An Online Journal of Our Adoption Journey

The First Three Months Home

April 22, 2003
We got back to San Diego around 8pm on April 3rd. No problems with the flight, really. It was just long. SARS-wise, our friend, who was picking us up at the airport, had to lie to her boss about it. He was so freaked out that he insisted that she not pick us up! She got so tired of arguing that she finally told him that someone else was getting us, then came and got us anyway!

Autumn has been adjusting well. She seemed to get over the jet-lag faster than us. She's almost walking and her first English word is 'doggy'. We had a scare two weeks after our return when she had a fever-induced seizure after her afternoon nap. We spent six hours at the emergency room while they ran tests. They took blood and urine samples and even a spine- fluid check for meningitis. But it turned out to be a urinary tract infection. So now she's on antibiotics and doing well. A week before that she got five shots of various vaccines! So she's learning to definitely not like doctor visits... I went back to work last week while Lise has been staying home. She's stay for another three weeks, then we have a college friend who'll be a part-time nanny over the summer.

June 18, 2003
We applied for her US Passport today and had to include her China Passport along with the Adoption Decree and Birth certificate.  It scares me to think that I have to trust that these important papers being sent to a government bureaucracy will be returned.  

Autumn is doing wonderful. She's gained four pounds and a couple of inches. When we first got her she could barely pull herself up to a sitting position. Now she's walking, climbing, and practically running around! She's eating well and sleeping through the night (from 8 to 6:30), and typically has two naps in the day. Her one medical problem is a rash on her feet and hands. They were very inflamed when we got her, but we've managed to control it with hydrocortisone cream and the occasional liquid Benadyrl. The doctor believes it's eczema. We did one treatment for scabies, just in case, but that didn't do anything and the rash has not spread.

July 3, 2003
Autumn's a joy. She started daycare just three days ago. And like the trooper she is she didn't freak out. She plays and eats and sleeps on a mat. She does get grumpy in the late morning (probably because she often had a morning nap at home). At the daycare they nap right after lunch. I drop her off in the morning and Lise picks her up on her bike mid-afternoon. Autumn looks so cute in the kid seat and her helmet! 

Our little girl is growing like a weed. She's now just shy of 25 pounds and 32 inches long. That's seven pounds and two inches in three months! Her arms and legs were so thin back in China, they're now strong and active. Her mouth is full of teeth, 13 or so. She loves to eat, and snack, and drop food to the dog! She walks, and almost runs, around the house. She tries to stand on her toys, the DVD cases, her books, and, unfortunately, the dog. She loves her bath time, and reading time, and tickle-fests! 

Autumn's eczema seems to come and go, occasionally showing up on her feet and hands, back of her knees, and her neckline. We're managing it with hydrocortisone and the occasional nighttime of Benadryl. It's not really getting worse, but not getting much better, either. 

She used to ‘turtle' a lot -- slide down to the floor on her back and then grunt for help, hands raised. It was quite common for her to do back in China and shortly after returning. By now, however, it has become very rare for her to turtle. Only when she's really tired or grumpy. 

Autumn loves to do the bed dance. She lies face-down on the mattress or couch and starts wiggling and giggling, arms and legs waving. She'll start from a standing position, throw herself forward and with a squeak start doing the bed dance. She speaks a few words, but she mostly points and grunts, saying "d'da" or "tis". She says ‘ish (fish), dggie (doggy), Hi!, doll, and what may be g‘raf (giraffe), mama, dada, duck, ball, and ‘anda (panda). She understands a lot of what we say, and will bring us what we ask her to. She squeals and wiggles with glee when we come get her from the crib, carries books to us to read, drops stuff over the kitchen gate, and squirrels food away in the highchair. At the grocery store she wants every object that's put into the cart, and loves to tear up the grocery list, and kick off her shoes. 

We're doing a quick trip to Tucson, Arizona, to visit some friends with young kids of they're own. It's be Autumn's first plane flight since the big one coming back from China. Hopefully she'll be the trooper she normally is.

July 8, 2003
The Tucson trip was fun.  Autumn did really well generally, although she got pretty tired of the car seat, even though we flew.  We had a rental car and did a fair amount of driving there.  

Matt and Fabi have two kids, Anna (3) and Ben (1).  Autumn had a lot of fun playing at their house, particularly in the backyard.  All of us went down to Kartchner Caverns State Park on the 4th and did the tour.  Boy, is that cave humid!  The formations are great, lots and lots of stalagmites, stalactites, soda straws and pressure shields and even wiggly worm-like formations called helictites.  Autumn got a bit fussy, mostly because we had to hold her the whole time, and I'm sure the humidity got to her as well.  

There's a huge fire raging just north of Tucson.  It got within a mile or two of our hotel while we were there.  They decided to evacuate on Sunday afternoon, just a few hours after we checked out.  

She was very good on the plane, both there and back.  It was only a little over an hour flight, so we kept her occupied with toys, snacks, and the airline's magazines.  She also enjoyed flirting with the passengers just behind us.  

Autumn is figuring out that daycare is a place where I leave her.  Both yesterday and today she got really upset as soon as I put her down on the carpet at the center.  I comfort her, and hang around for a minute or two, and then leave.  She cries and wails as I go.  But apparently it's short lived, and the caregiver says she's doing fine.  Lise picks her up right after her after-lunch nap.  I'm hoping she'll soon grow to realize it's not a tragedy that I'm dropping her off.

She's gotten two sets of shots so far.  And a bunch of blood drawn for various tests, all of which have come back negative.  She really, really hates getting needles poked into her.  I know, how surprising.