We have been home 1 week and I cant hardly believe it! I have done a terrible job keeping up with blogging during our second trip. But I will try catch everybody up.
We moved to Warsaw and stayed in an apartment that was great! It is very central to everything and close to the bus stops. We visited lots of museums (Warsaw Uprising, Copernicus Science Center, Polish Army, Museum of Technology, Palace of Science and Culture Viewing Terrace). We also walked all over New and Old Town. My hubby took thousands of pictures( I am not kidding). Warsaw is a beautiful city and full of so much history. Magda took us to this wonderful doughnut shop and it is must while staying in Warsaw. The doughnuts are warm, fresh and put Krispy Kreme to shame. We went several times during our stay. We also got to spend some time with another adoptive family! It was so nice to get to talk with them and share experiences. The last two weeks of our stay both grandmothers came to stay with us. We took a three day trip to Krakow to see the salt mine and Auschwitz. Auschwitz was an experience I think everyone should do. It is so so so sad and horrible but I think it is important that the world not forget that this happened. The salt mine is really a wonderful tour. But be prepared to walk and go down lots of stairs! Our son loved the salt mine! He wanted to run to each new section of the mine and since he was the only child on the tour the tour guide gave him extra attention. After our trip to Krakow my hubby went home a few days early to get our house back in order. So the grandma's, little man, and myself explored Warsaw some more, ate at some great little local restaurants, and started packing to come home. We also had to make two trips to the US Embassy to get the paperwork for little man to enter the United States. The first visit there was for the Embassy interview and to drop off paperwork and the second was to pick up the paperwork(the wonderful packet that you hear so much about that is the ticket to getting your child into the USA)(Remember to keep the packet completely intact just how it was given to you by the US Embassy).
That was our stay in Warsaw. The trip home started out with a bang. Our first flight was cancelled. This was supposedly announced but since we don't speak Polish we didn't know until we noticed that there was no plane at the gate. We then had to wait in line for 2 1/2 hours with our luggage and a very active 4 year old. Little man handled the wait better than the 3 adults with him. So once we got all the new tickets for our new flights we had to rush back through all of check-in and airport security. But after that the rest of day went smoothly. Little man slept for 5 of the 9 hour flight from Germany which made this momma very happy. We went through customs without a hitch and welcomed the newest citizen of the USA.
This first week home has gone unexpectedly well. We prepared for a little boy who was going to be jet-lagged, cranky, and just plain out of sorts from such a big change. Little man has been jet-lagged but he still our happy little boy. He has adjusted wonderfully!! He is going to bed without crying or a fight(which never happened while we were in Poland). We are still having trouble with him not wanting to eat a full meal at times but this has improved greatly since we first got him.
Little man went for a check-up with our pediatrician this week too. I wanted him to get a full check-up as soon as possible with my own pediatrician. He also went to the dentist and eye doctor. He did very well with each visit and the concerns we have had have been looked at and are now being monitored. Yes, it is a lot for a little one in one week but we wanted to make sure everything was fine since we did not really have any record of a dentist or eye check up and we had concerns in each of these areas we wanted looked at. I am very glad that we got it all over with and our minds are at ease. Little man does have a follow up appointment with the pediatrician in about a month but the other doctors will see him for regular check ups.
We are so, so, so, so, so, so, so glad to be home. We still can't believe that after all this time we are finally parents. It was worth every blood draw, hormone injection, ultrasound, paper cut, stamp, social worker visit, form, fingerprint, phone call, plane ride, train ride, step, and dollar.
