Baby Rankin Book Club® Part II

We had great response to our first book club posting, and learned about some terrific books from our family, friends and visitors to our blog. This month, we're expanding the book club to include music.

About Books...
On the book side, we learned about a wonderful independent book publisher called Barefoot Books. The company was started by two moms in England who wanted to start a business they could run while at home with their kids. The books feature high quality hand-made art, and many have a multi-cultural themes--whether telling how the chinese zodiac came about, old tales from Ireland, going on a safari, or sailing to the Galapagos (written in Spanish).

We found a great book for helping our daughter (and us) make sense of her adoption story, called Motherbridge of Love. The book illustrates a poem written by an adoptive mom, which talks about two kinds of love--from birth mom and adoptive mom. Here's an excerpt:

Once there were two women who never knew each other.
One you do not know. The other you call Mother.
Two different lives shaped to make you one.
One became your guiding star; the other became your sun.
...
The first gave you life; the second taught you to live it.
The first gave you a need for love; the second was there to give it.

This and other Barefoot Books are available from our local Barefoot rep (see our shopping link at left). Shoppers in the UK can order from Leonore and get local shipping rates.


Our friend in London sent us another wonderful book for telling Jenny about her first days with us, called "The White Swan Express." The book follows four different kinds of families from four different cities on their journey to China to adopt their daughters. The title refers to the hotel that many Americans stay at in Guangzhou while awaiting their consulate visit, the final stage of the adoption process before leaving for home. The book describes with humor how very differently the 7 adoptive parents-in-waiting deal with the excitement and uncertainties of meeting their daughters for the first time. The watercolor illustrations are exhuberant and colorful.


My mom learned about a great book on National Public Radio titled Little Big Minds: Sharing Philosophy with Kids. Teacher and educational consultant Marietta McCarty has developed this parent- and teacher-friendly simple curriculum for teaching children how to be philosophers. Chapters on "Philosophy," "Friendship," "Courage,"and "Compassion" give kids and grownups a chance to think about what these ideas mean and how they feature in their daily lives.

Marietta uses works by 2 thinkers per topic to help stimulate discussions with the kids. Works by Plato and Camus, the music of Ravel, Haydn and Sweet Honey in the Rock, poets Robert Frost, Emily Dickinson and William Carlos Williams, books like Aesops fables . It is a wonderful, rich book and any parent or thinking adult will benefit from this book, as well as kids.

Other recommended books, now purchased, include:

• Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See (and anything else by Eric Carle): Jenny now has a good set of Eric Carle books. Thanks to Aunt Maria in Ohio for turning us on to these classics.
• Goodnight Gorilla and 10 Minutes to Bedtime, by Peggy Rathman. I love these so much I have bought them for both of my Secret Pals. Thanks to Dave's Flickr friend Kim in Tx for the terrific recommendation.
• The Sailor Dog, a gift from Uncle Erik in Portland. I think he's hoping we teach Jenny to sail so that she can crew for him. What a great idea!
• Baby Honu Saves the Day, from our friends in Hawaii (see Secret Pal posting for illustration). This is a wonderful story featuring a "honu," Hawaiian name for the green sea turtle, and illustrated with watercolors of sea creatures and native Hawaiian designs.
• Moonbeams, Dumplings and Dragon Boats, also from Jen in London, a children's primer on the major Chinese holidays, complete with legends and ideas for cooking and crafts.
  
• Books with adoption themes: Kids Like Me in China (about a girl's heritage trip back to China), I Don't Have Your Eyes (not all families look alike), When You Were Born in China (describes the one child policy), and A Mother for Choco (highly recommended, about a sweet little motherless bird who finds a home with a big, cuddly mommy bear).

What books do you love? Leave us your comments!

