I'm not going to sugarcoat this one--it was a rough week. Poor little Daniel with his ear infection, he had a tough time settling into our time zone and his new surroundings, but what a difference a week makes. As I write this blog, Madi and Daniel are in our bed watching cartoons together, both eating Cheerios and drinking juice. You'd think he's been with our family forever.
The trip home from China was chaos. Daniel barely slept and cried almost the whole flight from Hong Kong to Newark. He just could not get comfortable. In hindsight, he may have had the ear infection already, but he was also just plain exhausted. We were fortunate to make our connection to West Palm. We had a two-hour window to hit customs, immigration, baggage claim, baggage recheck, security, and literally run to our gate. I had deja vu from our trip home with Madi. That time, we didn't make our connecting flight. This time, thank God, we did. The only person who seemed to console Daniel during our flights was Grandpa. Grandpa was a Godsend. He held Daniel the entire flight from Newark to West Palm, so he could get some sleep that he so desperately needed.
When we arrived at the airport, we were greeted by the most beautiful sight for sore eyes--our beautiful daughter (and Bubba too). It was like finding the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. We hit our knees to hug her and hold her. It seemed like we were away from her for a year, and she appeared to have grown so much. She was so excited to meet Daniel. She approached him cautiously, tenderly, knowing that he had been a little shy on Skype. She was instantly the perfect big sister.
Or first hurdle home was the carseat. It was not the night for a fight, at least that's how we felt about it. Daniel had been through enough, and he clearly wasn't in the mood to be introduced to an isolated seat with major restraints. Yes folks, we broke the law. Grandpa held him the whole ride home. We took our chances, but Daniel was comfortable and he surely deserved to be.
When we arrived home, we were surprised by a small gathering of close friends to welcome us home. The Debonis family was here with Aunt Lori & Uncle Blake. Lisa and Mike were here with the girls. We were afraid Daniel would be overwhelmed, but he handled the situation beautifully. He loved seeing children. The festivities were short-lived, as everyone respected that Daniel needed a chance to breath. He needed a chance to take in his new surroundings calmly and quietly.
The week brought other hurdles. Daniel was less than thrilled with his high chair. He was still terrified of a bath. I'm happy to report that he's adjusted to the car seat and to the high chair, but he still takes issue with a bath! Sleeping through the night is another story. The week was frustrating for us and for him. He cried in his sleep a lot, sometimes kicking and acting out to the point that we would have to wake him to snap out of it. We worked through it day by day, feeding him snacks in the middle of the night since his belly was on China time. It was reported that the orphanage would wake him at 10pm nightly to go potty. We tried this once, and it was a disaster. We are going to stick to the familiar adage, "Never wake a sleeping baby"! His schedule has progressively transitioned. Last night, he slept from 7pm to 6am. He's almost on track. He still wakes up crying, but hey--he's only been home for one week now. He's still inseparable from Daddy, who he still calls 'Mama' (both of us are Mama:) He longs to be held by him any chance he can get. In fact, both little monkeys do!
I can't believe I found the time to write this blog. It's been a big adjustment from one to two kids, but we are realizing that it gets a little easier everyday, especially as Daniel's comfort level grows and we settle into our new normal.
Last week at church, we ran into our 'Family Deacon' Deacon Lee and his lovely wife, Alice. They are wonderful people who guided Jimmy and I through the RCIA process at St. Vincent Ferrer in 2006. Deacon Lee also baptized Madi and renewed our wedding vows, so we had our hearts set on him baptizing Daniel. Deacon Lee quickly pulled out his calendar and wanted to get Daniel baptized right away--like less than a week away! He made sure the church was cleared for us on Saturday, and we expedited his baptism. Given his medical issues and latest accident, we felt it was the best idea. 
