Emilia - One Week Home

Emilia has now been home with us for one week. In this very short period of time we have seen her come out of her shell in a major way. She walks all over the downstairs of the house and is beginning to find toys and experiment with what they do. She is a very open, sweet and loving child who showers us with smiles and physical contact. She is already reaching her arms toward us to be picked up and she comes over and takes our hands when she wants to be bounced or tossed into the air. Her rocking and thumb sucking have decreased noticeably already as she is finding other activities to fill her day. Unfortunately, she has been sick with some fever and a sinus infection which have been holding her back a bit, but she’s on the mend now and I just can’t wait to see what this little girl has in store for us when she’s 100 percent healthy.

The biggest challenges thus far with Emilia have been the things that have always been Rex’s strengths: sleeping and eating. As far as sleeping, I know the jetlag was/is really difficult for her along with that bad cough and high fever for a while, so Craig and I haven’t actually slept through a single night since coming home. The first few nights she also needed feedings at night (again jetlag), but that seems to be tapering off now. My much bigger concern is her eating. I was told repeatedly at the orphanage that Emilia can only eat pureed food, 300 grams at a time. I haven’t paid attention to the grams, but she definitely will only eat pureed and she is picky at that. She only weighs 17 pounds at 29 inches tall, so it worries me. She has a BM almost immediately after every meal. My guess is that she has some kind of GI issue. We will have it checked out soon. One saving grace has been that she loves chocolate Pediasure and, as we discovered on Thanksgiving, organic eggnog. I don’t care how I get the calories into her at this point, and if it’s eggnog with her daddy who also loves that yucky stuff, so be it. Once we realized that she prefers to drink thicker liquids, we tried a smoothie made with banana, pear and chocolate milk and that was a big success as well, so now we know how to get fresh fruits and veggies into her.

Of course, it goes without saying that Emilia has orphanage delays. We are still discovering what she can and cannot yet do in all the different areas. The more active she is becoming though, the more skills we see emerge. Her social-emotional development is ahead of Rex’s in many ways. She makes beautiful eye contact and seeks out adult attention or help. I guess girls are good at this stuff. In terms of attachment, Emilia’s greatest gift to us at this point is that she has made it very clear and obvious to us just how far Rex has come in this department and how far we have come as parents bonded to our son. I know we will feel the same way about her soon. Attachment really is a process which consists of work to be completed and certain experiences to be had by all parties involved.