All new stuff

I always told myself that when I got back I would blog on a regular basis, not like everyone else when they get back. Okay so I was wrong But at the end of the night I'm just plain tired. I'll try to do better.

Claire went the doc's for the first time. She's in the 95th percentile for weight(as if we didn't know that), and the 65th percentile for height. She's developmentally right on. The doc did tell me that she would like her on a sippy cup and off the bottle by a year old. I'm not too sure that she realized that that is like in 2 months. So I've tried it. She hates it. She acts like I'm am torturing her. I only do it at lunch time right now, she fights me on it, but will eventually take it. I only do it at lunch right now. I doubt it will happen by the time she's a year though.
Claire is so full of energy and is already into everything. She is cutting something like 4 teeth right now, so she's really biting a lot of things, like people, dogs, dog toys, furniture, her crib. If you notice on the crib shots there's a "wrap" over the top rail. I had to make a bite thingy so she didn't ruin her beautiful, crib that turns in to the bed she will have until she moves out of our house.
She also seems to get into a worry frenzy type thing. Like if she sees her bottle, she gets this panicky look on her face as I'm walking across our huge living room(note sarcasm), and will almost panic and cry as if I'm going to give the bottle to the dogs. She also does this when we are feeding her and when it's bath time. She works herself up into a frenzy panic.
As an adoptive parent you always wonder if these little things are "adoption" issues or if they're personality things. Like does she panic because she had to wait for her bottle in the orphanage or is that just her personality. Does she not yet feel secure with us, or does she just love food. You hate to automatically assume it's because she was in an orphanage.
Anyhow, everyday we meld more and more. I know that she transitioned very well, but I also know that a lot of that was survival. The real bonding is taking place in moments, in our home, when we're alone. A look here, a sweet kiss there, rocking at night, holding a finger to fall asleep. Those are the moments for me when the true bonding is taking place. I know that it's happening b/c just two weeks ago, she would go to anyone and smile. Today when I went by work, that wasn't the case. She would go to someone, but then 5 seconds later, she would look for me and reach her arms to me. It was enough. 5 seconds in someone else's arms was enough, then she wanted me. Sometimes she just wouldn't go to others. That made my day!!

Beach Baby!!!

Isn't that just too cute. I have abided by Jon's "no bikini" clause and got the cutest bathing suit at Target. Claire continues to amaze us with her fearless attitude. She seriously isn't afraid of anything. We brought her to the beach for the first time last Sunday and she loved it, of course. The sand didn't bother her, neither did the salt water or waves.
She just soaked it all up. Played like she'd been to the beach a million times. I can't imagine what has gone through her little head the past week and a half. What I wouldn't give to read her little thoughts.
We really have to watch her b/c she will jump, walk, crawl into anything without any fear.
I love this shot.
No fussing or crying here!

I've heard it a million times. People say that the perfect child for their family is the child that came into their lives. I don't know if I really believed that until Claire was placed into my arms. The one thing we didn't want, apart from the obvious medical problems, was a prissy-don't want to get dirty, or try anything little girl. Because we are not those type of people. And she's not one of those kids. She really is the perfect fit for our family. Before we left we would always prepare ourselves....she might hate the stroller, she might hate the water, she might not like the car seat, she may hate the sand. None of that has come to be. She is just fearless...that's what we always say. Now I know in the future we'll have to keep a close eye on that fearless attitude, but for now we're amazed at this little blessing in our lives!!

Our first week home!!

I know, I know...I've been a very bad blogger!! But I've been T-I-R-E-D. As most of you know, we got delayed in Dallas and had to spend the night there before making the final trek home. We had a ton of family and friends waiting for us at the airport. It was amazing!! Hopefully someone will send those pictures to us..(hint.hint) and I'll get a short video of that for you all. The first couple of days were a whirl wind with tons of family and friends stopping by. Claire is a serious trooper!! She continues to be a great baby. It's not easy being first time parents, but Claire is really a very laid back baby. She has been through so much and almost immediately flipped her schedule. I think for the first couple of days, she went to sleep at 8pm and woke up around 3 am. By Wednesday though we had her flipped. She goes to bed around 8-9 pm, and wakes sometime between 6-8 am. I so can't complain about that. She seems so much more relaxed here. Not that she wasn't relaxed when we were in Taiwan, but it just seems different here. She is sleeping in her own room, loves her crib and all her stuff. I can't imagine what is going through her little mind right now. But she has adjusted beautifully. She is fearless. She and the dogs made friends right away. One of our dogs, the more timid one, has totally turned around and is at her side all the time. He will even bring his toy to her and drop it off in front of her in hopes that she'll throw it out for him. Our other dog is great with her too although she isn't too sure why Claire can play with her toys, but she can't play with hers. But it's great, b/c no one is afraid of the other ones. I couldn't ask for anything more. For those that don't know me personally, this was fear, that she would hate the puppies or vice verse. But again we are lucky. I have to say that it has been very easy b/c Claire is just a sweet heart. She has taken to us without a hitch and I can't imagine our lives without her. Don't get me wrong, I'm tired. I second guess myself...over and over. But she makes being a first time parent relatively easy because she is pretty forgiving of our fumblings....and we do fumble!! Claire has met half of the city it seems, been all over town, ridden in a cart for the first time, and got in the pool for the first time. She's had a busy week. So enough rambling. I made a short video of the first week...enjoy!!

