Note for Catherine & a bit of a brag

[hjdong]

Catherine - I was over in the Bicthing Post and noticed a post about people calling someone's boy a girl and I thought of you. DH is ethincally Chinese, so for most of our trip, people assumed Jamie was our bio son (and, for the most part, we were ignored by other Chinese). Not so when we got to Shaiman Island. Constantly, we were asked about our little girl, "Oh, a boy, you're so lucky, he looks so healthy?" (the nice version of "what's wrong with him" - which, believe it or not, people said). I'm sure it doesn't seem like a big deal, but it got old quickly. And unless one of you is asian, you will probably get it the entire time. I'm sure it seems like a minor issue compared, say, getting travel approval. However, my $.02, for what it's worth, is to let the random person on the street to assume he's a girl unless you want a conversation.

Now for my brag, at Jamie's ped appointment, we found he's grown 6 1/2" since coming home in Feb. He's up from nap now so it's too hard to type. Hope everone's well.

[crl]

Hey Holly,

Wow, 6 1/2 inches. That's fabulous!

We figured we might get more attention b/c of a boy. And our agency mentioned this at our travel meeting too. We're not asian so no help there. I'm hoping to dress him gender neutral and cross my fingers that most people just assume he's a girl, as you suggest. I remember being stared at a lot in Japan and even that gets a little old, so I'm sure this will be more intense.

We STILL don't have our TA. x( Most people who got referrals at the same time as we did have actually left for China so this is really getting to me. We're now hoping for travel in mid-August.

[hjdong]

I'm so sorry - That's awful. I found that part of the waiting the hardest part. Kepp your hopes up. Right before Christmas our agency told us that we probably wouldn't hear until after Chinese New Year, and then we got TA on Dec. 29th - the first Mon. after Christmas. I'll be thinking of you.

[Kimberly H]

Catherine, there's hope! We had *2* boys in our group of 16 and they got a little more attention than the girls, but not terrible amounts. The people seemed more interested in the two big sisters that traveled - one bio who was 3 and one ChinaBaby who was 5 - as well as the blond haired/blue eyed family who brought 2 bio kids with them. They tended to do their own thing so they weren't with us as much.

Good luck!

[NEVE and TRISTAN]

Interesting...it's advice like that can really make a trip go better, isn't amazing how people act?

And congrats on Jamie's growth that is GREAT!!!!

Neve
http://home.nc.rr.com/ourbabytristan
AKA "mama2be"-forgot password
and Baby Boy Tristan born @UNC
Feb 25, 2003
Brother to 3 pups "gees" and 2 kitties