Amharic

Today we received another update on Baby Barto. He now is able to say and understand some Amharic words. (Amharic is one of the main languages of Ethiopia.) This motivated me to get out my Talk Now! Amharic CD. The lessons are delivered by two white people with dubbed Amharic voices. It's kind of trippy. I skimmed the lessons to find words I might need (bed/alga, milk/wetet, hello/tena yestelgne, yes/awo, no/aydelem). I also found some lessons on YouTube. (Check it out here.) My goal is to learn one word every day. That seems less overwhelming.

Janis

I have known Janis for almost 14 years. We have grown into adults together. I'm getting a little teary eyed thinking of all the milestones we have shared (our first apartment, first drink [mine], 21st birthdays, college graduation, loss, moving to San Diego, our first jobs, heartbreaks, weddings, parenthood - she has a five year head start on this one). Janis is an amazing friend!

She has been sending gifts for Baby Barto since he was just a dream in my heart. Yesterday I received a toddler start-up kit from her. She included all sorts of things she has found to be helpful with her daughters. Janis is super practical and organized (she typed up an agenda when we were getting ready to move to California), so I know these things must be the best. I was touched by all the thought she had put into this package.

I can't wait to take Baby Barto to play at the beach with Janis' beautiful girls.

Photos

A family from Dallas is traveling next week to pick up their two boys, and they have offered to squeeze in care packages from waiting families. How great is that? And so tonight I picked out photos to include in an album this family will take to Baby Barto. This will be his first look at us. I realize he won't understand who we are, but still there's some pressure. We have to look loving, nice and fun. We need to look as un-dorky as possible. We need to look like people he wouldn't mind having as parents. I even cut out all our heads and put them together on one of the pages. (So much for the un-dorky goal)

I also wanted to include some other important people. And as I looked through all our photos, I realized I couldn't fit all the people who are excited for this little guy in five plastic pages. So I could only include a few.

Who knows what will run through his little head, but maybe he will sense the love?

Baby Barto's first look at us

Imagine this photo cut in half with a cute little Ethiopian toddler head in the middle

A sample of photos that didn't make the cut

Overheard in my head

This weekend we went to Jose’s favorite large budget mall. I found myself in a children’s clothing store while Jose looked at shoes. Here is some of my internal dialogue.

“What size should I buy? I guess 18 month should be okay. That’s still five months away. We’ll have him in five months, right? I wonder what the return policy is? I should ask in case I have to bring this stuff back.”

“I don’t want to buy him things that are stereotypically male. Does everything have to have sports or cars? Or this shirt that says ‘tough stuff?’ What kind of message are we sending to boys saying that they have to be tough?”

“Look at these cute outfits with African animals. Can I buy him stuff with giraffes, lions and monkeys? They’re sweet, but could people take it the wrong way?”

“Which stuffed animal is the cutest? He could cuddle with this while he waits for us. Don’t cry in the middle of the kids clothing store. Hold it together, Sara.”

“I wonder how old that kid is? Do you think he’s Baby Barto’s size? Would it be odd to ask? Are people freaking out because I keep staring at their children?”

Procrastination

With only three months left until a potential travel date, you’d think we’d be in full parenting-preparation mode. But I haven’t really done much since our referral. My friends and family have sent us more stuff than I have purchased myself. I have collected books about attaching, adoption and toddlers, but I have only read a couple of chapters. We haven’t even watched the required videos yet. Normally I procrastinate out of laziness, but now procrastination feels like a way to safe-guard my heart.

Even when I speak to people about Baby Barto, I add qualifiers like if, maybe and hopefully. Or I refer to him as my future son or son-to-be. I worry that if I refer to him with possessive pronouns, I could jinx the whole deal.

The Ethiopian courts still need to decide if this is the right match, so I don’t want to assume anything. But as I imagine being on the receiving end of the smile in his photo, I really hope they say yes (an added bonus would be if they did on the first time).

update

On Monday we received a new picture and update on Baby Barto. He is so adorable in this new photo. In his referral pictures he was quite serious, so it was nice to see his goofy grin.

I have his pictures on my computer and at my desk at school, so my students have been very curious. Some of their questions/comments have been super sweet and some have provided some teachable moments about tact (seventh graders don't really filter things before speaking). And it's a good opportunity to throw in a little world geography in the middle of Texas history. I love any reason to pull down the map or get out the globe.

The Countdown Begins

We have a court date! April 27th. Two months & 3 weeks. By the end of April, we might actually be Baby Barto's Ethiopian approved parents.


For my non-Ethiopian adoptive readers:
We don't go to Ethiopia for court. A representative from our agency attends on our behalf. If we pass, we will likely travel three weeks later. That's the middle of May! We could be home by summer.


I know some of you are thinking, "what's with the if?" There are many things that can occur that can result in an unsuccessful court date and then a new date is issued. Several families from our agency have gone through this, and they are an inspiration in optimism and patience.


We're now one step closer to bringing Baby Barto back to Texas.




And here are some random photos.

We had to use bungee cord to hold the crib box on the car. I think we drove up every hill in Dallas on the way home.




Cute PJs I had been eyeing at this store near my yoga studio. They even went on sale after the holidays (but I couldn't buy them because I didn't know how old Baby Barto would be next Christmas). The day after our referral I went to get them, but they didn't have 24 month size. Not to be deterred, I asked the sales guy, he called Houston's store and a week later I got the PJs.