Uh oh, the shopping has begun

Okay, we don't even have a child matched with us but I'm in shopping mode. I really did hold off as long as I could. And I'm still exercising major restraint as you'll see from the fact that there are only two items shown below for our second child.

I bought this panda Blabla doll for our second child and the orange monkey Blabla doll for Claire.

An acquaintance has one of these for her daughter and Claire immediately fell in love with it. These dolls are sooooo soft and cuddly. I hope it will be a nice tactile comfort toy for our new little one.

I have no idea if we will be referred a boy, but I had to get this boy's t-shirt. It was on sale, after all! I'm finding that shopping for a boy's clothes CAN be fun (I always thought it wasn't as fun as shopping for girls), especially with some cool Asian-themed stuff out right now. However, since we don't know for sure if we'll get a boy, and his size is anyone's guess, I'll stick to this one clothing purchase for now.

A family for a year and a half

One and a half years ago today, Paul and I received our little girl. It's unbelievable that time has flown so fast since then. Here we are on the long weekend.

We still don't have a good idea of how long it'll take for a referral for our second child but we are now quite sure it won't be as fast as a month. I'm remarkably zen about the whole thing but I guess that's because any way you slice it, our wait shouldn't be too long. It was exciting to contemplate a referral within a month, though. Oh well, it'll just give us something great to look forward to in the fall, winter, or spring.

Another step closer

We learned today that we received provincial approval of our switch to the Waiting Child program! We're another step closer!

The timeframe for receiving a child proposal is really up in the air right now, due to some new procedures the Chinese government is piloting. More children are now available to our coordinator to match with waiting parents - seemingly great news! - but with that comes a very short time during which our provincial government has to review and approve the child proposal and share it with us. At this point, it looks like we could receive a proposal in as short a time as a month but on the other hand, it could be a year from now. Only time will tell. I do know that everyone we're working with is in our corner and wants the best for us, so I'm remaining cautiously optimistic and hopeful.

With the possibilility of a relatively short wait time, nesting instincts have really kicked in for us. (But especially for me!) We've now decided on a name if it is a boy, as well as a new name for this blog. If one day you open this blog and see an entirely different name, don't be surprised!

Pablo

One of our friends queried on the previous post whether Claire has a name picked out for our new (unofficial) addition. Well, the answer is yes. But I'm so glad we have veto power on this one!

When we ask her what we should call the baby if we are referred a boy, she instantly responds, "Pablo". Pablo happens to be her favourite character from the Backyardigans. We always follow her response by suggesting other names but she is adamant: he is to be named Pablo.

Not that there is anything wrong with the name itself. But I do think the combination of Paul's Ukrainian last name, a Spanish first name and our child's Chinese features may be a little odd. Perhaps if we had a special connection to the name it would be okay but really, the only "connection" is Claire's absolute adoration of that silly blue penguin.

A baby boy?

A recurring conversation Claire and I have goes something like this:

Claire: (Makes flying sounds with arms spread out.) "Airplane."
Monica: "You're an airplane."
Claire: "Yep. Fly China."
Monica: "You're flying to China. What will you do there?"
Claire: "Baby Boy. Hug Baby Boy."

Various things trigger this conversation. Sometimes it's the second child seat in a grocery cart, sometimes it's the second seat in her wagon. Quite often the conversation includes a suggestion from me that it might be a baby girl, at which point Claire shakes her head from side to side and says firmly, "Baby boy."

Claire is right: our second child could be a boy. We recently switched from China's non-special needs program to its Waiting Child program, through which children with minor medical needs are available for international adoption. Our coordinator tells us that their list of children usually has an equal number of boys and girls, and we're definitely open to either. But we already know Claire's preference ...

Big sister Claire is two

Nothing new to report other than the exciting fact that Claire is now two years old. Such a big girl she is already.

Here we are on the morning of her birthday, April 11, 2008.

More news from China

An article in today's paper says that China's top population official has ruled out changing China's one-child family planning policy for at least another decade. The main factor in the decision appears to be an anticipated increase in births expected in the next ten years based on the population's age; if the policy was changed anytime soon, the birth rate could become highly volatile.