OK - it's been tough

Not because the kids are difficult or Lucy is having trouble adjusting, but the jet lag was super-hard. All three kids were up on the second night at 2 am and ready for bed at 9 am. There were many times when all three kids were melting down and I was just doing my best to keep them awake. I survived on caffeine, cartoon bribery and babysitter, Kelsey. My sleep deprivation was on overdrive with no end in sight so I was saying a lot of "om"'s while trying to navigate tired and cranky kids. Will went back to work Monday so it's been intense. But I think we're 95% back on Colorado time and finding our groove now. Like right now, she's in bed, by herself, after lots of cuddles and all three kids are asleep. Voila!

She loves the bath and is still terrified of the dogs. She is literally learning about 5 words a day and understands me when I ask her to get her shoes on or to put her jim-jams under her pillow. I'm not sure Lorna understand English quite as well.

I'm trying to keep Lucy home as much as possible so she feels secure and safe before venturing out into Boulder and beyond although yesterday I took her to the pediatrician to make sure her heart was working fine in the altitude. Dr. Legare was "floored" at how healthy, attached and developmentally on track she is. Poor Lucy had to give five vials of blood for all the testing, however. She cried at the poke but was a trooper while they tried to readjust and accumulate all that blood from her tiny vein! She has been so congested since we first met her - even after one round of antibiotics - so she's being tested for food allergies. She has an appointment at Children's next week with a pediatric cardiologist, so we'll see what's going on but Legare couldn't hear anything abnormal and said that she's obviously having no trouble with oxygen...(Lucy was technically a special needs adoption because she has an ASD or hole in the heart.)

Today was great! We woke up and rode bikes and trikes, planted flowers and more basil, played on the swing set, ate 3 bowls of noodles for lunch, made cookies, said hello to Melanie and napped at the right time. She and Kai ran to the door yelling, "daddy!" when Will pulled up. When we sat down to dinner she reached to hold hands as we always take turns giving thanks. Will said, "doesn't it feel so right? Like she was always meant to be sitting right there and that she knows it too?"

Exactly!