Howdy to all our Canadian friends!! A big thanks to K and M&D who sent Jrock some pics, and K – I got your CD.  Thanks so much!  R in the Nth Ok – we dropped off your package and it got into he right hands
 
So Jrock arrived 2 nights ago – and boy o boy was I glad to see him.  I actually did better than I thought without Mom – of course the girls and I miss her – her help was so invaluable.  Once I had to leave piles of toys etc in the hotel lobby for a few hours since my two rugrats were screaming and I had to take them upstairs.  Thank goodness it is such a small hotel becauses I had left my wallet on the top, but it was all safe at the front desk when I came back down.  A word about the hotel – the Weygoss is AWESOME.  It’s so perfect for families and it has been our home away from home! The four ladies at the front are so awesome with the kids – they play behind the front desk and check people in.  The guard outside is this wonderful grandfatherly like figure – he has the same name (male version) as one of our girls… He kicks the soccer ball around with them in the courtyard and if they fall he has this trick where he gets the girls to beat on the pavement (getting it back!) with the broom and then they feel all better. Hilarious. Anyway – I highly recommend it to anyone travelling with a family.
 
But I digress.  Jrock arrived a bit late two nights ago… some things are different here, like you need your passport and have to pay to get into the airport.  The girls were really really nervous there – partly meeting the infamous daddy and partly just all the people.  It will be quite overwhelming travelling home, I think.  I sure hope our visa is there so we can go home with Jrock!!  It was awesome to see him – With little ones running about I forgot what a big, stable strength he is. 
 
Our first night he had coffee ceremony at the hotel – small hotel.. they delayed the nightly ceremony 2 hours just for him! – and then put the girls to bed.  Yesterday we walked to the bank – big event! :_-) and Spice actually let him carry her in the carrier – amazing.  She never let Gramma. Sugar is much more wary of him.  Then we relaxed until late afternoon when we went shopping with S, our Ethiopian friend.
 
We spent a good portion of the $1000 (plus our contribution) to Faya… We bought two cribs, (but mattresses and sheets yet to come), a bunk bed with a mattress, and a huge dresser.  It was fun, and we are so glad that the kind people who donated to Imagine when it needed it (pre-Gold Compnay Bailout) decided to funnel the donations to Faya.  I understand from Jrock that some ppeople wanted their money back, so J in Van is arranging that out of the other donated cash, and then she is donating the remainder online.
 
Anyway, we had fun, and will buy the rest of the stuff when we spend the weekend in Adama a week from now.
 
Today we went AGAIN to the Natural history Museum.. it’s badly stuffed animals from across Ethiopia, but the girls love love love it.. and the guide is so nice and answers all their questions.  The bird life and animals are amazing here – especially the birds! and I can’t wait to see it in person.
 
Tomorrow we finally leave Addis - after almost four weeks! It will be awesome.  We are going south (and downhill) to Lake Langano and staying at Bishangari Lodge – Ethiopia’s first (and I understand best!) ecolodge.  It’ll be expensive but worth it, from all reports – birds, wildlife, swimming in the lake – FRESH AIR (the smog in Addis is BAD) and quiet.  We will be there for five days. Then we are going back to Adama (aka Nazareth) for 3 days.  We are dropping the cribs, etc off on our way down but will buy the teff and formula and other stuff in Adama on the return trip (for Faya)  We will be staying at the Safari Lodge – kind of kitsch but cheap and nice and it has a pool.  Plus S’s sister M who runs Faya said she would teach me to mix my own berbere and make shiro – awesome! So that will be fun. Then we will be back in addis for 2 days before we go on our next adventure.
 
So a little more about Jrock and the girls… I asked him what strikes him most about Ethiopia so far, and he said “the diversity of people” and “how friendly everyone is.” 
 
