No new pictures. No excuses, just no pictures.

Things around here are in some ways settling in. Brother has really started to push the boundaries and test the limits. It is almost as though he figured out we were not going anywhere and decided he needed to establish the control. He is very different from sister in his power struggles. He will do more half-obedience and delay tactics than she would. Unfortunately, mommy wants full obedience and delay tactics result in being carried to bed. Sister is pushing the limits, too, I assume to figure out the new norm and establish some control for her. The days can be very long, but I know someday it will all pay off.

I have finally given up the battle of a toy free living room and have begun to turn it into a play room. I bought a kid table and two chairs today. I had one put together when brother woke up and he claimed it as his chair. It is identical to the other, but he drug that chair all over the house to make sure only he sat in it. I would walk to the kitchen and here he came with that chair. It was almost comical. He also went through his sister's room decided which toys in there were "his". She did not take well to that expedition.


We have our appointment with orthopedics May 7.

It remains difficult to get two children smiling, looking at the camera and not physically harming one another. We are sporting new glasses around here. They arrived yesterday. It is hard to tell if there is a big difference or not, but he does wear them pretty consistently.

We had our eye appointment yesterday. It went reasonably well. They put the drops in to dilate his eyes then made us wait TWO HOURS before they did the exam. That was sheer misery. He does have vision in both eyes and hopefully glasses will help. They are being made. The eye doctor used a set of lenses to test his vision. I'm not sure how it works, but somehow it does. We go to the regular pediatrician next week.

They are a couple of busy beavers. I tend to run out of activities by about 0930. Right now they are "napping", because I needed a break. I go back to work in the morning and I think I am more excited about it than I should be. Hopefully I will remember all my log-in information this time.

We are back from the international pediatrician in Birmingham. He had to give some blood and both of them had renal ultrasounds for melamine. They gave us a lot of information and right now we are processing it all. We go to the ophthalmologist in the morning. He still has a visit to orthopedics and urology in his future. And his regular pediatrician. Mei Mei continues to be delayed.

My camera battery died right before Easter. It is recharging, but no Easter photos. We go to UAB tonight for an evaluation in the morning. We are ready to start the medical exams and hopefully, some treatments. Or at least some answers to what all is wrong.

He is starting to pick up more English, but it continues to be very slow. We have a lot of sibling conflict. He went to Sunday School and extended session on Sunday with no problems. The first week he lasted about 15 minutes. This week he stayed the whole time, no issues. Whether that is good or bad, I suppose, is open to debate. He charms everyone. He can now ride a tricycle. He sleeps alone in his bed. He is terrified of our cat. Silverware is still a challenge. I don't know where we are with attachment and bonding. He does give us some eye contact, but with the vision issues, we don't know what to expect. He is very loud sometimes and is very sweet sometimes.

We have now been on US soil for one week. Things are going quite well, I think. The jet lag haze is beginning to lift and sleep patterns are approaching normal. Mei Mei still thinks 4 or 5 am is a good time to get up, but we are making her stay in her bed until 6, even is all she does is play and sing. Hopefully she will gradually return to her normal 0630-0700 wake up time. There is a lot of sibling rivalry, mainly on mei mei's part, but I am trying to not intervene unless blood is shed. We have an Opthalmology appointment for next week and are waiting for our UAB appointment.

The photos are from an Easter Egg Hunt (in case you have never seen such an activity before). The eggs stayed in the car until mommy could remove the sugary contents. They fought over them until they realized all the jelly beans had been removed. Now they will shake each egg repeatly, just to see if I missed one.

Sleep is getting a little better around here. Everyone is in their own bed right now. We will see how long that lasts. We got some proper shoes for the boy today. No more ill fitting shoes. We were buying two pairs and he had a fit when we tried to take of the first pair to try on the second. I guess he thought we were not going to get them if they came off his feet. We are planning to go to church in the morning. Hopefully that will go smoothly.

We are starting to settle in around here. I have not unpacked the camera and most of the clothes are in the hall waiting to go through the washing machine. Everything had a funk to it, even the stuff we laundered in China.

Last night was a rough night. Mei Mei has always had sleep issues. She slept soundly the night we got her, all alone in her crib, but that was the last time. I fondly refer to 2 am as the witching hour because she wakes up like clock work. It used to be screaming and trips to the rocking chair, now it is just calling out for mommy, sometimes to potty, then right back to sleep. Well, last night was like the old days. She woke up every forty minutes and screamed. I had to get out of bed and walk her around. I made several trips to the kitchen. She woke up for good at 3 am and I finally went to sleep at around 5. Ge Ge slept like a rock until about 5 am. I'm hoping tonight will be a better night for her. Ge Ge is refusing to go to bed.

We are home and all in bed. I am hoping no one wakes up before about 630 am. I have one story from our otherwise uneventful travels home. We had one large suitcase that on the way over exceeded the US domestic weight limit and had to be repacked in the airport before I could check it. So, coming home I was meticulous with this one and weighed it constantly in the hotel room to keep the weight down. When we checked in for the flight to LAX it turned out to be 22.7 kg (49.94 lbs), which just squeaks under the limit. Before we left LAX, I took a few more things out just to be on the safe side. We get to the airport and they don't even weigh it!! The attendant slaps tracking labels on all of them and sends us off to the TSA x-ray machine without a second thought. AUGGHH!! All that obsessing for naught.

Happy sleeping to everyone.

-- Posted From My iPhone

-- Posted From My iPhone

We are on the blessed united states of America and waiting for our flight to Memphis, then mobile. Hoping the weather is not too bad.


-- Posted From My iPhone