Perfectly Mia

Here is one last photo from our trip to the backyard. This perfectly captures Mia's curiosity and intensity. Also that she is just adorable.

Mia Meets Her Backyard

Today was a lovely autumn day in Atlanta, sunny and 72 degrees. I took Mia out to the backyard for the first time. We started out in the wagon. When I let her loose, she crawled at top speed toward the steep downhill part of the backyard. She's fast, but I'm faster, so no problem there. She loved the grass, the falling leaves, and watching the dog run around.

Mia's First Week at Home

Mia and her parents had an interesting week. After catching up with our sleep on Sunday, we headed to the pediatrician on Monday morning to have the abscess on Mia's forehead drained. The Dr. said it should be done under sedation, so she sent us to the Emergency Room. That turned into a 7 hour trip. While there, they did a chest X-ray because Mia's breathing was a little wheezy. When we followed up with the Dr.'s office on Wednesday, they sent us to the hospital. Mia had a minor case of pneumonia, but because the risk of TB is high in Mia's former country, they wanted to rule that out. After 3 days of tests including a chest CT scan, Mia was discharged today. The staff Children's Hospital of Atlanta were wonderful, but we were in an isolation ward, which was particularly boring. Did I say boring? Actually, we showered Mia with lots of undivided attention. Jeff and I took turns, so she was never left alone, day or night. I think she liked it. Several of the doctors commented on how well Mia has bonded with us already. Anyway, all three of us (and Sam) are glad to be home and sleeping in our own beds tonight.

Mia's gross motor skills continue to improve at a rapid rate. She crawls very fast, can pull herself up to a standing position even on unstable surfaces (like the couch), and stands for a long time while steadying herself with one hand on a stationary object. She can walk a few wobbly steps with support. Grandma Neumann is coming for a week-long visit on Tuesday, so it is possible she will see Mia's first steps.

Outplay. Outwit. Outlast.

... Mainly outlast. We survived the 27 hour trip from Hong Kong to Atlanta,  arriving home at 9 p.m. Saturday.  The highlight of the trip was our 4 hour layover in Mpls, where Mia became a U.S. citizen, then minutes later met all her grandparents and some of her aunts, uncles, and cousins. (And I had a frappucino.)  They provided new toys that Mia played with all the way to Atlanta.  We all slept until noon today.  After installing the car seat, we're off to Babies 'R Us to get lots of things we had no idea we'd need before we got Mia.  Mia loves exploring her new house.  She is crawling everywhere and pulling herself up on various pieces of furniture. We haven't figured out how to keep her out of the dog's water dish yet. Sam will arrive later this afternoon. That should be interesting.

Mia is a U.S. Citizen

We landed at MSP airport around noon. Just a few minutes later, the Immigration officer unsealed the documents known as "the brown envelope", and .Mia became a citizen. Since we had a 4 hour layover in MSP, .Mia's grandparents and some of her aunts and cousins were there to greet us.  They all agreed she is one cutie-patootie. .Mia thoroughly enjoyed the attention.  .Mommy thoroughly enjoyed her first frappucino in weeks.
It has been a long day of travel. We started out in Hong Kong, flew to Tokyo, then MSP. We're anxious to get home to Atlanta tonight.

We're in Hong Kong

This morning we said a bittersweet.good-bye to our Chinese guide Veronica and the other 7 families with whom we shared this journey of a lifetime. These 10 little girls (ages 6 months to 17 months) don't realize it yet, but their bond will be life-long. We have committed to keeping in touch, and there is no doubt we will follow through. While our little girls will be princesses in the States, we are very cognizant of what they leave behind. 
This morning we flew to Hong Kong.  We are spending the night in a tiny but pleasant.hotel near the airport. Early in the a.m., we'll start our 24 hour trip home. 
Mia has a nasty boil on her forehead, poor girl.  She is a trooper. It needs to be drained, but the physicians recommended we wait until we get to Atlanta. Wish us luck tomorrow!

The "Red Couch" Photo

It is a tradition to take a photo of the girls sitting on the red couch at the White Swan Hotel, dressed in traditional Chinese outfits. Mia's outfit is a lovely red silk number purchased in Beijing. We're not sure how we got Mia to sit still this long, since she is a perpetual motion machine. Notice that we have 2 sets of twins in our group. That guarantees that our group receives lots of attention wherever we go.