On the advice of my English teacher...

...I will update the blog. Marie got some mail; you can see she is jubilant! She does love getting the mail every day. She always gets to hold some junk mail and waving it around is just so much fun! The other pix is of her playing with her favorite toy - Jim's ID tag. And, of course, the picture of her with Daddy!

She is doing well; she wants to be with me a lot but that is good. Yesterday she played the piano but was really more interested in throwing the music on the floor. She loves loves loves her swing. Favorite foods remain rice,poultry and sweet potatoes, although bread crust and cheerios are right behind. She loves seeing what happens to food when she drops it, unfortunately. I do not know how much weight she has gained but you can see the chubby cheeks are now there and weren't before.

It is interesting to follow people's stories now who are just now getting pictures of their daughters. They have waited a long long time and we are so excited to see their journeys. On this side of the wait, that perspective is nice. One thing I realize, if we didn't have that delay waiting for Marie, I might not be home right now having this time with Grama. As Jim says,it is nice to see the hand of God in things.

I got to go have lunch at work today. Interesting to see how much I miss the interaction but how much I enjoyed leaving to go home for nap time. She is so much fun!

Adjusting

Marie dressed up in her U of M attire for her impromptu visit from Uncle Scott. He is really visiting Grama Thelma but staying with us. We'll take that though. She played with him today and Jim is a little jealous!

For the recent visitors, you should note that Marie now has a hat and it fits!!!

We met up with Aunt Becky, Uncle Guido, Henry and George this past weekend at a pumpkin patch. Henry had lots of Star Wars questions saved up for Uncle Jim who did not let him down but knew all the answers!

Marie has been hugely popular. She has had visitors and gifts daily for over a week now. We cannot keep up with the Thank You cards and announcements. If you have received either recently, you are lucky. But we are so very grateful for all the love expressed for this child. As my Uncle Larry said to me, "She is blessed! You two are blessed!" So, even though the formal note may be long in arrival, please know that we do appreciate the time and attention from everyone! For example, today she had a visitor with a gift and a package in the mail. She received a gift in the mail the previous two days. Again, we are blessed!

She is asleep now and will awake for a bottle at some point. She awakes at about 7am. Morning time is precious with both Daddy and Mommy. First Marie gets her bottle. Then Momma gets her coffee. The both can take on the day!

Who's afraid of Daddy?

As you can see, Marie and Jim have come a long way. Today, Saturday, Jim played with her, got her down for her morning nap and took her for a walk all by himself! Then he went to a buddy's house to watch the UM-msu game.
Marie continues to adjust well. Her sleeping has improved dramatically so our sleeping has as well. Bedtime routine begins around 6:30 with a bath, stories and songs, bottle and prayers. Her favorite "lovely" unfortunately is the Charmin Bear - as in the toilet paper, yes. The radio ads made Jim and I laugh so much a few years ago that I got one as a joke for him. She loves it. She loves all stuffed animals but it is Charmin Bear who has stolen her heart. Her Pooh from Hong Kong airport is a close second though.
Today I left the house without her! It was the first time since we becme a family that I wasn't with Marie. It was quite exciting. My big excursion was to the grocery store and then the Farmer's Market where I met Kerry and her 3 year-old daughter Hailey. I was gone for 1.5 hours! And, oddly enough, the world didnt end and she survived without me.

out and about

Marie had a good night last night in that she didn't screech for hours. Last night, as usual, she awoke after exactly 3 hours sleep and would not go back to sleep. Previous nights, we tried the back-patting every 10 minutes, the cry it out, the bring her to our bed, the rocking...these do not work with this child. We figure that 1) her stomach is still on China time and 2) she has had a lot of recent experiences with waking up someplace new with strangers. She slept okay in China but her crib mattress was right at my eye level as I lay in bed. She would wake up, see me, fuss a little or play a little and then settle back down. In her crib she was waking up alone someplace new...not good. So, last night Momma slept in the chair next to her bed. It was not a perfect solution by any means but, as I said, she didn't screech and go into hysterics. She was consolable although still was up a lot. We'll see...pray that tonight is better.

We took a nice walk along the Vasa today. That is a famous cross country ski trail in Traverse City but today was just home to people and dogs. Marie liked it but Momma thought that the 3k was a far enough walk when you have 15 pounds of toddler strapped to you. Wonder if we will ski the trail this year?

Then we stopped by to introduce Marie to Great-Grama. Grama fed her cheerios and was delighted to see her. She remembered who we were and knew right away who Marie was. Had to be reminded of a few things but on the whole enjoyed the visit. As we said goodbye, Grama pointed to Marie and clearly said, "I want to see that one as often as possible."

Tomorrow Jim goes back to work and it is just the girls. One of us is a little nervous but it will be okay.