Sorry, I know that there are some odd things in the posting below, but when I try to edit it, I get a blank screen. There was some glitch that actually posted this entry more than 10 times when I was trying to save it. If I figure it out, I'll remove the empty stuff-in the meantime, please enjoy what is there.
Yesterday we spent very little time outside, but needed it, so this morning we walked up to Mom's house and then up into the field to see the cows.
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Last night was a rough night for sleep. I am going through a migraine cycle (if you get them, you know what I mean) and Aidan simply took too long a nap yesterday, so the night was broken up repeatedly with him waking. Finally this morning I was in that dead sleep zone when he came running into my room, pointed at the window and yelled excitedly at the top of his lungs. Snow! (Of course, he was speaking in Chinese, but some things really don't need translation). Among other things, he likes to burp loudly after eating and laugh at himself, stick his tongue out at the camera, watch snow fall, go to the mailbox, play with dogs, play with cars and trucks, build things, eat junk food if he can get away with it, etc. Just like any other four year old.
I am thinking of adding some upgrades to my site, and I'm curious about who is checking it out. If you could please tell me how often you've visited (first time? once in a while? regularly?) and why (pre-adoptive, post-adoptive, friend/family?) I'd have a better idea of what to add. Thanks!
Aidan's not exactly a tot, but there is no preschool in our town, so I took he and RB to the tot time at the community center in the town next to us. He was hesitant to play, at first, but got into it eventually. He really wants to play "big kid" games, though, like basketball-he brought the ball to me and pointed to the hoop. We ended up playing air hockey instead and he is very good at it. He plays left handed. There are more pictures under photos.
Yesterday our case manager/social worker came for her first visit since our return home on October 31. Her first comment about Aidan was, "Wow, he is tall." That is the general response to meeting him both by people in China and here. In China most people guessed him to be about seven years old. Back when I got his referral, I printed the US growth charts and tracked his height and weight. He was in the top 2% for both, and I would estimate that he is going to be about six feet tall or a little taller when he is done growing.
I think she saw a pretty happy little guy-he was sitting on my lap, then sword fighting with his sister when she got home from school. I told her about the things he likes to play with-a Mickey Mouse computer game from my sister, swords and trucks and anything mechanical, balls of all kinds, Play-Doh. He recognizes Dora (he goes on and on about her!), Mickey Mouse, and Spider-Man from home, though their names are different here.
He has slept at night for two nights in a row now and naps after lunch for less than his three-four hours that he was doing back in China. Food is still experimental, though I found out yesterday he likes raw hot dogs, he has re-discovered his love of bananas, and he won't eat meatballs (at least not now-sometimes he rejects foods and then takes to them later). He likes egg noodles, but not the way that I cook them, and he'll dig through food for snow peas until he has eaten every last one of them.
Oh, and the band-aid? I replaced it once, accompanied by many tears and sobs, and then he wouldn't let me touch it. I think he thought it was a sticker. So I finally took the second one off in his sleep. About two days later he realized it was gone and I just made a big deal about the boo-boo being all better now.
Aidan slept from 8:30 to 5:30 last night-this is really big news! I felt completely disoriented this morning from getting such a long stretch of sleep.
The weather today was as fine as a November day in New Hampshire ever gets, and we are expecting rain for the next several days followed by a cold spell, so I took my daughter, her sons, and Aidan to the beach. We took shovels and pails, snacks and drinks, and spent the morning at the lake in the town beside us.
There are more photos in the Photos section of this webpage, but here are a couple.
We have done a lot of experimenting this weekend-with food, clothing, and naptime especially.
On Saturday night Aidan slept nine hours during our nighttime, but he is not adjusted. He is napping now at 9:30 during what would be his night at home. Yesterday I took him shopping with PB, RB and MB so that I could get a winter coat and warm shoes for him. (He loves the shoes, doesn't want anything to do with the coat yet-he has caught a cold) Anyway, except for a couple of very short catnaps, he stayed up for most of what would be his night. Then he took a three hour nap (normal for him) and I thought last night would be a solid sleep. He slept from 10:30 to 3:30. I must say that we get a lot done between 3:30 and 6:30, but I hope this ends eventually.
In addition to loving his father, he also loves the dog. We had been warned that most Chinese children were scared, if not petrified, of dogs. Not this kid.
I am struggling with jetlag. When we went to China we arrived on Saturday night and I started feeling better late Thursday afternoon. At least this time I didn't have to ride around in the back seat of a car, so I managed to keep my food down (so far).
The weekend was crazy. I've mentioned having a big family, right? So there were lots of introductions despite trying to keep Aidan from being overstimulated. He slept nine hours last night-during the night-and another four this afternoon. Tonight he finally admitted to being sleepy at 10:30 (11:30 by yesterday's time, so almost noon by Beijing time).
He loves his father. That, of course, was inevitable-my husband is a great father.
Our last days were largely uneventful. I skipped out on any tour activites and we explored Shamian Island instead. We found a park with playground equipment for Aidan, ate at a strange restaurant, discovered the hotel pool and did a minimal amount of shopping.
I don't know where this famous sofa is at the White Swan Hotel-I never found it. Without a travel group, I know we missed out on other things as well. Most adopting Americans here are not very friendly. Thank you to the lady from Florida who I met at the pool, to the lady from Virginia who I met at the oath swearing ceremony, to the couple from Wisconsin who were down the hall and then on the first plane with us, and especially to the lady from Kansas who we first met in Beijing and then saw again here-you made up for the rest of them.
We left for the airport on Friday but of course our check-out was complicated, even though I checked out on Thursday night with my guide's assistance. I found the front desk staff at the White Swan to be friendly and almost incompetent. But we finally got out and into the air.
Aidan slept about four hours total on our long journey-the seats were too small for him and he has never had to sleep in a chair before anyway. Our flights were uneventful until the last leg of the journey when that flight was delayed by an hour.
Aidan would not look at or stand in the general vicinity of G or his father for at least the first 15 minutes at the airport. He was fine in the car, though, and when we got to my in-laws' house he was himself-friendly, giggly, etc. By the time we got home he was babbling away to G, sitting with him on the couch, letting him carry him around, and generally quite comfortable in his new surroundings.
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