Well, the first few days at home have been quite interesting. After the initial terror when we got home, Samantha seems to have adapted quite nicely to her new home. We still have her sleeping in our bed as we make the adjustment, and she seems to be taking over from Shirley by infringing on my side of the bed. We are still struggling with the jet lag and the 12 hour time change. Last night was the first time she sort of slept through the night, although she woke up at 11:00, 02:00 and 04:00 wanting a bottle. Finally at 5:30 she woke up again and that was it. This wasn't bad considering the first 2 nights it was up at 4:30 and 3:30. I don't know about you but I wasn't really in the mood to play at that hour, but that doesn't seem to matter. She is getting better at sitting and playing by herself. This morning she played from 5:30 to 7:30 with very little from me - I was just sitting there half asleep pouring coffee down my throat.
This morning was also our first walk around the neighbourhood with Samantha in her stroller. The whole concept of being restrained is something that we are going to have to work on, whether it's stroller, high chair or car seat. Samantha does not like to be strapped in, and begins to scream immediately. In the stroller she does settle down once you start to move, and in the high chair she's good once the food starts. Still need to figure out the car seat, but then again her only experience was from the airport when she really wasn't at her best. Like everything else, this will take some figuring out.
Some of you have also been asking how Rusty is doing with another person in the house demanding time from us. We had really expected that Rusty would become a recluse and basically stay down in the basement. We couldn't have been more wrong. Not sure if it was because we were gone for 2.5 weeks and he didn't get any attention, but Rusty has been up and around most of the time. He is for the most part keeping his distance from Samantha, preferring to be on the other side of the room our just outside in the hall, but he's not hiding. We are making an effort to spend time with him as well, and he's currently under the desk on my feet, a place he has always spent a lot of time.So, we are adjusting. One thing for sure, Samantha's appetite hasn't changed at all and she'll eat almost anything you give her. The only thing she has refused so far is pork liver, and I can't really blame her for that. We thought Rusty's wet food smelled bad until we smelled this.
We'll continue to post for a little while, as we all adjust to expanded family life. We hope that you have all enjoyed following us in our journey as much as we have enjoyed sharing it with you.