TODAY'S NEWS!

Last night's sleep I mucked up and gave in at my bedtime, two and a half hours later she went back to bed and we both finally got some sleep. Tonight I will go to bed, exhausted, with a renewed iron-will!

Another relatively simple day. Back to swimming lessons this morning. Alice did well considering she hadn't been in the water for 4 weeks. D and A weren't swimming after the lesson (as they've closed the creche, ugh), so I joined the other Mums for a coffee - fab. It was really good to properly get to know them and chat, I vow to do it again - next week hopefully!

Home for lateish lunch, nap time went fairly smoothly but resulted in another nasty nappy - those teeth are really making Alice suffer.

Then we went into Usk to get some errands completed - including another visit to the framing gallery - I hope to have the prints, embroideries, Chinese characters framed and home by the end of the week!

Back at home we had a while to play before supper - you'll notice that the TV is on (again) but only to play a CD. Alice 'danced' through her playing. Favourite toys continue to be the breakfast set (especially the wooden flower), the farm animals and the shape sorter.

Despite teething, food is a big 'YUM!' at the moment!

I kept Alice up for a while longer than usual - we went upstairs at 6.30pm and she was in bed for 7ish. I've started to stay with her for 5-10 minutes after going into her bed - to try and calm her, she still cries when I leave but it's much more of a token effort than a real cry as it used to be. She was asleep by 7.30pm (Hooray!) but has moaned and groaned a bit through the evening and she'll probably stir when I go to bed.

Overall a good day, she stayed in routine and the routine (tweaked) is working more effectively again, hooray!!

CLOTHES

. . . cropped dungarees . . . in January . . . January?

Well, with woolly tights and a vest!

Why?

'Cause the child keeps growing!!

I bought these lovely, cropped dungarees, in the end of summer sale in September - when Alice was still in the same size as age clothing. They're lovely dungarees, pink and white and very soft, they look really comfy and they were a bargain! When I bought them I thought Alice would wear them through next (2008) summer, but she's already well into a lot of 18-24 month clothing. So I thought that she'd better get on and wear them (with seasonal adjustments!!)

Needless to say - I'm very relieved that once clothing goes beyond 24 months the sizes are supposed to last for 12 months! (Remembering that 12-18 months has lasted less than 4!)

BLOG CHANGES

. . . more photos!

They're in the 'bits' at the bottom of the right hand column - monthly photos of Alice since July 07, I'd like to turn them into Archive links but so far all experiments have failed!! Even if they don't work as links I think it's incredible to see the changes over just 6 months.

ALICE'S DAY IN 1 PHOTO

Hands constantly in her mouth . . . dribble . . . lots of dribble . . . rosy cheeks . . . nasty nappies . . . sore bottom . . . high temperature . . . and a little grumpiness (only a little) . . . swollen gums . . . teeth!

Poor baby. x

PHOTOS

You may have noticed that many of my photos aren't works of art - not well framed, Alice not looking towards the lens, etc . . . that's because I take them while she's occupied - playing, watching the TV, tormenting dogs, eating, all sorts.

These are some of my favourites from today - not beautiful photographically, but there's something special about the expressions!

ANOTHER QUIET DAY

The magnificent T came to work this morning - she's usually here on a Monday afternoon, so plans changed. We ended up sorting Christmas presents - finding them homes and rearranging the play room. The sofa is now opposite the French windows (where it was originally, 7 years ago when the yellow room off the kitchen changed from the dining room into a sitting room!) The toys have new homes and Alice has definitely played with the trampoline more since the reorganisation.

I've also moved Alice's furniture around - the playpen has moved infront of the shelves (next to the dog's sofa). I've swapped her seats around - the rocking chair's gone away and the Doomoo beanbag's come in. She's already explored the Doomoo and sat on it for a while (several minutes!) as well as tasting every part of it (nylon top with rubberised sides). So far the Doomoo's been more successful than the rocking chair (which she can't get into independently).

The room does feel smaller with the sofa in the middle of the room, but the toys have better placement and should need less tidying away. Also it means that the sofa isn't blocking the radiator. I'm not sure how long it will stay this way, but (hopefully) the furniture will be back from Freshwater in February - so it'll be time for another change then!!

MAYBE?

. . . I don't want to jinx anything . . . but . . . maybe . . . a slight improvement . . . with sleeping?

Naps aren't much better - but then they weren't as bad to begin with (Freudian slip that I just typed bed for bad?)

Nighttimes seem better for the last few - Saturday and Sunday she was asleep by shortly after 8pm, tonight before 7.30pm. At my bedtime I'm being hard - she wakes, I check on her (recover with duvet) and then I try to ignore the crying (usually only a minute or 2) and we both get a full night's sleep in our own beds. Tonight I also left bedtime routine a bit later - she was in bed for 7.10pm instead of 6.45pm and asleep within 20 minutes, still some crying but less and I'm a lot more relaxed now!

