On routines

I'm sitting here, typing this blog post, with Rose on my lap. Four of the eight stacking cups are already on the floor, so I figure that I have four more cups to be dropped before I have to wrap things up. Things are going well here. In fact, everything is almost too good to be true. I expected horrors and gnashing of teeth in our transition, but other than a couple of incredibly long nights and four older siblings who have nearly drawn blood over who gets to sit with the baby, things have gone very well. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop.

But for now, we've had Rose for almost exactly two weeks, and while I know we're all still adjusting, the transition has been pretty seamless so far. She seems to like us, and we absolutely adore her, and she slept for 12 1/2 hours last night, so life is good.

A quick recap: We flew home on Wednesday, and it really was the longest day of our lives. Rose did great on the first flight out of Guangzhou, and Annie very nearly cried when they gave her ice in her Diet Coke in the Hong Kong airport. The girls both slept five or six hours on the flight from Hong Kong to LA, and Rose only had one extended crying jag-- I had just handed her the bottle and started standing up to go get it filled with water when we entered a bad pocket of air and had to sit in our seats for forty turbulent minutes, during which she screamed the entire time. When we got back to Salt Lake, the kids were waiting with signs and balloons, and Rose tolerated our pizza party for 20 family members, all eager to see her, once we arrived home.

The next few days were rough for me, since I averaged 2-3 hours of sleep a night for about three nights. But on Friday night I got 12, and last night I could have had a bunch if I hadn't been in such a hot hurry to watch Mad Men (it was worth it!). And Rose seems to be settling into a routine of sleeping a dozen hours at night and taking a few catnaps during the day. I'm so happy for her.

I'm a person who loves a routine. I wake up every morning and run eight miles. Then I eat a protein bar for breakfast, send the kids off to school, and get to work on my computer. I put in a load of laundry every morning and fold it right before the kids get home in the afternoon. It may sound inflexible, but I like my schedule. If we're at home and I miss a run, it's because something cataclysmic is happening.

But in China, I didn't run. I ate big breakfasts from the buffet every morning. When I did laundry, it was in the bathtub, and I forgot what happens to wet laundry in humid climates and came home with several mildewed t-shirts. We were so far out of our comfort zone that I didn't miss those things nearly as much as I thought I would. I don't know all that much about Rose's life in the orphanage, but I suspect it was pretty scheduled too-- it wasn't this sleep-in-the-ergo-eat-when-you-want-to-cuddle-in-the-bed-at-night-experience that she's having now, so I'm trying to balance her experience with routine with being flexible enough to help her know that she can have what she wants and needs even if it's not on the schedule.

We're down to one stacking cup, and I need a shower (the pre-Rose me would have been out of the shower two hours ago), but there's an update for you. The next one will have pictures, I promise. And today we're meeting with the cleft team so we should have an idea of when her surgery/surgeries will be. Wish us luck!