The most beautiful diaper bag ever

Rob picked up on my none-too-subtle hints and got me this amazing diaper bag for Christmas.

It's the Skooch Groovy, Baby in Chocolate (sort of looks black in this photo, but trust me, it's a lovely chocolate brown) and it came with a matching changing pad. Of course I can't speak to it's functionality yet, but I can say that it is a great looking bag and seems to be very well made. I can't wait to try it out!

We also got some wonderful gifts for Nora from Rob's sister K and her family who had our name in this year's family exchange. They got her a red (yay!) Chicco backpack carrier, which Rob has already put away on the top shelf of Nora's closet where I can't reach it. They also got her some sporty Christmas jammies for next year, Counting Kisses board book and Tails board book (the Tails book is from Nora's cousin J who is 2). Thanks, J, for wanting Nora to have a copy of your favorite book. Nora is very lucky to have you to show her the ropes!

New year (almost), new look!

I don't know why template editing doesn't come easier to me than it does, but for some reason blog design is a challenge. Rob and I talked about the kinds of things we like and decided that Nora's blog should have a fresh, outdoorsy look. What you see now is the best I've come up with so far. It is probably also how I'm going to leave it for a while ... but please let me know what you think. There's a poll in the sidebar to the left or, if you'd rather, you can leave a comment on this post.

I've also made similar updates to Nora's Library blog (link to left under "Site Navigation).

Christmas goodies!

Today we got a great Christmas present from our Jan DTC Secret Pal. She sent a Biscuit Christmas board book (it's a texture book that will be perfect for Nora next year), a Christmas card record book, a tree-trimming music cd (haven't listened to it, but I'll put it on the car tomorrow for sure), a really cute resin picture frame and a My First Christmas photo album which I absolutely love. It brought tears to my eyes.

Thank you very much - we love everything. Merry Christmas!
I'd also like to take a moment to wish my wonderful hubby a very HAPPY 16th ANNIVERSARY. I love you!

Flaky background pattern

I've noticed that the background pattern on this blog hasn't been showing up reliably. I'm not sure why that is because I'm referencing the pattern from a file on the server where our personal website is hosted ... it should always be available.

Anyway, in case you can't see it, I've pasted a screen shot above. This will also be a nice memento of the old template. I thought it was cute when I first made it, but it hasn't evolved at all over the past two years and is definitely in need of a new look.

I'll be working on this over winter break and hope to have something ready to share by New Years!

What do you think?

I've been enviously eyeing everyone's cool blogs and thinking that mine looks a little blah. Tell me what you think. Please vote below.

Update 12/18: I took the poll down. I get the message. There will be a new look for 2008! Thanks for your input!

And by the way...

Today is our 23 month LID-iversary and what do I think of when I think of #23?? Michael Jordan!! What can I say? You can take the girl out of Chicago, but... well, you know.



Hopefully I'll not need to use any photos of MJ in his other number.*

*Michael Jordan wore No. 45 for 17 regular-season and five playoff games in 1995. (He also wore No. 12 once, when his jersey was stolen in a trip to Orlando in 1990.) After that, I guess #23 was un-retired and then re-retired.

Christmas tradition

Yesterday Rob and I went to the Lorie Line Holiday Extravaganza at the Orpheum (an absolutely gorgeous, historic theater) - we go every year and consider it our anniversary present to each other. In recent years, Lorie has been bringing kids up from the audience for a special activity. This year they sang the 12-Days of Christmas - it was amazing and the costumes for the kids were unbelievable (10 lords a leaping were frogs in crowns, 9 ladies dancing were kitties in tutus). I've posted the photo below, hopefully you can click on it to see more detail. If that doesn't work, try this link to Lorie's website (click on the word link).

Also on the Christmas front, I took a quiz that I saw on Rhonda and Mike's blog to find out which holiday character I am. Yeah, why bother you ask, when I already know the answer. Yup. We're the Griswolds.

The holiday season brings out your competitive side. You want to give the best presents, have the best-looking house on the block, and cook up the most delicious holiday feast. You strive to be number one at everything you do, which makes you prone to holiday freak-outs when things don't go as expected. As long as you stay calm, you're great to have around during the holidays – mostly because you're trying so hard to make sure everyone else has the BEST possible time.

... and if you live in our neighborhood, I'm am profoundly sorry for our woeful exterior illumination. We'll do better next year - 'cuz next year will be our first Christmas with Nora and of course I'll want it to be perfect.

