September Update The first week home with Mary Joyce was wonderful and exhausting, all at once.  Our biggest challenge has been the fact that there are 12 hours time difference between China and Georgia.  We had several nights with spans of 3 or 4 hours of waking times between sleep times.  We were all worn out.  Finally, on Thursday night we had a breakthrough, and she slept through the night.  The next couple of nights involved her waking up for an hour or so around midnight, but things are getting better.  If we can get her internal clock reset, that will be very helpful, because she was sleeping all night in China on a regular basis. Mary Joyce is still an outgoing little girl who loves to be out and about around people.  We have eaten out a lot during this first week home because we have simply been to frazzled and worn-out to cook.  That is one definite advantage of adopting from China.  By the time you get home, eating in restaurants with a baby is very simple.  We have also been places like Target, Wal-Mart, and Piggly Wiggly (yes, we still have those in south Georgia), where she loves to ride in her Snugli and watch people. One thing we have noticed about Mary Joyce is that she loves shoes.  As evidenced by the “great shoe thief on the Red Couch” incident, she keeps an eye out for shoes of all kinds.  She likes to play with her own shoes, but she also plays with mama’s and daddy’s shoes if we happen to slip them off nearby where she is playing.  She will ignore a floor full of toys in favor of a pair of shoes. Mary Joyce made her first appearance at church sooner than we had really planned.  We were waiting to see her personality and her health status before we made a definite decision on when to take her to church for the first time.  We had decided to start taking her on Sunday, October 1.  When Wednesday night, September 27, rolled around, we decided to go on and take her to church then.  We did, and she did very well.  She really perked up when Chet started speaking.  She knows her Daddy’s voice.  She also had to entertain everyone by dropping both of her toys, her bib, and (of course) one of her shoes over the back of the pew where we were sitting. A few observations by Mary Joyce on her new life: The stacking cups are still my favorite toy Those walking stuffed animals are really neat!  (Referring to the cats; She’s still not too sure about the dogs.) Oh, boy! Shoes!! Applesauce is yummy! The snot sucker is an evil invention! I love my Pooh bear snuggly. Hey, this crib is really comfy! When the door opens, that means that Daddy’s home! October will be a busy month for us, so that update should be quite full.  Watch for it around the end of October or first part of November.   What does this one do?     I've captured Daddy's shoe!   Playing with Toys     Ignoring Toys in Favor of Mama's Shoes     Fascinated by the Door Stop     Happy Girl!   How's this for a fashion statement--floral p.j.'s and a Braves bib?     Go Dawgs!   Ready for Game Day           This page hosted by