Home at last...

Just a quick note to let everyone know that we are home. It was a rough trip. Claire barely slept, like maybe about 5-6 hours broken up during the whole trip. We got stuck in Dallas b/c of late flights and had to stay the night. So nice to take a shower then have to put on the same clothes you already wore for 27 hours. Can you say disgusting? But we are home!!! The homecoming at the airport was awesome. Very overwhelming. I finally cried like a baby. We had people in the airport crying. Will tell you more later. Claire loves her new home, all her new family, and her new puppies. Pictures to come, but right now I have to cook some dinner, eat, then sleep!!! We are truly blessed!!!

Taiwan...out....

Last post from Taiwan and I have zero pictures. Sorry. We are tired and want to go home. As much as living in a 5 star hotel sounds good....it gets old. We want routine. Claire needs some routine. She need more stimulation then we can provide in a hotel environment. She needs structure that is difficult here when you eat out all the time. We have seen amazing changes in this little child in just 3 short weeks and we can't wait to see more of her personality blossom. We have seen developmental strides that I didn't think we would see in this short time. We are more in love with her then I thought possible. I can see that she trusts us and that just melts my heart. See you Stateside. From Taiwan...out.........

Hello my name is Ann and...

...I'm a new parent.
Nice to meet you.
My daughter watches TV(see picture..baseball with Daddy)
My daughter screams in restaurants.
My daughter doesn't want to sleep at night
My daughter laughs when we tell her NO!
My daughter falls asleep in our bed(see picture...that only took a little over an hour)
My daughter can now say "ma" and "ba"
My daughter is full of energy.
My daughter is happy and full of Joy.
My daughter is more then we could imagine!!

**AIT appointment went well. We should have her VISA tomorrow after 1130. We also found out what the typo was. They spelled both of our names wrong on the first decree. So that had to be refilled. Everything is correct on the final decree, which by the way was issued yesterday!! Thank God!!** Departure is Friday!!!

Rabbit pellets

Isn't that the cutest thing. I know my camera has issues, but Claire crawled over to the bathroom where Jon was shaving and she looked on waiting for her Daddy.


I haven't been taking a lot of pictures the last few days, b/c we haven't really done anything. We are so over being here. Not really the country, but in a Hotel. It's not all that bad, barring the fact that we have to eat out for every meal. Never thought I would get tired of that. Someone asked where we've been eating. Well I am ashamed to say that we pretty much stick to the American chains. We have tried some local food and local snacks. But I'll tell ya' the smell at some places just turns your stomach and I won't venture to those places. We did find by shear accident some place around the corner that had good food. We had some authentic meals with Nick and his family, but when we're on our own we stick to....gasp.....KFC, Mcd's(funny story about that I'll tell later), Hooters, Outback, subway....I know it's sad, but true. If it makes you feel better there is an awesome Mongolian BBQ place that's awesome though.
Okay about the rabbit pellets...we are having serious constipation issues. Claire, not us b/c some chili oil at the Mongolian BBQ will take care of any bowel issues you might have had....okay on to Claire. She is pooping rabbit pellets, my child is pushing and pushing and you open her diaper to find rocks hard enough to stone a murderer. We have had to stop all rice cereal and I mushed some broccoli this morning and Jon went on a city wide excursion for some prunes. Okay maybe not city wide, but blocks and blocks wide. Baby food selections are minimal and expensive. We did find some prune baby food which by the way she loved. We are hoping that we get it under control before the plane ride. We know however that it will all come to a grand conclusion high high in the sky with a plane full passengers that will so not love us.
(am I really blogging about my childs bowel movements?)
Anyhow, I called Penny today and she said that all our paperwork is good for our AIT appointment in the morning. Our social worker is meeting us there!! Get ready....in a couple of days we're coming home!!
Oh yeah and if anyone has any advice about the rabbit pellets please leave a comment. Seriously.

