Back home in Texas

We had a great time in California. This is the photo the child care took so that they would know me when I came in the afternoon to pick up Henry. He did well after the first day, and seemed to be a hit with the other children, most of whom were older than him.
Finally after two nights the hotel gave me a crib--but they only had a bottom sheet for it and there was no extra bedding. I had to take the spread off my bed and put it in the crib. Henry never spent a full night in the crib (unlike at home, where he happily goes to bed and doesn't want out until the next morning). But I slept a lot easier when he was there and I didn't have to worry about him rolling out on the floor.
We met up with Gary and Sue and their daughter Sara. Henry and Sara as well as Kevin were picked up the same day from the orphanage. It was interesting and fun to see Henry interact again with Sara, and it was good to see Gary and Sue (http://www.macklisfamily.blogspot.com/) . We spent a lot of time together during those frantic first days when we were all new parents.

We went out to Knotts Berry Farm. There were half a dozen or so rides that were suitable for Henry and Sara. In this ride they are on a box car. We didn't realize until they were on the ride that it is not machine run--they have to propel themselves by pumping the handle back and forth. Luckily a park attendant was on hand to scoot them around the track, otherwise we would have been there all day.

Henry and Sara were a little frightened after this ride started, but they never cried. I could just tell on their faces that they were wondering what was happening.
We got stuck on this school bus ride. It was just the five of us on the ride and when it reached the top we just stopped. It took ten or twenty seconds to realize this was not part of the ride. I think we were up there fifteen minutes--it certainly felt longer. Sara was okay, but Henry started crying and sweating and thrashing around. I was worried it would taint the rest of the afternoon for him, but he calmed down and enjoyed the rest of the time in the park.

I am really glad we had a chance to see each other--it was lucky that Henry and I were in the LA area the same time as Gary and Sue and Sara. I think the children went through a very formative experience together in the orphanage, and certainly I felt bonded to Gary and Sue as we went through our experience as first time parents together.

Then it was back to the conference. I took Henry with me the last day. Here we are in front of the convention center.

A wide variety of vendors and other entities associated with the library business were plying their trade on the floor--there were hundreds of them. I took Henry on the floor and had the added benefit of being able to hook my bags over the stroller as I picked up free merchandise--most wheeled carrying devices are not allowed on the floor.
The last day before we went to the airport we took a taxi up to California State University at Fullerton to meet Dr. Nancy Segal. She is in charge of the twin studies program there that we are participating in with Ben and his parents Joe and Katie (http://psych.fullerton.edu/nsegal/).
The study we are involved in looks at twins raised apart. I am interested in participating in the study not only for the important research data that may result but mainly to get guidance on how to raise Henry in conjunction with the unexpected circumstance of his having an identical twin living as part of another family.
Just today I availed myself of our own counseling department here on my campus. I wanted to get information about possible attachment problems. I don't think Henry exhibits any signs of that but I do think I should be aware of what to look for. He had a difficult start in life and I want to make sure he has the best possible life.

This was driven home to me on the way home from the airport night before last. After a tiring flight the car had a front tire blowout on the 635 loop north of Dallas. Luckily I never felt like I was losing control of the car, but I did have to pull over in heavy 9 pm traffic and change the tire. First I had to figure out how to get the jack out from under the driver's seat--I've done it before but never in the dark in such heavy traffic, and never with a baby in the car. I was thinking what would happen to Henry if I were to get hit, and I was even more careful about how I approached the situation. Just two or three years ago a drunk Dallas Cowboy football player was driving home and swerved onto the shoulder, killing two good Samartans who had stopped to change a flat. His only recollection the next morning was that he had "run over some trash". This kept flashing through my mind as I struggle to get the jack out, since I was standing on the traffic side of the car. I felt a little safer once I was changing the tire, which luckily was on the passenger side. But it still impressed me that I have to be very careful about everything I do because Henry depends on me now, and I am so lucky to have him in my life.

I should point out--I'm feeling my own limits which is what brought on these musings. I strained my foot somehow while I was frantically changing the tire two nights ago--and yesterday I went through the day limping around with the assistance of my grandmother's cane. Today both Henry and I saw the same doctor for ear aches. I thought they were related to the same malady, brought on by mowing the lawn last week. But they are two separate issues, possibly exacerbated by the flight to and back from California. I got ear drops and Henry got antibiotics. He hasn't run a fever and I think he would have been okay without a visit to the doctor--certainly he was worse in California and I treated him with decongestant and some homeopathic over the counter ear drops. But I decided today I didn't want to go through a three day holiday weekend with the possibility that either one of us could get sick.