need gift for mom/adopted 15 mo girl from Guatemala

[sntm]

One of my attendings (a single woman) just revealed that after a year and a half of trying, she is going next week (!) to pick up her adopted 15 month old girl in Guatemala.

I'm so thrilled for her and want to get a nice, useful, unique gift and it sounds like she is fully stocked with clothes, toys, supplies (she said she actually was fully stocked with infant stuff and had to give it all away because the adoption took so long!)

Any good gift recs? I was thinking an awesome book on mothering an adopted toddler or a book for the girl about being adopted. Or even a good English/Spanish baby book. Thanks!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
shannon
not-even-pregnant-yet-overachiever
trying-to-conceive :)
PREGNANT! EDD 6/9/03
mama to Jack 6/6/03

[malie]

http://www.adoptshoppe.com/ has some adoption related gifts and it has a sister site that sells books. The problem with books is if she is a book buyer she probably already has the best ones. However since its so close to mothers day you might be able to find a nice book on mothers in general or something geared for someones first mothers day

[holliam]

There are some excellent adoption books from Tapestry books:

http://www.tapestrybooks.com

In particular, one called "Over the Moon: An Adoption Tale" is thought to be specific to Central American adoptions. It's wonderful. Your friend might already know about this book as it's quite popular.

For adults, one of the books that everyone recommends for toddler adoptions is called "TODDLER ADOPTION: The Weaver's Craft" I know they have it at Tapestry Books. Really, a gift certificate from that bookstore would be a nice touch so she could pick ones out she doesn't have.

I don't know how much you want to spend, but here is a wonderful Guatemalan Waldorf doll that is handmade that I bought; it's the most wonderful doll and definitely unique:

http://www.joyswaldorfdolls.com/ledolls/ramona.htm

I know of some other less expensive dolls too, but might be more common.

TONS of popular kids books are available in Spanish. It would be a nice touch to maybe buy both the Spanish and English versions of a couple? Here's a good link at Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...368072-7922231

We are adopting our daughter from Guatemala; she's 1 month now, and we are so excited! Feel free to ask me anything else!

Holli

[hjdong]

I'm assuming this will be her first child - some of these ideas might not be as useful if that's not the case.

Toy storage - I got lots of toys for my son and nowhere to put them, a book on things in your area to do with a toddler, Lifebooks is a good book if she plans to do a scrapbook for her daughter, a general book about toddler development, a subscription to Adoptive Families magazines.

I agree that she may have already bought herself many books on adoption. It's a long wait with lots of reading time! I know I got myself a lot of the books mentioned while waiting because you want to be prepared at the end - and it kind of, sort of, not really helps the time to pass.

Also, I don't know how well you know her, but the "food for when you get back" bit is really nice. I don't know much about the Guatemalan process in terms of how long you have to stay in the country, but we literally flew into LAX and went to the grocery store before going home because we had no fruit, veggies, etc. at home. Previously when we traveled it didn't really matter when and if we ate when we got home and I didn't think to buy any frozen. That was a huge drag.

HTH,

[holliam]

I think the food idea is great. Guatemala only has a required 3-day stay, much shorter than other countries. But, still coming home with a new baby and being single--having prepared meals will be a huge help!

Holli

[malie]

If http://www.schwans.com/ is available in your area you can either send gift certificates so she can pick her own meals or you can send specific meals (we got gc for our friends who had triplets last year, they only used them to get desserts but that was there choice and heck with triplets they probably needed the sugar rush for energy every night) :)

[redhookmom]

Since she has all the kid stuff how about something for her. Perhaps one of those Mom necklaces from Red Envelope. I noticed they had a few simple elegant pieces.

[Lucia]

How about some world music children's cds? Also, many of the Sandra Boynton books come in Spanish versions...Boynton is always a hit in our house!

Lucia
mom to Noah 2/2003

[smkinc]

I really think the food idea is a good one or possibly even a house-cleaning service. We brought our son home with 6 days notice and between wrapping up work and getting our house in order we didn't even think about planning meals (and we only had to travel a 1/2 hour to pick him up). She will want to bond with her daughter as much as possible, so I'm sure she'll appreciate any gift that frees up her time to do that.

Another thing that was really special for me is that a friend threw a last minute shower for me. Even though it felt really rushed, it made me feel like my friends and family wanted to celebrate J. coming into our family with as much fanfare as if I had given birth.

Mary
Mom to Jeremiah 2/4/03
and our 'first' Curie (6 year old Golden Retriever)

[emmiem]

How about something from Guatemala? Mayan Traditions has some beautiful things straight from Guatemala and it helps the people there. www.mayantraditions.com There is a cute teddybear backpack that the child can use later on and dolls and many other things.
Michele