Weird dream

I don't often remember my dreams, but when I do they are always doozies. Last night I dreamed that we were at a dinner party and the match coordinator from our agency called me over and very quietly asked, "We're wondering if you'd be willing to accept a referral of triplets?" She said that the CCAA had two sets of triplets available for adoption but no one ever mentions triplets in their dossier and they didn't know what to do. Apparently they asked our agency to check if they had any families who would accept triplets and for some reason the match coordinator just happened to be at our dinner party 930 miles from their office and decided to ask us. Of course I said yes, didn't even check with Rob. Triplets. Wow, that would be quite the surprise.

I blame Rob's work party for keeping me up too late and making me talk about the adoption all evening.

Warm and snuggly

I just love Christmas. This is far and away my favorite time of year. I love everything about it ... and I am so touched that people have remembered Nora this year.

First our friend K gave Nora this adorable hat. K's mom works at an awesome company called Wintergreen which makes great outdoor apparel in one of our very favorite places in the world (the MN Northwoods) - this is one of their baby hats.

It is sherpa fleece on the outside and lined with smooth fleece on the inside - sooo warm and snuggly. And so amazingly cute. I can hardly wait to see Nora's chubby little cheeks peeking out of there!

Nora also received a Christmas gift from Rob's Aunt Jan and Uncle Dave. They have been so sweet to think of her each year at Christmastime. In Christmas of 2005 they sent me a beautiful necklace with the Chinese character "ai" (love) and last year they sent Nora One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish and a stuffed blue fish.

This year they sent a set of puppet books - very fun! I'm sure that Nora will love them. They even have a little case that she can carry them around in.

Thank you so much for remembering our baby. We are touched by your thoughtfulness.

Wow - more eating of words (the toxic toy issue)

Everything I ever said about our congressman not paying enough attention to his constituents - I take it back. Not only did I receive this email last week, this morning I received the following mass email from him:

Dear Friends,

No parent should have to worry that the toys they put under the tree for their kids are unsafe. Like many parents, I am very concerned about the 25 million toys recalled this year. With the United States importing 80% of its toys from China, I believe we need to take greater measures to protect our families from unsafe products.

Several pieces of legislation moving through the House right now will address these issues – strengthening the Consumer Product Safety Commission, banning products with lead beyond very minute levels, and third party testing and tracking for children’s products.

As Congress takes up these bills, I want to hear what your thoughts are. Please take a moment to answer the short survey below and tell me how I can better represent you in Washington.

Sincerely,
[Congressman's Signature]

Of course I took the survey. Here are the responses as of this morning:

There was also a place to leave comments, which of course I did - some comments about product testing and a thank you for his attention.

I'm so used to being ignored by our representatives in Washington that I almost don't even know how to react to this. He has heard feedback and wants to do something about it? He wants to understand what the people of his district think? This is how it's supposed to work! Stunning.

"Green" gift wrap

Last weekend I mentioned this year's greener Christmas and my hope that we will be able to waste less on gift wrap. I know that I don't have time to make enough reusable gift bags to do all our gifts (plus I have a lot of stockpiled gift wrap to use up), but I did make a few for small gifts. I'm not an experienced sewer and am not really used to making things without a pattern, but I was able to eventually figure out how to make a simple drawstring gift bag. I think they're pretty cute and I was happy to be able to use some scrap fabric from my stash and add a little less to the landfill.

Here's a shot of two of the bags - one flat and one cinched up.

Rob's Yoga Journal magazine even has an article about gift wrap this month. They mention a website called Wrapsacks that sells reusable gift bags and lets you track them online - how cool is that?! They are also beautiful and very reasonably priced at $4-$10 each.

Other environmentally-friendly wrappings mentioned in the article are:

• Furoshiki (a Japanese method of fabric wrapping)
• Paper bags decorated with stencils or crayons
• Out of date maps or old sheet music
• Reused/repurposed vintage containers such as cigar, shoe or hat boxes
• Natural materials such as raffia, string or fabric instead of synthetic ribbon
• Natural gift box fillers such as leaves, straw, pine or shredded paper scented with essential oils

Happy wrapping!! If you have other creative ideas, please share!

Timing and the slowdown

The RQ has a great graphic showing wait times from LID to referral over the past couple of years. Rob and I first started researching China adoption in June 2005, began our paper chase in late July 2005 and our dossier was logged in on January 16, 2006 (this is our "LID" or log in date). So, our expectations at the beginning were for a 6-8 month wait. I told everyone October 2006, though, thinking that was a conservative estimate. Ha, shows what I know.

Here's the table from the RQ's site:

This is good proof I think of what has happened to the timing of the China program. Next month, the wait will pass the two year mark and it's still getting longer. Everyone hopes for a speed-up, but considering the number of waiting families I don't see how that could possibly happen. Most agencies are telling clients that the wait will continue to lengthen, which to me seems like the responsible message for them to convey.

