Hello everyone!
Well the last 2 weeks have been incredible! A combination of emotions and feelings and an adjustment to our new lives together. Abigail is everything I had dreamed and so much more. She is just the funniest, cutest, sweetest baby. I am still amazed how fast she has adapted to her new life. Aside from a few sleeping issues (which I will come back to in a minute), she has really had no trouble.
Abby has already learned so many new things and I completely love watching her experiment and learn. She loves getting in the car! And yes, this even though she must still face backwards in her carseat. Yesterday we went to Target (oh how I missed Target!) and she clapped the entire way home. So funny to watch this in the rear view mirror. :-)
She is still very serious with people she does not know. She will allow them to hold her but will not give up the smiles. I love this about her. It is like she is really checking the person out first. Once she knows someone though, it is all smiles all the time. She still loves to dance. Oh it is priceless. I will hold her and put on the music and she laughs and kicks her feet and bounces. Everyone who has seen her do this can not help but laugh and dance with her. Her favorite music (and mine too) is the Russian CD I bought in Kazakhstan. If you ever have a bad day and need some cheering up, just come to the Green house and watch Abby dance and your day will instantly improve. :-)
Abby has had her first doctor's appointment and she did great. It broke my heart to watch them draw blood and then give her several shots but she was a real little trooper and stopped crying very fast. She weighs 19 pounds now and is 29 inches long!! For those of you who keep up with such things, this puts her at the 50% for weight and 95% for height. At this rate, I might be looking up to a 4 year old in a few years. :-) Her doctor felt she was right on target where she is supposed to be. She is definitely doing all the things an 11 month old should be doing (pulling up, crawling everywhere, walking with assistance, exploring, etc.)
I found out this week that my daycare has fallen through a little bit. They no longer have an opening for March (when I plan to return to work) but will have an opening for May. Sigh. I have already called around and gotten on several other waiting lists for other daycares. I'm not panicking about this because I know something will work out but it was a little frustrating to hear.
As I mentioned above, the only minor issue I am having with Abby is sleeping. We are pretty much doing two steps forward and one step back right now so things are definitely improving. The first week we were home, she would wake up every couple of hours. Usually a pacifier drive-by (I put her pacifier in her mouth without making eye contact) would do the trick. The majority of this week has been great though. We have really gotten a schedule going (dinner, bath, "brush" teeth, "read" a book, bottle, bed) and she was mostly sleeping a good 11 hours. The last 2 nights have been new challenges. Thursday night she was awake from midnight to 3:00am. Last night I could not get her to sleep until 9:00pm (usual bed time is 7:00pm). But as I write this at 7:20am, she is still asleep (and did not wake up all night).
We enjoyed so much having my mom stay with us a week and a half after we returned from Kazakhstan. Mom was a huge help to me (she took care of her "baby" so I could take care of my baby). Of course, Abby had a great time with grandma!! I mentioned in my last post that the jet lag was the hardest part of my entire trip. I have read from many others that they had the same problem so at least I was not alone but it took me a solid week to recover.
I have finally posted a few pictures of Abby that I took in Almaty (our last week in Kazakhstan). I am working on getting all my trip pictures posted too. It's funny how my computer time has decreased since we have been home. Anyway, here is the link:
http://f2.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/gayla059/album?.tok=phbvLpABeTVCgu6k&.dir=/9e73&.src=ph
Take care everyone and come see us if you are ever in the Atlanta area! :-)