Settling in...sort of

Well, we are home and getting used to being a family of four...sort of. Gus is in love with Hildy...He adores her and is an amazing big brother. His favourite thing is to sing to her and she dances...well jumps up and down in a jerky kind of way as I hold her up...He cuddled in with her in our bed on her first night home to read her stories... He picked the Todd Parr "Family Book" which talks about all the different kinds of familes. When he got to the adoption page, he turned to her and said, "See, Hildy...that panda is adopted just like you...and me!!". Yes, I cried.
On Monday, Gus asked if I would bring Hildy for show and tell at school. He proudly marched in there introducing her to everyone we passed, then got up to the front of the classroom and said, "Good morning boys and girls. This is my new baby sister all the way from China!!!". He had the biggest grin on his face. Then he asked all his classmates to quietly sing their ABCs to her so she would dance. So there I am at the front of his class holding up my new baby with approximately 6 minutes of sleep in 4 days, my body feels like it is midnight and there are 24 grade one kidlets singing ABCs in hushed voices to us... A moment to cherish. I looked up and all the moms were at the back of the room crying. Then, his teacher, the wonderful Mrs. Cowley announces the class has made Hildy a book. Each student in the class wrote and colored one page that they have laminated into a book. They each picked their favourite thing to do in Canada and wrote about it to introduce her to Canada. Ok, I SO would have been crying if 24 little pairs of eyes had not been glued to me. What a lucky family we are to have so much support and love around us.
As for Hildy, she is sleeping ok. She is stuggling with the time change but is coming around. She still freaks out at night...up for three hours crying lasat night but went to bed better tonight so we'll see how the night goes. She is up to 4 - 5 six ounce bottles per day but won't let me put a spoon anywhere near her mouth. If I do manage to get some rice cereal in she either gags, vomits or cries and the liquid just oozes out. She has no idea that it is food ans she should swallow it. It is very obvious that she has never been fed anything but a bottle before. I am going to contact the Child Development Centre and my pediatrician to see what we should do in terms of her eating and stage of develpoment...we'll see what they say. I had to buy her some clothes today as nothing i had fits... I ended up buying her 3 - 6 month clothes... she is so tiny..Otherwise, I am so glad to be home. Thank you to each and every one of you for your love and support. When I was 5 thousand miles from home and feeling lost, your words of encouragement and love went a long way. I appreciate every comment and every email. This kind of a journey is not possible without support from family and friends and for that, I thank you.