First Few Days Home

Our first night home, J was way too overstimulated, had had an erratic sleep schedule during travel and was still on Korea time, which all equaled not sleeping, or sleeping hardly at all. We pulled a trundle bed into his room next to the crib and one of us stayed with him the whole night, though I can't say the one who was in there was getting much sleep. We had a few hours of awake time and then cat naps, but all of us finally slept for four hours straight around 10:30/ 11:00. Thursday night was also not a good sleeping night. He would fall asleep while in our arms being rocked/ swayed while standing, but then as soon as he was in the crib, it was up again. Got another good 4 hours in from 5-9 am which was at least closer to the night time here than on Thursday's long sleep.

When he was awake on Thursday, he enjoyed exploring the toys both in his room and the family room. He really enjoys crawling around in the pile of toys, but always returns to whichever parent is sitting with him after a few minutes. His favorite toy so far is probably the activity platform thing on legs that he can pull himself up to and stand while hitting buttons to have cool music play. The telephone (that classic pull toy with eyes that move) would be a close second.

The high chair was a fight the first time we put him in it. Screamed for a bit again, but then the magic Gerber Puffs appeared on the tray and then it was all good. He even let me feed him in the chair. It didn't work the second time though, but every time since then we have put him in it and he has eaten a little. I don't know if he didn't like the foods I was feeding or what, but last night he only ate a little bit before fussing again. I'm trying to do three times a day in the high chair for solids/ baby food, in addition to his bottles.

The stroller was also not a hit at all. We had known from the foster mom that he always squirmed if put in a stroller and didn't like it. Well- that would be an understatement. Another screaming fit until we took him out of it. Going to keep trying with exposure to that, just for a little bit each day, inside the house and around our neighborhood to the mail box before we take him out in public in it!

Friday morning, I went to collect the cats from the boarding place to bring them home also. J screamed the first time he saw them, just a quick type "Oh my gosh what are these creatures!" Then throughout the day, he allowed them to get closer and closer to him. They were both also still checking him out, wondering who this strange loud tiny new being was at home. With daddy's help, he even petted one before trying to go to bed Friday night. Yesterday, he started reaching for the cats on his own if they were curious enough to get close to him, though J hasn't yet figured out that he could crawl and chase them around.

We tried to keep him up as much as possible on Friday to get him to sleep better Friday night. I was at my wit's end after only two exhausting nights. Luckily I received an e-mail from L, my friend who just had her daughter arrive home from Korea as well. She told me about a baby sleep "program" they were trying with Baby G and it worked for them. I think what we are trying is actually modified from a few different controversial books out there about how to feed your baby/ get them to sleep- just the good parts of those books.

I immediately started implementing her suggestions and so far, so good. What we are trying to do is get J used to sleeping on his own in the crib, and to learn how to comfort himself if he wakes up, but also still be there for him when he needs us. We let him cry for only 5 minutes before going in to pick him up and comfort him, but then put him back in the crib before he falls back asleep on us. If he continues to fuss, I let him cry for 10 minutes before returning again. As long as he calms down and doesn't seem hungry, or have a dirty diaper, back in the crib he goes. Will take some reinforcement, but we did all get more sleep on Friday night and naps went better on Saturday as well. He has even been able to get himself back to sleep in about 30 seconds a couple of times. Last night he slept for a full 7 hours without a peep, and is actually still sleeping, though I was wide awake at 6 a.m. (Hence the early morning blog post.)

If you are still reading this, you are probably my family, close friends, or have your own baby coming home soon! I won't be posting as frequently as I have before, now that our journey to bring J home is over, however I will continue to post occasionally. For now, I will keep this blog public, but if I start getting weird stalkerish type comments or find pictures of my child elsewhere on the web, it will become private. I'll leave you with a few pictures from our first few days home. (Family can expect even more via e-mail, and friends can always see more on Facebook.)