Anyway, if the 6 days/month holds, that will put us in June. The RQ has a new LID poll up now that will tell us more about the numbers of dossiers ahead of us. If there are fewer dossiers per day than there were in Nov and early Dec 2005, then maybe we'll get our referral a little sooner - May? Maybe. I hate to get my hopes up because so far every time I think it can't get worse, it does.

Congratulations!

Congratulations to everyone receiving their referral this week! The pictures of all your beautiful babies have lifted me out of my funk. Thanks for that!!

CCAA Update

Despite some rumors of a 12/15 cutoff, the CCAA has confirmed that this month's matches are through 12/14. So, a six day batch - matching the RQ's "horrid" case scenario.

Sadly, extending this timeline puts us in June (or even July depending on how much time is lost with the Spring holiday). The Beijing Olympics start on August 8. This is NOT good.

I would love to find the silver lining here, but I'm just not seeing it tonight. I told Rob I was going to finish this post and then cry. He asked me why. Ah, blissful ignorance. Wish I could do it.

I do want to congratulate the families receiving their referrals this month - and especially the CCAI 12/9 and 12/14 families! I'm happy for you, really. Unfortunately, it is completely overshadowed by the sadness that I feel for us.

Outdoor adventures with baby

If you've read this blog for a while, you know that Rob and I enjoy outdoorsy activities like hiking, camping and kayaking and would really like to share these things with Nora. This year's camping trips were mostly about figuring out how to make it all work with a little one.

I've also spent some time talking to my friend K who's a backpacker about how she manages with her 9 month-old daughter and she swears by the Sherpani Rumba frame carrier. $229.95 - gulp. It's one of those things that I'm always looking to find on sale. Well, today ... jackpot!

I received an email from REI advertising an extra 20% off one item at REI-Outlet. I clicked on it, not expecting much, and was very happily surprised to find a closeout 2007 Rumba (black color only, which is ok with me) marked down to $149.93. With the additional 20% off it wound up costing $119.93. I saved $110! I'm so excited!

I haven't told Rob yet, so I think it might be part of his Christmas gift ... or maybe an anniversary gift (our anniversary is also this month). If you talk to Rob, please don't mention to him. Thankfully he doesn't read this blog, so he won't find out here!

P.S. This is for hiking/camping only. The plan is still to use the Ergo as our day-to-day carrier.

More on the toxic toys - eating my words

Wow. You may remember that I wrote to both senators and our congressman (all three of whom I voted for - yes, I feel that I need to point that out every time) and was disappointed that I only received a form-letter-ish response from one senator. Well, today I received an email from our congressman that might be an actual personal response. I'm impressed. Here it is:

Dear Jennifer:

Thank you for contacting me about product safety. I appreciate hearing from you.

As the father of two boys, I am very concerned about the recent recalls of children's toys, pet food, and other goods from China . In 2007, the United States imported $288 billion worth of goods from China . While the vast majority of these goods are safe, the recent recalls highlight the need for improved product safety standards.

Several pieces of legislation moving through the House right now will address these issues - strengthening the Consumer Product Safety Commission, banning products with lead beyond very minute levels, and third party testing and tracking for children's products. As Congress takes up these bills, I will continue to push for stronger measures to protect consumers from unsafe products.

Again, thank you for contacting me. Please do not hesitate to be in touch with additional comments or concerns. I also encourage you to visit my website, [url for his website], where you can find updated information, sign up to receive my e-newsletter, and send me e-mail.

I'm liking him again now. I know; I'm easy.

A green Christmas?

Rob's family has decided to have a "green" theme for this year's family Christmas celebration. Most of our gifts are bought (some of them greener than others, but none too terribly un-green) and today I turned my attention to gift wrap. I've been thinking about reusable gift wrap, but honestly don't think that I have enough time left to make fabric bags. Hopefully I'll get that done next year. For now, I'm easing my way in with recycled wrapping paper, which was none to easy to find. If we lived in the UK there would have been a lot of options, but here in the US not so many. I also managed to find some natural trim and the coolest gift tags ever. I wonder if Al Gore wraps his Christmas gifts...

I also have to admit that I bought a Christmas gift for Nora, even though she won't be with us yet this year. Rob doesn't know about it (yet), so I'm thinking of maybe wrapping it and having him open it on her behalf. I want to also get some sort of baby's first Christmas ornament since I figure that Nora has probably already been born (how many times have I said that and been wrong - this time, though, I think it's really true). Next year, we'll think of something extra-special to celebrate our first Christmas as a family.

Ornament Swap - Thank you Michelle!

Thank you, Michelle, for the beautiful cloisonne Christmas ornament and candle snuffer! We didn't have any cloissnne and I actually didn't even know until I read the card with the snuffer that cloisonne was a Chinese art. Both the ornament and the snuffer are really pretty - the snuffer you can see looks perfect on our sideboard. Hmm, probably I should get some candles!

