Jet Lag - It's the New Black

(This is the first of several "what happened next" blog updates.  This is what happened next.  The sentences in quotes come directly from my notes on that day.)

July 29 

She looks so worried here, I just want to hug her.

We went to eat lunch with the family
who couldn't make it to the airport the day before.
I was shocked that we could, that she'd be okay with us doing it.
But honestly, her life had been so topsy-turvy for so long,
what was one more car ride, one more meal with strangers, one more exhausting day?

Finally, back in Daddy's lap.

A big brother and his little sister.

"Fell asleep IN my clothes tonight….so tired."


                                                                                                   
July 30

I woke up this morning, my eyes cracked open, I looked around our bedroom, and I thought,

“This is a BIG, nice, hotel room…where are we…oh, we’re home!”

So far, Lyric loved Middle Child and he loved her but she was not in his space so much.  He's a kid who lives inside of his head a good bit so, when he'd had enough, he'd “leave” and go to his room or to play video games.  Wild Child and Lyric had a bit of a turf war. Wild Child was the youngest and he was my cuddle baby so they were definitely in each other's "space."  They'd both want in my lap, so I'd put one kid on one leg and one on the other.  Even then she'd fuss at him and push on him.  He was very nice and very understanding.  At one point I'd put her in her bed with a bottle and cuddled Wild Child and, even after she'd fallen asleep, he was still cuddling me.  I overheard Bea telling Wild Child that while he’d had his momma for almost 5 years, Lyric had only had me for about 2 ½ weeks.  He did seem to get it.

Lyric had her first doctor's appointment, everything went well. Lyric screamed of course. The doctor did take one look at Lyric's catheter and then called and got Lyric's Urology appointment moved up to that Thursday.

“That catheter is like an open wound, it’s a constant possible infection.”

Yep, we've all been saying that, for how long now?  :)

We all went to the airport to see off Poppa T and Nana Bea.  How do you say "thank you" for something so huge?  Thank you!  We'll miss you!

By that night, I was exhausted, I fell asleep on every horizontal service - Lyric’s floor, Wild Child’s bed with Wild Child, Middle Child’s bed with Middle Child.

Lyric did not sleep in any sort of predictable manner.  She'd fidget and wake up constantly, her bottle and my presence did seem to soothe her.  On this night she woke up and sat up,and cried until we got toys and put them in the bed with her.  She was AFRAID of the dark so there was a light on and a playing child in our bed while we tried to sleep, desperately.  When she did sleep, she slept totally curled up under me, like she was digging into a safe spot- until finally she'd hit that level of deep sleep where she slept really well but by then I'd have to get up with the boys.

I still hadn't put my ring back on, I don’t think that I felt like I’d really gotten home yet.

"I’ve finally hit the wall with JET LAG, the best word I’ve heard used for it is 'BRUTAL.'  Yep, sums it up pretty well."



July 31

Wild  Child and Lyric were still fighting over me.  Wild Child was in my lap, watching Lyric fuss because he was there, and he told me,  "She wants the most of you."  He alternated between telling her, "You can't have my Legos," and trying to make her happy by bringing her her own toys to play with.

Lyric had shaking her head "no" down to a fine art.

I was still so tired, that night I fell asleep in the truck on the way home from dinner (Shop for groceries? Cook? Are you kidding me?) and I don't even remember getting out, I stumbled to the couch and could NOT open my eyes. K-Man bathed the kids, treated Lyric and put them all to bed for me.  Lyric woke me up at some point and I drug her to bed with me and K-man. She tossed and turned all night.

"American Girl?  Pshaw, Mom! I've got this covered!"

They DO like each other.

Aug 1

 

The jet lag continued to hunt me down like a tiny animal. I didn’t think I’d make it through the day that morning but I got a nap that afternoon and it was the wonderful and rare kind of nap where I woke up before some little someone woke me up.

"Good Lord, it wasn't so bad going OVER there. Coming home is kicking my butt."

The night before I'd put my ring back on, so we were making some progress.

"Lyric went to sleep tonight with a minimum of trauma and she’s still there (the longest she’s ever stayed in two weeks so <crosses fingers>) maybe the worst is behind me.  I hope so because we have to be in B’ham tomorrow morning at 9am for her Pediatric Urology appointment."

Nearly a month before, we'd celebrated Lyric's second birthday.
We'd saved a piece of cake for her in the freezer.

After the boys finished their pieces they went over to watch Lyric eat hers.
She was a constant source of curiosity for the boys.

.Aug 2

"Sleepy"...one can hope, right?

Wild Child, who had been completely poppy-free for almost a year, commandeered one of Lyric’s poppies. Not that she cared, she was completely happy sucking on the nipples of her bottles.  My almost 5 yo (in days, he'd be five) decided that he needed that poppy. He was funny. It was tiny against his face and it spent most of its time as a tank or bad guy or other addition to his toys but every now and then he'd feel the need to remind himself that he could suck on it if he wanted too.  Bless his heart, this had been tough on him.( I've since found pictures of Middle Child doing the same sorta of stuff right after Wild Child was born.)

It was hard on both of the boys, Middle Child, who HATES kisses, kissed ME on the cheek long and hard and said, “ I missed you!” that night at bedtime.

Awwww Moments:
When I realized that my adopted daughter had begun using the term “Mama” indiscriminately whenever I was around.
When I realized that my adopted daughter had begun wrapping her free arm around my upper arm or my neck whenever I carried her, a sure sign that she was beginning to “melt into me” and thus bonding was begining to occur.

Duh Moment:
When I picked up my adopted daughter after a prolonged bit of crying and felt her big burp. This caused me to realize that my adopted Asian daughter had eaten nothing much more than bland noodles and rice congee, in her WHOLE LIFE, before she'd met me about three weeks before that moment…and that I'd fed her Mexican for dinner.


"Dare I say it out loud? 'I may live.' "