Baby Loves Music!
I stumbled upon a wonderful organization while shopping for my secret gift exchange pals called "Baby Loves Disco." Check it out! Started by a couple parents who love music and dance, they wanted to find a creative alternative to the usual kiddie entertainment sources. They started these afternoon kid disco parties, which are now held in big cities across the country. You can see from their videos (flash player and a desire to relive the 70's and early 80's required), they are a total hoot! My dad loved to do crazy dances with us kids, and with at least a couple of us, it stuck (you should see my brother Anders shake it up). So much to my husband David's chagrin, I am already planning to take Jenny out and show her some serious moves (we'll need Uncle Anders for the smooth moves, I'm as spastic as dad).

Baby Loves Disco is part of the Baby Loves Music production group which features Baby Loves Reggae, Baby Loves HipHop, and Baby Loves Jazz. I have purchased their CD and picture book "Miles the Crocodile," who plays all the colors of the rainbow, for us, and the CD and picture book "Charlie Bird Counts the Beat" for our London friends.

Our friend and massage therapist introduced us to yet another music for kids series, which we look forward to test driving soon. The Classical Kids series uses classical music as a medium for storytelling. Beethoven Lives Upstairs, one in the series, tells the story of a boy who lives downstairs from the deaf and difficult Mr. Beethoven, who is always pounding out new musical scores seated on the floor. The CDs teach kids about the composer and his times (sorry, all male composers so far), his compositions and musical style. Her daughter loves them, and parent reviewers on Amazon are similarly enthusiastic.

Have some good music for kids? Please share your music tips, using the Comments section. Thanks for sharing!

Pimp My Ride!!!

As we've mentioned before, Kristen has met some lovely people through gift exchanges. These are other waiting parents--alright, waiting Mom's--who agreed to trade gifts every month. (The dad's I've met are more likely to trade arc-welders, tools, and computer gadgets.) These exchanges have helped distract all of us during the months of waiting, and helped us get excited about shopping for little girls.

I've spent more time in Carter's, and Stuff-R-Us, and other such places than I care to recount. Kristen seems to enjoy this, and well, the things we've picked up are cute.

These pictures are of gifts we received a couple of weeks ago from Jaydee and Jolon. They live in Hawaii and have our style and sensibilities nailed--they've pimped Jenny's Rides!!! Just like the TV show (or at least what I remember of the cable show that shows pros re-working folks cars to make them rolling works of art).

Jolon's parents were visiting in late September and made (!) car seat and shopping seat covers for us!!! Check it out (above) with one of Jenny's stuffed animals modeling.

We are just knocked out by their thoughtfulness.

The car seat cover goes perfectly with the "cushie" strap covers that Jaydee sent us a couple of months ago. They are made of soft fleece and are much more comfortable than the industrial strenght nylon in her five-point harness. (Yep, a genuine 5-point harness, does she have a great ride or what?)

On the right, Kristen is showing-off the other gift: a cozy liner for the seat on a grocery shopping cart. Jenny will be stylin' at Safeway!

A tricked-out shopping cart!

Now, if you know my lovely wife, you know that she detests grocery shopping. I think this is the first time in years that she has gone with me on the weekly visit to our local grocery store.

The fabric makes us think of Hawaii and the thoughtfulness of these wonderful people. We've wondered if Jolon's parents are the folks from Bendigo Australia that have visited our blog. If so, thank you so much! In fact, thanks very much in any case!!!

New visitors to the blog...

Welcome to recent visitors from...

• Uppsala, Sweden (Kristen's family--the Westmans--originally come from Sweden)
  
• Georgia
• Toulouse, France
• Old Bridge, New Jersey (we have family in Titusville)
• Lorton, Virginia

So glad you visited, please stop by any time!

Referral Rumors ("it's that time again...")

To give you a sense of what the past 12-16 months have been like for us, waiting-wise, the next round of referrals, which are due the first week of November, are already generating rumors about the cut off date. (That's the last log in date included in the particular batch of referrals, posted by the China Center of Adoption Affairs every month. Last set went through November 30, 2005; our LID is December 12, 2005.) Once again, it appears that we're very close to actually seeing a referral!

