I'm in love

I'm in love with my pumpkin Jay. Now here's what I have to work with (see pics above).

1) Jay showing mommy his monkey face.

2) Jay not liking mommy telling him not to get on the stairs.

3) Jay trying to negotiate with mummy about climbing the stairs.

We just finished the round of tests with the doctors and he's doing great. The first blood test was horrible though. Lenin had to go back to work and I was left alone with Jay and the big needle. He started screaming when he saw the lab coat of the lab person. I had to hold him down as hard as I could (without breaking him), and with me crying, him yelling and the lab dude swearing, we got it all done in around 5 minutes. I'm never taking Jay to the labs again ie alone. Lenin is going to be the bad guy the next time.

Also have you every had to do a urine test on a little kid? They give you a little bag that the child is supposed to pee in. I spoke about this bag to my friends and they assured me that it was easier for a boy than a girl. Ofcourse, all these friends of mine only have daughters.

Well it aint and I'm on my 5th bag. See Jay, doesnt pee a lot at one stretch and the bag is flimsy and if you dont get the pee at the right time, the bag will leak and the pee will be lost. I've finally found the trick, cut a hole in his diaper, pull part of the pee bag through it, watch it fill and take it out when it was done. PHEW!!! The only other option left if all else failed, was to make Lenin pee in it.

Here's more of Jay.

Spending time with Jay

He is such a cutie (even if I say so myself). We have definitely been blessed. Though this has not been easy for the both of us.

I dont know what I thought life after Jay would be like. I didnt think that every minute of my time would be occupied with him, or how much I would look forward to 12:00 pm when he would take his afternoon nap. I love Jay but most of the time I dont know what to do to keep him occupied. We have loads and loads of toys but he loves his toys with us attached to it. And I'm sure my arms are longer now, they feel like it, I have muscles too with all the lifting I do. I also think I walk slanted now since he likes sitting on my hip. Hah, the whines of a mom eh?

Ok, I have to say this loud, I think me going back to work will be like a vacation (I know this sounds ridiculous). Now dont get me wrong, I'm happy, but I'm still not used to being a mom. I forgot to take a shower yesterday and when Lenin reminded me last nite it scared me, since I'd never forgotten to take a shower before. Sheesh, I dont want to let myself go, I can be hip and be a mom. Reminder- go to the hair dresser.

Here is the latest update on Jay.
He like his car seat now. He loves his stroller especially if you have a stash of cheerios somewhere where he can get it. He is getting used to the high chair and his crib. We have moved Jay out of our beds and into the crib. He tosses and turns (rolls on his head and butt even) in the night and when sleeping with us, he'd keep us both awake. So we moved him to the crib near our bed, we put him in the crib when he's still awake so that he knows that the crib is where he needs to sleep in.

We also have Jay on a schedule. He wakes up around 7:00 am, has a bottle, then breakfast around 8:00 am. Snacks in between. Lunch around 11:00 am. Nap time at 12:00 pm. He sleeps for 2 hrs. Then he wakes up, has a bottle, then about 3:00 pm, he has his evening snack (cottage cheese and fruit or veggies) and dinner around 6:00 pm. He then has a bath (which helps him sleep) and then another bottle and goes to bed around 7:30 pm.

So far the schedule has been working with him, he knows when he needs to take a nap and when he gets his food etc.

Its my nap time now, so off I go. Will post updates later.

More pictures- Daddy and Mommy with Jay

Pictures

We have pictures finally. And oh yes, we're back. I'm still jetlagged hence the late evening posting - I'm still on India time.

All went well with the flights. We got everything on time, even the Los Angeles to Phoenix connection. We only had a 2 hr 40 min time in between and the guy who processed Green Cards at the immigration had said first that we would have to wait since he had no help today. He had sent all the families in front of us to the waiting area. I told him about our connecting flight to PHX and asked if there was any way he could speeden it up. He said he would ask his colleague, we prayed. I was tired, Lenin was irritated and Jay - well he was both. He came back and said that he was going to pass us through. I just cant believe how God has guided us through this all... Its a miracle.

Jay is doing great at home. For the first time in his life, he has a lot of space, one on one attention and as much food as he wants. Yes, my baby loves his food. He also loves to walk holding on to my and Lenin's hands. He also loves Lenin and uses him as his mattress to go to sleep on.

