2 weeks home

We did it! We survived the first two weeks home. Trust me it was far from easy but I have come to learn that Katie is actually very sweet and snuggly except when she wakes up and Kiya really needs outlets for her energy and special time with mommy and daddy.

The highlights

-Katie eats like a champ now. She will usually out eat her big sister. Granted Kiya has her cast on so she never eats much in cast. Katie will try just about everything and has really only said an adamant no to avocado and tomatoes. Chicken, turkey, fish and peanut butter seem to be favorites along with bananas, oranges, plums, pears, grapes...just about any fruit really.

-Katie is recognizing her name and when we say Katie she will turn her head towards us or start pointing to herself. She is getting better at pointing at mommy, daddy and Kiya also. She is really understanding quite a bit of English which is so great. Her first official English word was "tickle" and we are pretty sure she said "hi" and then "dada".

-Kiya is enjoying school so much and is making new friends at her new school. She is really very independent and very reliable. She does so much all by herself now. The other day she got up really early and I took her to the bathroom and asked her to play in her room for a little while so mommy and Katie could sleep some more. She played quietly which is VERY hard for her, for over an hour and then came into my room fully dressed and ready for the day. Such a sweet girl.

The challenges:

--Nap time. Kiya has pretty much decided she doesn't want to nap anymore. I think last week she napped one day. I don't force it but she still does quiet time in her room for a little while. Katie will nap most days but the length of naps is 45 minutes to maybe an hour and a half tops. Very rarely will she sleep longer than that and she still wakes up screaming. It is a work in progress...

--Jealousy. It goes both ways but Kiya is super sensitive and doesn't like the extra attention often shown to Katie. She is so used to be the only child and grand child that this has rocked her little world more than I think I anticipated. She pouts a lot which I hear is pretty typical of 4 years olds but on Friday she got really sad at school and started to cry because she missed her mommy. Broke my heart. I love that kid and it is so hard because Katie really needs me and I am trying hard to build that bond with her and Kiya sees that and doesn't like it. I try to do something special for Kiya every day even if it is something small like painting her fingernails.

--Ignorance. People are really not very bright sometimes and that can be frustrating. Not one person we encounter thinks that Katie is Korean. She admittedly doesn't look it at all but she is. She still babbles in Korean. So when complete strangers (ie store clerks, postal workers, etc) ask why she won't talk or wave to them or give them five, I get seriously annoyed and try to stay calm and explain. She doesn't speak English I usually say. They follow up with well how old is she? I respond that she is almost 18 months and then I get the oh you should talk to your doctor she should be talking by now. I politely try to remind them that she had been in my arms for a little over 2 weeks and thus only heard the English language that long. And usually I get a strange look or an abrupt end to the conversation.

I am sure week 3 will bring us some new highlights and some new challenges but we will figure it out. And be warned ignorant strangers, I will always go to bat for both of my kids. They both currently have their own challenges and none of it is your business and if you choose to make it so, I warned you. This mama bear can get pretty fierce if need be.