Tidbits

Goodness, where has the time gone? What happened to my long-held theory that I would have more time for blogging upon returning to work? Gadzooks!

Life has been treating me fairly well. Sweetpea is growing up quickly -- she is almost 8 months old already! We are so fortunate to have her in our lives. She's enjoyed just about every food she has tried so far. Apricots seem to be the lone exception, as she broke out in hives the day she tried them. She looks to be thinking about crawling soon (yikes!). She figured out how to clap her hands yesterday. She shrieks with laughter when I hold her and run after the dogs. Pretty soon she'll do that herself!

February and March had me battling with the fallacy that is the phrase "work/life balance". A tight deadline on a project had me taking work home for several weeks, and trying to get things done during the day or late at night. This is very difficult when your little one is not much for taking naps... coupled with an upper respiratory infection and (just to make it interesting) multiple snowstorms. I made the deadline but there was some big time stress along the way. I think I shielded SP from it, though.

Last week I sat for part 1 of another professional certification. Work remains inconsistent, so I have enough downtime to do this. I passed and have two more parts to go. This is for a CIA certification, which is not nearly as interesting as it sounds! It's related to internal audit, not cool spy stuff. *sigh*

Our adoption finalization date should be scheduled for sometime next month. It'll be nice to have that behind us, plus it's a great excuse to open one of the bottles of wine that we have aging on the wine rack.

I think that's it for now! It's good to dip my toes back in the blogosphere. I've been trying to catch up with what's happening with everyone. I hope that Spring is treating you well.

Hello Vancouver? You Can Pick Up Your Snow Now

We've had close to 40 inches of snow since last Saturday. It's nice to look at but enough is enough. It's been a challenge for our poor little dogs... we dug out some grass in the back of our house.

Of course, poor Sweetpea came down with a fever on Wednesday during the worst of the blizzard. Thankfully, it wasn't high enough to warrant a trip to the doctor. Today she seems to be recovering from her cold. It's nice to see smiles and hear giggles again.

The visit to her birthmom, sister and birthgrandma went really well. We went out for lunch together. She shares the same laugh as her sister. There was no hesitation on her birthmom's part when it came to holding her, something she didn't want to do in the hospital. We'll continue to keep in touch by email until the next visit.

She'll be 6 months old soon -- tomorrow actually! The last post-placement visit has been scheduled, and after that we should hear about finalization. I can hardly believe the time is almost here! We are so so fortunate.

A few great children's books... and other things

Thanks so much for your supportive words! It was one of those times where I kept coming up with things I should have said days after it happened... here's hoping I'll be better prepared should I run into a nasty byotch like that again!

I'm working on the new blog at wordpress and hope to have it up shortly. My plan is to keep most of the posts open and password protect a few of them, such as those with pictures. I took a great video last night of Sweetpea giggling.

We're on the verge of trying solid food. I think the plan is to start a week from today. She's almost 6 months old (wow!) and is getting better at sitting up on her own. Her bottom two front teeth have started to come through. She's also showing more interest in our food. We spurgled and bought a Bea*ba... and I also downloaded a huge ebook from wholesomebabyfoods. Thanks to those who pointed me in their direction. The recipes look great.

We're planning to see her birthmother and family this weekend. We had to postpone since they were sick last weekend.

DH and I both have a great love of books, and hope that Sweetpea will feel the same way. We read to her everyday and she seems to love it. Lately she reaches out to grab some of the books and already has clear favourites, particularly the rhyming books written by a certain Doctor or those starring an intrepid little piglet named Olivia. I'll like to share some of her other picks with you:

Belly Button Book -- This one is her favourite of the Boynton books we've read so far. The rhymes are great and the hippos are fun characters. Plus it's fun to say "Beebo".

Good Night Moon -- A simple classic. We read this to her before bed every night. The soothing rhythm used to lull her to sleep before the book was over. Now she's interested in seeing the pictures, and it continues to do a great job of winding her down at the end of the day.

That's Not My Dragon -- There is a series of these books, and each page has a new texture for babies to touch. Great colours and thick pages. She likes turning the pages herself, usually closing the book each time.

Colors Everywhere -- One of four seasonal books by the author of "Guess How Much I Love You". The pages are easy for small hands to grasp. I enjoyed how the colours were woven into the story.

Hug Time -- I just picked this one up today so no official baby approval yet... but it's one of the sweetest books I've seen. A beautiful message (written in rhyme) and I love the illustrations. You may recognize the author/illustrator as the maker of the "Mutts" comic strip.

It Still Stings

There are times when I can't understand how people can be so cruel, particularly other women.

On Friday I was sitting in the cafe of our local Weg*mans. I had just met up with another woman who had adopted a baby via the same adoption agency. We're planning to stay in touch, and she told me about an adoptive moms support group in our area which she has been enjoying. She left to take her son to a swimming lesson, while I fed Sweetpea a bottle prior to our shopping trip in the store. It was all good.

Then a woman with a child in her cart walked by and sniped, "You know that breastfeeding is best for your baby."

I was stunned... amazed that someone would say something so personal. I muttered something about, "I know but I couldn't" but she didn't wait for my response and kept walking. I felt about three inches tall.

Truly, she had no idea how much that hurt. Not being able to breastfeed was the thing I struggled with the most after our adoption. I researched induced lactation protocols and tried a nursing supplementer but it didn't work out. I thought I had gotten past it but that woman brought those feelings bubbling to the surface again.

