Adoption Interview

Adoption Bloggers Interview Project 2012

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

We Made It


Well, we finally made it here to Rhode Island. It was a long hard trip with its fair share of tantrums and meltdowns, but we made it none-the-less. Physically Hannah seems to be doing great and got the all clear from her ENT to resume her normal activities. Today we went swimming and she had a blast. It was really good for her to get some heavy work in, especially after 3 straight days in the car! We've been in behavior boot camp the last two days which hasn't been fun for any of us, but it's needed. She got so much leeway after her surgery and while we were packing and moving, that a huge rein in was really needed to get things back under control. I'm sure it's going to take some time. I just hope I can stay patient.

I think it's going to take some time for us all to adjust to apartment life. As far as apartments go, this is a nice one, but we are right downtown so it's loud. Hannah is constantly asking, "What's that sound?" Our view is amazing for being in the city though. Out one window we can see the whole city and out the other we have a huge view of the capitol building. There is a train station across the street that Hannah hasn't really noticed yet. Once she does, I'm sure this will be a big hit for her since she loves trains. We are totally going to have to ride on one at least once while we are here. We were pleasantly surprised with the size of the apartment. Our bedrooms are HUGE. I've never had such a large room in all my life. Hannah's bedroom here is bigger than our master bedroom was in Indiana. We also have two bathrooms which we weren't expecting. The bad thing about the bathroom is that Hannah can't reach the toilet paper while on the toilet and also can't reach the sink even while standing on a stool. I've become used to her having some independence in the toileting department so having to help her much more than I'm used to is a pain, but I'm sure we'll come up with something. An interesting side note regarding potty training, Hannah was dry all night and during her naps for 4 days/nights in a row. This morning she was wet when she woke up, but I still think 4 dry nights is a good start. I really expected a pretty big regression in potty training because of this move and all the transitions she's dealing with. I definitely did not expect the 4 dry nights in a row, especially since she's only been dry through the night once or twice before this.

Besides getting Hannah's behavior in check and her sensory diet back on track, the next big goal on this move is to get Hannah set up in the Rhode Island Early Intervention program. Hopefully we can get OT started soon and maybe find a social skills group. We also have to start the process of finding new doctors for her (and for us for that matter). That is something I am not looking forward to. We've been so fortunate thus far to have had great doctors. I'm worried we aren't going to get that lucky again.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey Nat! Glad to hear you made it safe & sound!!!! I can't wait to see pictures of your new house and hear all about your "adventures" in Rhode Island!!! Hope Kyle's job is going well!!!! Love you! Myrna

pixiemama said...

Welcome home!
xo

Unknown said...

Glad you are getting settled in. I hope all goes smooth and quickly with getting the EI set up.

Lanny said...

Beautiful pics! Glad y'all made it there safely, and I'm glad Hannah has recovered well from her surgery. I hope it's an easy transition into EI there.

tracey (aka rainbowmummy) said...

Do you do picture symbols? Try Do 2learn, or draw them, ok this might not even work but I was thinking you make a big sheet of all the sounds (cars, birds, sirens, etc) and maybe one ? one, and then if she is hearing something she will have clues as to what it is, so she won't be asking every 2 seconds.

Here is the link for the list of free picture symbols..http://www.dotolearn.com/picturecards/printcards/index.htm

Mama said...

Thanks!
Natalie

Quirky Mom said...

I'm reading through your blog after following you over from Static Vox. This caught my eye:

Hannah is constantly asking, "What's that sound?"

Um, Apple asks me that at least a dozen times a day. She asked me at least 3 times tonight when we were out getting dinner. Weird!