B the G

Because we were originally adopting from China the decision to adopt a girl was already made for us. And that suited me just fine since I wanted a girl anyway. I've been thinking of little girl names, activities, clothes, sports, etc. Girl, girl, girl. But now with the switch to Russia, I have the option of choosing. The agency tells me that little girls require a slightly longer wait than boys, but that both are available. Justin says let's stay with the girl plan. Others say if you are definitely getting a girl from China in the future, get a boy now and you will have one of each. China was easy because of the lack of choice. So I have decided to treat this like a pregnancy, as it's the closest I'll ever come to one, and leave it up to chance. No preference. Male or female. I'll have to re-do some forms, but it's not a big change. It's disconcerting sometimes as I discuss with my friend Jen who is also adopting internationally. Sometimes you feel as though you are picking out wallpaper or furniture with the questions you have to answer on these forms. Hair color, eye color, age, health issues. Will this baby "go " with me, my husband, my house? My life?

And that's how Baby the Great as I've come to think of him/her came to be. It is Russia after all. There's Peter the Great and Catherine the Great. When I was in grade school my little girlfriends and I would sign slam books and notes from each other as Meg the Great or Krista the Great. A little self-appointed greatness in the 4th grade, when you weren't really recognized for much of anything. So I am dubbing this future child Baby the Great, endowing him/her with a little Russian greatness that is inherantly theirs just by virtue of having been born there. And because I don't know if I will bring home a boy or a girl. And because I haven't decided on a name for either sex.