2 Weeks Home...

Has it really been 2 weeks tomorrow since we have been home - blimey, that went in a flash!! Actually, it has felt like a rather looong 2 weeks in many ways...but I'll get to that.

Oliver was an absolute champion on the flight home. He had a bottle on the way up and then we just kept topping up his tummy with watermelon and whatever else we could find and he was as happy as a lark...he even managed to have a little sleep in the bassinet for about an hour - and Mummy and Daddy got to have a little time out!

We arrived home at midnight and came out through immigration to see a very excited (and very tired!) Nanna and Poppy waiting for us. My poor dad had already made two trips to the airport that day, but I think this last one was the most exciting!! Oliver went in for a little cuddle and then quickly searched for his mummy again, which was lovely.

I think the whole airport knew about us by the time we left - there were lots of tears and laughter and the odd squawk of discontent from Master Oliver...well, it was after midnight and he was tired!

It was lovely to walk in to our beautiful house again...and I was reminded of what a great idea it was to clean it completely BEFORE we left for China...it would not have been nice to come home to a dirty house at that time of the night!

Since arriving home we have been keeping to ourselves most of the time. Initially this was to allow Ollie to have some settling in time, but now it's because we are EXHAUSTED!! The little monkey has decided that sleeping is for wusses, and is testing his mummy and daddy to the extreme by only sleeping for 20 minutes at a time during the day, and trying to survive on 8 hours sleep a night (broken up into small chunks of course!)....needless to say he is one cranky little monster a lot of the time because he is so tired...P says that I am also a cranky monster most of the time, but I'm sure he's mistaken....

So we are working on a parenting challenge as old as time itself...how to get the baby to sleep!!

We are strongly opposed to letting him "cry it out" as we think that for any child who has already been abandoned and possibly fears being abandoned again that this would be pretty traumatic. So, the balancing act comes from trying to meet his needs whilst at the same time teaching him to stay asleep (which requires a certain amount of self soothing)....tricky....

So our deepest apologies to all of your whose emails / texts/ phone messages have so far gone unanswered...and to those who have sent gifts to Oliver in the mail - thank you so very much!! We have been so excited to get a few parcels this week - they have provided a really bright spot in otherwise bleak days. I promise to do my best to get in contact with everyone in time, but realistically it is going to take a while....it's taken me 2 weeks to have 10 minutes to myself to write this!

Sorry to say, I haven't even had time to download the photos from the cameras yet, so I don't have anything to put on here today...but I will work on it. We haven't taken many photos the last week or so as this sleep-deprived fog we are in allows for the essentials only..,the occasional meal, and trying to work out how to get back to bed as quickly as possible!

Here's to getting some sleep! Fingers crossed!!!

T xxx
P.S. Oliver has cut his first tooth, and his second one is starting to peep through (which is no doubt contributing to the sleeping problems and the crankiness). I feel sad that his gorgeous gummy smile will soon be a thing of the past....