I should have asked him what he thinks about his daughters! (lol) But he is upstairs cuddling them to sleep.  Sugar hasn’t given him a kiss yet, and she cried once when I left them playing in the courtyard together (no mommy) but she loves playing with him… Spice is much more accepting (generally) and she’s quite taken.  He’s been learning “our” language – a mix of English, Amharic and sign… and doing really well.  At first he didn’t understand how you have to isolate words so they can pick them up – they would get lost with his sentences.  But he is doing a lot better, they are understanding him more (and vice versa!) and he’s realizing how the whole second language thing works (my forte, not his.. but he’s a bright guy )
 
Sugar has been on pretty good behaviour, though – it’s a second honeymoon! yipee!! lol… no tantrums for two days.  Just a mini-meltdown today.. Jrock was looking pretty worried at just that, but I said “you just wait!!” They are legendary for their screaming fits – the desk ladies downstairs can hear it when they have a tantrum , down in the lounge!  
 
I shouldn’t make it sound like they are little monsters, though.  I was reflecting on my past posts… they are actually completely lovely little girls.  Everyone here just loves them, and I can see why they were teacher’s favorites back at the transition home.  Spice has the most hilarious sense of humour – she keeps us in stitches with her faces and expressions.. she does sarcastic impressions of herself, Sugar, and me especially   (Is sarcasm at 3 normal? )
 
Sugar is so athletic and Jrock was saying “she ran down the stairs full tilt by herself!” (although I recommended this wasn’t the best idea..)  She has sticky fingers and delights in showing you what she’s pinched off you a minute ago.  She’s forthright and honest – and sticks her tongue out in the cutest way when she is laughing / concentrating / having fun.
 
And both of the girls are really considerate to each other… they hold each other’s stuff and get worried if the other isn’t happy.  They are their own best friends… I think because they are so different they get along really really well…
 
Anyway, I’d better go upstairs.  I’ll tell ya – this parenting thing is WAY easier with a partner!!!  I don’t know how you single moms do it… honestly.  But life is easier when Jrock is here, and I find myself enjoying the girls more and more, since he is helping with more of the hard stuff.
 
More news in a week!
Nicky

Hello everybody! from Ethiopia.  We’re just finishing up our third week in Addis – and Mum is off tonight on the plane.  She’s been a wonderful help – it’s been hard for her to be hands off with the kids (although I see her sneaking a kiss now and then!) but she’s been a trouper – always gophering stuff for me, and holding the backpack – and of course, playing with the kids and giving me a moment’s break. We will miss her.  The girls really enjoy brushing her hair – the two of them stand on the bed behind her and “braid ” it (sharuba!) which is rerally just twisting the hair.  
 
Twins are a handful – or rather! two handfuls!  Good thing I have two arms.  When we go out about 1/3 of the time I end up carrying one in each arm (that’s 60 lbs people!!) I don’t remember exactly what I have written about them… but I’all repeat if necessary.
 
Sugar and Spice each have a little of each element.  Sugar actually has been throwing tantrums several times a day… they are both strong-willed girls.  They obviously never got “no” at the transition home.  I wouldn’t say they were spoiled… but I would say indulged!  So at first, for the first week, they were sad… now they seem to have recovered completely.  (But when we visited the orphanage, it wasn’t so good.. tell you about that in a minute.  )  The second week we were defining boundaries… when one is sad, the other starts to cry … but if one is angry, the other doesn’t get sucked into it.  There were some mega tantrum days – I mean, kicking, screaming, running away from me… the whole bit… But near the end of the second week there was a difference.. they were screaming in my arms and calling for me when the tantrum started. 
 
About attachment: well, they are pretty much velcroed to me.  One night we went to an Indian restaurant with friends and they were enthralled with our male friend and sat on his lap for supper – but mostly they only want me, which is really good.
 
Their teacher thought that they are about 3 1/2 – although they are really tiny, they are definetly that old.. and bright.  They carry on entire conversaions with each other – and we three understand each other perfectly in our mix of Amharic, English and sign language.  They are bright – they probably understand 40+ words of English… maybe more, and speak 25+, I would say.  Everything from shoes to wet to rain to no to photo to puppy. 
 
