First Day at Home

Tuesday, September 18, 9:00 p.m., Home
Our first full day home went very well, all things considered. Beth slept 14 hours, most of them on the floor. I guess she just feels more comfortable with the familiar right now. Jack woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't find his sister. But as soon as we figured out what he wanted and he saw her, he just flopped down on the floor right beside her and went back to sleep.
We spent most of the day just playing and trying to unpack, do laundry, take naps and teach Beth and Jack what's okay to play with and what's not. I'm finally in the "mountains of laundry club!" They love to play with their LeapFrog fridge phonics and so we've heard the alphabet song already more times than we could count. But, Beth is starting to sing it on her own when she's playing so it's been worth it. Jack will repeat almost any words we try to teach him, but Beth plays the shy card. She still calls us by the Thai words for Daddy and Mommy, "Por" and "Mae", so we try to get her to call for us in English. It ends up sounding like a combination "Mom-mae." Beth likes her baby doll and calls her "babeeeee." And they have started to call the cats "kitty kitty."
We all walked down to the local school playground this afternoon so they could get some energy out. Beth picked up swinging super fast! We didn't even have to teach her to pump her legs. Jack went straight to the tall slide and enjoyed both sliding down and crawling up it. He doesn't seem to have much fear.
Soon after we returned home, a good friend from church stopped by with dinner for us. What a blessing that was! Margaret had been fighting a migraine ever since we arrived home, so it really helped to not have to worry about cooking. It was their first American meal (well, unless you count McDonald's in Bangkok) and we were anxious to see how they would like it. They loved the meat and au jus--Jack just slurped it like soup! We decided from now on to let Jack try new foods first, because if Beth doesn't like something then he thinks he doesn't either.
We started off the meal by holding hands and closing eyes and praying. They didn't really know what was going on, but halfway through dinner, Beth wanted to "hold hands" again. So we did and Mitch prayed again. At the end, after he said "amen," Mommy said "amen" and then Jack piped in with "ahmen," and with a little prompting Beth wasn't about to be left out! We ended up playing that game a few more times before we decided dinner was over.
Daddy and the kids had some playtime and took baths while Mommy went grocery shopping. They weren't too sure what was going on when Mommy left, but soon got distracted by bathtime. They were still pretty exhausted and trying to overcome jet lag, so they went right to sleep.
We just have to say that we are having so much fun! Yes, there are frustrating moments, but it is such a joy to hear them laugh and squeal when we tickle them, or giggle and squirm when we kiss their necks. Their hugs are so priceless! We feel so blessed!