[richard p.]

We came home in January with a 3 year old. She is our second and our first was 13 months when we got her. These are simply my observations and experiences and I want to stress that all children are different, as are all parents and situations (one family in our group adopted a 3 year old SN boy - their issues were very different). Our daughter was found at a few days old and had always lived in an orphanage.
* Adopting a 13 month old did NOT prepare us for a 3 year old, everything was sooo different.
* At three she was potty trained, however she only knew how to squat. It took a few days to get used to sitting on a toilet.
* She cried A LOT. She cried during the day and would wake up at night. Experts say this is good because she is missing someone and so has been able to bond. I will say that we felt helpless and became emotionally drained.
* She was not crazy about being held or with physical affection. Our guide told us that kissing and cuddling was not something most children experienced. This fact made consoling her very difficult.
* She wined A LOT. We figured that she knew what she wanted, but because of the language she was even more frustrated with our not understanding. I also assume it was a way get get what she wanted (but then again, I see many kids do the same).
* She was absolutely petrified of our child friendly totally non threatening 40 lb little Corgi.
* It took her much longer top adapt to U.S. time.
* She was into everything and did not like the word no(again, this could be a typical 3 year thing).
Now the good:
* Things improved 101% every day.
* The flight home and the car seat were not problems.
* She had no interest in TV or any videos. She does love music.
* Watching her take in all the new things around her was incredible. You could almost see her little brain fire away all day long.
* The transition to daycare was not difficult (we were home for only 3 weeks before she started full time daycare).
* She bonded to all of us. After week two my wife had to go on a business trip for a week and our daughter was fine.
* Today she is a bright little girl, very curious and so smart it is rather scary. They call her "little sunshine" at daycare and she needs to meet and pet every dog she sees.

Read all you can, get as much information from other parents as possibble and be very very very patient.

By the way I did go with my wife. If this is your first adoption I would think that it would be very difficult to undertake the trip by yourself.
Best of luck to you.