I totally cannot believe yesterday marked Lina's one month anniversary of being a US citizen and coming HOME!! Time flies when you're having fun!
Lina continues to thrive here at home, and is making good progress in areas she had shown previous fear. We've ventured out for a few shopping trips and she does better with each one. She is done after about 15 minutes and requests the "beep beep" to get back in the car.
She got to eat out at her first sit down restaurant, and did a great job! The big kids were at the grandparents' house for the weekend so we took the littles out since it was a smaller (and more affordable!) group. ;)
Another milestone today- she fell asleep in her own room for her nap without me being there! Our routine is that I rock her for a few minutes and then lay her down in her crib while I lay on the twin bed in her room until she falls asleep. She has gotten used to me stepping out for a minute here or there to settle Evan or change him (I put him down for his nap first so I can focus on getting Lina to sleep), and then I come back in. She usually calls for me- she used to call for me the second I stepped out but then began to stay quiet for a couple minutes before calling my name. Today while I was laying there with her I could hear my cell phone ringing downstairs.... I left it go to voicemail and figured I'd check it after she got to sleep (which she happened to have the hiccups today so I didn't anticipate that happening right away!). It then rang again so I figured I better go check to be sure it's not school for the kids or Mike at work. I whispered to her that I'd be right back like I always do when I step out, and I came downstairs to answer the phone. After talking a few minutes I went back upstairs- and she was sound asleep! :) She felt safe enough to let herself go to sleep and wasn't anxious about being by herself. Yay!! I think I will try leaving her room for short periods at each bedtime and see how she does.
She is doing much better with the cat- you may recall she was absolutely PETRIFIED of our old arthritic cat who couldn't harm a fly if she tried. Lina still has her moments- like when I put her in her crib quickly yesterday while I went to change Evan's diaper since he made a present for me after I put him down for his nap.... Lina immediately starts calling for me, sounding a bit distressed, and I kept talking back to her across the hall that I'll be right there... only when I got back I noticed that Ariel was sprawled out on the twin bed in Lina's room- Lina was NOT at all happy about that! But if Ariel walks into the living room, or if Lina enters the living room after Ariel is already there, Lina will walk up and pet her nicely and does really well. She's still nervous around the guinea pig cage, and doesn't care for the birds that fly up and nest near our living room window.
Lina is a MAJOR snuggle bug. <3 She loves to cuddle and could seriously rock with me in the rocking chair all. day. long. She's getting better about sharing Mommy with Evan, but the second he moves off my lap she is THERE. Evan is totally fine with sharing Mommy and has made excellent progress with sharing toys and getting along with Lina. :) This is doing wonders preparing him for preschool in the fall!
I was taking Evan to a little playgroup composed of kids in our county's Early Intervention program- until we brought Lina home. They meet every Thursday and I'm going to attempt bringing both kids this week. Hopefully all will go well! :) If not we'll just head out and try again in a month or so.
Next post- I will be sharing LOTS about ROOF: Russian Orphan Opportunity Fund. If you go browse their site you can find several pics of Lina.... but you may not recognize her at first....
Taken yesterday on the exact anniversary!
Lina continues to thrive here at home, and is making good progress in areas she had shown previous fear. We've ventured out for a few shopping trips and she does better with each one. She is done after about 15 minutes and requests the "beep beep" to get back in the car.
She still LOVES riding in the car- even though the majority of her trips have been to various doctor appointments and blood draws. We just had the last bit of bloodwork taken last Saturday so hope to get those results soon. In other medical news- she passed her hearing test with the audiologist- yay! Next up is her appointment with the endocrinologist to check up on those thyroid levels that were a little off- she sees this doctor on June 1st.
Another milestone today- she fell asleep in her own room for her nap without me being there! Our routine is that I rock her for a few minutes and then lay her down in her crib while I lay on the twin bed in her room until she falls asleep. She has gotten used to me stepping out for a minute here or there to settle Evan or change him (I put him down for his nap first so I can focus on getting Lina to sleep), and then I come back in. She usually calls for me- she used to call for me the second I stepped out but then began to stay quiet for a couple minutes before calling my name. Today while I was laying there with her I could hear my cell phone ringing downstairs.... I left it go to voicemail and figured I'd check it after she got to sleep (which she happened to have the hiccups today so I didn't anticipate that happening right away!). It then rang again so I figured I better go check to be sure it's not school for the kids or Mike at work. I whispered to her that I'd be right back like I always do when I step out, and I came downstairs to answer the phone. After talking a few minutes I went back upstairs- and she was sound asleep! :) She felt safe enough to let herself go to sleep and wasn't anxious about being by herself. Yay!! I think I will try leaving her room for short periods at each bedtime and see how she does.
She is doing much better with the cat- you may recall she was absolutely PETRIFIED of our old arthritic cat who couldn't harm a fly if she tried. Lina still has her moments- like when I put her in her crib quickly yesterday while I went to change Evan's diaper since he made a present for me after I put him down for his nap.... Lina immediately starts calling for me, sounding a bit distressed, and I kept talking back to her across the hall that I'll be right there... only when I got back I noticed that Ariel was sprawled out on the twin bed in Lina's room- Lina was NOT at all happy about that! But if Ariel walks into the living room, or if Lina enters the living room after Ariel is already there, Lina will walk up and pet her nicely and does really well. She's still nervous around the guinea pig cage, and doesn't care for the birds that fly up and nest near our living room window.
Lina is a MAJOR snuggle bug. <3 She loves to cuddle and could seriously rock with me in the rocking chair all. day. long. She's getting better about sharing Mommy with Evan, but the second he moves off my lap she is THERE. Evan is totally fine with sharing Mommy and has made excellent progress with sharing toys and getting along with Lina. :) This is doing wonders preparing him for preschool in the fall!
I was taking Evan to a little playgroup composed of kids in our county's Early Intervention program- until we brought Lina home. They meet every Thursday and I'm going to attempt bringing both kids this week. Hopefully all will go well! :) If not we'll just head out and try again in a month or so.
Next post- I will be sharing LOTS about ROOF: Russian Orphan Opportunity Fund. If you go browse their site you can find several pics of Lina.... but you may not recognize her at first....
Amy...be still my heart! I am so happy to read of her "settling" in, literally. Keep up the good lovin' and work, mommy!!
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