9 months old

Today Claire is 9 months old. She has learned a lot in the past several weeks.
She has found great joy in a lot of the things around her. She has had baby food for the first time, found parents, become proficient in crawling, found her screaming voice. She has also found her temper, tantrums, and whining!! She thinks that we should entertain her 24/7 and if we don't she complains.
She has traveled around Taipei. Although Jon and I did most of our sight seeing before we had Claire, we have done a few things with her. We get out every day, mostly in the afternoon when it's scorching HOT(b/c that's after her morning nap). Not a whole lot, but we do get out with her.
She is not afraid of the water and will let you lay her back in the water.
She has learned to hold her bottle. She LOVES her Daddy. She HATES to go to sleep at night. Once we can get her to sleep she will sleep through the night(most times), BUT she hates, hates, hates to go to sleep. She is teething, she has two bottom teeth, and one or two coming in on top. She weighs somewhere around 19 pounds. She grunts and vocalizes in this whining sort of way, but not what I would really consider babbling.
And for the Grandmothers......this is what she looks like when she is giving you a wonderfully smelly diaper!!

The Daily Digest

She gets cuter everyday. I think we're going to try the carrier again. We'll see how that goes.

I cropped this picture b/c I had on Jon's shorts. Claire had spit up on my pants, but I didn't think it was a big deal. That is until I noticed this foul upchuck smell coming from who else...me!! How could I smell like that..well Claire didn't just spit up on me, she vomitted on me and I didn't really notice it until I noticed the smell....yuk!! But of course who could be upset when you look into those sweet eyes.

This is our little sweetie who is mesmerized by the TV. Yup, she's our kid.

We are so ready to come home. If I haven't mentioned it yet(I know I have) we miss our dogs terribly...and yes our families too. But we know that the family understands what's going on, the puppies do not.

We're figuring out the feeding thing. We also figured out that if she's in a highchair, she thinks she should be eating.....the entire time. She will whine and whine until you continue to shovel food in her mouth. So we have to get her out of the highchair and then alls good.

How's it going?

After getting permission from her Mommy, this is Susan and Ruby. Isn't she the cutest thing? She's a year older then Claire, so I was able to get a glimpse of what we have to look forward to..walking, talking, playing...so cute!
Take note of the hair bow....this was it's most favorable debut....and it's last. We have not idea what happened to it. But after people asked us several times if she was a girl or boy, we had to do the bow.
Don't let the smile fool you...
Do I look tired? I will say that I feel a bit inadequate. We are feeding her more then the orphanage did. We have introduced baby food and finger foods. But I swear it's not enough. She always seems hungry and she acts like we're not feeding her enough. Despite being a peds nurse I have no idea what I'm doing...But she's cute!!
Break out the picture frame...I L-O-V-E this picture!!

Playdate

Yesterday we had our very first play date with Susan and her beautiful daughter Ruby. They are expats living in Taiwan and little Miss Ruby was born in here. We met on the Internet and it was fun to be able to hang out with them at this neat club house. I didn't post pictures of her Ruby b/c I wasn't sure how Mommy would feel. So for now just Miss Claire Bear.I can't wait to get her home, so she has more to play with. I feel like she gets so bored and quite frankly it gets hard keeping an infant entertained with limited stuff. She does however really like empty drink bottles. Thank heavens for those.
She really really loved the swing. My camera doesn't take good "action" shots so the pics w/her swinging and smiling and laughing didn't come out that well.
She loved playing there. She continues to really fight sleeping. She wakes up laughing, but goes to bed screaming. Jon is much better at getting her to sleep then I am. I'm really trying to get her to nap and right now Jon is out with the laundry and I actually got her down. I turned off all the lights, turned everything off and am praying that she will sleep more then 15 minutes, which is her usual.
Our little angel isn't the most coordinated yet. She's bonked her head a few times. I swear you take your eye off her for 1 second....so now we put the pillow behind her. Yeah I know we're dorks.
Some people have asked or commented on how little she looks. When we were getting updates, we thought that she looked huge, in pictures, and on paper. She really isn't huge. She's more of a peanut then we thought she would be. The last time we charted her she was in the 50th percentile. So a nice size, but not BIG like we thought she would be. Perfect, though!!

Nap time

Apparently we forgot to tell Claire that she NEEDED to take a nap. She's been fighting it for hours.
If we put her on the floor she cries, so we put her in her crib, where she proceeds to just play. Then she has this thing about scrapping her two bottom teeth on the crib....that can't be good.
She just won't take her nap, but we're making her spend nap time in her crib even if she won't sleep, she has to have quiet time. Oh well, we'll get this routine thing down sooner or later.
The storm was no big deal here. We have worse thunderstorms at home. It was kinda funny to see scooters knocked over though this afternoon. We did notice that many businesses were closed today. We think AIT was also closed as we tried to call them and try and figure out what day we can leave. We have told our travel agent the 8th. So we'll see what he comes up with. If we don't have her Visa on the 7th, we'll have to change things again

Typhoon #2

We are getting ready for typhoon #2..Can't you tell. We flew in on the tail of one storm and anticipate typhoon #2 around midnight. The middle of Taiwan got it last week and they think they will get it again tonight.
Meanwhile we are practicing our crawling and having a bawl.
We are going a little stir crazy and really want to be home soon. We miss our puppies terribly and can't wait to be in our own home
We went and bought snacks for the storm...can you tell which are Jon's and which are mine.
I actually am trying some local snacks...at least those that seem safe. Seriously I'm not sure what kind of bean these are, but they are rather tasty. Keep us in your prayers that all goes well tonight. I'll update tomorrow.