However, a little over a year ago, I was fairly certain we would receive a referral in December (that's December 06, friends). In April, Dave and I were expecting a referral by July, maybe June if we were lucky, or August at the latest. It's October. No referral. You get the idea. (Think of Lucy pulling the football away from Charlie Brown just as he runs up to kick it with all his might).

So, let me share the latest rumor headlines, because in addition to giving you a sense of our exquisite angst at this point, we may also be sharing a picture of our daughter with you all soon. Because hey, you've been waiting a long time too!

These are comments from other waiting families on my December LID listserv....

First rumor's are appearing....Check out the queens site

Re: Take a look at this!!! I got it off the "Spanish Rumor Queen" si...Its answer has been very positive and the truth that did not expect that a so optimistic version gave us. It has said us that he believes that the cut of the allocations can go beyond the I gave 10 of December! (translated from Spanish)

Hi everyone!! With a 12/7/05 LID, I am trying SO hard
not to get my hopes up...but then I keep thinking, "If
the early rumors are saying the 10th, then have HAVE
to be able to get through atleast the 7th, right"??
LOL

Trying so hard to stay calm....

yes i saw it too on a french forum !!!
i hope it is true :!!!!!go go go december !!!!!!

Now she's saying the cut off is 12/12.

This is exciting. I will be beyond ecstatic if the cutoff is the 10th-- if they go beyond the 10th I may pass out!!

Rumors are the cut-off is the 12th!!

That would be so cool, but I too am trying not to get my hopes up in the event that they only get through a few days as usual.

She is saying referrals will go through the 12th with a very slim chance they will go to the 13th. She's rating it a '9'.

I can hardly believe that in a weeks time I will be able to see a picture of my baby girl!!!! Come on with those referrals!!

this one sent me over the edge, as did the one several months ago that was an R3 claiming that there was going to be a "big" batch based on people at the CCAA being in a good mood and seeing lots of baby files or something. After the latter example, I pretty much write all the rumors off.

The Spanish site is now confirming that the 12th is definitely in, and saying there is a slim possibility for the 13th (although the site does say that's a *very* slim possibility and not likely).

CAN YOU BELIEVE IT'S FINALLY OUR MONTH!!! :)
I still can't believe this is happening. Let's all start getting prepared! It's never to early to start packing.

Re: Rumors are the cut-off is the 12th!! - Charlie Brown Syndrome...
When we started this adoption, we expected a 6 to 8 month wait because that's what it had been and our second referral was only a six-month wait. We were excited when our documents were sent and when we found out when they were logged in, but then knew there wasn't too much to do for the next several months.

When the referral rates started to drop off I was still optimistic
for a few months but then it began to become obvious the wait was
going to be a much longer than we first expected. After over a year
of disappointing monthly reports, it has done something to me as
well. I think it's the Charlie Brown syndrome. "Lucy" has pulled
the football out from under me one too many times, yet I still try
to kick it each month.

How do you know?
How do you know if your referral is on the way? I've seen pictures of people sitting in lawn chairs in their driveway waiting for the FedEx guy. How do they know that the delivery will be that day? Who tells them? For us, it cannot be our agency b/c our program coordinator has asked us to let her know when we get our referral. So who would tell us?

And from the Rumor Queen...
I’ve had a few people ask to see the projections again. Here they are:


And, one other point to make. It has been noted that when the CCAA did a very small month earlier this year, the month right after it was bigger, so that the two months together averaged out to about the norm. If the CCAA follows that pattern then this month might be a little bigger than normal. But that’s just speculation, not a rumor.

So how do we feel? All of the above. Our referral could come in a week, or maybe a month, or maybe some time later than that. You can see what a roller coaster ride we are on, along with hundreds of other families around the world. So as the days actually, really, start to wind down, we'd appreciate hearing your good wishes and words of encouragement. Please use the Comments below to help get us through these last tough months.

