The Last Package

Last month, we mailed off a care package to our baby with the hopes that it would be the last one we'd ever have to assemble. Though I was wrong, thankfully I wasn't too far off.

Crammed into the final Ziploc bag is a record number of assorted items. They include:

1) A pacifier clip with two pacifiers. These pacifiers were the closest equivalent I could find to what I've seen used at St. Lucy's.

2) Two board books, Jesus and the Children and The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

3) One CD onto which we've recorded our voices reading the books, a one-way conversation with the baby in wobbly Chinese, and Andrew singing a couple of songs to his Didi. This month, we finally got our act together and triumphed over digital recording technology.

4) A laminated picture of our family. On the flip side is an enlarged picture of one of the cars featured on the crib bumper he'll use back at home. I'm hoping that the advance viewing of that image will help get him used to his new sleeping accommodations.

5) An infant finger toothbrush and toothpaste. Gotta keep those potential pearly whites pearly white.

6) One disposable camera and one disposable digital camera. I'm very excited to see the pictures the caretakers might have taken of our baby over the past few months. Please, please, please tell me they turned on the flash and will do so this time around, too.

7) A soft book with a mirror so he can interact with that mysterious, good-looking baby smiling back at him. On the other side of the mirror is a picture sleeve into which I've inserted yet another photo of our family.

8) A set of toy keys that have slots in which I've fitted- guess what? - yet more pictures of our family. If our baby can't identify us out of a lineup of a million people after seeing our faces so many times, I'd be astonished. The keys also have teething grooves and play annoying music - sorry, caretakers. While I hear it's the norm for St. Lucy's to keep toys that are sent over, I think this is one that the ladies will happily to return to us.

9) A set of directions in Chinese describing how to operate the cameras and turn on the flash and a letter to the the caretakers in Chinese expressing our gratitude to them, asking them to give our baby extra hugs and kisses on our behalves, and telling them what his English name is (apparently, the caretakers will begin calling the babies by their English names in order to help them transition to their new families).

Oops - did I just say we finally gave our baby an English name?