No... Tuesday, September 25, 2007 Just under a month from her 2nd birthday, Megan decided to start using the word, "no."  Of course, prior to this momentous occasion, she had many different ways of telling us she didn't want something.  It could be anything from shaking her head to throwing a mini-tantrum (or the full-blown thing).  But, just this past weekend, she started saying, "no."  And, she really seemed to enjoy this wonderful word.  We asked her questions like, "do you want something to eat?"  Megan: "No."   "Is this your da-da?"  Megan: "No".  "Are you a cute girl?"  Megan: "No."  It seemed she was so fascinated by this new method of communicating disagreement that she would use it for pretty much everything. Now, I must report that she hasn't given up her other methods of expressing disagreement.  She still will cry, whine, or even throw something if she doesn't like what is going on.  But, it seems that the word, "no" has now entered permanently into her vocabulary. Lest you get the wrong idea, let me set the record straight... Megan is a wonderful child and all-in-all, is fairly easy on her parents.  So, let me dwell on some really cute moments.  Just recently, Megan had difficulty sleeping a number of nights.  So, we decided to switch back to me putting Megan to bed.  I used to do that all the time, but then we started giving her a choice - and it would usually be ma-ma.  However, for some reason, she tends to go down more calmly when I put her to bed.  We figured perhaps that might help - plus I kind of missed doing that. I decided to go back to my old routine.  I let her turn off the lights, then she goes into her bed.  I then pray with her.  But, this time, she tells me, "do it," which means she wants to do it.  (I know... It's amazing how I figured out that, "do it" means she wants to do it - I'm very perceptive.)  So, I tell her to go ahead.  I hold her hand, and she says, "Dear Jesus," then just kind of mumbles a bunch of stuff.  Then, after a while of doing that, she says in her own way, "A-men."  (Actually sounds more like, "A-meeeean," but very cute.)  Is that cute or what?  I then sing Jesus Loves Me three times or so, with her usually singing parts of it.  Then, I kiss her good night - and that's pretty much it.  She usually plays around in her bed a while before going to sleep, but no more crying just after we put her to bed. Ok - that was really long.  But, I haven't posted in a long time. :-)  I could tell a lot more stories about how much she's changing and growing, but given anyone who is still reading this post deserves some sort of medal for getting this far, I'll stop for now.  Posted by david on Tuesday, September 25, 2007 at 04:11 One year ago today... Saturday, August 25, 2007 One year ago today we received "THE CALL." Anyone who's adopted or who is adopting knows the significance of "THE CALL!" It was the day that our family coordinator from America World called and gave us the news that Jiang Cheng Ding is our daughter. I was here alone shaking like a leaf...David was in Orlando at the time...and remember sitting in the living room frantically writing down all the information that they knew about our little girl. I immediately called David and passed on the information. Fortunately he was flying home that night and was here when the FedEx guy delivered the package containing her pictures the next morning! If anyone is looking for a definition of the word surreal, that's it and I wouldn't trade it for the world. What a blessing this year has been. It is a priviledge to be raising Megan Cheng Ding...she is God's precious gift to us and to all who know her. No one can light up a room like she can, that's for sure! To check out how much she's grown, click on the link to our latest pictures and find the Megan Month by Month album. Our little one has changed so much! Posted by Carolyn on Saturday, August 25, 2007 at 17:54 July Sunday, July 29, 2007 We just got home from a fun evening visiting with Chris and Jocelyn Wolfe and their kids! They are one of the families that were in our travel group to China. Ami has grown so much and is an absolute doll! It was great to visit with them and to meet the rest of their kids as well! It was also fun watching Megan and Ami interact. Megan readily attached herself to Michaela, their oldest daughter...and I do mean readily...like as soon as I got her out of the carseat! All I can say is, "That's my Megan!" They are all great kids and we really appreciate them taking the time to meet us! Megan also went to the beach to play in the surf and sand for the first time this last week. I know that's weird since we live in So. Cal, but what can I say?!? We're not really "hang out at the beach" people. In spite of that, she enjoyed playing in the surf and kept asking for "Mo." Next time I'll make sure she's dressed to get drenched since she wasn't sure what to do when her shorts got wet. Earlier this week, Megan also got to experience her first Orange County Fair. She is not intimidated at all by the crowds, liked seeing all the animals (unfortunately there weren't any expectant animal mommies or newborns this year), tried her first grilled corn on the cob, and LOVED the rides! Plus, her Fair experience was made even sweeter because all three of her grandparents were there! On a more personal note, Megan is growing like crazy. At her June checkup, she weighed 27 pounds and was 33 1/4" tall. At this rate she'll be playing for the WNBA! Her language skills are coming along. She's got about 16 words that she uses regularly and is babbling in a more communicative way. It's fun to listen to, but it'll be great to know what she's actually trying to say! Well, I apologize for not being as eloquent as David, but thought I'd tackle the July update. I'll be posting pictures from this month, including some things that I didn't mention. Posted by Carolyn on Sunday, July 29, 2007 at 01:35 time flies! Monday, June 04, 2007 It's amazing how fast time flies by!  