And what do we do all day?  Well, mostly we try to go out in the morning… since about a week ago I have reinstated the nap in the afternoon after lunch.  Yesterday we wnent to this park – Bihere Tsige recreation centre – outside of Addis with a friend from Ghana and her little one.  It was really nice – well, the park was totally different than we would expect in Canada or Ghana – they trim the grass with mini sithes and hand clippers, and then cart it off to feed the cows.  But the girls got to run and run – probably for the first time in their lives… and they just loved it. (Remember, they spent a year in a courtyard, and then before that they were really too young to make miles.)
 
I’m so looking forward to getting out of Addis when JRock arrives.  We took a one day trip to Adama (Nazareth) and it was so awesome to breath fresh air and see the countryside. We went to visit Faya Orphanage… that’s what the girls had a hard time with.  They just wouldn’t stop crying.  Too confusing, I think, since it is a bit like the transition home.  But the kids there are lovely and the lady who runs it, M, and her brother S are just great.
 
The folks in Canada raised a bunch of money for  KidsLink / Imagine in Ethiopia – but then the gold company bailed it out.  So Jenny and co. asked around what they wanted to do with it, and they donated the $2000?? (I think) to Faya online, and then I have $1000 US here.  So our new friend S is taking us shopping the day before we leave Addis (for Lake Langano) and then we’re taking a bus load of cribs, bunkbeds, pasta, cleaning supplies, etc. (M’s list) to the Faya orphanage on the way down (we go past Adama.  That should be great.)
 
By the way, S has become our friend – he took three ladies and three babies shopping for traditional outfits last Sunday – now there’s a man!- and will be travelling a bit with Jrock and I as well later on.. A wonderful guy.
 
Anyway, the girls have been playing nicely around the hotel (it’s a small hotel) for a good 45 minutes (takes a long time to type on this keyboard) so I’d better go.  Sorry for all the disjointed info, but that’s the way it goes.
 
Can’t wait to see what all this looks like one the blog when I get back! ha ha
 
Jrock is arriving Friday – yipee!!! I miss him so much and It will be so great for him to meet the girls… and they are looking forward to it.  They always talk to him on the phone and point him out in all the photos.  So cute.
 
Ciao!
Nicky

In addition to having this email in my inbox today, I also had some photos from the very kind J. Welcome back, hope your baby is well. Thanks so much for forwarding these to Jrock. ~Ena

Many of you have found your way to My Bookstore – and several people have sent me emails/comments tahnking me for suggesting adoption and Africa-related books.

Recently I added a couple more sections to my store – focussing on themes that are important to me as an individual and as a parent: Nature, Wellness, Creativity, Environmentalism and Food!

Every one of these books I either own myself or have taken out of the library and highly recommend. I hope you enjoy them as well. 

And remember, you can always write the title and author down and get the local library to bring a book in for you – for free!

Parenting
     General
     for Adoption
     for Transracial Adoption
     for Nature and the Environment
     for Wellness
     for Creativity

Children’s Books
     with Black Main Characters
     about Ethiopia
     about Adoption
     with Multicultural Themes
     about Nature and Environmentalism

Adoption Baby Books

Africa
     Ethiopia
     African / Ethiopian Music

Recipe Books

Please pull up a chair and visit my bookstore - you can always find a link at the top of my blog.

The other day I picked up a organizer case at the dollar store for all the girls combs and headbands and elastics.  I was showing them to Jrock last night and he said “what about beads?”

So we went to my friend Shelley’s hair care website, Sharuba, and picked out a whole bunch of snaps and beads, as well as a couple of beaders and a coil comb.  Shelley runs her store out of her home in Saskatchewan, and she is an invaluable resource for black kids hair care if you don’t live in a big city.  Kelowna is big enough that we can get hair products, but beads and snaps and kid-sized sleeping caps (oh, we got two of those as well) are a bit beyond what Kelowna has to offer.

