Two Weeks Home and a Visit to the Doctor

Well, the first two weeks at home have flown by. I just don't know where the time goes. In two weeks, Maggie has successfully transitioned to this timezone, convinced me she doesn't need to sleep in a crib and refused all fluids but formula. We have had quite a first two weeks.

Other accomplishments of note from our little tiger:

• Maggie climbed out of her stroller with a fastened 5 point harness. It was a little loose, but it was quite a stunt.
  
• Maggie completed Project Daddy Love Phase 1 and now runs to get hugs from her dad whenever she sees him. The next phase of Project Daddy Love is now beginning. This is the phase where Daddy starts changing diapers.
  
• Maggie is able to effectively communicate a number of messages to Mom including tired, hungry and wet. I just about always know what is wrong with her unless La Nina is involved.
  
• Maggie continues her domination of La Nina in the bathtub.
  
• Maggie decided the dogs are pretty funny and enjoys feeding them from her chair.
  

Areas we are working on:

• As confirmed by the doctor today, she needs to gain some weight. We will try to get her to eat more which should be quite an amusing undertaking given her spirited resistance to my past efforts. This will be a topic of future blogs, trust me.
• We need to move her from sleeping on the futon to sleeping in a toddler bed. At think at this point, the crib is out of the question. She is just too frightened by the crib and I like my sleep too much to let her battle her demons out at night. But, that means someone actually has to get to the store and buy another toddler bed. Somehow, this time of year, this just isn't a huge priority.
  
• We will need to get all of her blood tests completed soon. This will probably be harder on the lab techs who have to hold Maggie down than it will be on Maggie. I dread these tests. Given that she has been in an institution, they will draw a lot of blood. It is tough to watch, but must be done.
  

Biggest Discovery in the Last Two Weeks:

• Maggie is, by far, the noisiest Nostrand in this house. It isn't even close. If Maggie is awake, she is making noise. Babbling or squealing or crying or laughing, it matters not to her as long as it is at full volume.
  
• I saved a lot of great clothes from La Nina. Maggie is so much smaller than La Nina that the seasonal misalignment of their birthdays isn't going to be a problem. It is so much fun to revisit some of those adorable outfits. I vow to have Maggie wear these items more often.
• Maggie is very active. Again, confirmed by our very amused doctor today, who asked if she was always so active several times. Actually, we thought she was quite calm in his office. He did offer hope that perhaps she was just rebounding from her months of limited activity and that her energy level would even out. I hope he wasn't just being kind.

When we think about the terrified baby who was handed to us on November 15, it is hard to believe she is the same child. The transformation is amazing. I wonder what the next several weeks will reveal about our little one.