Visited Beijing, Nanchang,Guanzchou
Keep in mind that all the information we had aboutMaya was from a medical report that was done when she was 7 weeks oldin which she was reported to have been 8.8 lbs and 18" long. Fromthat we had estimated that she would be between 16 and 20 lbs uponour arrival at about 12 months of age. Allowing for the generallysmaller size of the children there and the variation in clothes sizeshere, we tryed to bring mostly 9 - 12 month clothes, with a fewlarger and smaller just in case. As it turned out she weighed 15 1bsand was 25" when we got her at just over 12 1/2 months. And laterlooking back at the growth chart for Chinese girls http://www.fwcc.org/growthchart.html,she was on the same 5 - 10 percentile line when followed up from her7 weeks weight and height. For the most part we have only includedthings on the list that we ended up really using, with a few notesabout things not needed. You will see many recommendations on thevarious lists and discussion on the email group and the internet. Youhave to consider that there are many factors that affect what youneed: time of year, health of baby, quality of the hotels you havebooked, ect. Everyones packing list is shaded by their knowledge,fears and misconceptions so take them all including ours with a grainof salt! We thank those who posted theirs for us, so we had a placeto begin. We travelled July 23-August 6th, the hottest and most humidmonths of the year, so our choice of clothing reflectsthat.
video camera - five 120 minute tapes - one 6 hour battery, one 1hour battery
pocket auto focus still camera - 8 rolls 36 exp film - sparebattery
1 journal - for Maya, write in it every day, leave room forphotos, glue in mementos as we went (2 large glue sticks)
1 small notebook (costs of things, meetings times and places, etc)Have it with you at all times, you are often given instructions onthe fly at meals or on buses that you will need to write down andrefer to later.
small umbrella (sun and tropical rain)
20' 1/8" nylon clothes line, lines are provided in the bathtubs ofmany hotels
Small Mandarin phrasebook, w/ Chinese characters to point at LoneyPlanet publishes a good one
Greg's Clothes
2 pair socks
6 pair underwear
Two pairs pants
Two pair shorts
5 Rayon shirts (cool and perfect for 100% humidity)
2 tshirts
One pair nice shoes/one pair TEVA sandals
sunhat
2 bandanas
1 swimsuit, actually swam in the hotel pools
Jane's Clothes
3 sundresses
2 pair shorts
1 pair kahki pants
2 shirts
3 pair socks/6 underwear
One pair comforable nice shoes/TEVA sandals
Toiletries/Medications/Food/Misc
7 pocket pack Kleenex for runny noses, crying and toilet paper
4 packets 1 qt Gatorade, good for rehydration in case ofdiarrhea
saline solution (for dry sinuses on plane, helps avoid planerelated colds)
small stainless thermos, used to make formula on the road
neosporin, bandaids
Swiss Army knife w/ scissors
prescription medications - Antidiarrheal (lopermideHydrochloride)
Pepto Bismol tabs, Ibuprophen, tylenol
travel size toothpaste - toothbrush
hairbrush - hair bands
2 - Washcloths
2 travel size 1 oz anti-bacterial lotion (Purell), for washinghands when there is not soap and water available
8 oz size anti-bacterial soap for hands/dishes in the sink
Ziplock of Ivory Snow powdered laundry soap, we did small itemsalmost every day in the sink and had two to three loads done by thehotels for $12 - $20 a load
1oz Iodine w/ instuctions for purifying water, never used theiodine as we drank bottled water. You can buy 16 oz bottled water onthe street for about 50 to 75 cents. Be sure to check that theplastic seal on the lid is not broken. If you can find a grocerystore or Friendship store supermarket, you can buy large bottles forthe same or less.
2 Nalgene 16oz large mouth water bottles, for carrying thepreviously boiled water for making formula or drinking.
Ziplocks - (25 gallon, 50 sandwich, 50 snack size) for various andsundry storage and carrying things. We used them and were glad we hadthem.
glycerin bath soap in plastic travel dish (we like it much betterthan hotel soap)
4 gifts for officials ($7 mini-maglights, made in USA)
12 gifts for someone ($1.50 bookmarks with real wildflowers madein USA) These are important and appreciated, but they are tokengifts, don't expect to see them opened or for them to know who gavethem.
postcards of home town and state, and small photo album of home,family and pets. They love these!
"All the paperwork"
For Maya:
None of the babies would use a pacifier
1 teething toy, not needed for a toothless Maya, but you neverknow
1 set of toy keys, hung on the strap on the Sarah's Ride
2 small board books
1 soft rattle, small musical toy, small animal toys (our littlemouse was a favorite) We were told the babies might be afraid ofstuffed animals, but we did not find that to be true.