Thanks again -- and Merry Christmas to you and your family!!

More on the toxic toy issue

First I want to apologize from my recent lack of posts. I've been afflicted with a post-turkey malaise. Now, though the tryptophan has worn off, our tree is up and we've started our Christmas shopping. I'm back.

A couple of weeks ago I posted about the Consumer Union's campaign to improve toy safety. I also sent emails to both senators and our representative (all three whom I voted for and all who ignored my previous messages about the I-171H). This time I did get a response from one (the one who I like best, by the way). Here's his response:
~~~

Dear [My Name],

Thank you for contacting me to share your concerns about the inspection and safety of imported products, particularly those from China. I appreciate hearing from you.

I share the concerns I have heard from many [people of our state] about the safety and quality of imported food and products. These concerns were highlighted recently by contaminated wheat gluten that has been found to be responsible for the sickness and death of thousands of pets across the U.S. and by the recall of Chinese-made toys that were contaminated with lead paint or otherwise found to be unsafe.

I supported an amendment offered by Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) to S. 1082, the Prescription Drug User Fee Amendments of 2007. The amendment would establish an early warning surveillance system for pet illness; require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to improve its data collection and reporting requirements for firms that find adulterations in food products; and encourage the Secretary to enter into memorandums of understanding with high risk trading partners and commit to working in the future on improving Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) ability to regulate imports. The Senate passed this amendment on May 2, 2007, by a vote of 94-0.

I also joined Senator Durbin and several of my colleagues in sending a letter to Senate Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Herb Kohl (D-WI) and Ranking Member Richard Bennett (R-UT) in support of adequate funding for the FDA's food inspection services, particularly the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, in the fiscal year 2008 Department of Agriculture appropriations bill.

You may be aware that the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is responsible for ensuring the safety of imported consumer products, including toys. In July 2007, Thomas Moore, Commissioner of the CPSC, released a statement stating that budget cuts have limited the CPSC's ability to carry out its mission and recommending that Congress reject the Administration's budget cuts proposed for fiscal year 2008.

I will closely monitor funding for food and product inspection when the Senate considers fiscal year 2008 appropriations bills for the FDA and CPSC. In addition, several legislative proposals have been introduced to address inadequacies in the current inspection system, and I will keep your thoughts in mind should any such legislation come before the full Senate. On September 12, 2007, the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Subcommittee held a hearing on CPSC funding and the recent recalls of toys. If you are interested in more information about this hearing, I encourage you to visit <http://appropriations.senate.gov/hearings.cfm>.

Thanks again for contacting me. I look forward to hearing from you in the future about this or any other matter of concern to you.

Sincerely,
[Our Senator's Name]
United States Senator

~~~
It seems like a form letter - but, of course, what I sent him was also a form letter and I'm sure that senators cannot personally respond to every concerned citizen who writes to them. Overall, I'm pleased that I received a response.

I've also read some of the testimony on the senate appropriations site (link in the senator's email above). It's pretty interesting. If you read just one, this would be a good choice - it's Senator Durbin's opening statement from the CPSC hearing.

Puppet play

A while back, I read in Bright From the Start that puppet play is a good attention builder for young children. Since then, I've been looking for a puppet for Nora.

We've seen a few, but none seemed soft enough, cute enough, expressive enough ... until today at Borders where I found a Folkmanis baby dutch rabbit puppet. Rob and I named her "Dutch" because she's a dutch rabbit. Yes, I know "Dutch" is a boy's name, but the rabbit looks like a girl and we thought "Duchess" would be too hard to say, so "Dutch" it is.

Maddie really likes her. I think she thinks Dutch is a puppy or something because Maddie sniffed her, then nuzzled her, then gave her kisses. Rob thought that Dutch might look a little too much like a dog toy, though, so now she lives in Nora's room, three shelves up and well out of Maddie's reach.

Thank you secret pal!

Thank you very much to our secret pal for the Mulan doll for Nora. We've never seen Mulan, but I saw some movie clips here (click on the word here). It looks like a pretty good movie - we'll have to rent it. Disney princesses are another area in which we need to educate ourselves!

I also found lots of information on the story of Mulan online. This site (click on site) has a nice summary. It sounds like Disney took a bit of creative license, but you've gotta like a story where the "princess" is the hero! I'm looking forward to learning more!

National Adoption Day 2007

Every year, on the Saturday before Thanksgiving, the National Adoption Day Coalition sponsors National Adoption Day to finalize the adoptions of thousands of children in foster care and to celebrate all families that adopt. On National Adoption Day 2006 – Saturday, November 18 – hundreds of courts and communities across the nation will come together to finalize thousands of adoptions of children from foster care. The day brings together hundreds of judges, attorneys, adoption agencies, adoption professionals and child advocates who are dedicated to creating forever families for waiting children.

