(no subject)

[rivka]

I'm flying to Boston in the morning. Waaaaay early in the morning - I have to be at the light rail stop by 5:15am. Haven't told any of my Boston friends in advance, because I won't really have time to meet up - I'll only be in town for 36 hours, and my time is pretty much spoken for.

I'm leaving my toddler overnight for the first time to, um, go visit another toddler. My sister Debbie's newly adopted daughter, Jessica Paola. She came home about a month ago, and because we spent Christmas in Memphis I'm the only one in the family who hasn't met her yet. I'm excited! My sister's been waiting for so long... I can't wait to see her as a mother. And I'll get to be there for Jessica's baptism.

Honestly, the whole trip seems a little unreal. The idea of just throwing a few things in a backpack and heading out of town, not loaded down with 24 pounds of squirming toddler and 50 pounds of gear... I mean, I'll even be able to read on the plane! Or sleep! But also: a whole weekend without Alex, who is in an especially sweet and cuddly stage these days. Sigh. (To the left, it'll also be a whole entire weekend that I won't have to read A Day With Firefighters or Just a Mess.)

Michael could probably use some friendly thoughts from you all during his first solo weekend with Alex. He's already been pulling extra childcare duties this week, as our nanny has come down with mononucleosis. It's going to be a couple of long weeks until she's back behind the stroller. I'll be taking an extra day off every week, but it will still be a lot of work for Michael.

Comments

[txanne.livejournal.com]

Is this your first niece/nephew? Being an aunt is great.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

I've been Aunt Rebecca for about 13 years, but this is my first time being Tia Rebecca. (Debbie will be speaking mostly Spanish at home, because she thinks it's important for Jessica to grow up fluent in her native language.)

[ratphooey.livejournal.com]

How lovely!

Have fun traveling light and being an auntie.

[saoba.livejournal.com]

Give Debbie my regards, I know how long she's wanted this and I'm thrilled for her.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

I will!

Incidentally:

This evening, Michael mentioned, in passing, a Barbara Somebody he used to work with. Alex immediately started trying to tell us something. "Barbara, Barbara book."

It took me a couple of minutes to make the connection, and then I asked her, "Do you want to look at pictures of Miss Barbara?"

She ran to the kitchen and pointed until I followed her and got her photo album off the top of the microwave. Then she flipped eagerly through the first pages until she came to "Miss Barbara! Miss Barbara hold baby Alex."

So there you go. When are you coming to visit?

[selki.livejournal.com]

She ran to the kitchen and pointed until I followed her and got her photo album off the top of the microwave. Then she flipped eagerly through the first pages until she came to "Miss Barbara! Miss Barbara hold baby Alex."

That is so cool!

*friendly thoughts to Michael*

[kcobweb.livejournal.com]

Say hi to Debbie for me too, and tell her congrats - I think it's *fabulous*.

As for the solo weekend - ENJOY! I think you'll find that you can slip rather easily back into the habits you had as a single person (without the 24 pounds of attached wriggle - not the unmarried kind). I sometimes fantasize about being able to do those things again. Someday.... :)

Just think how happy Alex will be to see you when you get back!

[kalmn.livejournal.com]

if your sister says it's okay, i'd love to see pictures of mz jp. (i'd also love to know which agency she worked with. not that i'm neurotically researching everything, having nothing better to do at the moment! :)

[rivka.livejournal.com]

She worked with AdoptInternational out of Miami, and does not reccommend them.

She does recommend this adoption forum: http://www.soulofadoption.com/forum/index.php
as being an excellent place for nontraditional families considering adoption. I looked at the list of forums, and there, all in a row, I saw GLBT Families, Parents With Disabilities, and Single Parent Adoptions.

"Why, yes," I told my sister. "I think this would be a good site for my friend."

[kip-w.livejournal.com]

If you had an unstoppable urge to post a photo of the kid, I doubt anybody here would say thee nay.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

E-mail from Deb:

Other thoughts for your friend who is thinking of adopting: specific agency recommendations really mean nothing until she's more sure about what kind of adoption she wants to do (domestic, international, which country) and then the best source of information is probably particular message boards or listservs to that country. Even an agency with a great reputation for their China program may not have a good Guatemala program coordinator, etc. There are boards that have agency reviews and invite people to post, but agencies often read the boards so most places the etiquette is to ask about an agency and people reply privately by email. Especially negative stuff people are leery of mentioning online because of possible libel etc and some of the adoption websites forbid mentioning agencies by name in any negative postings so you get more details if people reply to you by email. Some agencies also have adoptive parents who post glowing reviews for them or reply as if they are a satisfied client to attract business, so there's all kinds of potential for manipulation, sadly enough.

[perceval.livejournal.com]

Sending good vibes to curiousangel ...

[kip-w.livejournal.com]

Best wishes to Michael from another solo dad. From Friday morning to Tuesday night, I'm the only parent in 3000 miles.

[mjlayman.livejournal.com]

Gracious! Where's malibrarian going?

[kip-w.livejournal.com]

She's in Seattle for ALA.

[mjlayman.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah. I knew that from akirlu's LJ. You'd think I'd remember.