Sweet Home Alabama

Sorry, loyal readers, for keeping you in suspense for so long. It didn’t really seem like that long, but then I looked outside and there were people with “We Want Claire!” signs in the front yard and there were creepy messages on the answering machine just saying, “What’s your daughter doing?” So I guess it’s time for an update.

We all, obviously, made it home safe and sound. Well, if making it home soundly implies that we made it home quietly, then I’m lying. We had two VERY long flights on Saturday. Almaty to Amsterdam was 7 hours, and Claire was a trooper. With the help of my new best friend, Benadryl (don’t give me a hard time…my doctor recommended it), she slept most of the way. We also left Almaty at 3 a.m., which helped. We had a four-hour layover in Amsterdam and then a ten-hour flight to Atlanta. Claire slept…oh, about 10 minutes of this leg. It was long and painful – for us, for Claire, and for the other passengers. There were about six other babies on board this flight and they apparently all got together before the flight and arranged some sort of eardrum-shattering conspiracy on the rest of us. I’ve blocked out the particulars, but it was loud and painful.

Once we landed, it took about two hours to get through customs, Homeland Security (because Claire was traveling on a Kazakhstan passport), two baggage claims, and airport security. Claire slept…finally. Figures. Justin, the grandparents (minus my mom/Claire’s pack mule), and our friends, Kyle, Christine, and Emily Whitaker, met us at the airport in Atlanta. I’m not sure who was more excited to see whom. Claire woke up from her slumber to lots of big, smiling faces in hers, a few signs, a teddy bear, and a very exuberant Daddy. And I mean VERY exuberant. She did surprisingly well and even managed to produce a few of her cheeseball grins (the camera just can’t capture the level of cuteness).

Tucker and Riley are adjusting to having a little one in the house. We worried that she’d be afraid of them (or –gasp– allergic), but she seems to view them as just part of the gang. Riley is having a hard time understanding that not every toy in the house is for him anymore, and he runs for the door every time she cries with a look that says, “Get me out of here!” Tucker, forever laid-back, is Claire’s favorite – probably he’s lazy and doesn’t move much, thus making him an easy target. He tolerates her climbing on him in exchange for her tolerating him licking her. Not a bad deal they’ve worked out.

Claire has been busy since she’s been home. She’s been on her first shopping excursion (c’mon, you knew it wouldn’t take me long), visited Daddy at work, had several stroller rides to the park, and had lots and lots of visitors. She has quite a social calendar for a nine month old.

Life is returning to normal. The grandparents have gone home, the “Welcome Home” decorations are down, and we’re slowly getting into a routine. It’s certainly not our old “normal,” but this new version is already more than we could have hoped for.