ALL ETHIO PARENTS-TO-BE: NOTE! One of the coolest things on Shelley’s site are the home videos of her doing her girls’ hair.  They explain how to do box braids, coils, etc.  It’s really helpful if you don’t have the same type of hair as your kids.  Jrock was pretty interested in watching them, and was like “I can do that!”

Which is good.  Because there are TWO of them.  He will have to!

PS: We’re expecting an update sometime this week or early next week – I can’t wait to see the girls with 3 week-long hair! lol

Ah, the clothes shopping for little girls.  It is just AWESOME, I have to tell you! 

And, it’s pretty addictive.  Today, Jrock examined the treasures laid out on the bed (and yes, these are just todays’ – remember I am shopping for two! – and shrugged and commented “you know, they aren’t going to arrive any faster if you buy more clothes, you know.”

True; true.  But it is TOO fun.  But this time I’m done.  I swear.  I even have tights now.  The only thing we are missing is footwear – and hopefully my friend will trace their feet when she goes to pick up her kids in  couple of weeks.  Then we’ll have some idea of the girls’ shoe size.

PS: Every one of these pieces of clothing, (except two shirts and the tights,) is second hand.  I LOVE second hand shops!  Recycling and fashion all-in-one!

These are the tiniest underwear I have seen in my life.

Some things are a little different preparing for babies coming home through adoption vers from the hospital.  For one thing, the kids aren’t a reliable size.  You don’t know how far along they are in their development – and, you need to be prepared for the darndest things.

Let’s start with the darndest things! One our baby shopping list are things like:

• lice shampoo and combs
• chewable vitamins
• super itsy-bitsy Disney Princess underwear (the only brand that makes a size small enough to fit them -thanks for the tip Sheri!)
• parasite meds
• voice recordable teddy bears (to send to them when we get through court)
• a whole box of hairbands, hair combs, barrettes and beads

We also are arranging for things like

• finding a pediatric dentist
• getting an appointment for assessment at the local child development centre
• going over files with the doctor
• leaving our animals and home for 2 weeks
• connecting with a diaper service – they probably will regress in this department
• watching parenting / discipline / adoption related videos from the AFABC

We’ve started buying some basic clothing too, like undies and sleepers and PJs and some shirts and sweaters.  My MIL is also raiding the second hand store where she volunteers. 

Luckily, we’ve had some wise advice about sizing from people in the know… the girls are (on average) 33 inches tall but only weigh 21 lbs.  By height, they wear 2-3T clothes.  By weight? 12-18 months.  They are basically all belly but don’t have any meat on them.  So we’re aiming for 2-3T shirts and dresses, and 18month to 2 year pants. Seriously! And those bottoms may be too big. They probably won’t grow much before we pick them up – but typically when they get to Canada, they should grow like weeds.  A nice family who adopted twin girls about the same age in the spring of lat year told us their girls had each put on 10 lbs since March!  Wow.  21-31 lbs is a big jump. So they won’t be in those 18 month pants for very long.

As far as toys go, even… we just don’t know where they are at.  So the toys we have are a mix of 2,3,4 year old appropriate things – and we’ll just have to slowly go through them with the girls and see what they can manage and what is too much. We actually don’t have many toys at all… they probably won’t need many at first and we figure we can always add along the way.

Of course, like all parents, there is also a lot of self reflection involved in preparation.  One thing I’m feeling already is that we won’t be the type of parents who are concerned that their kids aren’t meeting their development milestones “on time”.  Heck, we don’t have a “time”.  We don’t know exactly how old they are! So we’ll just jump off wherever we start up.

The other thing I am sensing, though, is we will be the very involved and proactive types.  I think being an advocate for our girls, so they have access to the best resources, is important - be it a speech pathologist or good nutrition or their own library cards. 

I guess part of becoming a parent is that you learn and grow yourself!

I really don’t find this wait half as difficult as waiting for a referral.  Honestly, now we have something (someones!) to wait for.  We have their pictures in most rooms of the house, just pasted on the walls… we speculate about their personalities, discuss different attachment, parenting, development, play, etc. issues, and even get to “nest”.