Although we have been posting some pictures, we haven't actually posted an update since March.  Megan continues to do very well and is changing a lot. Megan is a very sweet and social girl.  She loves to hold hands, greet people as we're walking around outside, etc.  We've probably met more people in the seven months we've had Megan than we have in the last two years! :-)  She generally sleeps through the night and eats well.  She's speaking more and more words, which is very fun. Now, before you think, "wow - what an absolutely perfect child!" let me assure you that she does exhibit plenty of signs of the sinful nature! :-)  She has a bit of a temper.  For example, if she doesn't want something or is growing tired at dinner time, she'll start throwing things on the floor.  Or, if some toy frustrates her, she'll chuck it across the room. She's also been known to throw some temper tantrums.  All normal kid stuff, from my perspective, which is why our role in providing a consistent, stable, God-centered family environment is so vital and important.  Even at this young age when most anything she does seems cute and funny, she needs to be trained and guided in the way she should go!  As all of you parents know, that isn't always easy to do. Anyway, both Carolyn and I experience a lot of joy in being Megan's parents.  We also enjoy having a lot of family who live close by.  For part of the summer, we have my dad here, so she's spending some quality time with Grandpa! Thank you for your love and prayers! Posted by david on Monday, June 04, 2007 at 15:30 travel Wednesday, March 28, 2007 We just got home from a week-long trip to North Dakota, where we spent some time with my sister and her husband.  Way back when we planned this trip, I somehow had it in my mind that this trip would be a piece of cake.  We flew Megan all the way from China, so flying within the US should be way easier, right? Well, as we got closer to departing, I soon realized that this would be nothing like the flights from China.  Megan is a completely different girl than she was when we brought her home from China.  She's walking, very active, chattering, curious about everything, wants to get her way all the time - basically the normal toddler ingredients! And, as I suspected, the flights were very interesting.  She did not like being contained at all.  It would have helped if we had bought a seat for her, but we figured we'd take advantage of her ability to fly free until she is two.  We may be re-evaluating that for our next trip! :-) All-in-all, she actually did quite well compared to some kids I've observed on planes.  But, it was a little difficult for her to adjust to the major change in her routine and the confinement of an airplane. Okay - enough about flying!  We had a great time in North Dakota.  It was a blessing for Megan to get to know her Aunt Jenny and Uncle Andrew.  And, she'll get to see them again this summer when they come out to California! We're now back home and getting adjusted to "normal" life.  Although Megan had some trouble sleeping our first night home, she seems to be doing well today and we're hoping she'll get a good rest tonight. Posted by david on Wednesday, March 28, 2007 at 20:43 next steps Thursday, March 15, 2007 We've been home about 4 months now.  In some ways, the time has flown by and it doesn't seem like it's been that long.  In other ways, it feels like this is the way life has always been.  Having a child brought many adjustments and changes to our daily lives, but I wouldn't change a thing! While we feel comfortable as parents and Megan seems to be attaching well to us, the formal process is still not finished!  The next step involves a social worker visiting us to do the 6 month follow-up.  That will happen in May and Carolyn is working on getting that scheduled.  I believe there are some other things that happen in the future, but I can't remember for sure. Anyway, Megan is doing very well and has recovered from that virus she had.  Amazingly, we didn't catch the illness from her; it was a blessing to be healthy while we were taking care of sick Megan!  Next week, we take a little vacation trip to visit my sister and her husband.  This will be their first opportunity to meet Megan.  I'm not sure I'm excited about taking Megan on a plane again, particularly now that she wants to be mobile virtually anytime she's awake.  