Two Weeks At Home

Well, it's Wednesday night, March 19th 2008 (my 36th birthday), and all is well.

We got home 13 days ago, and I am so glad that I took extra time off from work - it's taken so long to get back into a schedule, and both Stacy and I have been sick (Stacy is still getting over strep throat and an ear infection). At least we weren't sick in China, that would have been very very un-fun.

Let's see, I'll try to recap the last two weeks, and from here on, I'll try to do a weekly (at least) update - hopefully I can convince Stacy to poke her head in every once in a while as well.

After we got back, and everyone left after bringing us home and wishing us welcome, we took a nap. Sophie cried when we tried to put her down in her crib, so we brought her into our bed and she slept between us. When we got up we ate something for dinner (I don't remember what at this point) and then stayed up till early morning before going back to sleep for the night.

Sophie cried again when we tried to put her in her crib, so we thought that maybe her crying was because her crib wasn't in the same room as us. She never cried when napping or sleeping the night when we were in China, but we were all in the same hotel room. So, we broke out an air mattress, and I slept in her room on the mattress while she was in her crib. She still cried a little, but went to sleep fairly quickly.

The next day, we started to adjust our timing - but the jet lag was hitting all of us pretty hard. Stacy slept with Sophie that night, and after that, we tried to let Sophie sleep alone.

We spent the weekend alternately sleeping, eating, and watching Sophie conquer the house - She was going up stairs on Saturday, and had figured out how to go down by Monday! As far as we know, she'd never traversed stairs in her life. She is so smart!

Sophie also started terrorizing (in a good way) our three cats, Teddy, Puddin, and Whizzo. She and Teddy made a connection the first day - we knew they would, Teddy is a very loving cat. What surprised us was Whizzo's interest in her - he's very skittish, and normally avoids new people, but he was checking Sophie out right away.

My mom and sister came over on Saturday, to see how we were doing, and also to bring our dog home (my sister and brother-in-law watched Buddy while we were in China). Buddy isn't sure what to make of Sophie (even now), but he does give her a kiss now and then.

Monday we went to our family doctor to get Sophia her 18 month checkup, and to get her immunizations up to snuff. We spent most of the appointment figuring out what exactly she had been given for immunizations, and figuring out the best plan to get her caught up. Everything looked good in terms of heart, ears, throat, lungs, and the like. Sophie got four shots for immunizations at this appointment, and will get another four in May. At that point she'll be caught up, and will just need boosters at the normal time.

We then went down to Brooklyn Park and picked up our new minivan! It didn't take too long for me to move Sophie's child seat over, and to transfer the rest of our stuff, and we were off in our new ride. We love it - it drives very nice, and gets good mileage.

Tuesday and Wednesday were just spent trying to catch up on sleep, and taking care of our baby girl. Sophie crawls around the house without any problems, can get down from the recliner or sofa by herself, and can stand and kinda walk around if she has something to brace against - a sofa, coffee table, or similar. It's awesome to see - we know she'll have no problems walking once we get a prosthetic foot for her.

Thursday we went to our first Orthopedic appointment for Sophia, and met a great doctor who examined Sophie and then immediately referred us to a top amputee team at Gillette Children's. The only sucky part is that the appointment isn't until May 12th - but apparently the whole team will be there, and hopefully she'll be fitted for her foot at that appointment. I really am anxious to get Sophie her foot so that she can start walking and running (and maybe stop every other person we run into at the store from telling us that she lost her shoe - but that is secondary). The doctor also reinforced our expectation that we don't need to worry about a prosthetic hand yet - she's able to use her nubby quite effectively (she actually has a good deal of her right wrist), and the time for a hand will present itself as she develops.

I don't remember what happened Friday - Sleeping, eating, and nuclear diapers were probably in there... That's right - I took Stacy to the doctor - her coughing had been pretty bad, and wasn't getting better. She also began complaining of pain in her left ear. We found out she had strep throat and an ear infection! Antibiotics were started.

Saturday, my aunt Terri came over to meet Sophie, then we went to Stacy's mom and step-dad's house for dinner and some time for Sophia to get to know them.

Sunday our friends from Church, Nick and Kendra, held an open house for us at their home. They invited our friends from church to come and say hi and to meet Sophie. It was a great time, and we are very thankful to them and to all of our friends who stopped by to see the three of us and who gave Sophie such nice gifts!

Monday was a weird day for me, as I had an EEG appointment in the morning, so I had to be up from midnight on - not exactly help with getting back onto a good sleep schedule. We went shopping after that for some more Sophie stuff, then had Benihana for dinner (to celebrate my birthday early, since we wouldn't be able to go on Wednesday). It was nummy!

Tuesday we traveled an hour and a half north to Aitkin, Minnesota, to visit the workplace of my mom, and for Sophie to meet my step-dad. Sophie hammed it up for about 30 people at mom's two offices, and then chased my mom's cats after charming my step-dad. Stacy was feeling pretty cruddy, so we went home and she went to bed pretty early.

Today, Stacy was still feeling yucky, so I took Sophie by myself to my work, where she met another two dozen smiling faces, and to meet my sister's co-workers. All went well, and Sophie poured on her usual charm. Her smile is just energizing - you can't help but smile back!

You'll notice that there are no new pictures attached to this entry - well, we left our camera at our friend's house on Sunday, so we won't have any new pictures until we get it back - hopefully on Friday, maybe on Sunday. They're coming.

Sophie loves apple juice, apple sauce, meatloaf, ramen (of course), peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, scrambled eggs, and french fries. We're continually trying to feed her new things, and she's generally willing to try new things, so that's good.

Sophie still screams when we put her to bed for about five minutes, and then goes to sleep. She also throw a tantrum when we wash her hair, but of course the waterworks turn off as soon as it's done. She is a kid after all.

I have captured all of the video from China onto my computer, and am now editing it into a cohesive whole. There's a lot of good stuff in there, and I barely remember some of it, so I am very glad that we had the camera along. DVDs will be for sale soon ;)

That's it for tonight, we'll talk to you again soon!

Larry