Daddy painting the windows

Mommy putting the beds together

Last weekend we started on the girls’ room – Jrock and I painted it in 2 days.  Then we put the beds together that we acquired last week.  They are lovely 50+ year old twin beds – just perfect for our girls.  We had to do a little renoing of the beds, since they had old fashioned, too tall, too springy and finger-pinching springs. But with new slats and waferboard bottoms, they were ready to go – rubber covered mattresses and all. 

view from the door

the other bed by the door

We also purchased another quilt this week.  Jrock got me the first one 1 1/2 ago for our ‘cotton’ wedding anniversary.  But now we need two!  So we tracked down the lady who made it and sold it at the Farmer’s market, and bought another similar quilt.  Pretty cute, eh?

the rocking chair still needs to be repaired and a cover sewn

no fish, lots of boxes and some general chaos

So the room is NOT finished – there are no fish in the fish tank – I thought the girls could pick them out when they get home.  My sister is doing some murals on the walls over Christmas.  And there are lots of other things… but it’s started.  We will be installing a new light fixture soon – care to weigh in on your choice? The green chandelier (a bit larger than the picture) or the aged bronzed chandelier?

Option 1

One of the first questions my mother-in-law and a few friends asked me when they found out about our referral of twin girls was “are you going to dress them alike?”

My answer? “Not really.”

Of course, every once and a while it will be nice to have them in complimentary outfits, for pictures and the like.  But I want them to develop their own personalities and own identities… not just to be one half of a pair.

Along that vein, our very first shower gift was from my good friend L, who bought us two cute-as-can-be tops that are similar but not exactly the same. Right on! 

My mother-in-law is in general in charge of clothing reconnaissance, as she works (volunteers) in a second-hand clothing store and is the official in-coming children’s clothes sorter.  So she gets the pick of all the clothes for $2 a bag.  Can’t beat that!

She would like the girls to have SOME matching clothes though; (got to keep my purchasing agent happy,) so she surprised us with some brand-new pants, tops and Dora bathing suits from Sears this week.  The Dora suits might be a covert operation – I told her that cartoon bedding sets were out of the question – but they are pretty darn cute, I have to say.

And here is my one attempt at matchy matchy:

Matching political statements doesn’t REALLY count, does it? lol

Them’s my girls!

Most of you know that Jrock and I have requested two kids under 4 years old.  SO, while it’s entirely possible we will be referred twin babes, more likely, we will be jumping into parenting a couple babe/toddler/preschoolers!

Something that you may or may not know about us is that we have hosted many many exchange students from all over the world, and I was an exchange student in a different country three times myself.  So we have a pretty darn good understanding of culture shock at the teen age.  To try to understand how our kids will feel, we take the overwhelming new sites, smells, food, people, etc, (that we know so well), mix it with the fear of leaving your homeland, and add in a lack of ability to communicate and a toddler’s understanding of “who the heck ARE these people?”…. we’d better be as prepared as we can be to support the kids through a possible really rough time.

One of the things we’ve done to prepare is compile communication tools that are toddler / preschooler appropriate.  I’ll share a couple of the with you here:

Click on Picture to buy at Chapters

#1 – A picture book that shows everyday word and situations.

These are so that we can show pictures of what is happening, even is we can’t explain it.  My favorites so far (that are totally making the trip over to ET!) are:

This is an awesome little book – all the pictures are so very rich with details and claymations… the people are of all different ethnic backgrounds and the pages show amazingly beautiful detailed pictures of family structure, the house, the playground, shopping, etc.  Just wonderful.  (Thanks to my mom-in-law! We saw it at a Cherry Festival and she bought it for the kids-to-be.)

Although not quite as beautiful, it walks kids through situations like going to the doctor, dentist – a even travelling by plane.  Very useful! A great gift from my friend L, who sells Usborne books in Calgary (if any of you Calgarians want to host a kids book party, leave a comment to that effect and I’ll email you!)

