GotchaBaby

That’s what they call things like teething biscuits and what not–the food that’s hard enough baby can’t gnaw off a chunk (theoretically), but will dissolve with enough saliva.

So this weekend I bought some graham crackers–what a hit! It was hilarious. If I were up for mother of the year, I’d probably post some pics of this rite of passage. Who knows, we may get some photos up here yet.

Had a lovely visit with Grandma and Grandpa (my folks) this weekend–they are SUCH fans–of course she’s advanced, beautiful and perfect–just ask them! They came bearing some “dribble proof” bibs–cloth, but with some sort of new-aged polymer backing so that they don’t soak through so quickly. We’ll be field testing them this week. With 2 teeth in and more on the way, life’s a little soggy right now.

But in a good way.

It’s a year ago this week that we attended our first orientation/interviews with our agency. How’s that song from Rent go? “525,600 minutes..how do you measure a year?” I don’t even know where to begin!!!

So I’ve been reading some adoption blogs here and there these past few weeks, and I guess I’ve been surprised by the number of aparents who are against/nervous about open adoption and the potential for a relationship with a bmom. For whatever reason,it was never a big deal for us.

We were surprised when we learned about open adoption–but that was just becuase we didn’t know much about adoption in general. Our agency pitched open adoption in a way that made it sound like it was best for the child. Why? Because most adoptees have questions, and who better to answer those questions then the bmom. The bmoms are counseled to understand that they aren’t “the mom”, that the child they placed will have parents (chosen by her), and that there are boundaries.

Of course, it’s easy when your Babe is 5 months old. We’ll see if it gets tricky when she’s 5 years old. But what we are thinking, and hoping, is that whatever our relationship is, she’ll take it in stride b/c that’s the way it is.

I can see the arguement that it’s up to the child to decide what kind of relationship (if any) she’d like with her bfamily–but isn’t that a lot to expect from a child (or teenager)? It’s like not imposing your religion on a child because as she grows she may not agree with you. WTF? You’re the parents, it’s your job to instill values. What she does with them later is up to her.

So I guess we’ve decided one of our values is to respect and acknowledge the people who created our lovely daughter, chose to give her life, and chose us to be her parents. She needs to know that we respect these two people for those reasons, and that’s why we include them in our lives.

When she’s older, she can choose to do the same thing or not–but atleast we know that we’ve done all we can to instill that value by leading by example.

As with so many other things on this parenting roller coaster, we just hope we’re doing the right thing.

Until recently, I didn’t get the whole “drive up window” concept. Sure it was nice when it was raining, but that’s just because I was lazy. Now, however, I have a whole new appreciation for businesses who know the value of the drive up window: moms with small children will flock to you in droves.

More than likely invented by a mom with 2-3 children under the age of 5, I’ve been amazed at what I can do if I only plan my day right. Here are the drive up’s that I currently frequent:

1) Drive up pharmacy
2) Drive up Dry Cleaners
3) Drive up banking
4) Drive up library drop-off. I actually go to a branch across town for this specific feature.
5) Drive up water service (the nice boys take out my 5 gal. empties and put the filled containers in my trunk!)

6 months ago I revelled in errand running as an opportunity to log steps on my pedometer. Ha. Now I just hope for a carseat nap and leave it at that.

Businesses I wish would jump on the drive up bandwagon:

1) The post-office (I need 16 2cent stamps, damnit!)
2) The grocery store. (how cool would it be to get your order thru a drive thru–already bagged and everything?!?)

Any other brilliant ideas out there, dear readers???