Life in the 'Burbs Zoe's second full day in America was fairly uneventful. She woke up around 7, insisted on her morning bath, and then followed our directions to wake Jesse up for school. She had breakfast (rice cake and a banana), then we took our first family walk to the school bus.

After dropping Jesse off, the girls headed to the family pediatrician for a first look-over. Everything went well and she had no problem with the (male) doctor, but she'll be returning soon to get blood drawn for the upcoming thorough evaluation by the International Adoption Center. Height: 36" (29th percentile). Weight: 31 pounds (56th percentile). She's solid.

Next stop: the offices of our agency, International Children's Alliance, to drop off paperwork and let the staff ooh and ahh. We sat and talked for an hour. Zoe demonstrated her fine-motor skills for them, using a screwdriver to replace the battery cover on a toy. She warmed up to some of the ladies, shyed away from others. But none got the looks of Wes Craven-inspired terror reserved for Papa. I heard plenty of "war stories" of other families who went through this sort of thing (and it's not always the Papa).

Some more practical advice ICA provided: Drop our feeble attempts at Russian and go straight to English (although I'm reserving the right to use "Nyet!" when immediate danger is at hand). At this age, Zoe's receptive skills are strongest. Through inflections and context, she clearly understands more simple English than we'd expect of an almost three-year-old who's been in the country for 48 hours. And while we thought we'd be calling her "Zoe Lienna" to transition her name for several weeks, she seems to respond to just plain "Zoe." Old habits apparently don't die so hard.

We then headed off for a quick lunch and some shopping. Mama misjudged Zoe's size on our September trip to Russia (or we missed a major growth spurt in the ten days spent back home), and much of her wardrobe is a bit on the small size. The backseat of Mama's car is stuffed with bags of 3T clothes from various retailers, all of which will now require a second trip to exchange for 4T's. I had to use my own cart and leave the girls on their own, since I must have appeared even scarier to Zoe in the claustrophobic confines of the Wal-Mart.

Finally, we went to pick up Jesse and head home for a dinner of...rice cakes and bananas. Followed by her bath. One day doesn't make a routine, but it seems like we've been doing this forever.Jesse agreed to lay down with Zoe on the floor of her room to get her to sleep, which took all but a few seconds.

Life is good.

  ¶ 11:29 PM