Settling in at home

We went to a birthday party on Sunday night and it was good to see some friends from our son's preschool. Elizabeth did pretty good. She had her first pizza and loved it. She wasn't too crazy about the cupcakes though....not big on sweets.  A thunderstorm ended the party early but it was good to be among our friends and socialize a bit.

She fell asleep on the way home and went right to bed, but we ended up having a rough night. Probably jet lag and adjusting to the new time zone. But Elizabeth and I were up from about 3:00 am with crying spells and restless sleep. By 5:00 she was pretty awake and ready to start the day. Needless to say we both were exhausted on Monday. Plus my allergies have kicked in and I'm not feeling too well.

We had Elizabeth's appt today with her pediatrician just for a basic checkup. We are not doing anything with her brachial plexus yet...just wanting to get settled a little bit first. She actually showed up on the American growth chart for height...this surprised me. But weight she's not even close. I need to check on the Chinese growth chart and see where she lands. We also checked her diaphragm as sometimes with BPI there are issues with the diaphragm. It looks great! The doctor did say that her BPI is pretty severe. We'll be visiting with specialists in the future to see if any surgeries would improve use. Right now we will just be doing some physical therapy to keep the contractures from worsening. He also did note that we found the cutest girl in China to adopt! We agree :)

Elizabeth had a great afternoon playing with her siblings. She really does love them and I'm very proud how they have been with her. They love her so much and are excited to interact with her. Mac has told me several times how much he loves her and he's glad Elizabeth is his sister. Gray often says "I love my new sister Lisbith" He also announced to the nurse at the doctors office that "her arm is broken" which stunned the nurse and looked at me very concern until I explained he was referring to her BPI. Langley is simply amazing with her. They are going to be very, very close sisters. I was watching them this morning and thinking how special their relationship already is.

We had a much better sleep last night. She woke around 1:00 am but quickly went back to sleep. We are all awake by 6:00 am though. Today we went and played at a park. Elizabeth loved the swing but was maybe somewhat overwhelmed by the new environment. We saw a sweet friend from church and her children. It was really great to hang out with a friend at the park....life feels almost normal : )

Elizabeth experienced her first trip to the grocery store and enjoyed getting the free "kids cookie". We are still figuring out which foods to buy and what she likes to eat. Today she showed us she doesn't like strawberries, but she likes ham! I told my friend at the park today that even though she is 19 months old we are experiencing lots of "firsts". Like going on the swing....she might have done this before but its a "first" for us since its the first time we've seen her experience each thing. She really is a joy and we are continually stunned at this blessing God has given us!