Settling in at home

It's been a couple of bumpy days. Yesterday showed signs of, dare I say, a routine again. Friday night she was all smiles and seemed to be happy to be at home. Saturday told a different story. She was fussy most of the day, as well as Sunday and Monday. The good thing is that she is sleeping through the night. On Saturday I helped her wake up around 9 a.m. and then continued to wake her up after 2-3 hour naps in order to get her adjusted to the new time zone. Sunday was more of the same. She definitely did not like being woken up! I'm sure this added to her fussiness along with all the changes going on around her - new surroundings, new faces, and teething (at last, she has just 2 front teeth on the bottom). We continued with bottles with rice cereal added to try to keep some things consistent during the tougher times. After changing her formula brand Sunday night she seemed to like it better.

Monday was another fussy day. I think Andy being gone added to her insecurity. We took a trip to Hannaford after a short morning nap of 30 minutes - typically 2 hours - and I put the baby carrier back on to shop. She really seems to like the close contact with me while in the carrier and we managed to shop and unload the groceries. Of course she got a lot of smiles from the shoppers!

That evening when Andy came home she immediately held her arms out to him! So cute! She had really missed him. Later we tried some baby Tylenol wondering if the teething was causing her to be unhappy. She seemed a bit better and played happily for a while. Again she went to bed very easily and slept through the night.

On Tuesday I started introducing baby foods. While in China she did some sampling of our foods and seemed really interested. She started off at breakfast with a bowl of oatmeal. She really liked that! Cereal was followed up with a bottle of formula. It was then time for a bath - still not happy with bath time, but it's getting better. Then it was off to CVS to pick up a few items. I used the carrier again and was able to shop without issue. After morning nap I tried adding some prunes to her cereal and she liked it, but not as well as the plain oatmeal...


Natalie eating her lunch of oatmeal and prunes...hmm, does she like it?

Natalie never passes up a chance to show us she is 'sooo big'!

After lunch we headed to Freeport to shop for some clothes. Natalie is not quite into her 12 month clothing and needed some smaller and warmer clothes. We went to Carter's and Osh Kosh and found a few things including her Easter outfit that I'm sure she'll be adorable in. She did very well riding in her car seat. She played with her links and babbled the entire way there. The trip home she took a quick nap. Of course she had another one of Nana's blankets to snuggle in on her lap! And I think I finally have the car seat figured out! :)

Kelsey got home shortly after our shopping trip and Natalie seemed happy to see her. She's been very cautious of Amanda and Kelsey. Today showed signs of her warming up. She reached for Kelsey while on the floor and happily played for a while. She still wants Andy or me close by, but doesn't need to be in our arms the entire time while playing.

Playing with Kelsey before bedtime


Showing us how 'sooo big' she is - she never tires of this!

She had a good night last night after dinner - playing, smiling, laughing - it's good to see her personality coming back. We even took a short walk to Beals and then stopped in to see Teresa, Andy, Anna and Drew! They are so excited to have her home. I think Anna must have hugged her 20 times - very sweet. Drew even got in on some hugs.

It must be a very difficult and confusing time for her. But yesterday gave us hope that she is settling in and finding her place in our family. Alicia

Video of Kelsey and Natalie Playing