they were Nissin noodles!
• She accepts our hugs and kisses, but doesn't give them out and I'm not asking (yet).
• She will kiss Hello Kitty and Kai-Lan goodnight.
• If she's in the mood, she'll sit alone with P and play with no problem.
• She likes playing with her wooden blocks, play tea set, cash register, and shopping cart.
• She WILL NOT take a nap, no matter what time she wakes up.
• She does not like having her face wiped after meals.
• We can't seem to figure out what bedtime would be acceptable to her. 
• She has the craziest, most impressive facial expressions ever and is a total ham.
• She loves to host tea parties and "clink" the cups together when I say "Cheers!"
• She knows how to do "High Five" (which we tried in China and she'd have no part of)
• She'll say "yay!" and clap her hands when a song finishes playing.
• If I lean over to pick up something, she'll run over and "bop" me on the behind with her head or hands.
• She likes having as many blankets as possible on her when she sits on the couch.
• She likes to play with her toys while she is sitting on the couch under her blankets.
• She LIKES having her nails clipped!  When she saw me come with the clippers she literally held out each finger to me.
• She knows who is Mama and who is Baba, but she uses the word "mama" just to get anyone's attention.
• She's the cutest kid EVER.