Time flies...

Our apologies to all of Maiya's fans who have patiently been waiting for updated pics & info! It's been a busy few weeks - hard to believe we've been back for 3 1/2 weeks already!

Maiya is sleeping through the night, and has been giving us up to 10-11 hours of sleeping through the night, which has been amazing! After a big event she tends to have some restless nights, but generally has been having no trouble at all. I think all the extra stimulation wears her out after the general quiet of the orphanage!

We have added green peas to her food roster, in addition to rice, oatmeal & barley, and she is doing not too badly with it -as long as the bottle is right there to follow the mouthful of food! We'll see how the green beans go later this week - and for all of you who think you are funny, no, Maiya has not tried to put her vegetables down the register to get out of eating them like her mother used to do.

She's met 3 out of 4 of her great grandmothers and loved them all. She's getting very attached to both sets of grandparents as well and other than her 2 uncles & Great-Grandma Clarkson, she's met most of our immediate family & lots of cousins & great-aunts & great-uncles too. On Monday she got to meet my old Westmount family in Kitchener (where I used to teach) and we'll see some other friends over the next few weeks too.

The strike that was delaying our condo is now over, and we have an earlier than expected (given the strike) occupancy date of August 10! So Maiya will hopefully have a room without the computer desk in it in a couple of months. We will definitely be happy to have a few more square feet of space for her to play in, especially once she starts to crawl!

As you can see from the pics, she has quite the personality! Still has lots of smiles - although trying to get 3 great-grandmas & a baby to all smile & look at the camera at one time was a challenge! She also loved her first visit to the farm, and although she got her first pair of pink rubber boots, she hasn't tried them out yet!

Maiya's health has been good - attachment continues to go well, gaining weight like crazy, and next pediatrician's appointment will likely be the beginning of getting immunizations on schedule. We have a pediatric dermatologist appointment on Friday which will hopefully answer some of our questions with recurring skin issues, but other than that she is doing great!

And Daddy celebrated his first Father's Day with a new pair of boxers to replace the ones he had to "sacrifice" while in Vietnam (see the unfortunate bathroom incident posted by Brett if you aren't familiar with this reference!)

Week One in Canada...

Well, we survived our first week back in Canada fairly well, thanks to visits from both Grandmas to help out - especially since I was sick for most of it! Maiya is settling in well, and continues to amaze us with just how many smiles she can dole out in one day!

She has had some big firsts this week:

1. First taste of rice cereal - has decided that it's okay, but it's more fun to squeeze it back out through her toothless gums as soon as we tell her what a good girl she is and take the spoon away...

2. First visit to Tim Horton's - of course had to be with Poppa Heise - you can see from the pic she isn't quite sure if she likes Tim Horton's as much as Starbucks...

3. First workout with Grandma Trish - who is determined to have her up to her gross motor milestones in record time! Looks like they were having fun!

4. First sleeping through the night...9:30 pm until 6:30 am - good for us, unfortunate for Grandma who was up with her while on her Vietnam time all last week!

Even though it doesn't seem possible, we seem to fall even more in love with her every day. Every day we are seeing her trust in us grow as she continues to learn that we are here to stay. We look forward to beginning to introduce her to everyone as she gets more secure in being with us - we guarantee she'll win you over pretty quick!

Smiles, smiles, smiles

Well, just over 3 weeks since we first met Maiya in person, and it's hard to believe how much she's changed in such a short time! The improvements in her muscle development and coordination have been incredible and she seems to be catching up to her 6 month milestones very quickly. We have a pediatrician's appointment tomorrow here in Toronto - thanks to Auntie Shannon's great connections we got one who's affiliated with Sick Kids so she will be great and should be able to help us get immunizations on schedule, skin issues looked at, etc.

I have been sick this week with ear & sinus infection (but fortunately it seems I've missed the pneumonia!) so it's been great to have my mom staying with us as Brett was back to work. In our little condo it means she's the first one up when Maiya decides it's play time in Vietnam (usually around 2:30 a.m.) so it's been great for Brett & I!

Grandma and Maiya modeled their rice hats for the blog today, as well as a shot of her obviously enjoying the change from the stainless steel & bamboo mat crib to the nice, comfy one she has now!