Sarahs Ride baby carrier, this worked great for us. Maya liked tobe carried facing forward so she could see the new world go by.http://www.safebeginnings.com
Laminated plastic card with her picture and Chinese explanation ofwho we are, where she is from and where she is going. Out Taiwanesefriend wrote this for us and we attached this to her Sarah's ride andit proved popular with the curious Chinese wellwishers we met on thestreet
1 pr shoes - size 2 - Too big for Maya
1 pr shoes - size 3 - Way too big for Maya
4 pr socks
6 onesies
10 outfits - mixture of size 9-12 months (overalls, dresses,
5 sleepers - mixture of size 9-12 months
"snowsuit" warm suit for over air-conditioned plane or hotel,didn't use on our summer trip
2 flannel receiving blankets, used these lots for going fromoutdoor heat to indoor A/C, or nap cover up
tie-on sun hat
bag of clothes for orphanage donated by local resale kids clothingshop
66 diapers - size 3, 16 - 28 lbs (slim to save space), used fiveto six a day not counting those days she had some diarrhea. Someoneelse brought and shared extra insert pads that were useful in thatcase.
1 refill pack of 80 baby wipes, decanted into 8 small ziplockbaggies, so that we always had some in the diaper backpack.
changing pad, small foldable vinyl covered
4 disposable changing pads (We cut up a cheap shower curtain into4 pieces, and that worked great. We still use them on the road athome)
1 hooded baby towels
4 cans Isomil soy formula, she took to it right away and washaving 4 - 8oz bottles a day, so we were going through a can almostevery 3 days. Don't count on the orphanage to provide formula to getyou started, ours didn't. We were planning to use Chinese formulaprovided and liquid baby vitamins until we got home, thinking thisminimizes intestinal disturbance and represents one less change andtrauma. However, since we weren't given any, we used the Isomil thatwe brought. You can buy formula and diapers in China, if you are upfor the adventure of finding them.
1 pint size bag Cheerios. Unanimous hit amoung the girls! Alwaysuseful to quiet a bored or hungry kid and good coordination practicegrasping them and getting them to their mouth
Arrowroot biscuits. You can easily buy good cookies and crackersin China. Many hotels had a small store and the grocery stores arefun and full of delicious surprises.
Animal crackers. Gotta have them.
4 packets of rehydration mix (From outdoor store REI) in case ofdiarrhea
2 bibs - 1 cloth; 1 plastic
3 cloth diapers (rag, burg cloth, comfort blanket)
3 Evenflo bottles - various nipples, 2 8oz and one 4 oz. Most werecutting a large hole in the nipples because these kids don't want towork that hard to eat. The problem is these leak badly when tippedover or being played with. We found the Playtex Avance nipples towork great. They have a large three sided self sealing hole thatallowed Maya to get all she wanted without leaking. They fit theEvenflo bottles just fine.
90 plastic bottle liners (decanted into 8 snack size ziplockbaggies)
2 baby spoons, 2 baby forks
Baby bowl and cup with lids, two handled sippy cup
Non prescription - baby tylenol; baby orajel; Baby Sudafed; Liceshampoo, 2 tubes A&D diaper rash ointment, Gynelotrimin for yeastbased diaper rash, digital underarm baby thermometer. 4 oz Johnsonbaby shampoo, lotion and powder (we like the smell and memories),baby sudafed decongestant, we used this for the first 4 days, many ofthe babies were congested.
Prescriptions from Pediatrician - Ear infection, Scabies, 6syringes, 6 tongue depressors
Luggage
Two 28" suitcases on wheels - Checked one, carried one on toalways have a change of clothes for everyone and Maya's importantthings
One daypack backpack/diaper bag - Carried on (Used in China withdiapers, changing pad, small ziplocks of wipes, bottle liners.Paperwork in accordian folder, snack food for everyone
Extra duffle bag stowed on the way over, used on return foroverlow
Video Camera bag (also held camera) - Carried on
We each had a fannypack (carried passports, daily money, pen,notebook, plane tickets, kleenex/TP, waterless antibacterial handlotion (Purell) tic tacs.
Concealed body money bag/belt (more to prevent loss and reassureyourself that you won't leave your $7,000 on a restaurant tablesomewhere, theft is not a big issue there)
Back to Story of Maya Jun - http://www.mauiwindsurfing.com/maya/mayajun.html- E-mail williams@rio.com