A New Hope for Sydney: Sydney's first week at home

Hello everyone,

It is so nice to be back home! After being gone 3 weeks, it's kind of tough to get back into the swing of things and back to our routine. I wanted to get everyone up to speed on this past week.

Our flights home were uneventful. We watched a lot of movies! Sydney did well, but was only able to sleep for about 3 hours. Scott had a 1 hour nap and I did not sleep at all. So, after being up for 30 hours, we were all exhausted! But, we had a great welcoming committee at the airport! Jared, Grace and Angela's mom, sisters and nieces were able to meet us when we came off the plane. It was so great to see everyone and to see Jared and Grace get to finally meet Sydney.

On Saturday we drove home to Klamath Falls, stopping in Camas Valley to see Scott's parents. Sydney is very friendly and says "hi" to everyone. She is doing great meeting everyone. We of course, are making sure to watch for cues that she is overwhelmed, but so far is doing well.

This week, we have stayed close to home, spending a lot of time getting into a routine with Sydney and Grace and continuing to get to know each other. We got to decorate our Christmas tree and decorate Christmas cookies. It is so fun to watch Sydney in awe of all the new things. Her enthusiasm and excitement are contagious!

Sydney had her first check up with her pediatrician. Her doctor said she is very impressed with how healthy she looks and how well she is already bonding to Scott and I. She is being referred to Early Childhood Intervention to assess where she is at developmentally and to help her learn English. She will start Kindergarten next year.

Sydney is amazing, she is dealing with all of this very well. One of the only issues we have had so far is at bedtime. We tried to have her sleep in her bed in the room with Grace, but she cried in there, so we set up a cot in our bedroom since she is used to sleeping with us next to her. Once she gets to sleep, she sleeps all night, but getting to sleep is still a challenge. She still cries for awhile before falling asleep. It's not an upset cry, it's more of a "throwing a fit" cry ;) What she wants is to sleep in the bed with Scott and I, but that's a habit we definitely don't want to start! Otherwise, she is a happy girl! She loves all the new toys in her room and loves to push the baby doll around in the doll stroller.

Here are some pictures of our homecoming and our first week at home!