Details, Details, Details!
I have spent the better part of today trying to sort out the details. I have booked my international flights. I will be leaving from JFK on March 9th in the afternoon. My arrival to Moscow is on March 10th. I was lucky to get a non-stop flight for not that much money. Only 615.00! I was able to pick my seat and if the seat preview is right it looks like the airplane is not full leaving or returning. Yeah!
I hate being crammed into such a small spot. I have to work tonight and tomorrow night then I am off until I come back from Moscow. WOW do I have a lot to do between now and then.
I sent out my passport and visa application today. I sent the application overnight mail so that they will get it tomorrow. It will be one of those pins and needles waiting games until my passport and visa are returned. I should have it back by Friday so say a prayer that every thing is right on the visa. It is a very odd feeling to turn over your passport to some one else.
Hopefully the other arrangements for my accommodations will be as easy as this part has been.
I think we will tell the parents on Thursday or Friday about the travel dates. I know that this sounds selfish but I have so many things to do that it will be easier if most of them are done. This way I will be able to answer their questions about the trip directly with the answer rather then a possible answer. I know that both sets of parents are a little concerned about me traveling without Gerard but I know that I will be just fine.
I am taking suggestions for toys to bring for her!! She is 17 months old. You all know that I rely on your wisdom!!
School Days - November 2023
5 months ago
30 comments:
Let me know if you need any travel items. I have several left over from our travels. I freaked over the visa's, but it worked out just fine. I understand about handing over your passports.
I am so happy for you....big hugs again.
o glad you didnt go private as i read your blog every day and have prayed along side waiting for your travel dates even though you dont know me.
I have a little one a little bit older than your banana but i would def bring toys that require interaction rather than imaginative toys. Rather than dolls and teddies i would bring puzzles, books and colouring books anything that requires you to do things with her rather than leave her to figure out on her own what to do with a toy that hse has never seen before. Yes of course i would bring at least one teddy or doll a little girl just has to have one of those.
Hopefully you will be so busy eating watching movies etc then playing for a bit and sleeping the flight will go quickly??
Praying all goes well for you cant wait to see little Banana home with you!!
Mette
Congratluations on your travel dates. Finally you will get to meet your little girl. the kids in my family all like stacking cups and balls at that age. I would also take a soft doll for her.
I too was nervous about the passport. So excited about your trip. As for what to bring, I'd bring stacking cups and some type of toy that plays music. Children in Russian orphanages usually participate in music classes and seem to really take to music. Our daughter cared nothing for tv (still doesn't), but she loves her Little Tikes mp3 player. You can use it with headphones or without. Some Wal-Marts carry these.
I suggest stacking cups, an age appropriate ball (Gertie balls are great!), bubbles, and cheerios(I know it is not a food but they usually will let you feed the child and it helps her to warm up to you)....oh and age-appropriate books (like touchy feely and soft books)....
heather
www.russianblessings.wordpress.com
Also, bring a photo book with your pictures in it. Our daughter was able to look at it during our wait and to this day still looks through it at night. If you can print a picture of her to put in it, it will be a hit. Girls love to see their pictures (and stare in the mirror too)...oh, another thought, a book with a mirror in it (Little Einstein's makes one).
I have an 18 month old and he absolutely loves the wooden puzzles- Melissa and Doug Brand makes the best ones. If she's never had puzzles before the ones with the oversized pegs would be appropriate.
This brings back memories of meeting my son for the first time. I brought several toys for him, but he enjoyed the tissue paper and gift bag as much or more than the toys. He loved the noise the paper made when wadded up in his hand or my hand.
Have a great trip! I've been following your blog for sometime and am glad I can finally comment.
I'm so excited for you! I can't wait to hear about your trip. Hopefully it won't be as cold there as it was for Mike and I. We didn't know anything about the child we were referred to so Mike and I brought a bunch of the Little People animals. Colby still likes to play with them. Also we brought stacking cups with us on the second trip and the Gerber Puffs. He LOVES those. A few books but Colby doesn't sit still much. However, Colby loved the fact that he had his own little bag of toys. He looked for it everytime we went to see him. That and he loves the camera. Anything becomes a toy.