____________________________

November is also National Adoption Awareness Month. To honor the occasion, the theme for this month's adoption network meeting at work was "How Can I Help?". Our presenters were Dr. Jan Adams from Maria's Children International and Dina Fesler from Children's Culture Connection. Both are fundraising organizations.

Maria's Children International supports Maria's Children which is a Moscow-based organization that provides arts therapy and training for Russian orphans.

Children's Culture Connection raises funds for a number of children's charities around the world: Half the Sky Foundation, ASHA: Better Life Education Program, Afghani Model School, Children of Vietnam, Orphan Sponsorship International, War Kids Relief, Nyumbani Children's Home, Numan School Project, Life of Hope Ministries, Angels of the Amazon and L'athletique D'Haiti.

Below are some of the cards that I purchased from Maria's Children International. The artwork is beautiful and they have something for every occasion. You can visit their online store at http://www.mariaschildren.com/WebStore/orderform.html

22 months

Unbelievable. 22 months today.

In honor of the occasion we received a letter from our social worker informing us that it is time for our annual home study update. This is our third. More paperwork. More doctors appointments. Yawn.

Dangerous toys

This afternoon I received the following email from Consumer Reports magazine:
~~~

Dear Jennifer,

Consumer Reports testers just identified high levels of lead in a toy blood pressure cuff, part of a Fisher-Price kid's "medical kit."

Every week, stores pull more toys off the shelves for excessive lead: toy garden tools, toy boats, Sesame Street's Elmo, Dora the Explorer, Winnie-the-Pooh play sets and more!

Holiday shopping starts soon, yet we have a long way to go before we can trust the safety of the items we want to buy for our friends and family.

Send a message urging your members of Congress to hold manufacturers, importers and retailers accountable for the safety of their products.

More than 20 million toys have been recalled this year, alone! More dangerous, imported products may be sitting on store shelves. Worse yet, in our homes. Come this holiday season, will unsafe toys be caught before they are bought?

Too long, we have relied primarily on recalls to get dangerous products off the market, but shouldn't corporations make sure the toys they manufacture overseas are safe before they arrive in our local stores?

Click here to join us in sending a message urging Congress to keep Americans safe this holiday season.

Once you've sent your letter, please forward this email to your friends and family and ask them to join you and thousands of others!

Thank you for your help in protecting consumers from these dangerous products.

Sincerely,

Jim Guest
President Consumers Union of the U.S.
101 Truman Ave.
Yonkers, NY 10703

~~~
Please take a moment to support this very important cause. If you don't want to write your own letter, there is a form at http://www.notinmycart.org/ that you can use to send a standard letter to your representatives in Congress.

Thank you!!!

Now we're cooking!

