- Change in seasons while we were away. In only 16 days, our yard and our neighborhood was transformed. Everything is green and blooming. So nice to come home from China where the bulk of our trip was in dusty, hazy, grey weather to see this. Spring is definitely here.
- Change from a serious, stoic baby to a smiling, active one.
- Change from a mom who could just let her kids freely play to one that has to babyproof things and remember that little hands are into things. I’ve been out of the baby stage for a while now. This change, even though I have so wanted it for years, is going to take some getting used to.
- Change for the previous baby of the house. For 4 years, he’s been the baby, and he’s enjoyed that role. Lydia has turned all of our world’s upside down, but Drew may be having the hardest time adjusting. He’s been clingy to Mark and me and using a lot of baby talk. On Sunday, I suggested that he wear his Chinese vest to visit the older kids’ schools at the end of the week as they do a presentation about China. He loved wearing this vest for Chinese New Year, begged me to wear it in fact. But, at my suggestion Sunday, he informed us that he didn’t like the vest and then said, “I don’t like Chinese people.” We just let him be and didn’t make a big deal about it. I guess it’s just his stress coming out because he’s certainly not showing it towards Lydia. He is all over her, loving her. Monday morning, he woke up early to play with her and told me, “I just want to kiss Lydia all day long,” and he basically did (see picture below for proof of one of the hundreds of kisses he’s planted on this girlie).
- Change in family makeup. Lydia may have had 30+ babies sleeping in the same room with her at the orphanage. But, she did not know what it was like to have 2 brothers and a sister. Not only has she had to get used to Mark and me, now she’s getting used to Evan, Ashlyn, and Drew. She seems to really like their attention though and is always reaching for their fingers to help her toddle around. They really are wonderful with her.
- Change in daily life. It hit me today, my first day with the kids back to school and Mark back to work, that daily life is going to be full of a lot of phone calls, appointments, evaluations, lab work, etc. for a while. Perhaps it was the fact that I was scooping poop into vials today that made that abundantly clear. Now, that’s love. I personally enjoyed the instructions that came with the poop collection kit. Can you read what it says in the picture? Do people actually try to poop into this little vial? There is always fine print for a reason, right? Gross.
- Change in sleep. No pictures for this one since my dark circles under my eyes are unsightly. Lydia has adapted well to the time change. Friday night, she slept from about 2am-5am, not good. Saturday night, she slept from 9pm-12am (insert our good friend Benadryl here. I didn’t want to use it, honestly. But, when she woke up at midnight…I just couldn’t do it) and then 12am-6am. Sunday night, 10pm-7am. Monday night, 8pm-5:30am. Not bad. Mark and I, on the other hand, are still a wreck. We thought we were doing pretty good. Then, last night, we crashed by 8:30 and were both wide awake at 2:30am. Though I’m happy that we’re all caught up on the LOST episodes we missed while in China, I would have really liked a little more sleep. And, I’m not looking forward to the way I’m going to feel come dinner time.
Lots and lots of change for everyone. It’s all quite an adventure, that’s for sure. I’m working on a post of travel hints, packing suggestions, etc. I feel like I’ve gotta get all my ideas out in words or I’ll just forget it all since I’m nearly forgetting my name lately. So, those of you who are preparing to travel, watch for the post. Hopefully, it will help one of you at least…or maybe it will just enlighten those of you who don’t know me about how anal retentive I can be.