The Reality of Gabriella-The Saga Begins . . .

Mommy sneaks in to take a picture of my 1st morning I slept through the night.

We've been home with Gabriella for 5 whole days now. I will just say that I think we all are getting to know "tired" pretty well. She is doing well considering all of the major life changes she is adjusting to, new culture, new smells, new sounds, new faces, new ways of doing things. This past week we have all been trying to establish our "routine". All of the things you are told when you are adopting a child, ie. never let the child "cry it out", always rush to their side to let them know you will always be there for them, carry them with you most of the time , etc . . . I now realize these are just guidelines mostly carried out in a "perfect world" scenario. If Gabriella had it her way, she would be attached to my hip 24/7. There is no way humanly possible for one person to do that. I am learning that it's okay to "let her cry" sometimes like when I put her on the floor to play and she breaks into a crying fit because she wants me to hold her. She has to learn that I am going to be right by her side even though I am not holding her. Besides she needs to learn to crawl and walk. It wouldn't be to good if I had to carry around my 13 yr old daughter everywhere I went, would it??? We finally are sleeping through the night (thank goodness). To whomever invented the "white noise" machine, I LOVE YOU!

Gabriella practicing her "self feeding" technique

A little after breakfast exercising