Melissa
Yea!!! Congrats on travel dates! Banana is the same age as our Lexi. She LOVES touch and feel books with farm animals or puppies and kittens. An easy wooden puzzle with the big pegs might be good too. Lexi played with one today and she didn't have a clue about how to work it. She kept trying to open it like a book. But it was fun showing her. Little cloth finger puppets are good for interacting. A beach ball won't take up any room in your luggage. My little girl has zero interest in dolls. But maybe she is just destined to be a tom boy, living with 4 big brothers and all. ;0) She does like the Fisher Price Little People. Her favorite toys are ones that play music and her little cell phone.
Oh and "Gazillian Bubbles" are the best!
I went to Build a Bear and recorded my voice on a voice chip in a bear. I left that behind with my picture book. Take some gerber puffs - or cherrios.
CAN'T WAIT TO HEAR ABOUT YOUR TRIP!!!!
Sooooooo excited for you!!! My suggestions based on our experience-- to play with... Ball, bubbles, touch n feel board book like one with animals, stacking cups and/or rings, Gerber star puffs and Cheerios (owen couldn't chew them at 18 months in the baby home but many kids adopted at the same age could), a musical toy and/or one that lights up.
To leave with her--get 2 of each b/c we didn't get ours back and needed them when we got Owen on trip 2 (you may or may not get them back) ...
photo album with your and her photos in it, soft mirror (wish I had left one with Owen b/c he had never seen himself), blanket you've slept with a few times before you give it to her, and soft bunny or other toy maybe even a build-a-bear with your voice in it!), any other toys you want to leave with her to be shared with the group.
Can't wait to hear more!!!!!!
Hi Joy,
I was so excited to read your travel news!
Our daughter was about the same age as banana when we met her in Russia. She loved the touch and feel books we brought for her. She was fascinated with the mirror in the back of one of the books. Also, small music instruments were a big hit!
Great luck to you on your first trip. I can't wait to read along.
~Adrian
Congrats on getting your travel dates! Whoohoo!!!! :) Best wishes with your packing and preparation!
Definitely take stacking cups. And those little plasticky books like they can play in the tub with. Unless she's a wonder child (which no doubt she is ;o) expect her to be more along the developmental lines of a 12 or 13 month old.
Oh it's a great age! I'm trying to remember what Vika liked to play with that second trip and she LOVED the stacking cups and could do them. She still liked rattly things too like those links.
I will be living vicariously through you so please share gobs of details! Eat Russian food! Soak up every bit of the culture you can!
Oh yes, take the toys in a bag that she will recognize each time you go. It will be good for her to know that's HER stuff! We took Vika's toys in a bright orange mini-backpack and she new that was her bag!
I just caught up on your posts and CONGRATULATIONS!!! How absolutely wonderful to get those travel dates and wow, oh wow... you have a lot to do in a little bit of time. My top to things to bring as ice breakers are cheerios and bubbles. I found cheerios worked better then gerber puffs, but I'm not sure what 17 month olds can eat since Andrew was 2 and 1/2. Bubbles were such a great ice breaker for us - either blowing them or popping them. Can't wait to read more about your preparations! Congrats again!
So excited for you!!! I have been following along with your story so I am happy you did'nt go private.
As for toys my 18 mo old daughter loves, board books with textures in it, stuffed animal that winds up with music, small busy board with lift the door peek-a-boo stuff,little mirrors, hats, I would put them all in a bright colored bag with a zipper closure. Kendall loves to load and unload a bag. Your little photo album and a softy blanket. FYI you may have trouble taking bubbles or any other liquids on the flight.
I am so excited for you!! We are praying for you to have a safe trip and wonderful experience.
Glad you didn't go private! This is the news we've all been waiting for!
My girls were 18 months when I first met them. The stackers were their favorite but really only entertained them for 2 or 3 minutes at a time which was about the limit for all the toys I brought! Play cell phones and balls worked too, although, the gift bags were the biggest hit as were the snacks! The favorites were goldfish crackers and cheerios.
Definitely leave a couple of disposable cameras with the caregivers if you can and know that any toys you leave will go to the group and won't be coming home with little Banana.
Thanks for taking us all along on your journey - I'll be following daily!
Wow! What short notice for your trip! I hope everything works out with the travel plans, visa, etc. I was always stressed about that before every trip. I*m so excited for you and can't wait until we finally get to see some pictures!!
