The First 48 Home

Benjamin has done amazingly well our first few days home including use of the car seat and ride home.  He fell asleep within 10 minutes of the airport and was still asleep when we brought him in.  So surreal to see him sleeping on our living room floor after 20 months of waiting to have him in his new home. When he woke up, no tears, no confusion, rather he jumped right in and got to playing with the train table.  After a while we took him around the house and showed him all the rooms, including his. We had sent a book of pictures in a care package, and I really think that helped.  He recognized his book wall and immediately started pulling books down to read.  

Night one we went to bed around 9:00 but had a bit of awake time from 1-4, jet lag strikes.   So we read books, had a snack, played and rocked (all in his room) until he wore himself out from crying frustration. We had initially placed him in his room with me sleeping next to him. When he fell asleep at 4:00 we placed him in our bed and we were fast asleep until 9:30. Mommy lesson, don't change a good thing! We had slept with him in our bed in Korea so we should have just done that initially at home. Night two we went to bed around 8:00 and read books for about 5 minutes before falling asleep.  Benjamin then slept 12 hours the night through!!  However I was awake from 12-4, jet lag strikes again.

It is amazing how well he's done and taken to just making himself right at home. He plays with and picks up his toys.  He uses the stairs, with a little help.  He's eating most anything we put in front of him. He does't fuss with diaper change or clothing change.  He takes a bath every night, with limited fuss. He's enjoyed being outside playing on his swing set even though it's freezing cold and snowy out.  I will say the one thing he hates is getting suited up to go outside.  You'd think we were killing him...poor baby.  But once outside all the tears dry up (freeze up). 

We couldn't have asked for a better start to our transition home and pray he continues to feel comfortable with us and the pups.

A Splendid Flight

We had an 11:00 am flight home which meant a 7:00 departure from the hotel.  With Benjamin not being a morning person we weren't sure how this would go.  So we got everything set, strapped him to my front still asleep and headed out.  Benjamin was great sleeping the entire way to the airport (an hour). When we entered, the line for check in was huge!! Luckily an airport staff directed us to the Happy Mommy check in line...wooohooo! All done in about 10 minutes and off to security which was just as crazy long, but Benjamin was a trooper through it all just hanging out on my back soaking in all the people.

Once in the terminal he spotted the airplanes through the windows and had to take a closer peak.  This was also a great time to get him changed and out of his jammies. We only had about an hour and a half until boarding so we wandered, ate, watched planes and spoke with another family from another agency that just completed their first trip.

Benjamin did great on the flight from start to finish. He just sat and played in his seat, read books, enjoyed food/snacks, and watched videos. I didn't get a picture of it, but Playdoh was the big hit and highly recommended to occupy time!!  The only crying we had was at the end when I put his shoes back on.  He immediately grabbed his backpack and was ready to head out.  However we were at the back of the plane (second to last row) and so we had to wait, wait, and wait. Mommy lesson, don't put shoes on until we are actually ready to head out next time : )