January 2009
FIRST WEEK HOME
The time to leave for home seemed like it would never come, yet
it also felt as though our stay in China was ending all too
soon; there was so much more for us to see and do. After about
three hours of sleep we were up at 4:00am to finish packing and
leave for the airport. Our flight would take us first to Tokyo
and then on to Portland. The long hours confined in a tiny
economy class seat were not something that we were looking
forward to, but since a first class ticket costs about $7,000 a
seat, we would just have to make the best of it. Despite the
long hours of confinement in the tail section of a bumpy A320,
and the fact that Lily didn’t sleep at all for the entire trip
home, she did surprisingly well. I probably fussed and
complained more than Lily did!
A nearly 100mph tail wind brought us into Portland an hour ahead
of schedule (hooray!). Looking at my watch, I realized that
despite traveling for 23 hours, we had arrived home 20 minutes
before we left; talk about a time warp! After customs our first
stop was with an immigration officer. We gave him the sealed
packet of documents from the US Consulate which he opened,
examined briefly, and applied an official stamp; the final step
in making Lily a naturalized US citizen. It was an emotional
experience for me. As a younger, less experienced person I never
thought about the immense privilege it is to be an American; the
“blessings of liberty and opportunity” were words that teachers
and politicians used but I never really understood their value.
Suffice it to say that my appreciation for the uniqueness of our
country has grown significantly since those younger days. I
looked into Lily’s eyes for a moment and thought about the
fullness of the life that lay before her and us, then I turned
to the immigration officer and said, “Thank you!” It was one of
the most profound ‘thank yous’ I have ever uttered.
Greg and Lyndee, Mom, Diana, and Glen and Georgia met us at the
airport as a welcoming committee and drove us home. We got
through the door and crashed. Hard. The adrenaline that had
sustained us for 17 days had finally been exhausted. One
problem: Lily. She slept a little but then was ready for action.
Naturally, she wanted to explore her new home with all of its
novel sights and sounds, the most startling for her being
Francie and Macy (our Lhasa Apsos). Lily took to the dogs right
away and, after a brief inspection, Macy decided Lily was her
new best friend, so they took a nap together; very cute! And of
course Lily loves her grandma; the two of them are precious
together.
Over the next several days we had a veritable cavalcade of
visitors. Our family and friends have waited just as long for
Lily as we have and they couldn’t wait to meet her in person –
who can blame them! We had a belated family Christmas gathering
and Lily experienced her first present opening. Like all kids
her age, she enjoyed the wrapping as much or more that the
presents inside, which leads me to believe that the best gift
for kids under two is probably just a roll of colorful wrapping
paper! Our living room soon became Lilyland with toys and baby
stuff everywhere. We start the day with everything organized and
then, the ‘Lilinator’ wreaks havoc; as soon as she starts
walking I’m sure that the entire house will become ‘Lilified’!
We took Lily to the doctor for her nine-month check-up and I’m
happy to report that she is at or near benchmark on all of her
developmental milestones. This was a surprise for us given that
she was unable to even sit up when we got her just two weeks
earlier. She weighed in at 15 pounds even and is 26.5” long. Her
length is at the 50th percentile and her weight is only at the
10th percentile; she’s petite and that’s OK! The only problem
that we are having is getting Lily’s sleeping schedule
normalized. She wakes up crying eight to twelve times per night!
Oy Vay! We have turned her nights into days and days into
nights. That’s hard on an adult and really hard on babies. We
are told that it could take as long as six weeks for her to get
into a regular sleeping pattern! Ouch!! I’m noticing that we
don’t do sleep deprivation as well as we did 12 years ago with
Wil! Oh well; this too shall pass!
Everyday we look at Lily and see her change and grow and we take
joy in noticing every little new thing that she does (its funny
how much pleasure a parent can take in their baby blowing a
raspberry!). It was certainly an adventure to bring Lily home
and it passed all too quickly. Now the real adventure has begun
and I have the feeling it will pass too quickly as well! |
Lily's first ride in a stroller at the Tokyo Airport
Lily meets Grandma
Lily meets Fancie and Macy
Macy likes to lick ears but Lily isn't sure what to make of this
new sensation!
'I don't know what kind of puppy this is that they brought home,
but I'm not taking any chances!'
'Smells all right, I guess.'
'Maybe I'll just sneek in from the back side.' |