He hates having his diapers changed, hates his high chair, hates baths, and hates sleeping in the crib. He's getting better though and we'll be persistent.

I just wanted to thank all of you for your support. I know I would not have made it this far without our friends and family.

The Day after

We took it easy.. Did some local shopping. Jay was still being good, he loved bananas and he calls that nana. Dont know if he was calling me momma instead of nana (maybe I look like a big juicy banana to him) :) .

Tomorrow we travel back. We're coming home.. I'll post pictures then... Talk to you all soon.

Embassy Day

We left for the Embassy around 7:00 am. We wanted to make sure we got there by 8:00 am when it opened. It was still foggy in the morning, there was no traffic and for the first time, we felt a bit relaxed. On the way, we saw a pack of monkeys (15-20) of them by the side of the road. They were only as big as Jay...

Talking about our little monkey Jay, he's doing very good. He had a good Poop session (score) in the morning, had almost 5 oz of formula and a good nap. He loves food. That was the way he started calling me Momma. I'd hold out the food to him, he'd look up and say Momma (of course I wont mention that he called Lenin Dada from day 1, sniff sniff). I'm so glad he's doing good. He still needs to see Lenin for security, but he wants to eat with me and he'll hold my fingers and walk down the hotel floor. He also adores all the hotel staff ( I think they remind him of the staff at the orphanage).

Back to the Embassy, we reached there around 8:00 am, we get in a line to get frisked by security. They then tell us to go to American Citizen Services. There they frisk us again, they even make us taste any liquid we have with us (and formula tastes yuk!!!). Then we go in and we're made to wait in a big hallway. They then call our names and take us to the DHS (Dept of Homeland Security) section. There we meet Mr Manoj Mahay for the I-600. He is such a nice man, he asks about Jay and how he's coping (thankfully Jay is fast asleep). It takes about 15 mins. We have all the documents he needs, the only thing that was scary was that he said that it was good we had stated that we wanted to adopt from infant - 15 yrs, since Jay was 15 mths only. If we had put it as any number below 15 months, we would have had issues since we had had to wait so long. He also said that they were getting stricter and that the next families coming in would be required to show the NOC (CARA clearance). Note to self: Tell Dillon.

After the I600, we were escorted back to the first waiting room. Since we had done the doctors the day before, we went to apply for the visa. They gave us the form, we filled it, gave them the medical packet, payed the visa fee ($380) and they told us to come back around 2:00 pm for the visa interview. We went out and had lunch with Grace, Shane and Jadyn (they were with us the entire time)

Then we came back around 2:00 pm. They called us for the visa interview, there was a nice man called Eric Johnson who made us take the oath. He told us that we would have the golden packet in 30 mins if we wanted to stick around. WE DID!!!. The entire process took from 8:00 am to 4:30 pm. IT WAS GREAT!!!.

We have Jay!

Its been 3 days since I last posted anything. The web access at the hotel has been too slow and I just had luck today with the post.

The last 3 days have been the happiest as well as the most stressful that I've ever had. We got to the Kolkata airport on time and checked into the Hindustan International Hotel smoothly. They had their hotel car waiting for us at the airport. And the hotel was great. Nice large rooms and great service.

Saturday Feb 17th, we left for the orphanage around 1.30 Pm to pick up Jay. I was totally unprepared for what came next. The orphanage was nothing like I expected. What surprised me the most was how tiny it was, but one thing shone through was how much Mrs Roy and her staff loved the children.. But the hardest part of it all was when I tried to pick up Jay. He yelled Bloody murder and cried like crazy. He also had a cold and the ayahs kept picking him up.. Mrs Roy assured me that the crying would stop once he left the orphanage.. I still had to take pictures but all I wanted to do was leave so that he could stop crying. I'm glad Grace's husband Shane was with us since my hands couldnt stop shaking while I was taking the pictures.

Jay settled a bit in the car ride back to the hotel and he snuggled in Lenin's arms that car ride. Once back at the hotel he settled in and had a long nap.. After that he took to Lenin and he'd cry every time I picked him up.. That was hard on me but I'm glad he's bonded to Lenin atleast. I'm still working on winning him over.

Sunday, we left Kolkata for Delhi. And Monday we did the visa photos and visited the doctor for the visa medical packed.

Tomorrow, we do the embassy. I'll post more later. I'm so tired.