Sunday, May 6 We had an unremarkable flight to Guatemala City.
Monday, May 7th Pedro and Ana arrived with Alice at 10:30 am. Ana gave me a big hug. She was teary, and Alice was asleep. After we got up to our room, Ana handed her to me. When she woke up, she saw me and started sobbing. I had to hand her back to Ana to get her to calm down, which she did immediately. In the meantime, Pedro translated for Ana, and Tom wrote down Alice's sleeping and eating details. We were happy to hear she slept through the night, and wondered if she would do so for us.
Eventually Ana had to go, so she handed me the baby agan. Alice was hysterical, her bottom lip pouted out, then screaming so hard she was shaking. Her grief and rage were epic. I handed her to Tom, because we had read that the babies do better with the dads because they are more unfamiliar as primary caretakers. She was still crying, but did calm down a bit. We took a picture, then I walked Ana to the elevator to say goodbye and thank her over and over gain.
That first day was very difficult, and our first new parent mistake was to stay in the hotel room too long: the scene of the crime! Pedro had assured us that after she fell asleep, when she woke up she would be ok. And that was true, up to a point. There is a picture of her smiling at me while I am feeding her in a previous post, and she had just woken up from the nap she took after Ana left. Well, shortly thereafter, she realized WHO she was smiling at was NOT the person who normally fed her after a nap and she began grieving again. After several hours of this, she was starting to resign herself, so we went for a walk in the hallway and that seemed to be a big turning point. We had email friends from our agency picking up their son Keegan at the same time, and they called to say hi. At about 10pm we went for a short visit to their room, and they couldn't belive the baby we described was the one in our arms. She really had resigned herself, and had stopped crying. After visiting with their dalings kids (Hi Cally!) we went back to our room. Tom slept on the floor next to Alice all night, and the next morning, she woke up and was quiet and observant.
Tuesday, May 8th to be continued . . . ( picking up again on May 15th, baby napping!) We had to get everyone down to the lobby by 6:45 am for our 7:15am embassy appointment. We succeeded, and got to go with Cliff and Colleen and Cally and Keegan with the "Storks" Pedro and Marisol. I should have gotten a picture with them, they were so patient and helpful. (When Pedro was translating for Ana, I asked him how long had a baby ever cried after their foster mother leaving. The answer: 12 hours straight. We are so lucky!) So at the emabssy, we were treated to the latest in Central Amercian embassy bomb barricades. Sadly, no cameras or even cell phones were allowed so we don't have any pictures. There were a fair number of people that habing out in the front, and we seemed to go through an adoptive parents line pretty quickly to get in. We then sat in a normal governmental waiting room for several hours, while Pedro and Marisol took our papers to the window. Finally we were called into a tiny room where we handed over more paperwork. I think they asked us her birthdate, and that was it. Then we waited more, and were called to window number 8, and frankly, I cannot remember what happened. I signed some stuff and we just chatted. What the heck did I sign, I wonder now!!! I was holding my baby, and could think of nothing else. We were back at the hotel by 10:30 am for a nap.
Then we went to Antigua with our new friends, the Seymours. Alice and Keegan did FANTASTIC! We toured a small coffee plantation, went to some ruins, more ruins, a church, and capped it off with shopping. The kids smiled and napped and ate and slept through it all! We had dinner together that night at the hotel, and then we all crashed and Alice slept through the night!
Oh, and I just remember, this night, I had a feeling she would sleep through the night if we had a crib to put her in, so I had Tom call the front desk. He warned me that we were on the executive floor and they would make us go to the family floor, but I just couldn't BELIEVE they would make us pack up our entire room and baby at 10pm. Well, guess what. I was enraged. It wasn't pretty. But move we did. And my being so mad accomplished nothing. AND, we all got a good nights sleep. So, there you have it.
Wednesday, May 9th The only thing we had to do today was to relax by the pool and wait for Pedro to bring us Alice's Guatemalan passport and Visa at 4pm. Here is how much I adore my daughter:
(Re: I am willing to post a completely unflattering photo of self)
So, we hung out by the pool, had some lunch, got our packets from Pedro, had dinner with the Seymours again. Really, it was very relaxing. Which was good because . . .
