Friday, May 14, 2010

Week One

We have had Grace now for a full week and things are going very well. We are tired and still adjusting, but things are definitely moving along. She is full of personality! Our biggest challenge right now (besides the attachment) is trying to figure out what causes a rash on Grace's cheek and some pretty bad poops! We think she is lactose intolerant or possibly a milk allergy. I'm a little annoyed that no one at the baby home thought to mention this. It is clear that something doesn't agree with her. We have been eliminating foods and then trying again. We think we have it narrowed down to dairy. I'm sure she had some sort of dairy at the orphanage. It's a shame that we could have avoided putting her through possible stomach aches. We'll figure it out, though. We have our IA doctor visit in a week and a half. I'm sure they will be able to offer some advice too.

Speaking of advice, thanks to all of you who offered some before on not leaving Grace. She is very clingy still and we do understand how her world has been turned upside down. However, sometimes I'm going to have to go to the bathroom solo!!! She will play with Brad more, but I better not dare hand her over to him! Nap time is still confusing, but night time is easy. Last night she slept from 9pm to 7:40am . Couldn't ask for more! Today I tried putting her in the crib awake but cozy for a nap. Didn't work! She fussed, then started screaming. Brad got her and she went right to sleep in his arms and he was able to get her in the crib. That is difficult for me. She didn't scream quite as loud at her last bath, but still didn't enjoy it. We bought the snug tub and that seemed to help. The boys are enjoying the tackling, but not the scratching :) Grace loves to play "I'm gonna get you!" She actually will start the game. She'll crawl a little bit away from me, turn around and smile and wait for me to chase her :) It's too darn cute!!!! Poor Aidan has strep throat! Now I have to worry about Grace getting it. Hopefully we'll make it through the weekend without problems.

EDIT! Since I typed this earlier today, she took a bath and had a great time! We skipped the hair washing and just let her play in the water. We soaped up what we could, but really just let her get use to the water. She learned to splash and had herself cracking up!



First swing ride. That's laughter, not screaming!



Her tongue is always going!!!

6 comments:

Maggie and Randy said...

She is just precious!! Love all the pictures..

Lakeshore Cottage Living said...

We had lactose issues here too with Skippy...he eventually outgrew it. I learned from a clinical dietician that you can add chocolate to milk and it fixes the problem...may be worth a try? It worked great for us.

The rash could be from dry skin. My kids were not used to being washed as much as I bathed them when they came home. You might try Aveeno soap and shampoo as it is very mild. My doctor said not to use Johnson products any longer that they were just too harsh on baby skin. We use the Aveeno soap and lotion and it smells yummy.

She is just precious. Love that she plays I'm gonna getcha! so sweet. Just consider her an additional part of your body for a couple of months...I understand...it is hard, but you will be glad you did in the long run! sacrifice. And what you have to do when you are awake evens out the fact that you got to sleep so long as compared to a newborn, right? What would you rather...a non-clingy newborn that wakes every 2 hours or a clingy toddler that sleeps all night? I know which one I would pick! lol Besides, if you get tired of her you can send her to me..lol (kidding).

It sounds like things are going REALLY well. Hang in there!

Kristine

Denise said...

a week down!! you guys are doing great and she'll be all adjusted in no time.

i love the pictures, she's too cute. oh, and poor aidan, look at his legs in the background of the one picture.

Laura and Paul Knight said...

LOVE it!! Sounds like things are really going great. I hope you get the tummy problems figured out soon. LOL Lucas still goes to the bathroom with me.... Get some rest when you can.
Laura

Bonnie said...

I'm so glad things are going well! She is so adorable, and seems incredibly happy. It sounds like you will figure out her belly issues soon. xoxo

The Hoopers said...

She looks really happy and seems to be adapting so well. We could not be any happier for you