We've had this cookbook for a while, but hadn't tried any of the recipes until last night. Our friends M and B were coming over for dinner so we thought we'd try something new.

~~~
Our menu:

• Vegetable Bird Nests (from Trader Joe's - yummy!)
• Rainbow Salad
• Steamed Prawns in Mixed Bean Sauce
• Stir-Fried Scallops in Oyster Sauce
• Stir-Fried Broccoli and Chinese Mushroom
• Tsing Tao beer

We messed up a little the scallops (a little over cooked and some mistakes in following the recipe), but everything else was wonderful. Next I want to make the Eight Treasure Vegetarian Assemblage shown on the cover of the book.

We had a great time at the Asian grocery yesterday afternoon and I'm feeling pretty comfortable that we can find just about any ingredient we might need. By the way, we found some delicious bottled iced green tea with honey - very refreshing and just slightly sweet. If I'd known how good it would be, I'd have bought more.

On the way home we also had a good discussion about whether we were being cultural tourists by shopping at this store. I think it's borderline, but leaning toward believing it's ok because we went there because we wanted to and liked it for itself. I continue to struggle with how to best provide Nora with experiences of Chinese culture that are meaningful and real ... and in ensuring that we are properly motivated in seeking these connections.

Infant/Child CPR - just in case!

Yesterday Rob and I took a CPR for infants and children class. It's a scary thing to think about, but I feel better knowing that we are prepared in case of emergency.

If you want to learn CPR, you can locate a class in your area by contacting the local chapter of the American Red Cross.

New addition for Nora's library

I was at our local Target the other day and stopped by the children's book section, which I almost always do, and was happily surprised by a new addition to the shelf - Whoever You Are by Mem Fox.

I had seen this book once before and we had it on Nora's library wishlist. It is an exceptional book about diversity and humanity - and it comes in board book (which is the edition that they had at Target). Someday I'll probably get the hardcover, but for now, the board book is perfect and the message will never get old - people are much more alike than they are different. I know that race and racism are much more complex, but I think this is a fantastic introduction for young children.

Mandarin Chinese Committee

Today I went to my first meeting with the Mandarin Chinese Committee. It turns out that they did get the grant money, but weren't able to find a teacher in time for Fall semester. They would still like to start in January - either as a before/after school program or as part of the regular curriculum. We are all tasked with looking for potential instructors and will reconvene next month.

If we aren't able to find a Mandarin instructor, they will probably pursue some other language or culture program. The grant money won't apply, but the district, it seems, is committed to "global literacy". I left feeling pretty good about Nora's future school.

Has anyone read Languages and Children: Making the Match: Foregin Language Instruction for an Early Start Grades K-8 by Helena Curtain and Carol Ann Dahlberg? What about anything by Stephen Krashen? I think I need to do some background reading and these all came up in this afternoon's meeting.

Baby massage

Research has shown that infant massage:

• Helps Relieve Discomfort from Gas, Colic, and Constipation
• Improves Blood Circulation
• Aids in Digestion
• Aids in the Relief of Pain Due to Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis
• Enhances Development of the Nervous System
• Stimulates Neurological Development
• Increases Alertness/Heightened Awareness
• Reduces Stress Hormones
• Improves Immune Function
• Stimulates the Release of Oxytocin, the Nurturing Hormone
• Relaxes & Soothes
• Deepens Bonding
• Improves Communication
• Regulates Sleep Cycles

The Bright From the Start book gives some high level guidance and there are also a number of instructional books and DVDs on the subject.

We're starting with The Ivy League Baby developmental massage DVD. I'm really excited to watch it - this is something that we could start while in China. All you need is a soft towel, some lotion or massage oil (I think we're going to try Baby Bee apricot baby oil) and calm state of mind.

Have any of you done baby massage? Thinking about it? It's practically free and the benefits are huge.

CCAA update

The CCAA updated their website today, confirming that they have matched through Dec 8, 2005. Congratulations to everyone who will be getting "THE CALL" today or tomorrow!! I'm so excited for you - this is the first month where families in our DTC group will begin receiving their referrals - SOOOO EXCITING!

There are now 39 LID days until they get to ours. Current pace, that would be April. If we're lucky it could be sooner. I'm trying not to think about the unlucky scenario.

Ni hao! Yo! ¡Hola!

So I'm a little bit behind in newspaper reading - I'm reading yesterday's Star Tribune - and noticed a great article about diversity in children's television programming. This was also mentioned in yesterday's transracial parenting workshop, but of course I forgot about it until I saw it again in the paper this morning.

It talks about how much more common diversity is in children's programs than it is in adult prime time television. "Sesame Street" included people of color from the beginning. I remember that from my own childhood. "Zoom" too - remember "Zoom"? Morgan Freeman was the Easy Reader. Yet prime time tv only has four shows that feature people of color in lead roles.

The other great thing about the new kid's shows like "Dora the Explorer", "Go Diego, Go!" and "Ni Hao, Kai-lan" is that they make multi-lingualism cool. How great is that?!

You can read the whole article here (click on the word here). You can also learn more about "Ni Hao, Kai-lan" on Nick Jr's website at http://www.nickjr.com/shows/ni-hao-kai-lan/index.jhtml

Transracial parenting

Today Rob and I went to a transracial parenting workshop at Children's Home Society. The main speaker was Deb Reisner who is the program director of The Harambee Village. Deb is a terrific speaker who is the mother of five transracially adopted children . It was a very good program and I'm so glad that Rob and I were able to attend together. More that anywhere else, this is one area where we need to be on the same page for the sake of our child(ren).

