Thursday, June 18, 2009

Settling in

I'm not sure what day of the week it is -- that's an improvement over two days ago when I couldn't complete a coherent sentence. I think it's Thursday, which means we've been home for 5 days.

Dawit is doing amazing. He's all smiles and giggles and loves to talk. He rarely cries, especially if we get him fed on time and down to sleep before he gets overtired. He's starting to transition to US time. Gradually he's going from 2 naps of 2 hours each and 8 hours at night to 2 shorter naps and 9 hours at night. We're aiming for 12-hour nights and two shorter naps. He can eat as much as Caroline, so I expect him to be a butterball very soon. I don't know what he weighs, but we'll find out Monday when he goes to Vanderbilt's adoption clinic.

Spence and I are not faring as well. We've both had fragile stomachs since returning home and are still suffering jet lag. We alternate "Dawit duty" each night. This gives us each snuggle time with Caroline and a full night's sleep every other night. We're starting to get our appetites back, but even the mildest dishes don't sit well. We're just trying to stay hydrated and get as much rest as possible.

The house is still a wreck, but we are so happy and feel so fortunate to have been matched with this happy little guy. He's a total joy and really so easy.

We broke all the rules Sunday at our coming home party (I'll post pics soon), but for the next month Spence and I will be the only ones to feed and hold Dawit in an effort to establish a strong parental bond. This is very hard, but in the meantime everyone can enjoy his beautiful smile!