But, we've put together quite an array of interesting things that will hopefully keep her occupied (and keep us sane)! :-)  I'll let you know how it goes. Posted by david on Thursday, March 15, 2007 at 19:51 illness Monday, March 05, 2007 It's amazing timing... I had just emailed my dad, telling him how it's been amazing that Megan has not gotten sick the whole time we've been back home from China.  I knew that wouldn't last forever - I just didn't expect it to happen so soon after pressing the Send button on that email message! Megan was acting a little more tired than usual and not eating as much as normal.  This evening, the poor girl lost the food she did eat at dinner time in our living room!  Poor thing.  Carolyn took her up to clean her while I had fun cleaning up the living room.  (I won't mention the really stupid thing I did while cleaning up the mess... I'm just not ready to share it given how utterly lame it was... I guess more time needs to pass before I remember it as funny!)  Anyway, poor Megan has a little fever, almost 100.  Not too bad, thankfully.  And, so far, she's sleeping well which is good. Other than this little illness, Megan is doing great and continues to thrive.  I'm enjoying my Fridays with her.  This last Friday, I took her to a park in the morning to play on the playground.  Megan had fun going down the slides and she also interacted some with other kids that showed up.  She had a great day, but was very happy to see her mommy come home! :-) Thank you for your love and prayers. Posted by david on Monday, March 05, 2007 at 01:45 new photos and update Sunday, February 18, 2007 We're now putting our most recent photos on a Google Picasa site.  Please click here to see them!  We continue to have a lot of fun with Megan.  Most every Friday, I get the opportunity of being the at-home parent.  So, I get to do the full daily routine.  It's on these days that I can see how rapidly she is changing and growing.  Sometimes, I'll see something new and find out from Carolyn that she's been doing that thing for a while!  Last Friday, our church offered free childcare to families to allow parents to celebrate Valentine's Day.  Megan has been doing great in the childcare on Sunday mornings - we figured we'd give it a try.  She seemed to do fine and we had fun, realizing that this was the first time since we got back that we did anything with just the two of us. That night, Megan woke up at about 11pm, which isn't too unusual.  After Carolyn went in there, she started screaming.  Carolyn picked her up and she was fine, but started screaming again when she put her back in bed.  After a little while of this, I came in to give it a try.  I decided to try humming, "Jesus Loves Me," which is part of my normal bedtime routine with her.  (She now starts to hum it when she knows we're about to put her to bed - very cute.) That seemed to work - she calmed down and then pretty much slept through the night.  But, we started wondering whether that childcare thing had some sort of impact on her or caused a nightmare.  On the other hand, she may have not been feeling well (she did have some gas after calming down, so may have been having gas pains).  The difficult thing is that she can't just tell us what is wrong! The next day, she was her normal self and went to bed without any trouble.  So, while we need to continue to be sensitive to attachment, we also need to be careful not to overreact.  Too bad there is no user's manual with children! :-) Anyway, we feel blessed and are thankful to God, even during the times that are confusing or difficult.  Thank you for your part in our lives. Posted by david on Sunday, February 18, 2007 at 04:13 January Update Thursday, February 01, 2007 Well, today (or yesterday…depending on how official you want to be) is the 3 month anniversary of our “Gotcha Day.” It’s amazing to think that we’ve only been together for 3 months, when it feels like Megan has always been with us. She’s a great little kid and we’re very grateful to have the privilege of parenting her. Megan is doing great. She’s gained about 5 pounds since we got home, although it feels like a lot more than that when I’m schlepping her up and down the stairs! She is walking all over the place now and will climb/crawl up the stairs, so that’s a bit of a relief on the ‘ole back. It just takes forever to get upstairs! She is also starting to self-feed with a spoon which is messy, but fun to watch her efforts. She likes chicken in its many forms and veggies (still won’t eat many kinds of fruit –just watermelon, apple, grapes, and raisins/Craisins unless it’s hidden in something else.) Now she just needs to cut some molars so she can expand her menu of edible foods. Megan has made huge improvements in bath time. She now goes in alone and actually enjoys it! This was a major stressor for me because with David traveling again, I was wondering how I was going to get us both out of the tub and dried off at the same time! I tried it once, and it wasn’t pretty! Another bridge that we’ve crossed is that Megan has been sleeping in her crib for almost 3 weeks. Prior to that, she wouldn’t even go in it to play with toys. However, as she’s gained weight and lengthened, the Pack’n’play just wasn’t comfortable anymore…kind