For now she seems to have given up on the bedtime bottle - I'm going to keep offering it for a while in the hope that this is a temporary glitch. We've finally made the transition to 'normal' bottles from the disposable travel system - that maybe why she's not drinking at bedtime, but it's not making a difference during the rest of the day.

MORE PHOTOS WITH AAAAAAARRRRRRRRR!!

[Photos from 30th and 31st Dec 07]

It just goes to show how much Alice loves Aarr - it's very easy to find photos of them both together!

AAARRRRRRRRR!

[Photos from NYD!]

We were reading books this evening before bedtime. One of Alice's favourites is a 'First Words' book with lots of labelled pictures on themed pages. One of the pages is jungle animals on one side and domestic and farm animals on the opposite pages. (Remember that one of her fav toys at the moment is the farm from GFN.) She tries to say, 'Moo, baa, dog,' for the appropriate animals but I was most struck by her consistently saying, 'Aaarrr!' when she looked at panda!! She makes the same noise when anyone cuddles Panda - but I thought that it was a reaction to the cuddle, not a name for Panda!!

No doubt that she continues to love books and Panda and that she's communicating and understanding more every day.

WALKING - A PROGRESS REPORT

Alice is much steadier on her feet. She's standing for longer periods of time - over 10 minutes at once yesterday. She's now using the plane as a walking aid - it was too quick for her until recently.

CATCHING UP - SLEEP AND TEETHING

Lots of quiet days at home with a few trips out and about - mostly mundane things like visits to the supermarket!

Alice is teething, lots of teeth are coming at once - about 8 I think, premolars and molars. Owch! During the day she's fine, you wouldn't know that her gums were swollen and tight with teeth. But nighttimes are different.

Sleep has been a big non-event in this house recently - especially at night. Alice had been in a really good and effective routine - upstairs just after 6pm, alternate nights a bath then babygrow, bottle in the rocking chair, baby sleeping bag and a kiss before going to bed with the mobile projecting lights onto the ceiling and some music playing. In bed for 6.45 and asleep by 7.15. Unfortunately this routine was disrupted the week before Christmas - whether it's the disruption over Christmas or teething, the routine is not working at the moment. Some nights it's taking Alice over 3 hours to go to sleep, nearly every night she is waking as I go to bed, screaming and screaming before I bring her into my bed where she'll continue to cry gently for a while before kicking me through the night and then using me as a jungle gym at about 5.30am (usually she wakes at about 8am). So by 6am she's back in her own bed (brief scream, less than 60 seconds) before sleeping until 8.30am - by which time I'm bruised and exhausted. Not fun. Not pretty. Not going to continue if I can help it.

So what am I doing about it? Keeping life simple. Keeping to a routine. Staying with her and trying to calm her when she screams. Not taking her into my bed (we both suffer).

Is it working? Well for the past 2 nights she's been asleep by just after 8pm (an improvement but not good enough). Last night she pitched an absolute fit, screaming, raging, etc, I went to her and put her in my bed to calm down - within minutes of being moved she was completely fine, flirting, giggling and ready for fun.

An adoption issue? Problems with attachment? Or usual control issues from almost toddlers? I don't know, probably a combination of all 3.

[I know that this is fairly personal stuff - I'm sharing it so that those readers who are also contemplating or have undertaken adoption will be aware of the issues as well as the wonders.]

BETTER THAN SLIPPERS, EVERYDAY!

Alice is in bed, she should be asleep, but she isn't, yet . . . more of that to come in it's own post!

I've been catching up on admin, but I had to share the view beneath my desk - a pile of blankets and bedding and a pile of dogs, snoring. They're such good company, they're so good with Alice and they keep my feet warm! Although 3 were asleep, the moment I moved to take the photo, Fusspot looked up - when I moved away earlier (when I realised that there was a photo opportunity) both Cavaliers followed almost instantly, so I had to do some more catching up before I could try again for the photo!

MORE CUDDLES!

Great day, simple day.

A quiet day at home with a few friends around for coffee and chat, lovely.

Sleep's still an issue. Alice is still taking a long time to go to sleep, especially in the evening. She cries slightly when I leave the room, but only for moments. Despite yawning, eye rubbing etc she is taking several hours to fall asleep in the evenings - that's not the worst of it, she's tending to wake screaming when I go to bed, not so quick to settle then either. Not sure if it's an adoption issue or (I think more likely to be) a control issue.

Pickles became the most favoured cuddly today - Pickles and I got lots of cuddles and I got lots of kisses too.

The magnificent T and I took down all the Christmas decorations while Alice explored her cot at naptime. Usually the tree is down well before New Year, but Alice really enjoyed it this year, so I did too and so it stayed up longer!

12 MONTHS MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE!

Photo 1 - W and J with Wooh, waiting for Whatshername.








Photo 2 - nearly 12 months later, Alice is home and Blob will be here in 3 months!

