That's right, 1 year ago today @ 11:30pm Taryn met her brothers and her Dad. We arrived at Flint airport tired and emotional. The year has been very smooth. Our first year's journey began with food. Getting Taryn to try new foods was easier than maybe most kiddos who come home. The sleep thing... well that's another story. We had the family bed for the first 9 months. She slept with us every night. We tired sleeping with her in her bed and sneaking out. We tried putting her to bed with each brother (that didn't last long, each brother kicked her out after the first couple of nights). Not surprising. Taryn has "asthma-type" symptoms which means that she cannot/is not labeled/diagnosed as having asthma until the age of 6. So we treat her symptoms exactly as we would if she did have asthma. If she gets a "bug" she will begin the coughing that so many people have. The cough is persistent, getting as bad as every other second. We began treating her symptoms with a neb machine in early January. Every time she the cough starts, we start the machine treatments. Every time she has been able to get better from her "bug" within days and we wean her off to her maintenance level (1 treatment every day). So anyway, back to the sleeping - her cough in those early months was thought by us as a way to get attention. We dismissed it, even told her to "STOP COUGHING". After doing some research, as all mom's do, we were overjoyed to have some relief to the coughing - simply treating her with asthma medication. So in August Taryn moved from sharing a bedroom with Tyler to her own bedroom. She has a "west wing" kinda bedroom; very long and very cool with neat attic ceiling angles, an awesome bathroom, a closet better that mom's, and a sweet play area/hideout just for girls who love pink. Oh, did I mention, she loves pink? Of course she does. What 2 year old little girl doesn't? (My niece Paige comes to mind...) And within days of moving into her new bedroom with a double size bed with lots of pink sheets, pillows, dollies, etc. she began sleeping in her own bed all night without us! I am sure that it was a combination of events that led to her being able to sleep alone, but the topper was her own pink room! I would say 5 of 7 nights a week she sleeps in her bed all night. Of course the sneak down in the middle of the night is not felt by mom and dad anymore as she stealthily climbs in between us and as we wake up find a small brown head laying on the pillow next to us.
And this week also marks the "baby book note : POTTY TRAINING DONE!" Yup, she has been dry all day/night for over two weeks now and actually is quite over the top about using the potty. Seems like every other minute she is on the potty... which is not a bad problem to have. So, during the day, our entire family, all 6 of us, use the potty! Yay! LOL
So as I woke up today to start my crazy morning of school prep, etc., the "babies" as they are still called - slept in. That is very unusual. Taryn is always up at 7am. She gets up before the big kids who have to go to school. Most mornings if she gets her way, she has eaten, gotten dressed, hair done and teeth brushed... all before 8:30am! OMG! I was able to send Dad and Tom and Trevor out the door, check on the babies, and lay back down! I don't think that has happened since she came home! We we got up and around for the day, we celebrated with donuts and fruit for breakfast; common maybe in some homes... but we don't have donuts here much - cuz mom eats them! Taryn spent the majority of her day with her brother Ty, and one of her favorite babysitters, Whitney. Mom got out of the house for a few hours which made everyone happy. Dinner was quiet. Ty fell asleep, Trevor had a play date with a friend after school, and Tom went to a neighbor's for dinner. So Mom, Dad and Sissy ate a quiet dinner of Scalloped Potatoes and Ham. Daddy picked up a small PINK cake to celebrate the occasion too. So as bed time nears, we will look at her pictures from Russia (a common occurrence) and ready an adoption story (also frequent).
What will the next year hold for Taryn? What adventures will she get to experience for the 1st time. Will she be a "terrible 3"? Keep checking back to read the details of her and our family as we try to share our journey of life, one ordinary day to another, one special day to another.