of like sleeping on a really bad sofa bed. So, we put Megan in the crib one Sunday for her nap since she had fallen asleep in the car and would be none the wiser. Well, apparently she was more comfortable because she’s slept there ever since! Yay! She continues to be a very outgoing little girl. She loves to be out and about or with other kids…makes me feel really bad that she’s currently an only child. She also loves The Wiggles and Elmo. She hums, attempts the hand-motions, and dances along with music. Megan is also starting to babble more and more, and is really working hard to communicate. People who ask about how Megan’s doing are always concerned with whether or not she’s talking, but be assured, she’ll get there. She’s already tackled so many hurdles in such a short time; this one won’t be any different. Posted by Carolyn on Thursday, February 01, 2007 at 00:37 Merry Christmas! Wednesday, December 27, 2006 We just celebrated our first Christmas with Megan, and I finally got around to loading in some more pictures and video clips! Check them out in the Photo Albums and Video Clips sections. It's been amazing to watch Megan grow and change over the past month. She's starting to walk more, cutting more teeth, and her diet is continuing to change regularly. We are continually amazed at how blessed we are with this wonderful child! This Christmas, my Dad was able to come out from the Philippines to meet his first grandchild! He's having a great time and Megan really likes him. Megan also continues to have fun with her cousins: Ian, Jared, Alex, and Noah. It looks like we finally solved the bath time issues! She took her first bath tonight without any whining or crying. Here's the routine... I get into my bathing suit and prepare the bath while Carolyn gets Megan ready. Then, Megan hands her off to me and leaves the room. We found that when Carolyn would stay in the room and help wash her, it was actually a distraction and Megan would continually want to get out of the tub and go to her mommy. So, Megan and I play in the water and with her bath toys. While she is playing and splashing around, I wash her. I also found some ways to get her head wet without freaking her out. (She really did not like it when we would pour water on her head.) After washing her body and hair, Carolyn comes back in just to give a final rinse and get her out of the bath. Works like a charm! We tried it the other way around - with Carolyn in the bath and me coming in to finish things off. The bath part worked great, but when Carolyn handed her off to me, she started crying and wanted her ma ma. And, she kept crying even as I lotioned her and got her in her pajamas! Who can tell what goes on in the mind of a one-year old! :-) Anyway, we appreciate your love and prayers. I hope you had a great Christmas and pray the Lord's peace and blessings on you as we enter the new year! Posted by david on Wednesday, December 27, 2006 at 04:27 random thoughts... Friday, December 08, 2006 It's hard to believe that we've only been parents for a little over one month.  In many ways, it seems like it's always been this way - playing with Megan in the morning when she first wakes up, having her greet me as I come home from work, playing games to try and get her to eat her dinner, being really weird and goofy to make her smile and laugh, and just realizing often what an awesome girl God brought into our lives.  I wouldn't want it any other way! I thought I was going to get more pictures up last weekend - but now it is Friday again and I still haven't gotten to it.  Hopefully, I will be able to this weekend but I won't make any promises! :-) In early January, I go on my first business trip since Megan came into our lives.  It's not a long trip - just Sunday through Thursday - but I'm not looking forward to being separated from Carolyn and Megan.  Thankfully, I'll be really busy with work so the time will go by quickly - then I can look forward to Carolyn and Megan picking me up at the airport!!!  I guess I'll stop typing random thoughts for now in case someone actually reads this and wonders, "what on earth is wrong with that guy?" :-)  I hope and pray that you have a wonderful and blessed Christmas season! Posted by david on Friday, December 08, 2006 at 04:44 watch what you eat... Wednesday, November 29, 2006 Traveling overseas is exciting, particularly when it involves adoption.  In many countries, including China, it is important to be aware of what you are drinking and eating.  For example, tap water is not a good thing to drink in China.  It's also a good idea to be careful where you buy food.  Thankfully, Carolyn and I had no trouble while we were in China. Ironically, we had trouble when we got back home!   On Saturday evening, we got a pizza from a local restaurant and ended up with a fairly bad case of food poisoning.  Thankfully, we're getting closer to being back to normal again.  (Some would argue that I am never normal! :-)  We're very grateful for the help of Carolyn's parents, who came over on Sunday to take care of Megan while we recovered. Megan is doing well overall.  She's getting close to walking, which is both exciting and a little scary! :-)  We have some more pictures that I'll try to get posted this weekend.  