Monday

I thought about posting yesterday, but considering the most exciting thing I could think of that happened during the day was that Camden had two bloody noses I thought everyone might appreciate it if I just took the day off.

Not that today's news is much more eventful, but here goes. Rory fell off the bed last night! Thank goodness she wasn't hurt, but it did wake her up enough to keep her awake from 5:00-6:00 a.m. We then both slept until 9:00. Not exactly the beginning of the week I was hoping for. I keep thinking that one of these days, she'll actually sleep or do something the same so that we can start looking at a schedule, but no such luck. When I get frustrated, I keep trying to remind myself of how I felt in Korea on the subway, in a restaurant, or on the street with everyone around me talking and how strange that felt to be surrounded by people who did not look like me, sound like me, smell like me, etc. She has to still feel so strange around us. And, as our caseworker reminded us on Thursday, at this point in her mind, we're not really her family yet. We're just the next set of strangers who are taking care of her. Unfortunately, she has had multiple caregivers, and until she lived with the foster family, we have no way of knowing how much attention was given to her. I am so grateful to Mrs. Park and her family, though. I have no doubt that they loved her.

Because of her multiple placements and many other reasons, we are still being very cautious and will continue to be cautious for many months. We are trying to stay close to home to help develop a sense of routine and consistency for her. We are avoiding public places where people will try to touch or hold her. Brian and I will continue to be the only ones to hold, feed, change diapers, etc. for a very long time. Our caseworker even mentioned things like not letting others give (aka bribe) her with candy or gifts. They should give them to us and we can pass them on to her. I know that it seems extreme to people who have not experienced this before, but believe me. We have done more reading and research than you can imagine and are just trying to listen to the experts.

Well, not sure how I got off on that tangent!

Rory and I took our first trip to Wal-Mart this morning. She seemed to like riding in the cart, but is not too thrilled with the carseat. She doesn't really cry, but whimpers/whines most of the time in the car. Of course, this is only her third trip ever - coming home from the airport, our doctor's appointment Friday, and today's trip to Wal-Mart.

I scrapped a page using the picture of Camden and Rory's first and only kiss so far. Camden wants to kiss her when she's screaming and wants nothing to do with him. Rory wants to kiss him occasionally and Camden won't have anything to do with her.