We're Home
August 10, 2008  |  September 8, 2008  |  January 2, 2009  |  January 2, 2010

Monday, September 8, 2008 It's hard to believe we've been home for almost a month already! The first week was pretty tough. Coming home we had done so well acclimating that it was really too good to be true. We took No Jet Lag during the trip home and stayed awake most of the 30+ hours. We were able to get to bed at a normal time and pretty much get to a normal sleeping pattern right away. Everyone but YaYa that is. It was apparent that YaYa's clock was still on China time for most of the week. Several nights she woke up at midnight and would not go back to sleep until about 4am. She still wakes up a few too many times at night. She had done so well sleeping through the night back in China that we had gotten really spoiled. She also knows now that she's not alone at night, having become accustomed to laying down next to Daddy. Finally, Colorado is as opposite from Guangdong as can be in terms of humidity. Where we live there is less than 20% humidity vs. greater than 70%. She is drying out pretty badly and the times you notice it most are at night when she gets the dry cough. So our new routine goes like this: At about 8:30-9pm April whips her up a cocktail of lactose-free organic formula, goat's milk, and rice cereal (Mmmmmm, aren't you just salivating???). YaYa likes it on the hot side so I'm sure she'll be a great coffee companion for Mommy much later down the road. We had been attempting to just lay her down in the crib with her bottle like she did when we were in China, but it no longer works. I think it's the new surroundings coupled with the fact that she wants to be with us. She'll just finish her bottle and scream her head off. One time we were sitting in the adjacent room in between trips to comfort her and we heard a thud followed by escalated screaming. Not good. We ran in and saw her on the floor after having climbed the rails of the crib. When she'd climbed over, she did a face plant on the carpet and got a little rug burn on her nose and upper lip. Like I said, so much for heart conditions. This little girl is more dextrous and has more energy than so-called perfectly healthy children. Anyway, in addition to her crib, her bedroom has a bunk bed with a double on the bottom bunk (for our nieces when they visit). After getting the appropriate white noise arranged with a fan and some soft music, I'll lay down next to her on the bottom bunk and give her the bottle. We took months to acclimate to Colorado ourselves after moving from a relatively humid climate, so we also run a humidifier through the night to try and alleviate the scratchiness in her throat and the onset of dry skin. I've had it bumped up way too high though because when you open the door to the sunlight in the morning the room is actually foggy. The floor surrounding the humidifier was damp also. I've since throttled it back some. It takes YaYa about an hour to really get into a deep sleep, and I usually end up falling asleep myself. I'll then rejoin April for a while before she gets off to sleep. Being the Dad and normally the last to bed, I'm the resident "tucker-inner" in the family, and this extends to Mommy too. After the crib diving incident, we try to stay pretty close so I just sleep in YaYa's room on the bottom bunk. By the time I get back down to her room, she's pretty much sound asleep and I'll put her in her crib. Lately she'll wake up once more during the night and I'll bring her back to the bunk. I should be trying to get her back into the crib but I guess I don't care all that much and she usually finishes the night right there. We've done the family bed with all the boys until they were two-ish and this isn't much different. She sleeps well that way and it's only temporary in the grand scheme of things anyway. People keep asking if she's adjusting well. The truth is, she seems to be adjusting just fine. It's really us that are having the hard time adjusting. After nearly 14 months of almost 24/7 in a crib, YaYa is very curious about her surroundings. We're having to baby-proof everything. No horizontal surface in the house is safe from "The Cleaner". She pretty much wipes everything on to the floor. We've already lost a glass and a mug. She dropped the glass on the floor while standing in her bare feet, so she ended up getting a little sliver in her foot before we could nab her. She got used to our dog Kiara pretty quickly. Almost immediately she began saying "woof woof" and pointing at the dog. At first she was a little tentative going up to the dog but now she grabs a handful of fur and gets dragged around a little. She still totally freaks out when the dog barks in the house though. Thankfully that only happens once in a