We Have Arrived!

She did it! Ava slept all night. By herself. In her own bed! I'm not expecting the same tonight but we'll take what we can get.

We've been home 24 days. I planned to blog after a week, but I had the flu and Ava had strep. It wouldn't have been a pretty post. Then, I planned to write after 2 weeks, but we had a plumbing emergency in the basement. 3 weeks, well, it just didn't happen.

So here we are. Ava is doing quite well; though we have had our struggles, usually at bedtime. When we brought her home, I took her upstairs to show her her room. She screamed when she saw her crib. Sleeping in it? Not a chance. So, now, our 20-month old sleeps in a toddler bed. And she's happy.

So very happy. She's got quite the personality, but won't share it with people she doesn't know. She is very shy, quiet and timid around new people. But that isn't a bad thing.

We've been so busy since we got home. I lost count of doctor appointments, but it's all been good news. We saw the cardiologist this week. I was a little nervous about that one. Ava had open heart surgery when she was 10 weeks old (Tetralogy of Fallot repair) and the orphanage never took her for a follow up. As it turns out, everything is fine. Her surgery was successful. As long as everything continues to grow as it has, she won't need any future procedures. She does have a heart murmur (despite what the doc said in China), but Dr. Weigel says it's nothing to worry about. And come back in a year.

Ava is talking like crazy. She speaks mostly baby-talk, but easily makes her feelings known. Her new thing is saying "thank you." Hey, at least she's polite.

She's had no trouble adjusting to all the new food. In fact, she likes EVERYTHING. Steamed vegetables? Bring 'em on. Oatmeal? Better make 2 bowls.  The people at the orphanage said "cookies and candy are her favorite." They were right, though now we should add pound cake to that list. But, really, she's just as happy to eat edamame and snap peas.

Speaking of food, I have to thank all our friends at school/church for all the great meals they've brought over for us. It has been such a great help, especially since Ava needed to be held all the time until very recently. Life is slowly returning to normal, so maybe it's about time I cooked a meal -- it's been 6 weeks since I put proper food on the table. Again, thank you, my friends for giving me one less thing to worry about.

Tomorrow is Easter. And we have much to celebrate!