We're home!!!!! The plane trip was uneventful compared to some trips that have been in the news lately and I was extremely grateful to the Lord for a trip free of aeronautical mishaps. Inside the calm exterior of all our flights, however, mayhem ruled. A special thank you to the man who sat in front of Tobey on the 14 hour flight and graciously endured having his seat back kicked and pushed when Tobey wasn't busy gagging into the little bags provided for your discomfort convenience. The poor child has terrible motion sickness which began early in our trip on the bus to the airport. Tabitha was so out of sorts and so tightly wound that she could only sleep in ten minute increments that were punctuated with intervals of screaming. I know her little body must have ached, as mine did, because she kept yelling out, "You're hurting me!" I wasn't doing any such thing but got a lot of odd looks from fellow passengers. We endured three plane rides somehow and looked forward to hearing the announcement to put your tray tables and seats in the upright position and strap yourself in your tiny seats. And for those of you in first class, cover your hot tubs, return your personal masseuse to his/her seat and quit lolling about in your luxury reclining seats while the attendants feed you grapes. Yeah, I was a little envious of those superior accommodations.
Tobey has done quite well in adjusting to his new home. He is really a remarkable and intelligent child. When we finally pulled up to our home and told him in Mandarin that he was home his little face lit up with the biggest smile you have ever seen. He ran to our front porch and climbed in Tabitha's little plastic car and used it inside for the rest of the evening. He has played non-stop since we got home. We did have to make a trip to WalMart for a baby doll for him since Tabitha would not share hers. He loves dolls and live babies and is very gentle and caring with them. While at WalMart, I also got him a bicycle and helmet. He loooves his new bike and wears the helmet and little knee pads most of the day. When he isn't riding his bike around the house, he has his new ge ge (word for big brother, pronounced guh guh) carry him around. He loves his big brother. When Ge ge is home, he is Tobey's favorite mode of transport. In fact he loves everything about his new home except our dogs and bedtime.
We're still ironing out that twelve hour difference in time and that whole jet-lag phenomenon. The first morning the kids got up at 4:30 am, second morning at 12:00 noon. I got them up at 10:00 a.m. yesterday and plan for a little earlier today. Night time has been awful since Tobey does NOT want to be alone despite the fact that we were told he did sleep alone in his foster home. Tabitha complicated matters by screaming for me when I tried to sit by him to get him to sleep and one of the nights I had a stomach upset again that kept me up most of the night. Finally last night I compromised with the two children and slept with them in Tabitha's bed, queen size, thankfully.
Tobey has met his nieces and had fun playing with them. He calls them "friends" in Mandarin. It will take a while for that relationship concept to get ironed out. It's hard for adults to figure out! We celebrated his big sister's 30th birthday last night. Wow, I have a 30 year old daughter and a 31 year old daughter and a 24 year old son. And a 3 year old and a 5 year old... Geesh, what was I thinking?!!! Oh well, no time for thinking now!
Monday, January 26, 2009
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5 comments:
i'm so happy to hear that you're home! terrific!
let me know if toby is still having trouble with motions sickness, most older kids coming home have it for a while.
tahnks for the update.
Jennifer,
He still has terrible motion sickness. Any help in that area would be great. He feels ill going to the grocery store.
I'm glad you made it home. I enjoy reading your humorous, sarcastic posts! Hang in there...
Another "soon-to-be" Guilin mom
P.S. Did you get to the orphanage or school?
mom2eliza, I didn't get to visit Guilin City because we traveled with only one other couple whose child was not from Guilin. It would have been too difficult for my small agency to get just us there. Maybe another (non-adoption) trip. After they invent teleportation. Good luck with your trip!
Last summer when we took the famlily cross-country for so long, we gave everyone something called Ginger Trips (chewable for the kids) made by Solaray. We got it at New Leaf. No one was motion sick even in wretched Death Valley.
Maybe this will help.
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