while when somebody comes to the door. She's also having to get used to our on-the-go lifestyle. It seems like we're constantly in a car going someplace. She's learning to deal with being strapped in a car seat and doing relatively well. Her brothers continue to smother her. She's like the rock star of the house for sure. Most days she spends her time bouncing from one person's arms to the next. She's warmed up pretty well to Mommy now. If Daddy isn't around, she's very content to hang out with Mommy or have Mommy hold her. If I come in sight though, she still wants to be held. A lot of times I'll just strap her to my back in the Ergo and just keep on working. The other day I was doing some work on my motorcycle trailer and she stayed with me most of the time. I'll take her with me on small errands too. I haven't been traveling at all for a while. Prior to leaving for China, I had gotten as much caught up as possible with the anticipation that I would be homebound a bit afterwards. I had also managed to hire the remaining positions for my team and now have a full crew of professionals. That has lightened my workload immensely. It couldn't have come at a better time with the China trip happening. Thus, since coming back, we've begun to settle back in to some semblance of a normal family rhythm for the first time in a long time. It's nice not to be preparing for weeks on end for a big trip. The week before last I took a day off and the boys and I went dirt biking up in Pike National Forest. Unfortunately April and YaYa had to stay behind on that trip. The Monday before April had a gallstone that doubled her over in pain. A very good friend of ours came over and administered some natural remedies that worked immediately. April then began a week long all-natural detox and ending up alleviating herself of about 200 gallstones. You'd be surprised at how many the average person carries around with them. Now she feels like a million bucks but it was a tough week on a very funky diet. On Labor Day we took advantage of Water World's last open day for the season. Water World is located up in Westminster, north of Denver. The place is incredible! There are more water rides than you can shake a stick at. We got in for half off since we arrived at 2pm. They closed at 6 and we still had not done all the rides and pools in the park. Next year we will be getting season passes for sure. We also managed to get out for a nice one month post-gotcha anniversary celebration dinner the other day. Any excuse to get out to dinner!! Next weekend I'm going to drop April and the kids off in Breckenridge while I go down near Durango to ride the famous Alpine Loop with a couple of buddies. She'll being staying in a 2-bedroom condo in downtown Breck while we negotiate 70+ miles of technical trails and ghost towns. I wore YaYa on my back again today while prepping my motorcycle for the ride. Once again, thank God for this little contraption called the Ergo. We weren't sure how YaYa would behave at Mass. It's very quiet and reverent, the enemy of curious children. She pretty much began wiggling and screaming right away. I just have a habit of wearing her in the Ergo and we go out into the halls of the church if it gets too bad. On Saturday the 6th she was finally baptized. We dressed her in a pure white traditional Chinese silk dress with matching shoes and she looked positively angelic. For her Godparents we chose two of our best friends, Joan and Jim. Not being able to attend in person because they live out of state, we invited Joan's sister Anita and her husband Chris to stand in as proxies. The celebration after was - of all things - Chinese food at PF Changs. You'd think we would have sworn off the stuff! Finally, SCHOOL STARTS TOMORROW!!! This year the kids have started one month late to allow enough time for their school to finish being built. They go to a charter school and we can't say enough about the quality program they've built there. Now they have a state-of-the-art facility to go with the program. It's totally awesome! But the best part is that they will be in school - not at the house - not screaming outside my office door! Summers are the bane of stay-at-home parents! ;-)

Keaton and YaYa Gimme a big smooch! Weeeeeeeeee Where's my pizza?!? I'm soooo glamorous Enough with the pictures!!! Mmmmmmmmmm, Noodles is the best The boys out on a ride Mommy and YaYa at the wave pool in Water World The boys chillin' on the mummy ride YaYa hangin' on Daddy's back at the lake

YaYa at the farm


YaYa and Emma the pig


Got my purse, goin' shoppin'


Oooh


Getting baptized


Preston and YaYa


Soren and YaYa


Our little angel


The Gavinator with YaYa


Taken by her brother Soren



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