#2 – Amharic Language Training for Adoptive Families

Click to buy from the Author

Also totally essential – a language CD so you can talk to your kids in their own language (- or at least the language they have been conversing with caregivers in for the past few months.)

Total props to Amy Kendall who had the vision to create this wonderful language CD.  The sentences are read by an Ethiopian man – slowly so you can follow.  The little book is coil bound and purse ready, and all the words and phrases are written with the English pronunciation (NOT the phonetic alphabet – which is like learning another language altogether in addition!)

But the best part of this little book/CD package – the content!  Amy is an adoptive mom herself, and she totally understands what we need to be able to ask and say:

“I am your Mommy“
“I will take good care of you“
“Are you hungry?”
“Do you want to go potty?”
“Please clean up“
“It’s naptime!”
“Don’t hit“… “
and my favorite – “This is our dog.  He won’t hurt you.” 

 

I love Lonely Planet Phrasebooks for visiting a country, but for communicating with your kids – this is definitely the best choice.

Interested in ordering your own copy?  Click here. If your kids are over 10 months old when you pick them up, you probably should.  (Or get tutored by an Ethiopian, but, that’s not really an option in Kelowna!) Anyway, way to go Amy – thanks for a great resource!

Click to buy at Chapters

<- The Usborne Little Book of First Experiences

A few people commented on the spy cam we used when Leo was here – what great reception it had.  Well, it gets even better, people.  What we got was the super-duper, slightly creepy it’s so effective, see-in-the-dark, cordless, doesn’t-even-really-look-like-a… baby-cam!

You can completely see a black/white picture in the pitch black dark – it’s amazing.  Then in the day the monitor works in colour. You can hear the baby moving or talking… and it even hooks into your TV so you can watch a movie and just flick back over t the baby channel every once and a while.

I bought mine on Ebay from this vendor and totally love it.  It freaks Jrock out but he did admit it was awefully handy when Leo was sleeping upstairs and we were playing games downstairs.

SUPER fun toy.  Er, essential baby tool! lol

I’ve really tried to keep our kids in mind while we’ve been renovating our house – places to play, to run, to sleep, to craft, etc. But there is one area that I hadn’t child proofed – our living room and the hall entry. In fact, I bought some *expensive wallpaper for the little wallway entry (not used every day, mind you!) with the “we’ll teach the kids to mind” sort of philosophy.

Well, we ended up inheriting a teenage exchange student for the week from Argentina – a really sweet kid but not too self-aware. He came in this morning with his snowboard, and rubbing up against the wall, I could HEAR the wallpaper crackling. It was like chills up my spine. (If you are not laughing already, go ahead, you have my permission!)

So as soon as he left for school, I rushed out to the paint store and purchase wallpaper corners for the entry-way. If it can’t stand up to a teenager for 2 minutes, it won’t stand up to two little kids!

Hmmmm…. my poor wallpaper.

I’d better never see any crayons in the remote vicinity!!

Ok, so I was out shopping the other day, and decided to go into Toys ‘R’ Us and stare at all the baby stuff that I can’t buy because I don’t know how old my kids are.  This is just one of the lame activities expecting adopting mothers do – besides blogging and checking my email every 20 seconds.

Anyway, I decided to check out the dolls (’cause chances are that I will have a girl… ) and was just standing there is the doll aisle, looking around.  Then I noticed.  Do you see?

All white kids.  And if you go down the aisle to the ones with hair – they were all blond.  There was, like, one doll with brown hair. But seriously – all 100% pink skinned dolls. 

Now Kelowna is not an especially ethnically diverse community, but there are 900+ East Indian, 660+ Chinese, 575+ Japanese people living here, according to the 2006 census. But not one Asian baby doll in the store.

And even as a pink-skinned brown-haired little girl, I wanted dolls that looked a little different than I did.

So I have two things to say.