The final picture is a big thank you from Maiya to everyone at TLS for their support to Daddy while he's been off taking it easy in Vietnam, and for the Bumbo and other gifts she received at her welcome party at Daddy's work today. She discovered the chair is great for easy access to her toes & enjoys it immensely!

We'll keep the postings coming for a while, as our family & friends are spread out & it seems to be a good way to keep everyone posted on Maiya's progress. So if you're interested, keep checking in!

A few more pics to tide you over...

Presenting....Maiya Thanhlyn Clarkson

Here you go Poppa! Show her off!

Home Sweet Home

We're baaaack! And unfortunately I can't get pictures to upload today - so I'll post this so you know we're home, and will try pics a bit later!

All went well with our tickets, and Maiya had her first plane ride from Ho Chi Minh to Hong Kong on Saturday. We had exit row seating with an extra seat, so couldn't have had it better. On the Hong Kong-Anchorage-Toronto flights, we ended up being able to get Brett's seat moved so we could sit together, and had a bassinet, which was great - she slept almost the whole time!

Immigration & customs were unbelievably smooth & quick and we entered the waiting area around 11:00 p.m. It's hard to describe the emotions of walking down that hallway knowing grandparents and other family are finally about to meet your baby girl!

Maiya was full of huge smiles & laughs as we came out to meet everyone, which is amazing after travelling for over 24 hours straight & an 11 hour time difference! Although I think everyone had already fallen in love with her over the process of the adoption, I'm pretty sure the impact of actually seeing her in person was pretty strong, judging by the even bigger smiles on everyone else's faces! I thought Poppa Heise and Grandma C. were going to hurt their cheeks from the huge grins on their faces! Both sets of grandparents, plus Breydon & Chantler were there to meet us.

Breydon (my brother) had brought our car to the airport with the carseat, so we headed home. We were anticipating some screaming with the car seat, seeing as she'd never been in one before, but she actually loved it & smiled all the way home.

Grandma Heise is staying with us for about a week, so she helped out lots Night #1 - I think she maybe got an hour or two sleep! Sunday was busy with meeting more family - Uncle Craig & Aunt Heather, Cassidy & Carson, Aunt Shannon & Willow, Johnnie & Leanne, and another visit with Grandma & Grandpa C. The second night has been better (although since I'm writing this at 5:00 a.m., she's not quite sleeping through the night yet with the time difference!).

So, we're back & thrilled to be home. As Maiya gets adjusted to the time difference, new home & continues to attach to Brett & I, we will start to make the rounds and introduce to her everyone!



Thanks again to everyone who followed this part of Maiya's life with us. It was great to know so many people were reading & commenting - it kept us feeling very connected while we survived the first few weeks of parenthood!

Coming home tomorrow....hopefully...

Well, another eventful day, on what we're hoping is our last full day for this trip to Vietnam. We'll definitely be back some day!

After some last minute touring around & shopping in the pouring rain, we headed back to the hotel, only to find out that the single mother, whom we were rooming with for tonight, had to pack her bags & take her son back to the clinic, where he is being admitted to the hospital for asthma treatments. This means he's not allowed to fly for a few days. She has been amazingly strong taking care of him on her own this whole time, with all of the various health issues he's had, and we wish her the best over the next few days.

The problem - she called Cathay Pacific to cancel her flight for tomorrow - and they cancelled ALL our flights!! Fortunately we called to check and found out this afternoon rather than tomorrow morning at the check-in counter! Supposedly they re-booked Brett, Maiya & myself, after a stressful discussion on the phone with the Cathay people. So, we're hoping everything is okay and we will be able to fly. If they did re-book us, it does mean we should get a bassinet for Maiya, even though we're sitting separately.

Other than that, it was a typical day, with lots of people admiring Maiya. Our only concern is that, despite constantly being dressed in pink, everyone keeps asking us if she's a boy! We picked up a few little souvenirs for her and had fun dashing from doorway to doorway in the downpour! She enjoyed it too - she likes being out and about. Apparently she gets bored just seeing Brett & I all the time!

Attached a picture of her trying to escape from her crib last night. This is how we found her about an hour after she went to sleep! Also added a picture of the motorcyclists lined up at the light, with their questionably effective rain ponchos on!

Sorry it's not too exciting tonight, but have to get back to the room to pack. Next post will hopefully be with pics of Maiya's first meeting of the grandparents!