Day 2

The first evening went so hectic that we almost forgot to have dinner. We were waken up by L’s occasional cry and dashed to hold her in our arms. We naturally stared to take turns in giving her milk, changing diapers, etc., so we can both sleep enough hours. We love to take care of her so much that we don’t mind staying awake at 3am in the morning and making her a bottle of milk. When L is drinking milk in her sleep, we sit next to her and just watch her.

The morning sunlight from the garden and the sound of the birds woke us up. I will never forget this beautiful morning we woke up as a family. I know I sound very cheesy, but it’s true. I had black spots under my eyes and sore muscle from holding L for hours, but I just could not put in words how happy I was to wake up next to Peter and L.

We still struggled to feed her properly and to change the diaper without making a big scene. Before we noticed, the day was almost over and we had not had anything in our stomach yet. That’s how hectic the first day as a family went by.

There was a tremendous change in L’s behavior in comparison to the day we first met. She started making an eye contact and was not afraid to touch us any more. When Peter and I saw L laugh and crap hands and wave her hands to us for the first time, we just melt and were in tears. I am so thankful to her that she opened up to us so fast.

Day 1

Thank you very much for checking this blog occasionally, and I am sorry not to update for such a long time. Here are the photos from our first day.

Two Books for New Parents

Since we started the adoption process, we’ve been reading about Thailand and adoption (see BOOKS). Last week we visited a pediatrician to obtain medication, and he asked if we’ve already read a book about babies in general. Oh my goodness, we totally FORGOT about it!!!! We panicked for a second, but he recommended us a best-seller “Babyjahre (baby Years)” by a pediatrician Dr.Remo H. Largo.

He said the book is so good that he read it “from the beginning to the end and from the end to the beginning”. We will read it on the flight to Bangkok.

Leak in the Wall

Thank you very much for all your lovely comments!!

We are planing to fly out in 3 days and are busy preparing for the trip and having our apartment fixed. We found a water leakage inside the wall between the bathroom and the kid’s room. Before we leave for Thailand, our landlord wanted to finish the repair to prevent a major leak to other apartments during our absence.

One morning, a group of real estate agents, plasterer, plumber, tiler and painter came to our apartment to demolish a part of the wall and to determine the cause of the leak all together. They all agreed that the insurance company should pay for this, so the real estate agent started taking a lot of pictures. I took pictures of every process as well, just in case.

Used Tripp-Trapp Highchair

What do you see here that you did not see before….? Yep, it’s the Tripp-Trapp highchair. We received this used chair from Peter’s former teacher as a gift, because his 14-years-old son does not want to sit in it any more. I really love this chair and am glad that we received this as a gift. The color of the wood looks much nicer after 14 years.

Unofficial Anniversary – 8th Year!!

To celebrate our unofficial anniversary (we started going out on July 1!) we went to a restaurant called Tre Fratelli from the book “Essen Gehn!“. With this book, we get one main menu for free. Although I reserved a table a month in advance, they could not find my name on the reservation book. Before I could get really pissed (which usually turns into a disaster) a wait staff promptly took us to a table deep in the back of the garden. The table was slanted (and you will see how slanted in later photos) but we loved the hide & seek feeling in this beautiful garden nonetheless.

River Swimming

The weather has been perfect for the summer (not too hot, no humidity, nice breeze). Before dinner we decided to dip in the river to cool down. In Zürich, there are a number of “official” spots where you can safely swim in the river. There are a trained attendant, medical room, changing rooms, WC/shower, etc. In some places, there are even a kiosk and a kid’s swimming pool. We love to swim in the river, because floating in the fresh water and letting your body pushed by the current is amazingly relaxing. Peter always have to swim against the current, because he feels he did not get enough exercise.

Two Packages from Boston and Tokyo

This morning we received two packages from Momo in Boston and my mom in Tokyo. Momo’s package was filled with baby goods, from cute dresses to toys. I especially liked the summer dress from Cherokee by Target. I will bring all of them to Thailand!!

Baby Clothes – H&M and Flea Market

Since we know the size of our daughter now, we started acquiring bags and bags of used baby clothing from our friends. They all told me to check out H&M, so I went there with Peter. At every tiny socks and shoes, he had to stop and say “Oooh, this is so sweet I am going to cry!!” He was practically useless, so I walked around the shop quickly and chose what we really needed.

Here is a T-shirt from H&M we did not really need but I really liked. When I told mom about this T-shirt over the long distance call, I did not hear her voice for a while. I think it was a silent protest.

Sterilization

On Saturday, Jenny, Fabian and their almost-3-years-old daughter June helped us shop for baby necessities at Migros City. Thanks to June’s professional eyes and quick decision, we got most of the items recommended by the adoptive parents from the same agency. Tonight, Peter sterilized new baby bottles and pacifiers before taking them to Thailand. I know some parents prefer a sterilizer, but we chose to cook them in a boiling water. I wonder if it really sterilizes…

* Have you noticed Peter’s new glasses? He got it from Burrioptik in Zürich. It’s my birthday gift.