Yeah!! I'm so excited for you! What an exciting and unbelievable time! Those moments from trip 1 are still so vivid for me. It's hard to believe we made our first trip last March already.
You got great ideas already on toys..books, bubbles, stacking cups or rings, ball, cheerios, puffs. We also brought a baby jar of bananas. We weren't sure if she could chew and it allowed us to feed her. I also had a few diapers on hand and it came in handy one day. They usually whisked her away for a quick lunch and then brought her back to us before she could process lunch. I also brought a few clothes and shoes to see how they fit for size.
Enjoy yourself. Such wonderful memories lie ahead.
Joy: I'm so thrilled to see that you have travel dates!
Ditto on the stacking cups (ours had a ball with a bell inside and she LOVED it) as well as a Fisher Price PDA which made sounds and had lights. Both of these kept her attn for quite awhile. Wooden puzzle of animals was a hit, too. I brought all the toys (plus 2 boxes of Animal Crackers which she found delicious!) each day in the same gift bag (found it at Wal*Mart and it came with stickers to stick all over the bag). Like the others said, she would recognize the bag each day and head right towards it!
I also brought a 12-month outfit and 18-month outfit to check her size as well as outlined her foot (while still in the shoe) to see her shoe size. I still look at the outline of her hand and foot and can't wait to hold them again real soon.
Many blessings to you as you prepare for a trip of a lifetime!
~Laura
I am so excited that you got your travel dates and they are so soon!!!! The one day I don't check your blog and you got the dates! - The same thing happened when you got your referral! I promise to miss a few days checking when you are between trips! Good luck with all of your planning - I have not BTDT yet, but if there is anything you need, I am here. All those are great recommendations for toys - I know my nephew loved touch & feel books and wooden puzzles! I am just soooooo happy for you!!!
Congratulations on travel dates! Last night I was thinking when your birthday was and for a minute I thought it was march 3rd and was like OMG I missed calling her, and then I looked at facebook and it said the 30th!! Seems like you are getting an early birthday gift!!! I am so excited for you! If you need any help with dottie I am available and so is Greg! We'll keep you all in our prayers!
Yeah!! I am so excited for you to get to meet your daughter. One thing my 18 month old daughter likes playing with is a ring stacker. One that you take the rings off and put them back on. She is also into musical toys. I hope everything goes great for you.
Wow! I'm so glad you got your flight worked out. The Visa will be fine! We left March 8th a year ago so this is so neat to follow along!! For a 17 month olf, I believe I would take a blanket (to leave), a photo book, stacking cups, shape sorter, and the most popular are the links, or a pop bead necklace. You can tug with those, put them together, wear them, attach them to things to pull around, etc. They were a big hit!
Fisher Price makes these wonderful stacking/nesting bowls for about $10. My son is 18 moths and loves them. They are compact and easy to travel with. They are also fun for the parents to play with too. I have also seen them in cute pastels (pinks and lavenders), just right for your little banana.
I have an 18month old little boy and my suggestions for toys would be: bubbles, balls ( loves the ones with little knobs on them and have a vanilla scent); at least one doll with maybe a little bag or blanket etc.., books (touch and feel); maybe even record yourself and your husband reading a book to leave there!; and blocks. These are just a few suggestions, that I hope are helpful. Thinking of you and so excited for you too!! GOD BLESS
Congratulations on your travel dates. I commented before that our daughter was also adopted from the Cheboksary Baby House. She was 17 months at our first visit and came home at 22 months. Her favorite toy that we brought was a beach ball..easy to travel with and then just blow it up. She also liked bubble and stacking cups that were mentioned before.Best of luck to you.
Ann in CT
algonquinteacher@yahoo.com if you have any ?'s about Cheboksary
ps If you are taking the train from Moscow to Cheboksary and it stops in Chrystal Goose...get off the train and buy some local crystal from the peddlers...we did and now have it for Hannah when she gets married.
Oh my...I'm behind on your blog...fantastic news! Congrats on your travel date! Liam really liked the light up bouncy ball we took and he also liked looking at himself in the mirror he found in my purse. Email me if you would like the address of another family we know that traveled to Cheboksary.
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