Week 1: Home Sweet Home

There truly is NO place like home!  We have been home for 1 week now and have been growing together as a family.  We've had mostly ups and just a couple of downs, but we are all do so much better adjusting here at home.  We started our first Friday at Lew and Donna's house where Fernanda got to meet her Tio Brent, Tia Julie, and primas.  She did an amazing job of playing with the kids and she even sat in her Tio Brent's lap!  She let her papa pick her up for a very short amount of time (like 10 seconds) which was amazing!  Then at around 12:00 we packed up and headed home to San Marcos.  Fernanda cried in her car seat for about 2 minutes and before we could get on the freeway she was already asleep!  She slept the entire way home, which meant she got a 2 hour nap.

Once we got home she was trying to figure her way around the place.  We showed her, her room and the playroom area.  At one point she got lost trying to navigate the upstairs area and she started crying :(.  She slept well that night in her crib and every night since then.  She sleeps about 12-13 hours nightly...YEAH!  Alejandra on the other hand....got used to sleeping with us and she has been making her way into our bedroom at around 3:00 a.m.  She crawls right in, snuggles, and goes right to sleep.  Nap time took some time to train her to get to sleep.  Today was the first no crying nap day so I was very excited!

As far Fernanda's health goes we took her to the pediatrician on Tuesday and developmentally she is hitting all of her major milestones.  She is in the 92 percentile for height and 85th percentile for weight.  The doctor was not concerned at all about her weight.  Her speech is a little delayed but that is understandable.  We are going to monitor her speech progress and if we are concerned about it we will seek a speech evaluation in a few months.  She got a couple of immunizations and a TB test she cried (of course) but quickly stopped...she did REALLY well at the pediatrician's office!  We are still trying to figure out the diarrhea mystery.  We had to take stool samples for 3 days and return them on a daily basis.  So far they have only looked at giardia in the day 1 sample and it came back negative.  We were still waiting for them to look for "other parasites" and the day 2 and 3 samples.  We're hoping to get more news next week.  We still need to take her in so they can draw blood to run a series of tests, that is on the agenda for Monday.  

Her attachment and bonding is a work in progress.  We celebrate little steps here at home on a daily basis.  Her Abuelita and dad can pick her up and she will cry for about 1 minute but then will be fine.  She is venturing off on her own and is gaining independence at a quick speed.  She is climbing up on everything, which is scary at times.  She has enjoyed our warm and sunny socal weather here at home.  She has worn a bathing suit almost every day and enjoys playing in the inflatable pool in the backyard.  She is starting to let us know what she does and does not like to eat, which is SO new because she use to devour everything in sight!  We are seeing her smile and cute little dimples more and more these days which warms our heart and makes our love for her grow every day!  She is a toddler and still cries when things don't go her way....but we are learning her different cries and what they mean.

Alejandra has been loving her home and going back to her classes.  She started back to swim class and gymnastics this week.  She thoroughly enjoyed both activities.  Next week she goes back to preschool 2 days per week and she is so excited to see her teachers.  Every time we drive in the direction of her school she asks "are we going to my escuela?"  Alejandra has grown so much through this adoption....just looking at her you can see how she has blossomed.  She LOVES her baby sister and is learning how to share her space with her sister.  When Fernanda is sleeping she will say "Mami, Fernanda is awake let's go get her."  Their fighting has decreased since we've been home :D...THANKFULLY!  Alejandra's bond with her Dad has grown so much since Colombia.  She looks for him all the time and wants to play and play and play with him.

Mark and I are doing so much better now that we are at home and feel more at ease.  We feel like we can parent better now that we are not exhausted over lack of sleep OR scared that the police will come again.   This is not to say that every second is rainbows and sunshine over here....but it is manageable and every day it gets better.  We are so happy that we were blessed with Amaya Fernanda and that we were chosen as her parents.  She is a sweet little girl who has faced enormous challenges in her short life.  We are extremely grateful that we get to see this little one grow up, gain confidence, and blossom.  We can't wait for her to meet all of our friends and family this summer!