Thursday, June 14, 2007
CLUBB FAMILY UPDATE

It has now been two months since Ainsley and her Daddy returned from China and reunited with Shannon and Griffin to form the “Clubb family of four.” So much has happened in that short time!

When we posted the previous update on May 14th, David still wasn’t back to work and we were still adjusting to those initial changes and challenges – being new parents to an infant and a toddler; jetlag; adjustment issues for Ainsley; sleeping patterns; drops in pregnancy hormones (Shannon’s hormones, not David’s!), and more. What a difference another month makes! We have now settled in and are really enjoying the daily adventures with Ainsley and Griffin – playtimes, naptimes, and mealtimes (Ainsley continues to love interesting foods like guacamole or curry somosas); baths; hikes; shopping; and much more.

Ainsley

Ainsley LOVES her baby brother and constantly wants to kiss him, touch him, and share her toys with him. It is so sweet to see her get so excited to “talk to” and play with Griffin. She still loves playing with her cell phone (we gave her one of our old phones that we no longer use since she started to figure out the buttons on our current phones and called a few of our friends accidentally)! She is a bundle of energy. She talks non-stop and we are starting to understand some of what she is attempting to say. She even started singing “Happy Birthday” recently (Pretty much in tune! Ha!). She has also started to say “hi” when she sees you. And she loves to blow kisses (in addition to her all-time favorite and old stand-by: clapping her hands).

We are in the process of transitioning Ainsley to her own room. Right now she is still sleeping in a pack-n-play beside our bed (Mommy thinks Daddy is the one who needs the baby steps with the transitioning because he loves to see Ainsley first thing in the morning as she wakes up with a big smile on her face every morning, claps her hands, and chatters away). She goes down very easily and sleeps through the night, so we are hopeful that when we finally do put her in her own room that it will not be a major issue. We’ll see! Stay tuned for the July update!

Ainsley had her second follow-up appointment with the pediatrician and developmental/behavioral specialist, both of whom focus on adopted children. They were so encouraging as they shared with us that Ainsley is right on track developmentally. They said they wished they had a video from our first visit and then our second visit to show families a textbook example of how children should adapt and develop. They commented on how smart she was and her “social skills” in dealing with new people and situations. Even though we certainly felt like Ainsley had made major advances in the past month or so, it was so refreshing to have that confirmed by the “professionals.”

Physically, Ainsley is still so tiny, gaining only about ½ pound in her first month and a half being home from China. We were surprised at this considering how much she eats! While she did not gain a lot of weight she did grow a lot. She grew over 1½ inches in length/height during that time. And her head circumference grew an inch (Daddy’s head might have shrunk an inch as he has been humbled by the parenting experience!) The doctor indicated that the nutrition Ainsley is getting now is really making up for what she missed out on for the entire year she was in the orphanage in China. It appears it is all going straight to her bones right now!

We are so lucky that Ainsley has been a really happy girl almost from day one. And just in the last few days she has come out of her shell even more – smiling extra big, having big belly laughs, and making more funny faces! She makes herself laugh and also continues to keep us entertained!

Coming up on July 12th, we will be going to court to complete the re-adoption process for Ainsley here in the state of Pennsylvania. Only after this process will we be able to obtain proof of her US citizenship (i.e., US passport), which will make it much easier for us to travel. Right now if we traveled with her she would have to travel on her Chinese passport and secure a visa to visit countries where we would normally not need visas, adding extra cost and time considerations for any trip. We will share more information about the re-adoption process in our next update.
 

Griffin

Griffin just turned 3 months old on June 9th and is smiling and squealing all the time now! It is fun to watch him smile and make all kinds of funny noises as he warms up those vocal chords for when he will soon be speaking like Ainsley.

He has fallen into somewhat of a predictable eating, sleeping, and playing pattern through the days and generally sleeps pretty well at night – only getting up once or twice between 9pm and 7am. He is really strong and can hold his head up very well. He is also really close to rolling over onto his belly. We applied for his passport this past month realizing we needed to have it on hand in case the urge to travel really strikes us – and it may! He seems to enjoy the attention his big sister gives him. Mommy sometimes thinks Ainsley is being too rough, but Griffin takes it like a man and just smiles at Ainsley as she crawls all over him!