One of the resources we learned about today was a PBS documentary about race. It's from 2003, but is still very relevant. Here's a link to the companion website (click on the work link). Part of what's included on the website are ten things everyone should know about race:

1. Race is a modern idea. Ancient societies, like the Greeks, did not divide people according to physical distinctions, but according to religion, status, class, even language. The English language didn't even have the word 'race' until it turns up in a 1508 poem by William Dunbar referring to a line of kings.
2. Race has no genetic basis. Not one characteristic, trait or even gene distinguishes all the members of one so-called race from all the members of another so-called race.
3. Human subspecies do not exist. Unlike many animals, modern humans simply haven't been around long enough or isolated enough to evolve into separate subspecies or races. Despite surface appearances, we are one of the most genetically similar of all species.
4. Skin color really is only skin deep. Most traits are inherited independently from one another. The genes influencing skin color have nothing to do with the genes influencing hair form, eye shape, blood type, musical talent, athletic ability or forms of intelligence. Knowing someone's skin color doesn't necessarily tell you anything else about him or her.
5. Most variation is within, not between, "races". Of the small amount of total human variation, 85% exists withing any local population, be they Italians, Kurds, Koreans or Cherokees. About 94% can be found within any continent. That means that two random Koreans may be as genetically different as a Korean and an Italian.
6. Slavery predates race. Throughout much of human history, societies have enslaved others, often as a result of conquest or war, even debt, but not because of physical characteristics or a belief in natural inferiority. Due to a unique set of historical circumstances, ours was the first slave system where all the slaves shared similar physical characteristics.
7. Race and freedom evolved together. The U.S. was founded on the radical new principle that "All men are created equal." But our early economy was based largely on slavery. How could this anomaly be rationalized? The new idea of race helped explain why some people could be denied the rights and freedoms that others took for granted.
8. Race justified social inequalities as natural. As the race idea evolved, white superiority became "common sense" in America. It justified not only slavery but also the extermination of Indians, exclusion of Asian immigrants, and the taking of Mexican lands by a nation that professed a belief in democracy. Racial practices were institutionalized within American government, laws and society.
9. Race isn't biological , but racism is still real. Race is a powerful social idea that gives people different access to opportunities and resources. Our government and social institutions have created advantages that disproportionately channel wealth, power and resources to white people. This affects everyone, whether we are aware of it or not.
10. Colorblindness will not end racism. Pretending race doesn't exist is not the same as creating equality. Race is more than stereotypes and individual prejudice. To combat racism, we need to identify and remedy social policies and institutional practices that advantage some groups at the expense of others.

The website has a lot more information. I encourage everyone to check it out. You may also be interested in http://www.understandingrace.org/ which a project of the American Anthropological Association and is related to the Race exhibit that was at our local science museum last Spring. I could have sworn that I wrote something about that at the time, but I can't seem to find the post.

One somewhat unsettling observation I made today was that in a room full of people only very few had Asian or Latin American children. Most of the parents in attendance had African American children. I'm hoping that has something to do with the timing of families moving through the processes of the agency hosting the event. I would not like to think that parents of Asian and Latin American children do not realize that their families are multiracial. Racisim and white privilege are very real, important issues that will affect our children and it is our responsibility to educate ourselves so that we can support and advocate for them.

Another resource is Anti-Racist Parent at http://www.antiracistparent.com/ if you haven't already discovered this site.

Toy box - check. New project!!

Nora's toy box is just about done. I'm still waiting for the polyurethane on the lid to dry before we put the hinges on, but I couldn't wait to show it to you. Rob says that my lettering looks Dr Seuss-ish; I just think it is playful and fun.

Here is it with the cushion. I think I'm going to make a pillow too (probably with the fabrics reversed - green stripe for the body and pink butterfly for the piping)
***

Now that the toy box is done, I'm ready to move on to our next project - Nora's dresser! I had an old walnut dresser that I bought at auction several years ago. It is similar in style to a dresser of my Grandma's that my mom refinished for us (top photo at left - don't worry, I'm not touching that one) and originally I thought that they could be a set. The auction dresser, though, isn't really in good enough condition for a natural wood finish and I'm not sure there's room enough in our bedroom for another big piece of furniture, so I decided to paint it for Nora's room.

I've selected a light green paint color and plan to do a medium green glaze on top (it's the top two colors on the paint chip in the photo to the left). I've never used glaze before, I hope it's not too hard. I bought the faux finish DVD at Home Depot, but it shows something fussier than what I want. So, I've invented a hybrid approach using a combination of the technique described on the faux finish DVD and what I read in the Ralph Lauren paint flyer I picked up. What I *think* I'm supposed to do is:

1. Prime the piece
2. Paint it the base color (light green)
3. Apply glaze (one part medium green paint mixed with four parts glaze) with a wide paint brush
4. Apply protective polyurethane topcoat
   

Will that work? Any pointers?

Playing with your food

I've been reading that Bright From the Start book and one of the activities the author suggests is playing with these kinds of interactive food books to help a child build focus. According to the book, this kind of activity helps develop connections to the frontal lobes of the brain. When we saw the books at the store this morning I knew that we had to get them for Nora. There are also M&M books, but as much as I love M&Ms I would feel better about feeding my child Cheerios.

