It's not the answer but it was good...

I just have to say today was better than any other day this week. Geoff let me sleep in and he opted to do the morning duty with Lexi Jayne. He got her up, fed her breakfast, changed her morning dirty diaper and played with her as I slept. I did hear him on the baby monitor say "oh... you stink, this would be a good time for Mommy to wake up". (LOL!) But I just listened and let them go at it together. It is afterall the same thing I do everyday. After awhile of listening to them, I got up and found smiles from both of them! There is no better way to wake up in the morning! Geoff had to go in to work so I took over and he got ready for work. When it was time for him to leave, I watched Lexi as he left. She went to the window and waved goodbye. It was so cute!! And Smokey (the only male animal) was at the front door. He thought she was playing with him and then the two of them began to play at the front door. He's such a good cat!

I spend most of my day in the floor with Lexi. I let the laundry, the dirty floors, the dirty dishes and even bath time for me go and just let her be my guide. She had no melt-downs. She took a nap about 3 hours from the time she woke up (as usual) and then I could clean up morning dishes. We played. She actually left me in the living room floor and went to play by herself in her room. That was curious! It's as if it's okay if she leaves the room but not us. Then she took a nap in the late afternoon allowing me to get dinner started. When she woke up, I was in the middle of trying to make her homemade mac'n-cheese. She started to show signs of meltdown so I strapped her in the Baby Hawk and began to cook with her. She wanted her hands in everything but I survived and luckily about the time the chicken HAD to come out of the oven Daddy came home. I've never been able to get her to eat chicken other than fried nuggets but tonight was different! She gobbled it down and loved it! (the recipe is awesome and easy... http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Juicy-Roasted-Chicken/Detail.aspx#nutri-box) We also gave her her first ear of corn! She loved it too! She also loved the mac'n cheese which was no surprise. But I felt a great sense of pride that I finally made a chicken that she loved!

Daddy had to run out for more formula after dinner and Lexi opened mail with me. She loves paper and I gave her some handouts from Simulac. She was in heaven but unfortunately in her attention to the paper forgot about our step-down living room and just canned it on the floor. This sounds awful but to me was a good sign. Before when she would fall on the hardwood floor she would just "suck it up" in a cry or two. Before she would cry harder if I just simply put her down for a minute do something. Tonight she cried like crazy... like a child normally would. I comforted her and she then continued to play with her paper.

We have at least one thing to be happy with. She has been going down at night so quietly. We have a routine set in place from about day 3 home. We take all noisy toys away, turn the lights down low and bring out bedtime bear ( a gift from our agency CWA that we got a few days after we returned). After one night of a restless Lexi and me laying in the floor telling her she was okay most of the night , she began to trust us on sleeping. She used to cry up to 30 seconds or less but now after about a week, she just rolls over and goes to sleep when we tell her it is bedtime. I know it could change as there are so many triggers to past events in adoptive children but it does make at least part of our day easier.

So today, I got my shower at 7:30 pm... let the floors stay dusty... let the laundry go... let the dishes stay on the countertops and in return I got a happier baby. That's a trade I can live with.

We have so much more to learn and experience but I just had to share that we do feel being tuned to Lexi is the only way to go.