attached, almost crawling

Tonight I met with a smaller then usual group of 'waiting mommies' (this is a local group of mommies at various stages of adoption from various countries that meets every other month). It was wonderful to be able to introduce Trinh, and to not be 'waiting' anymore! I don't remember exactly how long I have been attending these functions (two years?), but they have been very beneficial, informative and fun. I hope we continue to get together!

Over the last while, sometime since we have been home, Trinh has definitely attached to me. Tonight was her first repeat performance of making strange. Three times other ladies tried to hold her and three times she fussed and cried almost immediately and three times she regained her happy composure as soon as she was back in my arms. As inconvenient as this may seem (sorry everyone who wants to hold the baby), it is certainly a happy development in terms of healthy emotional development for her age and situation.

This week Trinh has gotten closer to crawling. She gets herself to sitting, throws herself forward onto her belly, sits up again, then repeats. She has started 't-peeing' as well...arms and legs rigid, bum in the air. Funny...at her peadiatrician appointment I had just finished explaining this development and she performed a demonstration for the doctor...to which he responded 'impressive'. So all marbles and lego will have to be relegated to the basement very soon!

 

This was the week Trinh had her first set of shots and also blood drawn for numerous tests. Next week I have to attempt to collect urine and stool samples and deliver to the lab within 2 hours. I'm trying to think positive about being able to pull this off within the other constraints of our schedule.

We have more or less settled into a routine around the required school and extra-curricular commitments of the boys. Sadly, Trinh's nap routine is the one unpredictable element. Yet, she is mostly happy to lump along with us catching a few winks here and there. Try as I may to encourage her to nap during the 2 hour window when both boys are in school, I haven't been able to orchestrate with any regularity.

Arn has been travelling a lot, away 5 days last week, 3 days this week and a trip to Shanghai the following week. In some ways this has made things more demanding on me, in some ways it has simplified things. Things are still reaching a new equilibrium since he changed jobs just a few weeks before I travelled, then had to postpone some travel while I was gone and has had to travel some for training. Hopefully the travel requirements will become more reasonable soon.

I have photos and a video of almost crawling to post...later. It is hard to prioritize blogging with all the other demands of home. It was MUCH easier in Vietnam!