Last Thursday, we drove to the Twin Cities to visit Grandma and Grandpa Hultman for the first time. Sarah managed to tolerate the car seat for the nearly three-hour trip, with a lot of help from Mom. She started out singing, but that lasted only 45 minutes. The rest of the trip, I struggled to keep her occupied with music, her Gloworm, teething biscuits, and an apple. She's a tough audience.
Despite running on little rest, she was a charmer. She played on the floor with Grandma for a long time, tossing measuring spoons back and forth. Grandma is now one of her favorite playmates!
We spent the night at a hotel and went to the International Adoption Clinic at the University of Minnesota on Friday morning. Sarah was fairly patient with the nice doctor but still let it be known that she wasn't enjoying herself. She was proclaimed healthy as a horse (is that a medical term?) and a big girl. She's 23.5 lbs. and 31.5" She's in the 97th percentile for height! I guess she takes after the Hultman side of the family.
She played on the floor with an occupational therapist for a while to test her fine and gross motor skills. She got extra credit for "checking in" with Mom before trying something new. It's a good sign of attachment that she looks to me to make sure everything's okay when she's confronted with the unfamiliar. As we knew, she is delayed a bit in her motor development (picking things up with her thumb and forefinger, crawling, standing), so we were assigned homework. Luckily, it includes some new toys!
Then it was time for the blood-draw. I knew it would be bad, but I had no idea. I held her while the technician tried first one arm, then, when the needle slipped out, the other hand. Sarah screamed for about 20 minutes straight, soaking herself in tears and sweat. I couldn't see her face, but Don said later he thought she was going to pass out. She continued to cry when it was over and finally fell asleep in my arms, still sobbing every few minutes. Amazingly, she awoke about 30 minutes later fully reset -- bright-eyed and cheerful. Talk about resilient....
After the appointment, we headed to Big Sister Rachel's apartment for lunch. Sarah met Rachel briefly at the airport when we arrived home, but this was the first prolonged (albeit too-short) visit. Rachel's boyfriend Matt joined us, and Sarah was back to her sweet self. She was fascinated by Rachel's long hair, and Rachel was a good sport about all the tugging.
On the drive back, she finally gave in and slept in the car seat. She really had no choice; she was exhausted. When we arrived, I brought her to the sunroom, and she immediately started playing with her toys. She seemed genuinely happy to be HOME, which, of course, touched my heart deeply.
On Saturday, Big Sister Emily, Omar, and 16-month-old Sophia came to visit. Sophia spent the night with us, while Omar and Emily went to a wedding in Minnesota. We were eager to see how she and Sarah would interact. Well, they didn't much, because Sophia has mastered walking and is on the move constantly. She didn't have a lot of time for her younger aunt. :) They did enjoy sitting side-by-side in their highchairs and passing things back and forth.
Monday, I took Sarah to our local clinic to have her TB test read. The minute the nurse touched her arm, she erupted in tears. I can hardly wait for her 15-month shots....
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