We are Fam-i-ly!!

Jon has officially taught Claire how to spit. I don't think that was the intention, he was making noises with his mouth, but Claire interpreted it as spitting. It's cute as long as it's not during dinner, or in your face, or when other people are making cute faces in her face, or when she has food in her mouth. Okay, maybe not so cute. This by the way is one of my fav. pictures of she and Jon.
This is the first time she was put in grass. By the look on her face you can tell she wasn't so sure about the whole thing.

She did much better "looking" at the grass.
Mommy and her little girl. By the way..I think I am the only woman in Taiwan who sweats. I swear I look to see if the other women are sweating, they don't look like they sweat at all, not me though....I am down right pouring sweat any time we are out. It is hot here, just like home, but we're out in it everyday and we walk to most anything...not like home. I am so tired of being sweaty. Anyways, In this picture, we took a break in the shade so that we could all cool down after walking around.
Can't get enough of her.
I know this is not a flattering picture of me, but I love it. Just shows the stupid things you do with your kid.
Just like this picture of Jon.,.
Please tell me why any baby food has color? Can't we get rid of the coloring?
Anyhow, we think Claire is missing the other children, b/c she is really drawn to pictures of babies. Good thing she has lots of cousins back home to play with.
Why is it we can't find Chinese food here? Seriously, some beef and broccoli, or moogoo gai pan? Nope the stuff we're seeing isn't what we're looking for. Jon is on a mission as I write this.
We continue to learn about eachother and it's an amazing process. Claire makes great eye contact and we couldn't have asked for a better transition. We're getting the sleeping routine figured out, now if we could just figure out that spitting thing....

Meetings

Yesterday was the birthfamily meeting. It was not what I expected. I thought it would be very emotional for me but it wasn't. I thought that I would feel this strong connection to this woman that gave me her child, but strangely I didn't. I felt like the meeting was for them, so that they would find some peace with the decision for Claire. They said they were surprised how comfortable Claire was with us after only a few days. That made me feel good, b/c she is very comfortable with us. She is already bonding to us and I was happy that they could see that. The birthgrandfather seemed the most concerned asking us many questions. I also thought that I would be the one that spoke a lot, but surprisingly it was Jon. I don't know if I was reserved b/c I know that she is ours and maybe in some recess of my mind I was protecting that. I don't know. But Jon wanted to make sure that they knew that we would love her and protect her. I think that after the meeting they knew that. We decided before we came that we would not post photos of her birthfamily to keep their privacy.
We also got to meet Jenn's little boy William. Cathwel set it up so he was there and we got to spend some time with him. Claire got her first kiss from a boy!! So sweet the two of them together. Anyhow, we're getting the routine down, learning about our daughter. She remains a very good baby. Nighttime is a little bit of challenge. She is one of those babies that fight to stay awake even when she's exhausted, so we're trying to figure that one out. Enjoy the pics

Going Strong

So as soon as Jon put her in her very first bath....she pee'd all in the water. She's watching herself pee in her bath right here. So cute. So we had to start all over.
She is such an easy baby. Loves her bath, loves everything...getting up, eating, empty bottles of tea, paper bags, sleeping, TV, everything. She even doesn't mind when I pour water over her head. Love this little girl
All clean after her first bath. Isn't that just adorable.
She doesn't mind being in the stroller. Although I don't think she really "likes" b/c she's so quite when she's in there, but she doesn't cry. Of course she likes being held and played with much more. She does NOT however like the carrier. We tried to put her in the front carrier, for bonding and such and she did cry then. So back to carrying her or putting her in the stroller for long treks.
Claire is a very easy baby. She smiles at everything. She likes to wake up, she is obsessed with the TV, she is amused so easily. She sleeps so long we actually wake her up in the morning so she won't stay up too late. But she doesn't mind that. She's right on task developmentally. She wasn't really crawling at first, but I'm not sure if that was just that she was stunned or not. She's crawling now and will go to us so she can pull up and practice walking. At first she would just let us pick her up, but now she's actually lifting her arms for us and looks for us when we walk out of the room. She's going to be a Daddy's girl, I can tell.
The birthmother meeting is tomorrow. Our AIT appointment is August 7th, which means we're here for the duration. We're going to see if they can move it up, but I doubt it. I finally got some sleep last night after some help with excedrin pm. It was the first time I'd really slept. Jon and Claire on the other hand have no problems sleeping. That's it for now.