Yes, we are still here

OK, so I guess our definition of a few days is more than 3 and less than 365. But yes, we are still here and doing well.

Elspeth continues to adjust well to her new life. She eats well and has started taking a bit of formula again (mixed with a bit of Chocolate Rice milk to make it more appealing to her). She is no longer just skin and bones. She actually has some muscles and some body fat. She is even getting a toddler belly. Yay!

She has been to the doctor's once. He said that she looks fine, just under nourished and physically under stimulated. Nothing that good nutrition and some exercise won't fix. He also said that her hip dysplasia does in fact seem to be corrected. So that is one less thing to worry about.

We need to take her back soon for immunizations and update exam.

Our biggest problem now is sleeping. We get her to bed around 8. She sleeps until 11:30 or 12am and then wakes up crying. I can usually get her back to sleep by rubbing her back, but then she wakes up every 20 minutes or so. I usually give up around 3 am and take her into the bed with me. After that she sleeps better, but is still restless and makes the occassional peeping cry. She tends to reach to to make sure I'm there too, and occassionally kicks me. I'm not really sure what is going on there. Is she having nightmares? Sometimes I can't hear her breathing deeply, so I was afraid it was sleep apnea. But when I put my hand infront of her nose, I can feel the breath.

We have also noticed that she is scared of most women, but will accept grey haired, grandfatherly type men. She really likes my dad and gets very excited to see him on Skype. She also goes to Pat's dad and her uncles Peter and William after an hour or so with them.

When we first received her in China, she preferred Pat slightly to me, but soon accepted me as primary caregiver. But, oddly, she called me a-ba, which means daddy in Chinese.

Our speculation - she may not have been treated that well by her foster mother (under fed, ignored, perhaps even treated roughly) but there was likely a friendly, maybe loving father figure who she preferred and would call out for when she was scared.

This will be her first Christmas with us. I don't think she'll understand much of what is going on. But we are happy she could be with us this Christmas. The big gatherings of family and friends may scare her a bit. Hopefully not because we would like her to meet all of her uncles, aunts, cousins and friends.

Today, Maeve got some focussed time as she went with daddy and aunty Carolyn to see the play the Secret Garden. She loved it and managed to sit through the 1 1/2 hours before intermission and the 1/2 hour afterwards without fussing too much.

We've been trying to do some one-on-one time with Maeve so she doesn't feel too left out. In general, she is doing really well at being a big sister.

Here are some photos of our activities over the last few weeks.

Like her sister, El likes to swing.

 


El goes sledding for the first time.

 



























































It is much warmer inside!

















Decorating Gingerbread Men: the more icing the better


























 

















My attempt at a photo shoot in front of the Christmas tree

























 











































































Our first visitors at home:




















 






















Herself:





















 



















































Maeve holds up her key to the Secret Garden















El's first visit with Santa was kind of scary... the subsequent ones were much worse and much crying ensued...

There's no place like home

Well, El and the gang are back from the land of OZ. We're exhausted!  El didn't sleep much on the plane from Beijing, so she was pretty much awake for 28 hours straight! That meant that Pat and I were pretty much up for all that time too. Luckily, Maeve managed some sleep.

But, we had a safe trip home and no one has slipped, tripped, slid or been dropped down the stairs. Maeve is overjoyed to be home. El is happy to no longer be traveling on a plane or van. Mom and Dad aren't sure which end is up right now. Popo and Gunggung are taking care of the lot of us.

Elspeth appears to have a cold. Maeve is just over her flu that she had in China. I'm sure the rest of us will be getting sick now that the traveling part is over. Still, you'll probably hear from one of us in the next few days.

Tomorrow, OHIP and maybe EI.

For tonight, to sleep perchance to dream.

PS It is nice to be able to sign in to the blog for a change!

Final Pics from Beijing...

Our final morning begins with ... Tiananmen Square! We were supposed to go the previous afternoon, but Obama beat us to it, and the square (and the Forbidden City beyond it) were closed to all but the American dude. Yes folks, Obama was given precedent over us, heh heh.













Remnants of Obama`s visit ... Note the odd flag flying just to the upper left over Mao's portrait.













Kath and El outside the entrance to the Forbidden City.

Don't try to go in through that gate ... You may never come out again!

Penetrating deeper into Forbidden territory.

El proves as bored as Maeve was on her first visit to the city ... (Again, Maeve stayed back in the hotel, too feverish to accompany us. Marcus and Lucilla had her sleeping in their room, or just hanging out watching Chinese TV programs ... Unfortunately, Maeve's sickness meant we had to keep our girls apart as much as possible during our Beijing sojourn).

Talk about incongruity ... A digital display inside a gateway deep within the Forbidden City. What was playing on it? Why, footage of the Forbidden City! A meta-anachronism!

Kath and El recreate a pic taken before the same door of me holding Maeve :)

In the heart of the Forbidden City.

Note the snow ... It was colder on this morning than on our first visit here!

A dragon-turtle caught in a frozen wail about the weather.

A chill sunshine over a Forbidden City courtyard.

Forbidden skyline.

Three temples visible beyond the walled mystery City.

Snow on the rooftops.

Kath ducks in to an imperial antechamber to collect her thoughts.

A dragon statue in a small outer courtyard as we approach the end of our exploration of the City.

Dogs, dragons, and priests guard the edges of rooftops throughout the City.

A special treat for El in the spot where a Starbucks once stood (now "The Imperial Tea House") ... Her first taste of an Oreo cookie. (Some day she'll tell her high school friends 'Had my first Oreo in the Forbidden City!')

Leaving the Emperor's walled private city, we cross its great moat.

Yesterday afternoon, five of us ventured out for a little exploring of our own. Kath's dad wanted to see the Olympic site ... Here's the Bird's Nest stadium. Winds here were as bad, if not worse, than on the Great Wall!

Now that's a cold job. Guarding the base of the Nest.

A view of the "Olympic Torch" building.

One final pic, showing a pair of little nightlights near the Bird's Nest. All the spotlights around the stadium were nestled in their own little meshwork ... Quite pretty, but not as beautiful as the pair of nestlings we're preparing to take wing with! Folks, we depart for the airport in one hour, and the trip back home to Canada at last! We cannot wait to get our wee ones back home to Waterloo and tucked into bed! Elspeth has come down with whatever Maeve has, so it's going to be a very very long flight indeed ...

Thanks for all who accompanied us on the second life-adventure (and a special thanks to Carolyn Clow for posting all these pics and captions posted for us!)