This morning, she woke up with a little cough.  We're not yet sure whether she's coming down with something or if this could just be allergies, particularly given how windy it is around here right now.  She doesn't have a temperature, so we're going to keep an eye on this and see how she does. Posted by david on Wednesday, November 29, 2006 at 16:55 Thanksgiving Thursday, November 23, 2006 First, I've posted some new pictures - finally!  Check out a couple of new galleries in the China Trip section of the photo albums, and also some pictures we took since we got home.  It's awesome to be able to celebrate our first Thanksgiving with Megan.  Words cannot describe how blessed we feel to have her as a part of our family.  God is so good! I hope and pray that you and your family have a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving. Posted by david on Thursday, November 23, 2006 at 06:27 pictures coming soon Monday, November 20, 2006 I didn't have time to upload some more pictures as I had hoped, but will try to post some more this week. :-) Posted by david on Monday, November 20, 2006 at 03:43 Megan is sleeping! Sunday, November 19, 2006 Sorry it has been so long since I've posted an update.  It's been busy since we've been back!  This weekend, I'm going to try and get some new pictures posted - so check back on Monday or so. Since I last posted, Megan still had a night or two of difficult sleep.  But, for three nights in a row, she has slept the whole night in the pack-n-play near our bed.  Yeah!!!  On Thursday night, we put her in there and she didn't like it.  She cried for a while, but eventually went to sleep.  She woke up again after about 30 minutes.  I went in, rubbed her back, hugged her, offered her water from her tippy cup, and left the room.  At first, this made her really mad - she wanted me to pick her up!  But, after a few minutes, she went back to sleep on her own and slept the whole night.  The next night, I got her to sleep then put her in the pack-n-play.  She woke up and started crying again.  This time, she was out within maybe three minutes.  Improvement!  She slept 12 hours that night, likely still catching up from the jet lag. Tonight, we went over to Grandma and Grandpa's house for pizza with her four cousins (all boys) and their parents.  On the way home, she fell asleep in the car seat.  We got home, Carolyn got her out of the seat, stuck her in the pack-n-play, and she was pretty much out!  She apparently just made a short little cry, but didn't wake up.  She is overall eating well.  Carolyn is starting to get on a more consistent schedule for her.  We're also just trying to make sure she gets enough milk and stuff since she isn't taking as many bottles as she did when we first got her.  Today, we went to a local park and had a nice day there.  As I mentioned earlier, the evening was a lot of fun - she seems to have a great time with her four cousins.  We're looking forward to many more good times together.  Tomorrow, we plan on going to church for the first time.  Most likely, we'll just sit in the parents' room with her.  At some point, we'll try and get her involved in the childrens program so she can meet other kids. On Monday, we have an appointment with a doctor who specializes with international adoptions.  We're looking forward to getting his input on how things are going and what things we can do to help catch her up developmentally, given she didn't have a normal family life before.  We also hope to find out if there is anything else we can do for her bathtime.  We've tried many different things - even if she just gets her feet wet while fully dressed, she cries.  One thing that is really cool for me is how she greets me when I get home from work.  When I walk in the door, she gives me a big smile and says, "Da Da Da..."  Still not quite a definitive, "Da Da," but she's definitely associated me with that sound.  Oh, and she also knows how to shake her head, "no" when she doesn't want something. :-) Thanks again for your prayers!  We are enjoying parenthood and appreciate the unique person that God created Megan to be.  Again, we'll try to get some more pictures posted soon.  Blessings! Posted by david on Sunday, November 19, 2006 at 02:18 11/13 - 1:30am Monday, November 13, 2006 Previously on 'Megan Fights Bedtime'... Megan tried to play with Daddy... Daddy didn't let her.  Megan got mad!  Mommy came in and fed her a bottle and Megan seemed to take the bottle, calm down, and get sleepy...  ... Now for the current episode of 'Megan Fights Bedtime'!  Megan calmed down and I think she fell asleep for a while while Carolyn rocked her.  Megan then started to try and play with Mommy.  Sigh.  So, Carolyn brought her in to our room to lay down, which worked pretty well the past two nights.  That worked for a little bit, but she again started playing and was playfully slapping and kicking.  This went on for quite a while - Mommy did not like this! :-) Carolyn decided to stick her back in the portable crib thing in our room.  She started to cry.  I think Carolyn is now in there next to the crib - Megan is overall fairly calm, but kind of goes through some short crying fits.  