Home Sweet Home! ~ Steph

Well, we've been home for 5 days now and are starting to settle in.  The jet-lag has been really tough to overcome with a little one that we can not explain things to.  Finally last night we had her down from about 7pm to 5am. We all feel like different people!

We have so many people excited to see Li Lin and we truly appreciate the interest, but we are still cocooning to help with the bonding and attachment.  Grandmaman spent some time with her the first day back and here is an excerpt of her impressions.

"She explored everything, looking at the pictures on the wall and recognizing her brothers and sisters and her parents.  She is definitely full of spunk and has numerous facial expressions.  She is actually hilarious and laughs easily... which is to be expected because she also cries easily mostly when she doesn't get her way.  She is definitely a high energy child and loves adventure.  In a way, she is in the right family.  We know that God doesn't make mistakes and she is the one that He has chosen to complete the family.  Now that I see her and already love her, I would not have picked anyone else."

We of course, would also not pick anyone else.  The first few days back were tough.  She seemed to regress a bit in her anger and grieving but has progressed rapidly.  She was also very active when we first got back, seemingly needing to explore every little nook and cranny and object around!  We are now enjoying a happier little one who is less active and is able to sit still and chill a bit.  However, we still see that though she is accepting us more and more as her family, there are still things to be worked out.  When upset, she definitely does not want anything to do with dad.  She generally will call for one of her siblings first, but they have been really good at not responding and letting mom comfort Li Lin.

As far as helping out when she is hurt, Li Lin loves the attention and little kisses on the booboos from both mom and dad!  She will even intentionally whack her hand or poke her finger somewhere and the say "aiyo" and ask for a kiss from both of us! We figure it will help with the bonding so we make a big deal of it!

Today was the first day of school for the older siblings.  They were all excited to go and share their pictures and stories with their classes.  Even Hudson (6 years old) prepared a powerpoint, mostly on his own!  Li Lin has done well at home soaking up the attention of mama and baba.  She is generally more settled when the other children are not around, though I'm sure she'll be excited to see them when they get home in another hour or two!