Day by Day

Dallan and I weren't sure quite what to expect from our daughter or her home country. Everything has been very fog-like and now here we are, settling into our own little routine, talking about how natural it feels. We've been amazed by the shift...

Grace is a joy. ABSOLUTELY the EASIEST we could've hoped for. The first night she went down about 10:30 (Juliet said that she is usually down by 10 but with their late arrival and the hand off and of course us needing some snuggle time; we got a little behind...) and got up at 7:30. I thought to myself, "she's probably just exhausted from everything. Tonight will be different." It was, but she still slept like crazy and let Dallan and I get in the sleep we needed. She was down about quarter to ten and got up at 5. She's taking two, 3 hour naps a day and eating about every 4 hours. She is very, very VERY active. We were worried about her not attaching to us or vice versa but it has been so instinctual; there's not a doubt in our minds that all of this was pre-ordained.

Here are the things we've learned about her so far:

1. She will not have anything to do with a pacifier instead she sucks on her own tongue?!
2. Even though she can't stand on her own, she lets go every time to try it. She's Miss Independent already.
3. She has already adopted a favorite toy; her rattle/stuff animal that Dallan named Jeffrey. He's a Giraffe.
4. Instead of laughing she squeals. High pitched and perfect. We say she is flexing the golden pipes.
5. She is very ticklish on her back.
6. She hates water on her face but otherwise is a little fish!
7. She is a tummy sleeper and a wiggle worm too. She moves more during the night than anyone I've ever known!
8. She has the cutest dimples. The right one is slightly larger then the left one.
9. She LOVES all the noises Dallan makes.
10. She likes anything with a texture. Dallan says she is going to love getting into all my fabric...
11. She likes to play peek-a-boo.
12. When she is done with something, she's done. No ifs, ands or buts. She's got a little stubborn in her....
13. She likes when Daddy makes her fly in the air.
14. When she tries to get up, she uses her head to brace herself.
15. She is totally fascinated by Dallan's arm hair.
16. So far, her favorite thing to suck on is my knee (?!?)
17. She has baby beads.... (So the story behind this: That first night we had her I went to change her diaper before putting her pajamas on. When we got the diaper off we saw that she has two rows of beads around her lower belly (they are completely hidden by her diaper). We asked Percy about this because obviously we had no idea what they were...He said that back in the day the Ghanian people didn't have a way to weigh the babies so they would put these beads around them. If they got too tight it was time to limit the diet and if they were too lose it was time to up the feedings. I asked him how long one wears these beads and he said "indefinitely"; apparently his wife still has her beads on albeit more have been added as she grew (she even wore them through her pregnancy!). I don't know how long we'll have Grace wear them, but she is completely unfazed by them so for now it's one of those beautiful cultural experiences.)


Here's some pictures from the last few days of the first bath, bottle time, those baby beads (you have to look close for them) and a bad picture of her favorite toy.