I wish that people wouldn't be so quick to jump to conclusions. Breastfeeding is great if you can do it. I don't feel that it's my right to question whether a woman choses to breastfeed or not, and in many cases there is no choice involved. You don't know what road they've walked along.

Good news for those considering adopting from Korea

I just read my monthly newsletter from Pea.rl S. Buck Int'l and they noted that they will accept 17 applications to their Korea program this year. Here is the information, and the relatively short wait is great! I would guess that other agencies working in Korea will also have a few openings.

Welcome House Continues to Receive Referrals of Children from Korea

Welcome House is very pleased to announce that we will accept new face sheets of application from 17 more families for the Korea program this year. There is no wait list for the Korea program.

Korea still intends to close to international adoption in 2012, and families who submit a face sheet of application must at least be open to some correctable conditions or difficult birth family circumstances, but new families who start the application process immediately, will probably be matched with a child sometime this year!

If 2010 is similar to 2009, we can anticipate that about 30% of the referrals we receive will be waiting children, but 70% will be healthy child referrals. Most of the children in the Korea program are around five months of age at the time they are referred to their adoptive parents and between eight and twelve months old at the time of placement. The children are cared for in loving foster homes, and tend to make a good emotional adjustment because of the excellent care they receive during the first year of life.

Vigilance... and why Sweetpea won't be getting costume jewelry if I can help it

Over the past two days, I've been reading up on startling reports from the AP and other sources regarding the use of cadmium in children's jewelry - here are a couple of links (article1, article2). Startling is not a strong enough word for it. It seems that now that there has been a crackdown on lead, manufacturers in China are turning to alternatives and cadmium is a cheap, unregulated option. It also just happens to be highly toxic.

Here are a couple of key points from what I've read [note: thankfully Walmart has since pulled the jewelry noted in the AP article]:

- Some of the most troubling test results were for bracelet charms sold at Walmart, at the jewelry chain Claire's and at a dollar store. High amounts of cadmium also were detected in "The Princess and The Frog" movie-themed pendants.

- Three flip flop bracelet charms sold at Walmart contained between 84 and 86 percent cadmium. The charms fared the worst of any item on the stomach acid test; one shed more cadmium in 24 hours than what WHO guidelines deem a safe exposure over 60 weeks for a 33-pound child.

- On the CDC's priority list of 275 most hazardous substances in the environment, cadmium ranks No. 7.


Given the sheer number of products made in China, it's difficult to avoid them. I'm becoming particularly concerned about product safety since Sweetpea is reaching the age where she puts everything in her mouth.

Here are a few places to go where you can find information on the safety of kid's products:

Kids in Danger ("KID") -- a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting children by improving children's product safety. They have newsletters and you can sign up for email alerts. The site reports detailed information about recalls.

Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association ("JPMA") Certification Program -- The "Directory of Certified Products" contains the names of manufacturers with products currently in the Certification Program.

Consumer Products Safety Commission ("CPSC") -- List of recalled products and ways to report unsafe products. You can sign up for their subscriber list here.

Window Coverings Safety Council -- Information about recalled blinds, safety repair kits, etc. Here are their tips for retrofitting older window treatments. Free retro kits can be ordered here.

ZRECS Guide to Safer Children's Products -- The ZRecs Guide collects information about potentially harmful chemicals in a wide range of baby products based on company reporting.

Soft Landing -- A guide to avoiding environmental toxins. This includes eating gear reviews based on personal experience, updates on current toxic plastic research and quick reference shopping guides.

Additional Blogs -- Baby Bargains Book Blog Kids in Danger

Happy New Year (+ 6 days)

Happy New Year everyone! I look back and am amazed by how quickly the time between Christmas and New Year’s passed by. We made it through with relatively little family drama. D’s brother and his family stayed with us, and they adored Sweetpea. She, in turn, was particularly intrigued by her cousins. They were quite gentle with her, given that they’re 7 and 3 year old boys!

She has begun to expand her repertoire of sounds, like the squeal when she finds something particularly amusing. She also pushes up more on her legs. She’s not flipping over yet but can maneuver to either side.

The time for starting solid foods is drawing near. I’d like to try my hand at making some baby food. Will a regular food processor do, or is there an advantage to using one designed to make baby food? Any particular brand of bowls/utensils that people recommend? How about some cookbooks? Do you need to start with rice cereal or can you go right to the veggies? Lay it on me please :)

Work has been leaving me feeling unsatisfied, and I plan to start pursuing my own endeavor starting tomorrow. If that doesn’t pan out, I think it’s time for me to look elsewhere. I’ve been with this company for almost six years and have seen things go downhill even before the economy went sour.

We managed to see the non-Imax version of Ava*tar and it was incredible. If we can find a babysitter, I’d love to see the Imax version. I’m so glad that they now recycle the 3D glasses after the movie.

I will move this blog to Wordpress in the coming days. There are things I need to vent about but I’d rather keep password protected. Like how I came SO close to asking my FIL to leave our house last week when he was acting like a petulant child. Hovering over my nephew while he’s eating breakfast and telling him to chew faster doesn’t get you on many grandpa of the year lists (*grumble* but I must wait to write more on this… it’s still bothering me). On a happier note, it’ll also give me a chance to post some pictures of Sweetpea.