We're home!

The plane ride was... okay. Wasn't terrible, but definitely wasn't great. He moved between sleeping on my lap and crying for his Umma (foster mom). I'm sure he was very confused and scared. It was a difficult flight for me personally because having 20-some pounds on your lap and/or in your arms for that many hours is not very comfortable (and now I am super sore)! He mostly refused to go to Ryan and wouldn't sleep in the bassinet right in front of our seats (Korean Air rocks!). BUT I'm not complaining. We're finally home, and that's all that matters. 

When we finally got to our home airport (after one short layover), Alex was welcomed home by some of his close family members! It was wonderful, and he did great. He did a lot of observing and even cracked a little smile at all the silliness that is our family. It will be great to look back on that day and show Alex how very loved he was (and is), even before he ever officially joined our family. 

Putting Alex in the car seat for the ride home was very difficult. He had never ridden in one and didn't really want to be out of my arms for a second at that point. He screamed and pressed himself against the straps for the first few minutes of the drive, then he calmed down and decided he was okay, then he fell asleep. Yay! 

Now that we're home he seems to be settling in just fine. I hadn't slept for I'm guessing around 48 hours (pretty much the same for Ryan too) so I was dying to get a little bit of sleep once we got home. We decided to wait until Alex was playing with Ryan so I could sneak off for a bit (thank you, Ryan!). To our surprise, once I left the room he kept playing with Ryan for quite awhile, even let Ryan pick him up and comfort him if he started to cry. Eventually Alex fell asleep in the sunroom with his little butt in the air. So cute!

Since then he has taken a couple naps throughout the night and now he has been sleeping since 9am (it's 4:30pm as I write this). I slept when he slept (but I got up at 4pm) so I've actually managed to get quite a lot of sleep! I'm so, so happy about that, but now we're realizing how difficult it may be to get all of us onto a normal sleeping schedule. It will definitely take some time!

To those of you who got Alex welcome home gifts, thank you! He has had fun trying out different toys. One of our friends got Alex a children's CD, and when we put it in he immediately started clapping and dancing! So cute! He also loves the fruit and yogurt his Grandma bought him (thanks, Mom!). 

To end this post, here are some of the things we've learned about Alex (first hand!):

• He loves books, brochures, cards, newspapers, etc. He loves turning the pages.
• He loves anything with a cap or lid. He loves taking the cap/lid off and putting it back on (over and over). 
• He loves throwing things on the floor (and thinks it's quite hilarious).
• He loves music and dancing.
• He loves our cats! Petting them was the first thing he showed interest in once we got home. Now when he sees them, he gets really excited. Nala has been great about letting him attempt to pet her. 
• He loves fruit and yogurt. 

That's it for now! I'll try and update as often as I can to let you all know how we're progressing. So far, I would say it's going better than I expected. We'll see how he does as he begins to settle in more and as we begin to get some sort of routine down. 

Before I end, though, I just want to give a little shout out to my awesome, amazing husband. He has been more than supportive and since Alex wouldn't go to him on the plane, he literally did everything else and tended to our every need. It was so cute to see him carry my purple carry-on bag, Alex's toddler backpack, and the diaper bag while also dragging our luggage through the airport. (For some reason Alex wouldn't even let me carry another bag in addition to him. He wanted me all to himself!). It was so nice that he also offered to stay up playing with Alex while I got a couple hours of sleep once we got home. On another note, I already have a ton of respect for single parents, because I could have never done this alone! 

Thanks again, everyone, for all of your support. It really, truly means so much to us! We'll keep you updated on our progress as much as possible!