Still hoping to be the change

Last Spring I was very interested in getting a Mandarin language program in our local grade schools. I wrote about it here and here. For a while things were looking promising - I'd volunteered to be on the task force and everything. Then... nothing happened.

I'm not really sure where this stands anymore. Maybe our district didn't get the grant for the investigation or maybe it got put on hold over the Summer and not picked up right away in the Fall. Or maybe something happened and they forgot to include me.

Last week, the district learning services director contacted me again, though, and said that she wanted to schedule a meeting. Today I received another message saying that the meeting will be next Wednesday. I'm going to clear my calendar at work so I can leave a little early and make it back home (i.e. our town) for a 4:00 meeting. We are apparently going to "discuss progress thus far and ideas for future implementation". That sounds pretty good to me. I'm excited again. I'll let you know how it goes!

Hallmark China Ornament

My mom discovered a new series of Hallmark Keepsake ornaments, called "Joy to the World". There are six different child/house ornament sets representing China, Ireland, Norway, Mexico, Germany and Africa (strange, I know, five countries and one continent). Somehow my mom got a peek at them at her local Hallmark store, but they aren't being released until Thursday.

Anyway, I think they're cute. I'm now thinking of doing a little multi-cultural Christmas tree for Nora's room. She's got her first ornament already - Grandma's got this one on hold for her. Thanks Mom :)

Baby care basics

I think I mentioned once before that Rob and I are signed up for an infant CPR class in a couple of weeks. I'm really glad for that, by the way; it is something that we need to know. As I was thinking about the class, though, I realized that I've never had a baby wholly in my care for more than a few hours. Gulp. I'm scared.

I thought that there were some baby care classes available through our hospital, but I can't seem to find any information about that on their website. I'm going to have to keep looking I think. In the meantime, I'm reading this book.

I bought it because it was the most complete reference I saw at the store. It's got some mixed reviews on Amazon, but I'm learning a lot from it (and actually don't find it to be preachy as some of the reviewers complained). I think it will be good to have on hand.

I also wrote down the names of a couple of other books that I thought looked interesting and checked them out from the library so that I could spend some more time looking at them. These are the two that I have now.

I'm not wild about the first one (The Wonder Years), but Bright from the Start is fantastic. We've already bought our own copy (I had a 30% coupon from Borders). It describes all kinds of fun activities that you can do with your baby that, in addition to being a great way to connect, will also help with neural development.

One other thing that has been clear from my reading is that TV should be off-limits at least until age 2. This will be challenging. I think we probably need to start weaning ourselves now - maybe down to a couple of favorite shows that we can record and watch after Nora goes to sleep, assuming we can actually outlast her. One shocking bit from the book - 25% of 2-year-olds have a tv in their room. I found that amazing - no wonder kids are so sedentary.

Birth mother searches

There was a very interesting article in yesterday's NY Times magazine section called Looking for Their Children's Birth Mothers. I am not sure that it is my place to aggressively search for Nora's birthmother, but I feel that we should make it easy for her to find us and also collect any information we are able to collect to make it easier for Nora should she decide to search on her own someday.

I need to get ready for work, so I'll have to comment more on this later. I just wanted to get the link out there while I was thinking about it. In case the link is not obvious, click on the title of the article above and that'll take you there.

Have a great day!

Thanks to Jane for her comment. I agree that it should be Nora's choice. I wonder, though, if there's something I should be doing while she's young and the trail fresher to collect some information that might help her with a search later. I don't even know what that would be at this point, I suppose whatever finding information is available - date, location, what she was wearing, etc. Of course if there was a note, that would be wonderful to have. I don't know what else to ask/look for - thoughts anyone?

Mega Mail Monday is BACK!!

It's been a while, I think, since I've had really good mail on a Monday. When I got home today, though, there was a package waiting for me -- the first from our brand new January DTC Secret Pal!

Thank you so much for the darling Halloween baby socks and Good Night, Sleep Tight storybook. The book is so sweet - it comes with a little blanket that Nora can use to tuck all the little animals into bed. It will be a great, interactive bedtime story to read with Nora.

We love it (you must know I love books!). Thank you so much.

Attention artsy and creative people! Your help is needed!

You might remember my toy box project. Like all my projects, progress has been slow ... but I do have a couple of coats of paint on it and a cushion made (making the cushion, by the way, was far more difficult than I'd expected). Here's what it looks like right now. Sorry to make you look at our messy garage, but that's where it is at the moment.

You can't tell in the picture, but the toy box has some dings in it. Dings that are more obvious now that it's painted white. It doesn't really bother me that it has dings, but I wonder if it could look better.

Tell me. What would you do with this? Paint the spindles a different color? Paint something on the front of the toy box (I was thinking maybe the word "play")? Leave it as it is?

I do want to quickly show you the inside - it's my favorite part. For some reason, lime green just makes me happy.

Twenty one months today

Yeah, I wish we were exiting at 21..

Wow, another milestone. At least they seem to be coming quickly (I think they are coming quickly anyway - my mom will probably disagree).