Getting to Know You - Aug 5-7

These last few days have been up and down for us out here. Jon and I are definitely feeling homesick and missing Livi.... a lot. 

Our first night with Sofie was not too bad. She slept the whole night through but she tossed and turned like crazy. We are still unsure if this is normal for her or if this is just because it was her first night in a different bed. She woke up around 7 am... not too bad :) She didn't eat well that first day for us so we decided to head out to a mall and see if we could find some baby food. She fell asleep around 10am in my sling while we were walking around so we decided to walk over to our agency to say hi and sign some papers. 

Sofie surprised us here by eating a Bulgarian cookie and fist fulls of those Gerber puffs. This was the first time we'd seen her eating by herself and with out crying! She found her appetite after that. At Anido we got Sofie's birth certificate with us listed as her parents and the adoption order! We also got some that the Canadian embassy in Bucharest was not responding to our Anido's calls or emails. Jon tried and got no answer but they responded by email to him later that night saying they were missing the Letter of No Objection from the BC government with a note on the bottom saying that it takes 3 weeks to process these applications. I was trying to stay calm but I was freaking out inside. We figured out that the Notification of Agreement is used in place of the No Objection letter. We respectfully reminded them of that fact and asked them to double check their documents. We also sent emails to our Canadian agency wanting to confirm that they have the document. Both my contacts are on vacation and no one responded to my emails. I was not impressed. My sister called them for me and they called her back with an update. Why didn't they email me at the same time? Really not impressed. Anyway, the Embassy should have the document so it looks like it is just an oversight with them. We have to wait until Monday to find out. Anido is pretty confident that this will all be worked out by August 12th for us to return home on August 14th but we are still feeling rather nervous. 

Sofie with our Anido contact, Alex.

After visiting the office Sofie fell asleep in my sling walking home and then slept for 3 hours! We ventured out for dinner that evening but otherwise kept a low profile. Sofie ate great this day! She is needing to improve her drinking now though. I'm trying not to get concerned but there are only so many ways you can try to give a kid water.

Saturday morning we slept in and hung around the hotel room for the morning. It was really nice and relaxing for Jon and I. Sofie discovered the mirrors in our front entry ad played there for about an hour! We found a really great little cafe just behind the hotel that has some more North American types of food. I was very thankful for this. I'm getting really tired of greasy cheese on EVERYTHING. After brunch at the cafe we tried to get Sofie down for a nap.... that didn't happen. She was a little fussy for the rest of the day too, probably because she was over tired. I felt bad when Sofie was really fussy during our Skyping time with Livi. I think Livi was a little confused. Cue mother's guilt! Bed time was not much better either. Sofie has definitely discovered her appetite but we hadn't quite realized it yet and after about 20 minutes Sofie crying while we were trying to put her to sleep, Jon suggested we try to feed her. Well, she ate a bucket of baby cereal and fruit! I felt bad again. So, apparently mother's guilt is a lot worse with two kids in the picture! We finally got her to sleep after that.

With all the fussiness that day, missing Livi and just being really tired of being in another country, I was feeling a little depressed. I had a good cry which helped but still didn't make me miss home and Livi any less. I think the stress of this whole embassy thing has heightened our anxiety a little. We are coping, but a little prayer for our emotions and of course the paper work would be appreciated!

Discovering herself in the mirror!

"ooooo, Who's that pretty girl?"

Feeding herself puffs!

Smiles for Daddy :)

Flexible as only a child with DS can be!

Almost bed time!

Today, Sunday, has been a little rough too. Sofie is quite fussy again.  We had planned on doing some sight seeing and local shopping but she not been wanting to be in the sling. We did make it to the St. George Rotunda, oldest standing building in Sofia dating to the 4th century and an Orthodox church where we got to see part of an infant baptism. We went to the mall instead to buy some smaller clothes for Sofie because all the 18 month stuff us swimming on her, more baby food and look for a cheap little umbrella stroller. The cheapest stroller we could find is about $75 Canadian. I guess cheap strollers aren't worth it out here with the difficult side walks.

St. George Rotunda

All the brick work is original and dates back to the 4th Century.

It became a church in the 6th Century and a Necropolis later on. 

Nap time didn't go over so well today either. She cried on and off for an hour and half. All three of us are having a bit of a rough go of it. Sofie is a little constipated but some little pebbles did come out today, after more tears. She was fed but wouldn't sleep no matter what we tried. Maybe she didn't sleep during nap time in the orphanage. I kind of doubt this because she sure looks tired. I feel kind of helpless. She still isn't drinking either. We are watering down all her food to try and get some liquids in her. 

We've stayed in the hotel room this afternoon to try too contain the stimulation a bit for her. She is doing well other than the lack of sleeping, drinking, and pooping :) She gives us lots of giggles! She is really starting to understand the signs for 'more' and 'all done' and uses them correctly when it suits her :) She does throw a few tantrums but it is not any different from any other one year old... which is where I think she is basically is developmentally. She has been coming to us for comfort and even came to me today specifically to play and laugh with! She does do some self stimulating rocking thing on her back. It looks like it is a symptom for being bored at the institution. I'm not sure whether I should let her do this or stop it each time. It kind of depends on how I have been feeling, whether I let it go or not. All in all, we are really enjoying her, we just want to be at home in our own space, with both of our kids.