She's very tired, so we're hoping she'll finally just give in and get the sleep she needs. So, we're having fun! :-)  It's just part of life with a one year old, particularly one who is still trying to adjust to a new life and place.  I figure others looking at our web site will enjoy reading this, and perhaps it will make for a memorable and fun journal for Megan to read when she is older.   Thanks again for your prayers.  Hopefully, we will not have too many more sequels tonight of the 'Megan Fights Bedtime' show!! :-) Posted by david on Monday, November 13, 2006 at 05:14 11/12: she woke up... :-( Monday, November 13, 2006 Unfortunately, Megan woke up at about 11pm.  I went in and picked her up.  She still seemed to be sleepy, but it became apparent that she thought it was time to wake up.  She started looking around a lot and wanting to grab things.  I asked Carolyn via the baby monitor whether a bottle with perhaps oatmeal would be a good idea.  Anyway, I went to her room and rocked her for a while.  I hoped that would calm her, but she become more awake - sigh.  She started to reach for toys, which I wouldn't let her do.  But, I wanted to be sure she wasn't just looking for a comfort object - so I gave her one of her cups (her most favorite toy), and instead of calming down she started playing with it!  Oy!!! Playing mean Daddy a bit, I took it away.  She was okay for a minute, but then started to get fidgity again wanting to play.  I wouldn't let her, and she started to cry and get mad.  Carolyn then showed up with the bottle - she did hear me! :-)  I tried that - she took it a little bit, but got really fussy again. I think part of it is that I'm known to her as the playful one.  She plays well with both Carolyn and I, but really Carolyn comforts her better - which is only natural given she's the mother and all of her adult contact prior to us was female.  So, I'm guessing she was confused when I'm hanging around and not playing with her.  (I'm just guessing - she's only one and can't speak, so we're left to speculate.  All of you parents reading this totally understand that I know.) So, Carolyn took over a little while ago and she did take her bottle.  Yeah!!  We're now hoping she'll get sleepy again and go down.  She really needs the sleep.  Worst case, we'll bring her into bed with us again if that's the only way she'll sleep. Anyway, things are progressing - she at least went down peacefully in the evening.  I think once her internal clock gets adjusted to Pacific time, we'll all be in much better shape... in theory!! :-)   Posted by david on Monday, November 13, 2006 at 02:55 11/12 Sunday, November 12, 2006 Last night, Megan did come upstairs with us.  We decided to set up a pack-n-play that some friends at church gave to us in our bedroom.  So, I rearranged the room a bit so we could fit that near our bed.  Unfortunately, that didn't work last night.  She ended up sleeping in our bed, kicking me quite a few times!  So I didn't get much sleep until Megan and Carolyn got up about 8am or so.  Thankfully, Carolyn got some rest even with little Megan sleeping on her, but still not a full night's sleep. Megan had a pretty good day.  Carolyn fed her and played with her while I was sleeping a bit and being a grouch.  She went down for a nap in the pack-n-play at about 11am with no fussing!  She slept in there for about 2 hours, then we woke her up.  That was the first reasonably long nap in a crip-type device since we came home.  In the afternoon, we fed her and played some more.  I decided to break out some Duplo Legos that I bought her at Target last night.  She's a little young for them, but likes blocks and seemed to enjoy taking apart what I put together, or banging them on our floor. :-)  We then decided to go to the grocery store together.  She overall did good in the car seat this time, but was just bothered by the sun.  We installed a shade on her window, but that doesn't cut out all the sun - we'll have to work on that.  She seemed to have fun in the grocery store and was very good while her Daddy bought about everything in sight! :-)  (Bad idea to go grocery shopping while hungry.) In the evening, she had a few meltdowns.  She's just overtired and trying to get used to this new place and time zone.  She ate a reasonable amount, but started getting upset.  I snuck in a few bites while she was crying, which was probably kind of mean, but it worked. :-) Later, we gave her a bath.  We decided to just go ahead and do that daily, even though she currently doesn't like baths.  We want to get her on a consistent routine - we'll just have to experiment with various different things to try and get her comfortable with it.  One thing we may try is having both of us in the bath.  Currently, our routine is for me to change into my bathing suit and go in with her while Carolyn washes her.  But, she spends most of the time crying and trying to get Mommy to lift her out.  So, it might calm her to have both of us sitting in the water - we'll see. After her bath, I played with her for a while and Carolyn made her bottle.  She took the bottle and Carolyn got her down in the pack-n-play!  She's been sleeping in there for over an hour.  