Jenny's Room

The other major project of the last 12 months has been preparing our extra bedroom for our daughter.First came the bedding. I found a fun quilt, made with lots of India madras prints on sale at Pottery Barn. Bright and cheery, also kind of hippy-dippy (especially nice for the 40-something parents to remind them of their youths. (Design note: wall color is Benjamin Moore's "potpourri green", #2029-50)





Kristen found the Ling doll on China Sprout (see shopping link to the left). She speaks Mandarin and English and is helping us learn to speak some chinese ("wo ai ni"..."I love you").






We found a nice used crib on Craig's List in February. Especially attractive in the crib are the quilt from Granny Rankin, the lovely fleece blankie from our Secret Pal in Hawaii (Hi Jaydee!), and the handknit cashmere cable knit from Grandma Kitty. There will be no cold shivery nights for our wee one, that's for sure.



Window treatments followed in Spring. Down came Kristen's home-made drapery, up went some nice white roller blinds. Dot can be seen in lower center, doing inspection.



More toys came in. Our Hawaiian pal, who knows we love the movie "Finding Nemo," sent us Nemo and Squirt for Jenny. Being the lovers of all things diverse and acquatic, Dave and I could not resist the baby seal puppet, pictured next to them. Hmmm. Maybe our girl will develop an interest in marine biology...



Almost Finished!
And last came a soft pink rug, toasty warm and cuddly on the feet. We also hung Kristen's favorite prints by the French artist Matisse. You can see his Goldfish in the corner, which currently hangs in the Hermitage in Moscow. Pictured at top is one of his paper cutouts, now in Nice, France. Matisse turned to this very unique form of art at the end of his career, as he was losing his eyesight and thus his ability to paint. Looks just like a collage, something a child might bring home from school. Hmmm. Wonder if she'll be an artist, like Matisse...


But what about all those toys????
We need your help finishing Jenny's room. Please use the comments section to give us your advice on...

Toy storage
Music
Diapers--containment, waste management!
Rocking chair perhaps?
Filling the empty walls
Other essentials for a 12-18 month old....

What's In a Name?

Mr. Shakespeare asked. Good question. Over the past year, while we've been waiting for a referral, Dave and I have spent considerable time thinking of a name for our daughter. We did the usual long list of names we both liked (OK, it was actually a short list). After trying out a number of them, we settled on Jenny.

Why "Jenny"? Well, first of all, we wanted to give her a name that we both thought was pretty.

I also wanted to pick a name that might sound at least a little familiar to a small child who only knows the sounds of the chinese language. From our limited bit of study of mandarin (yes, it's been a busy year), we know that the "juh" sound is common in chinese. We also know women from China named "Jenny", "Junji" and "Jinshil," so Jenny fit that requirement nicely. We plan to use our daughter's chinese given name as her middle name, and to call her by both names when we first come home.

What's in a name? A good bit. Identity, for example, including cultural identity. These days many if not most parents who adopt from other countries try to keep a part of their child's original given name as a link to their language and country of origin. We think that's important, and so we are following suit and keeping that link to her past.

And her last name? Well, that's still under some consideration--we're thinking of something hyphenated, which will come as no surprise to our families and friends. After all, I've kept my own last name. But whether she's a Westman-Rankin, or just a Rankin, she will still and always be ours together. And maybe having an odd middle name and being part of an odd looking family is enough to ask of one little girl for a lifetime.

Bodnant Gardens in Wales

Bondant Gardens
Originally uploaded by j david

As you can see, we love to travel and hope to continue doing so after our little one arrives. In any case, travel is helping us pass the time while we're waiting. This is one of the National Trust gardens in Wales. We visited during our spring trip to the UK. It is a huge estate, covered with plants brought to the "home island" by (presumably) Victorian explorers. We got to see lots of plants that otherwise have no ecological business being in the middle of the North Atlantic. You can see the effect on Kristen below.

Kristen at Bodnant Gardens

Kristen, originally uploaded by j david.

As you can see, very few things make my wife happier than hanging out with plants. We both hope that our little girl picks up a green thumb or two (from her mom). Dad hopes she learns to love cutting the lawn, raking leaves, etc.