We're home safe and sound!

Sorry for not updating the blog, but it's been a crazy few days. 
 
We're all jet-lagged and tired and fighting nasty colds with little sleep.  But we're home safe and sound.
 
We got in Thursday night after a fairly uneventful flight.  It was long.  The layover in Shanghai was 6 hours, but we went to the food court, hung out, played games, waited in line forever at ticketing, and made it through without too much incident.  The kids slept most of the way home on the long flight, but mom and dad didn't.  So when we got home, they didn't feel like sleeping, and we were exhausted.  Other than that, things went relatively well.
 
Friday and the weekend were pretty long.  Jason and I were exhausted, and the kids kept us up all night.  If one of them was asleep, the other one was awake, and even though we took turns trying to take care of them, we didn't get much rest.   Now, on top of it, we all have colds, probably due in part to lack of sleep.  Sunday and Monday nights were better, and we all got to sleep through the night finally.  I feel almost human again.

Meg is doing pretty well, at least as well as can be expected.   She settled in at home right away.  We've had a few breakdowns at home, but it seems that in the house, she feels pretty comfortable..  She's still stubborn and we've had our moments, but things are much better than in China.
 
We still haven't had much luck taking her out.  She is just unpredictable and prone to throwing tantrums at unpredictable times.  We've tried to limit the outings, but to be honest, we're going stir crazy trapped in the house...  The few small outings we've had (grandma's house, library, shoe store) were okay.  The biggest problem seems to be getting her to leave anywhere...
 
Then today we went to the doctor, and it went reasonably well.  She screamed when we asked her (and eventually helped her) take off her clothes, and then again when we asked her to put them back on, but the actual exam went fine.
 
Another appointment with the endocrinologist this afternoon... We'll see how that goes.  Wish us luck!
 
Although it sounds like doom and gloom, we have a lot of happy moments too.  She has a good sense of humor, and she frequently tries to bring us into her fun.  I think once we're all settled in and she's more comfortable, she will fit right in with our silly, offbeat family.  She is fascinated, but scared of our cats.  She keeps taking the photos of the cats and showing them to the cats.  Or taking a picture the cat and setting it near them, as if to show the cat that it is in the picture... Silly and funny.  She made me come upstairs to show me that Moo was sleeping on our bed.  And she told me that I should not let Moo sleep on the bed.  It was mama and baba's bed...
 
It's been a rough start, but it IS getting better.  She's just trying to establish her boundaries and frequently gets overwhelmed with everything and loses control.  And since she's never been told no in her entire life, and hasn't ever had any boundaries or responsibilities, it's very frustrating for her.  It's all compounded by our only very basic level of communication.  Slowly but surely, it is getting better, and we are all settling in.

Peace, love and joy,
Bridget