So, we've had some success.  We're still not sure whether she'll sleep through the night - her internal clock may still be on China time.  But, at least she's making progress.  Anyway, overall things are going well and we're all adjusting.  Tomorrow, Megan has her first doctor appointment.  Please pray that it goes well and that it isn't too difficult for Megan.  Posted by david on Sunday, November 12, 2006 at 23:50 11/10-11: back home Sunday, November 12, 2006 Carolyn, Megan, and I made it home on Friday at about 3pm or so.  Our last flight was delayed about 3 hours, but it wasn’t too bad.  Megan did pretty well on the plane trip.  The first 4 hour flight, she did great.  Prior to Friday, we were concerned she was developing an ear infection, because she would often pick at one ear.  But, she had no problems during take-offs and landings.  The 2nd almost 9 hour flight was more difficult.  She just got more restless, which is understandable.  Being a tall guy, I get restless on long flights too!  We would often take her for walks around the plane.  We had a longer than expected layover in Seattle, but she slept quite a bit there and slept during the last flight.   We had a small number of family members greet us at the airport - Carolyn's parents, and one of her brothers and his family.  They were prepped about being mellow and not overwhelming her.  That went well and Megan seemed to like it, particularly her two cousins.  She did not like the car seat at all, which we were expecting, but we got home in one piece - although we may have experienced some hearing loss! J  Megan seemed to be fine with the surroundings and did a lot of smiling and playing.    As we expected, sleep has been a bit difficult.  She went down the first night at 7:40pm, but woke up at 10:30pm or so crying.  Carolyn rocked her to sleep, put her back, and she cried immediately.  I gave it a try, and same results!  Carolyn finally brought her into bed with us and that seemed to work - except she is a very twitchy sleeper and likes to roll around a lot.  So, her poor parents got kicked and head butted quite a few times! J  She got up again at 3am or so and was pretty awake.  Carolyn gave her a snack, and she went back to sleep again.  She got up for the morning at 7am.   Her Saturday was pretty good.  She had two naps, about one hour each, and seemed to like her home - as best as we could tell.  She was her normal self - playing, laughing, and interacting with us quite a bit.  I took her for a walk outside in her Jeep stroller, and she seemed to enjoy that.  After eating dinner, she had a bath.  Carolyn tried to use the kitchen sink, since tub baths freaked her out in China.  But, she freaked out with that too!  Carolyn got her all bathed and she calmed down after getting out of the water.    She then got sleepy, so Carolyn put her in her crib at 7:30pm.  She slept about an hour and then woke up crying.  Bummer!  I went in with a bottle, hoping that she’d take it, but as soon as I picked her up, she fell asleep again.  So, I rocked her for 15 minutes or something like that.  I tried to put her in her crib - normally that would work fine - but, she seems to have developed crib radar, and as soon as I put her down, she woke up crying.  Carolyn then tried and she did take her bottle.  But, again, crib radar worked against us and she cried after being put in the crib!   Anyway, she’s now down here in our living room with us sleeping on Mommy.  We’re in the process of thinking through strategies - poor kid is obviously trying to transition to a new environment and time zone, so we just have to figure out the best way to allow her to get some sleep (and us, if possible).    Please continue to pray as we all transition to our life back home, particularly for little Megan.  Thanks! Posted by david on Sunday, November 12, 2006 at 01:35 heading home Thursday, November 09, 2006 We had our last full day in China and are ready to head home!  We leave the hotel at 6am to check in for our first flight. Today, we had a fairly slow day.  We went for our daily breakfast buffet visit, then I took Megan on a walk around the city while Carolyn did some packing work.  Megan played around for a while, then fell asleep while we were walking around.  We then had a quick lunch with Dave, Leanna, and their daughter Martha at McDonalds.  At 3pm. we got in the bus and went to the US Consulate.  Here, we got Megan's US Visa and some other papers needed for immigration along with many other families.  It was great to get the last formality in China completed without a problem. In the evening, we had a nice dinner at the hotel restaurant.  They had a very nice buffet that had most any type of food you could think of.  It was fun enjoying our last evening with the other three families who adopted in the Guangdong province. Anyway, it's been quite a trip!  God is so good.  We feel blessed to be the parents of Megan.  Please pray that the flights home would go well, particularly for Megan.  Pray that there isn't turbulance while we're trying to change a diaper!! :-) Posted by david on Thursday, November 09, 2006 at 08:28 View Archive Powered by Web Wiz Journal version 1.0 Copyright ©2001-2002 Web Wiz Guide