So it Begins...

Thank you guys for all of the wonderful words of congratulations and encouragement! We are so very tickled by all of this. The only downside is that we have to wait for travel approval from China before we can go to pick her up, which means about three more weeks of waiting. In the meantime, I have been running around the house trying to get everything ready.

First, I took little Fu Le Xin's paperwork to be translated and to a medical professional for review. Besides being surprised by the fact that she was given a meningitis shot and was allowed to eat eggs at 4 months old, the doctor said she seems to be healthy. Which was wonderful news. I was quite the oddity at the Taipei Adventist Hospital where I went for the consultation. When they called my number, the nurse said: Have you been to the weighing station? I said: Well, I have no baby yet. That elicited a couple of blinks and a puzzled look. She was not quite sure what to make of me.

Since I now have an approximate idea of how big she is, I was able to go through all of the clothes we have acquired and select those that may fit (and pack the suitcase - is that too eager?). She was tracking close to the normal range in US weight and height charts (up until 4 months anyway), I am guessing she will fit into 6-9 month clothes at 8 months old when we see her. So I am taking mostly that size, with some 6 month and 9 month sizes thrown in. BTW - what is the deal with having 6 month, 6-9 month, and 9 month sizes? So confusing. And European sizes - phew. I keep having to look those up, even though they should be more intuitive.

So this was monster wash weekend, as all of the baby clothes were officially released into use and could be washed. I bought a super size of Dreft at Costco, and basically went bonkers. Besides the clothes, all of the cloth diapers had to be washed as well. Those puppies apparently must be pre-washed at least three times until they get to their full absorbency. It is making a difference for sure. All of the diapers are now quite fluffy and cozy.

Speaking of diapers, I am trying to decide if we should start with cloth on the trip or just wait until we get back home. Probably we can find a laundromat in Honolulu, but I am not quite sure how we would manage in China. For sure there will be lots of people willing to do laundry, but dirty cloth diapers may be a bit much to ask of a launderer. If anyone has actually used cloth diapers while traveling in China, would you please let me know? In the meantime, I am studying up on the basics so I know what to do when we do start using them.

Speaking of Costco, I somehow felt the urge to buy a tremendous amount of staples for the pantry yesterday. I kept thinking "better now than when she comes." We now have ziploc bags (two sizes), pasta, diced tomatoes, Pledge, bathroom cleaner, and toilet paper to last us until we leave Taiwan. So if you need any of that, just pop my our place.

T minus three weeks, y'all. Isn't it fun?