We've been home over a month, and I cannot believe how well Cassidy is doing and how much she has grown and changed. Although she does not regularly sleep through the night (only four times) and her naps aren't as long as they should be for her age (50-75 min), she has a great disposition. Next week is her follow up appt at Children's Hospital for her thyroid; hopefully she's responding well and levels are normal.

She's been "scrunching" her face on command and when "standing" (holding my fingers), she'll do knee bends with Emily's ballet dvd lol Funny kid! Here are some recent pix.

Home Sweet Home

It's sooooo good to be home...and sleep in my bed...and have Emily here! Emily loves her little sister. She kisses her and tells her she loves her all the time. I get dead tired at 4pm, like I've been at an all night party (too old for that, I guess!). Cassidy's been waking up a couple times a night, the worst being at 4:30am with the intention of staying up so she's been coming to bed with me then and will then sleep until 8:30.

Cassidy fusses in her sleep for about an hour before she wakes up. I heard Emily say, "Cassidy, would you be more quiet, please?" in the middle of the night lol She was personalizing her crying but has learned not to. She also sets up her sleeping bag in the living room in case Cassy is fussing too much and is keeping her awake.

I have no idea how we're going to get Emily to school on time! Maybe I'll get up at 4:30 lol All of our friends are very excited for us and have been thrilled to finally meet Cassidy. Today I broke down and took a nap--naps are underrated.

We got the VIP treatment all the way home--before we left China, they found an error with our Japan to Detroit flight and tried to fix that for about 45 minutes (when I originally booked the flights, NWA had Cassidy on the flight to Japan; they caught it before we left but then forgot to add Cassidy back on the flight home) "We'll try to get it fixed so you can make this flight." Oh no! I wasn't missing that flight because then I'd miss two connecting flights!! So a supervisor put our carryons on a cart and whizzed us through a VIP line and pushed the cart all the way onto the plane. Then when we landed in Detroit and had to go through Immigration, we had probably several hundred people in front of us, this short woman came up to us, "This line isn't good for baby. Come with me" and she made a line just for us! Lastly, getting our heavy luggage, I asked a young guy if he'd mind getting it off the conveyor. I should play this baby card more often lol

I'm not able to upload photos at this time. Check back later. All in all, because I wasn't alone, I was able to enjoy this trip, and Cassidy, much more than I did my first trip with Emily. Check back for pix.

Just Call me "Grace"

So, we're off the bus, walking to the Consulate appt, middle of the concrete stairs and I catch my foot and fall flat on my face. Cassidy was in the carrier and thankfully I kept both my hands on her. It scared her, but she wasn't injured. I, on the other hand, look like I've been in a brawl. I was going to tell everyone that I "had it out" with the grandma police lol

It's surprised me how many pets I've seen this trip--many dogs and a couple cats of the store owner. One kitty was just a little bit, probably less than two months old. I needed a kitty fix...speaking of fixes, I'm glad there's a Starbucks here and so is every other American I've seen there!

It's very warm and humid today but cloudy. Did some last minute shopping and finally started *packing.* We meet downstairs @ 6:30am tomorrow. We will be flying, I believe, for 23 hours, but cannot wait to be home. I'm hoping to be able to bring some rice congee on the flight for Cassidy. She is doing great. One guy asked me if I shaved her head lol He was quite surprised when I told him how much her hair has grown in a week!

For anyone who's heard me mention my friend Jesse adopting from Guatemala, she left Sunday for Guatemala after church and should have Willow by now. I cannot imagine how heart wrenching that will be, given that Willow is 20 months and has been in foster care that entire time. She returns Friday.

The shop keepers are pushier than they were five years ago. The decrease in adoptions has had a domino effect on the economy around here. If you even blink in the direction of something, they take it off the shelves, then show you different colors and sizes. They even initiate the discounts.

With that, I'm signing off very excited to land in Mpls!! I cannot wait to see Emily and sleep in my own bed.

The Sun Finally Shines in China

Finally, sunshine! Yesterday was beautiful outside! Short sleeves and no coats! It was a fun day of shopping and walking in the parks. There's a store called "Jordan." We met the owner while walking. He speaks wonderful English and will write the kids names in Chinese with what the symbols represent for free. He wanted to hold Cassidy then he asked if I had a camera. "Take picture and tell her this is her Uncle Jordan." Very nice man.

Today is our Consulate appt. The place has moved and now is a half hour drive. WE'll be leaving early Thursday...I'm counting the hours. Pat is on a tour so Cassidy is here and starting to fuss. Gotta run!