Sydney is now officially an American citizen. We started our last day in China at 5 AM, grabbed a quick bite and then headed to the airport where we flew to Hong Kong. After a short layover in Hong Kong we hopped on board a Boeing 777 (the only way to fly) and flew all the way to Newark, NJ. Our flight path took us north of China over Russia, over the North Pole (didn't see any reindeer) and came down over Canada to NJ.
There were video consoles at every seat so the kids got to watch their own shows and play video games. Sydney did pretty good, but about 1/2 way through the 16 hour flight she decided to start crying and screaming. We don't know whether she was hurting, or just freaked out, but she screamed her lungs out for a good hour and a half. Ginger wound up hanging out in one of the bathrooms so as not to disturb the other passengers. Finally she spent herself and slept a good 5 or 6 hours. When she woke up she was the cute little happy baby we've all come to know and love.
We had a brutally long layover in NJ...originally 4 hours, it turned into 7 hours as the flight was delayed. Thankfully we did, finally get going....but not before Sydney crawled all over the airport floor and then, to Ginger's horror, fell asleep on the floor with London (when she sleeps she automatically sticks her fingers in her mouth.)
Here's our officially-American baby
Our very dedicated friends (who will also be traveling to China in a couple of months to get their little bundles) and family met us at the New Orleans airport at 12:45 AM.
After a 1.5 hour drive we finally made it home...only to discover that we couldn't find out house key!
After about 30 minutes of searching, Ginger found it and Sydney got to see her room for the first time
We finally got to sleep around 4 AM, but since we're still on China time we were all awake by 10:30. Grandma and Grandpa came over and met their new granddaughter
After a long and satisfying first day home, Sydney and London catch some Z's
She raised our hopes the first night, and dashed them the 2nd. We thought we had it made...she slept like a rock the 1st night, but for the past couple of nights she has not slept so well. I guess it will take her body some time to adjust to our time. She goes down hard at first, but within a couple of hours she starts crying. Ginger has been sleeping in her room for the past couple of nights. Sydney wakes up and wants to know that Ginger is still right there. She'll drop off to sleep and then jerk awake and reach over to see if Ginger is still there. Then she drops off again, then wakes up and reaches out to make sure she's not alone. I think she's going through abandonment issues, but I'm no psychiatrist.
As much fun as she's having and as much love and attention as she's getting, she's still going to have to go through a process of adjusting to some pretty major changes. We imagine this will last for at least a few weeks, maybe longer. We're just praying that the Lord will wash Sydney's memory and only let her remember happy, safe memories.
It may be very sporadic, but I do plan on adding to this site from time to time. Thanks for sticking with us so far. Say a prayer for us when you think about it. We're already making plans to go back to China to bring home a sister for little Sydney...yikes!
