Ah, the long wait before the final chapter in the adoption story! We have done so much! What a trip home. The 2 1/2 hour flight from Kiev to Frankfurt went pretty well, after the meltdown over the seat belt! Lizzy had no idea what it was and it really scared her to be strapped in; and they can't take off until everyone is buckled in. The 5 hour layover in Frankfurt was spent play riding in one of the security / escort carts parked near our terminal, eating a little snack, and playing with another little girl who was also waiting for her family's flight. The 11 hour flight from Frankfurt to Atlanta was long, but thankfully the movies and TV shows kept Lizzy pretty entertained while she was awake, and fortunately she slept a good part of the flight. She was a little scared of the toilet but mama helped her through it. Atlanta was under some stormy weather, so we had to circle a bit before our landing due to other flights being backed up. The descent was pretty rough coming down through the clouds. Candace, vomit bag in hand, managed to keep it down, while Lizzy giggled and laughed with joy! Looks like papa will have a roller coaster partner in a few years! Customs and immigration went pretty smooth. A big thank you to Rheannon and Jackie for meeting us at the airport and taking us home! We had never been so happy to walk through our front door, after a month long journey and now finally as a family! As tired as we all were, as much as we had done, Lizzy was all smiles when she saw her new home! Her eyes lit up when she saw her new room! A big thanks to Steph, Rick, and Rheannon for decorating Lizzy's room and stocking it with clothes! She loves it!
Lizzy has been adjusting so well to her new home, culture, time zone, environment. On the third night she slept through the night, no crying, and woke up happy ready to go! She loves the zabochkas (dogs)! And going for a ride in the car (especially if we are going to eat). Every time we go somewhere, on the way home she starts saying "za-boch-kas ... za-boch-kas !", it is adorable! We think the dogs have really helped her to feel her home is safe and special. Bath time has been a challenge, we're sure it is very different from how things were at the orphanage. We tried shower, bath, bubble bath (especially scary!), mom shows how to take a bath, cold water like the orphanage, warm water like we like, bring in the baby doll for a bath, but nothing worked. Another big thank you to Rick, who brought some bath toys and then made bath time fun! Tonight for the first time she is letting mama read a book to her before she goes to sleep, no arguments.
So far here are some things in America lizzy likes to eat: tomatoes, tofu, eggs, bread, PASTA (anything with pasta, including macaroni with nutritional yeast, flax and tofu!), rice, broccoli & carrots (if they have some stir fry sauce on it), boca burgers, pizza (if she's hungry enough, with tomatoes and banana peppers too), yogurt, applesauce, bananas, apples, grapes, and suckers (she was a big hit at the bank), and of course anything sweet! The other night I showed Lizzy a picture of the recipe we were about to fix and told her we were going to have that for dinner and she got so excited she ran to me, did a little skip in the air, then planted a huge kiss on me. She's quite the foodie! Also, Lizzy has never met a stranger (this can be for the good, bad, and ugly!) Lizzy loves playing outside, especially when papa throws her in the air and spins her around. She really likes her baby doll and stroller, shopping, cute shoes, pink clothes, and anything fashionable! Mama will definitely have a shopping partner!
We want to thank everyone who has supported us in so many ways. So closes our long, hard, and infinitely rewarding adoption journey and begins anew our life as a family.