Our day started early with a quick breakfast, a check out of the White Swan, and a 40 minute bus ride to the airport for a 10:00 AM flight to Beijing. The flight lasted approximately 3 hours and Audrey was the same great traveler that she had been on the flight from Nanchang to Guangzhou.
We had a 3 hour layover in Beijing and we could find no store that sold anything a baby could eat or drink. When we got on the plane from Beijing to Chicago, Audrey was bored, hungry and a bit grumpy. After a bit of a struggle and some snacks we were able to get her to sleep and she slept for most of the flight on the floor in front of our seats. Bert also got some sleep, but I could not fall asleep. So when we touched down in Chicago the girls were cheery and the boy was bleary. Our last flight out of Chicago was slightly delayed, but we arrived before 11:00.
The ride from the airport to home was Audrey's first introduction to a car seat. And she HATED it. She screamed almost all the way home. She only stopped screaming when she fell asleep 5 minutes from our door. After settling down and a brief tour of the house, Audrey tried out her new crib and, finding it to her liking, slept through the night.
Friday, we unpacked, organized our things, sorted our mail, went shopping for food and some baby supplies and generally tried to ease into a schedule that everyone was comfortable with.
The journey to the other side of the world to bring home our sweet little girl has come to a close, but the our journey as a family has just begun. I'm sure there will be lots of highs and not-so-highs in the years to come, but I think we have made a pretty good start of it and look forward to what the future brings. Thanks for reading!
Welcome Home!!
ReplyDeleteCece hated her car seat for the first 9 months of her life. I found this thing I could attach to the seat that had pictures of animals etc she could look at and that helped. It also helped when she was old enough and big enough to turn the car seat around and face forward.It does get better. I love the picture of her sleeping, although, if she sucks her index finger in that manner you may want to start saving for braces (my parents can attest-- I sucked my finger that way for years and had an overbite to fix). What a sweet girl!!!
Welcome Home! I hope the jet lag has been easy on the three of you. That was the toughest part of our journey. But with a sweet baby like Audrey, I know you are in pure Bliss! We arrived home just about the same time you did....7 years ago. It was the very best Christmas and Li Mei learned to crawl on Christmas morning, having just turned 1. Li Mei had some physical delay due to lack of stimulation in the SWI but she was in fast forward mode to catch up once we arrived home. She hasn't slowed down since!!
ReplyDeleteYour journey to bring your family together has been quite the story but your red thread fairy tale certainly has the perfect ending. The three of you are just beautiful together!!
Have a Blessed Christmas!
Cindy (and Mike, Emma & Li Mei in Bloomington)
What a pleasure to be able to read about your journey to bring Audrey home! Congratulations to you, John, and your lovely wife! Audrey is absolutely beautiful - a little doll!! My very best wishes to the three of you for a restful, happy, most memorable Christmas!!
ReplyDelete-Kathi D from NJ AG's Office