Thursday, May 10th We had to get up at 3:45am to catch our 7am flight. We did it, and Alice had a spectacular poop in the airport lounge. We were very happy about not only because she didn't wait till we were in the air, but also because she actually hadn't pooped since Monday when we had her. She was so stressed, poor thing. She also did't eat or drink much that first day, and her diapers were knd of dry. That has all changed. No photos, but you can trust me as a reliable source on that account.
The plane rides were relatively uneventful. She slept both times. We went through immigration in Miami, which again was painless. We just haded them a sealed packet from the American embassy, along with her passport. We have no idea what they did with it. In a couple of weeks we will get her certificate of citizenship, and then can readopt her here in the US, get her a social security number, officially change her name, etc. (And we thought the paperwork had ended--ha!)
She played with toys on the plane, smiled at her neighbors, ate. Got a wet diaper change stretched across Dad's lap. Got bored a couple of times, at which point we gave her an empty water bottle to crinkle.
In Miami we got to eat at the Cuban restaurant at the airport--yum. It was still light when we got to Boston, and gorgeous. It took us a little while to find the car, but she was s good. I sat in the back seat with her just in case, and she selpt, woke up. She is definitely used to a car seat and thinks the motion of the car is perfect for power naps. We will have to break her of that habit before she turns 16.
Down the street from our home is a Mexican restaurant and we ate there both Thursday and Friday nights. The staff there think she is pretty cute! Since getting home, we had diner Saturday night with Eve and Evan and Jule and Zhou and their kids. Alice was pretty quiet and observant. She thought Zhou was pretty awesome though--Julie conjectured she thought he was Guatemalan!
Sunday we went to the Boston garden and met up with Clare and Brenda with their moms and kids. It was Mother's Day, so the place was mobbed. She loves being outside though, watching the wind in the trees. We had a great time--she is very portable. The past couple of days, we haven't really left the house much. I am still trying to get everything sorted from the move, and we are trying to find a routine.
She has been sleeping through the night. I started using the Baby Whisperer method to get her down at night. Basically, the theory is that you need to get the baby comfortable with the inevitable. Here is how it works in our home:
Alice makes all the head scratching, eye rubbing, sleepy indicators. I put her down, and the minute she starts to fuss, I pick her up till she quiets down. Then, I put her down again. The first night, this took about 30 times of up and down. The next night, under 20. The next, 6. By the 3rd night, the minutes she clamed down in my arms, she would start leaning toward the crib, as if to say: Ok, I know the routine, let's get it over with! I might put her down and she would cry again, but the minute she calmed down in my arms, she would lean toward the crib again. It was kind of hilarious, actually.
Now, last night was kind of tragic again, and I actually ended up giving her a bottle and she fell asleep while eating. The Sleep Whisperer does mention a baby that took hundreds of up and downs to get the idea. But basically, the theory is that every night of doing this, it gets easier and you do fewer ups and downs. She is in a crib, and it is in our room with us, so that might be helping too. I can say that for today's afternoon nap, I only had to pick her up 2 x's (with leaning!--too funny). I generally try and stay in the room with a project (e.g., folding laundry) until she is asleep. Then I can leave her.
She did come to us with a cold, and we were able to get her to a pediatrician on Friday, which was nice. They said she is doing great. We have a regular appointment scheduled for a month from now. For food, she has started drinking more bottles, which is good, so her appetite seems to be back. We also started feeding her green smoothies, and she loves them. We feed her with a sppon, they are so thick. A standard recipe would be:
banana
pear
blueberries
water
blend
add kale
blend
This is what we drink in the morning, and she loves them. So thanks to Peggy and Curtis for turning us on the green smoothies! It was funny, because one morning Tom hadn't added blueberries, and Alice was not impressed. Too green! So we took a little and reblended it with blueberries and she chowed. Tom also made her chicken with pepper and tomatoes last night and she loved it. Broccoli and rice cereal . . . not so much! She doesn't have any teeth yet, so everything is getting pureed in the blender. My friend Dana inspired us to make our own food for her. Hopefully we can get into good enough habits now that we can ontinue once we start work/daycare in the Fall.
So that is the report. She is so adorable. We are all doing great. We miss everyone and hope to have visitors soon!
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