It's about bloggin' time...

Well, this blogger is finally getting back in the saddle. After eight weeks of being home with our little miss it is time to reclaim my own computer time -- that is, when she is sleeping! That has been one of the most difficult things about being home -- finding time for my own activities. Maelyn loves the computer and wants to play with the keys every time I have the computer out -- so for the most part, the computer stays shut during the day. When she is napping, I am usually scrambling to get things done. When she goes to bed, I have been too tired to even attempt to start returning emails or blog. No longer -- sometimes the dishes will stay in the sink and the floors will keep it's evidence of our last meal...it is time to start blogging again!

The question we get asked the most right now is about how Maelyn is adjusting since returning home from China. The overall response? Maelyn has been doing very, very well -- better than we had ever anticipated. She is an amazing little girl who is extremely resilient and has a fantastic personality. All of that being said and even acknowledging that Maelyn is an easy two year old, it was still hard. Paul and I cannot believe that we have only been home for eight weeks -- it feels like we have been home for a year! The child we brought home is difficult for us to recognize in pictures and in stories -- she has changed that much this summer.

The issue that stands out for most parents is that of sleep -- and it has been a journey for us as well! In China, after a few rocky nights, Maelyn slept quite well. She was then and still is a kid that will fight her sleep with the best of them -- total night hawk. If we allowed her, she would stay up later than Paul and I would! When we came home, changing her sleeping pattern by twelve hours was....interesting. We were so tired and jet-lagged ourselves that it was difficult to put up with the erratic hours that we were keeping while Maelyn was making the transition to our time zone. Looking back, it only took about two weeks before her sleeping become somewhat 'normal.' While we were in it, it felt like it took forever.

At the seminars we attended when we were preparing to adopt, we were told about the night terrors that some of the children experience while their brains are processing all of the changes they have experienced in such a short amount of time. Maelyn is most definitely experiencing night terrors. Normally, our little girl sleeps for about twelve hours -- not too shabby, eh? Unfortunately, her night terrors, which happen a few nights a week, wake us up with pounding hearts. It breaks my heart to hear her screaming, but have realized that she doesn't even wake up when this happens and she gets herself back to sleep within a minute or two.
Last night really warmed my heart. We went through her bedtime routine -- which she knows very well - and hugged her goodnight. It is usually at this point that she would possibly start whimpering and trying her best to be allowed to stay up with us. Last night, however, she hugged us goodnight and she was patting and rubbing our backs, just like we pat and rub her back at night. We said goodnight and our 'I love you's' and she babbled back a response with matching syllables (her version of talking at the moment). Maelyn then waved goodbye to us and went to sleep!

Daily, she brings a smile to our faces and we gaze at her in absolute wonder -- what an amazing little girl.

A few pics to share...

Lookin' cool with Auntie Kara

Enjoying a piece of chocolate cake on our anniversary...

Watching Toy Story with Daddy...