#1 – It would be conducive to promoting acceptance and multi-culturalism among little girls (who grow up sooner or later!) if there were a mix of dolls available at the store.

#2 – I am so glad for ebay.  Because there I can get a mix of dolls, and books with African or black girls and boys in them… and Asian kids and red-haired white kids, etc. 

And fro the record, I’m not talking about tokenism here… what I’m trying to say is that our family and friends are a mix of people from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds, and I want my kids to see themselves (and our family and friends) in the book heros and doll-friends that they have.  It’s good for their healthy self-image. 

Anyway, enough said.  Here’s the cabbage patch I ordered the next day on ebay!

P.S. for parents: February is Black History Month in the US, so there are tons of great kids book lots (with black and African kids as the characters) for sale on ebay right now! (Maybe I shouldn’t have said that.  Now you’re going to bid against me!)

I heard this on the radio tonight and almost died laughing.  Thought all you moms of “grown up” kids would find it funny It was actually on a religious show that I never usually listen to, but this clip was worth listening to and passing on!

It’s just an audio clip, so make sure your speakers are on.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/v/YQNGqf5GN00]

Today I was writing up a “list of stuff to buy/get/borrow” and realized that we still have a lot of stuff to get! 

Because these are our first kids, I don’t know what the protocol is.  If we have a shower, do I give the list of stuff to an organizer?  Do I send it out to family?  I don’t want to buy everything and then have nothing left to get (see, I listen Mom!) but I don’t want to be left with a mad scramble, either…

Here’s the list, for what it’s worth… If anyone has advice on the child/gifting/receiving etiquette, I’d appreciate it!

As of 10-jan-08 still need

·         Receiving blankets

·         Baby and toddler bibs

·         Screens for car windows

·         Bumbo seat

·         No-slip decals for the bath

·         Bath faucet foamy-soft cover

·         Infant/toddler plastic tub

·         Toddler place setting w/ divided plate

·         Hair pick / coil comb

·         Bra-strap and other headbands

·         Digital thermometer

·         Glass bottles/nipples

·         Bottle brush

·         Microwave bottle sterilizer

·         Fold-up umbrella stroller

·         Diapers – new style cloth

·         Diaper pail (dog-proof)

·         Baby car seat

·         2-4 year old car seat

·         Baby Bjorn-style carrier for Dad (front and back)

·         Door knob covers – cabinet locks

·         Another baby gate

·         Baby swing/bouncer/exerciser

·         High chair – wood

·         Booster seat

·         Change pad for diaper bag

·         Contoured change pad covers

·         Crib mattress

·         Crib blankets

·         Mobile

·         Twin mattress

·         Twin sheets

·         Clothes (don’t know what size/gender yet)

Fun stuff

·         Toys for a 2-4 year old

·         Baby toys

·         Bath toys

·         Frog Pod for bath wall

·         Ethiopian music

·         Videos for watching while doing hair

·         Little People playsets

·         Littlest pet shop

·         Doctor kit

·         Handy-man tools

·         Black dolls

·         Baby rubber/cardboard books

·         Dress-up items for the tickle trunk

·         Matching game

·         Art supplies – washable markers, etc.

Please no

·         Computer games

·         Toy guns

Styles

The babies room has a wind in the willows, fanciful forest sort of theme.  Colours are light blue, bright green and bright orange.

The kids bath has a jungle sort of theme.

Already have

·         Heat-sensitive spoons

·         Nail clippers

·         Toothbrushes

·         Lotions

·         Sling carrier

·         Double chariot stroller / bike cart

·         Baby gate

·         Baby monitor

·         Diaper bags

·         Tickle trunk

·         Lamp

·         Night lights

·         Change table & pad

·         Washcloths

·         Towels

·         Shampoos and soaps

·         Crib

·         Crib sheets & dust ruffle

·         Crib quilt

·         Twin bed frame

·         Twin quilt (for a girl)

·         Dresser

·         Rocker

·         Bunch of books

·         Blocks

·         Cooking set

·         One cabbage patch girl