REVIEW OF 2007 - 1st HALF, BEFORE ALICE!

January

• A lot of worry and refreshing websites about referrals - even the worst estimations only reckoned on 3 more months to wait (it was actually 4 more!)
• I returned to work part-time and loved it.
• I was waiting for the builders to start replacing windows.
• I ordered the rocking chair for the nursery.
• 'Whatshername' was almost definitely going to be Clara - and referred to as Clara on the blog!
  

February

• Lots of time spent starting a memory book (needs lots more done as I haven't done any for months and months - not since referral!)
• Lots of time spent browsing nursery fabrics, no decisions reached!
• Rocking chair arrived - hardly used then, used nightly now.
• Lots of time spent looking at pushchairs - my short list kept growing and neither of the p'chairs I've ended up with are on the list!
• A name poll on the blog would have 'Whatshername' called Charlotte (nearly 29%), Alice only got 11%
• The builders started replacing the windows, then it snowed!!
  

March

• I listened to rumours and thought that I could be included in the next batch of referrals - due to arrive early in April, I was wrong and pretty devastated.
• Another Mothering Sunday spent waiting was very hard.
• A fab family wedding - at times I struggled being there still not knowing about my baby.
• Nerves becoming increasingly frayed as I struggled to focus on anything other than WHEN.
  

April

• Spent the beginning and the end of the month haunting the internet to find out if my date had been matched.
• Referrals at the beginning of April only covered 2 days - not only was I not included, but this then cast a lot of doubt as to how much longer I would have to wait, ugh.
  
• The middle of the month seemed to last forever (between referral batches).
• I worked on putting a care package together - as it turned out it would never be sent as Alice's orphanage don't distribute the contents until the day the child meets their parents.
• I dreamed of a holiday, I needed a holiday but couldn't risk booking one being so close to referral!
• Family birthdays and parties, good (distracting) fun!
  
• I finally found out that my date had been matched - had to wait until May to find out if I was definitely included (just reading the last entries in April has made me cry all over again).
  

May

• Huge numbers of visitors to the blog, waiting with me.
• China's rules for adoptive parents changed on the 1st - making me ineligible for future adoptions.
• Then I heard the best news of my life - I'd been matched!
• The other UK family that were matched also had a baby from the same CWI - we'd be travelling together.
• I heard the basic details - name, age, province and gender (I had to ask!)
  
• I started shopping for my baby - more shopping as she was so much younger than I could possibly have hoped for.
• A week after hearing the basic details I had more detail - paperwork and photos.
• More baby shopping - nursery things, cotbed, changing table
• I went to a seminar in Birmingham - for the first time I was identified as 'Whatshername's Mum!'
• Lots of thinking about 'Whatshername' and what her name would be!
  

June

• Lots of travel plans, visas, guides - lots of emails, phonecalls and a bit of stress too!
• A trip to Dad's and first meeting with E and Princess A.
• Final decisions on nursery colour schemes - decorating began, carpet laid and curtains ordered.
  
• Report writing distracted me for a minute or two!
• Last day at work for a while.
• Travelled to Kunming in China!

(The more important 2nd half of 2007 will have to wait - I'm off to bed!)

6 MONTHS - WHAT A DIFFERENCE

I read many blogs - I look at the comparison photos and can't believe the changes.

I look at these photos and am even more amazed - I recognise the baby in the first photo but it seems like a lifetime ago, did somone switch her in the night? When did she get so big and grown up? WOW.

MORE PHOTOS FROM TODAY!

6 MONTHS WITH MY BABY

. . . but where'd my baby go?!

In the past month:

• Alice has gained 2 more teeth (first molar or premolar top left and the tooth in front) and more are very close to breaking through.
• Her hair is now long enough to clip back - it need it!
• She's babbling more and more, with more real words coming in too.
• Since Christmas she's now saying 'Ta,' and giving a thank you kiss for clean nappies, bottles, meals and for free sometimes too (kisses were in short supply for a day or 2 around Christmas, but she's re-found her supply now!)
• She's much steadier on her feet - standing without support for longer and longer, walking unaided should happen very soon.
• This month her favourite toys are all Christmas presents - the farm from GFN, breakfast set from GMA, roly musical shape sorter and small panda. Favourite foods continue to be satsumas, fromage frais, cheese and chocolate, her favourite meal is roast chicken with all the trimmings.
• This month she tried drinking from a cup - she got pretty good until I swapped her back to bottles to get her to drink more.
• She's also become more affectionate - initiating more kisses and cuddles and sharing Panda.
• She gives me panda to hug, then I give her panda and she hugs panda, then I have panda back again and we share a hug - every handover is accompanied by 'Ta,' and every hug is accompanied by 'Arrr!' It's very sweet and we both get obvious enjoyment from it.
• The only negative is that sleeping is an issue at the moment - she's taking longer and longer to fall asleep (especially in the evening) and sometimes cries going into her cot.
  

2008

Happy New Year!