One Family's Journey: Packing List Update

By Notorious MLE -
Remember back when I talked about what we we're going to pack? Seems like so long ago now! Well now that we're here I thought I'd do an update on what was great and what I wished we had or hadn't brought... here goes!

Stuff that has been wonderful:

1) The stroller: So wonderful I wrote a whole post touting it's wonders earlier this week. We have a Maclaren and I'm really impressed by how well it handles Colombia's crazy streets.
2) Ergo Carrier: Just SO great! In small towns people will give you weird looks. In Lebrija people kept stopping my husband to ask if the baby was okay. "Can he breathe?" It is worth it though to be able to walk around in places where the crossing the street is problematic i.e. large parts of Colombia
3) Blocks: A friend gave us a case of foam blocks for Elian for Christmas. They are so wonderful for many reasons, including. 1) They are suitable for the bath. 2) They are light and don't add too much weight to the suitcase. 3) Nothing bad happens if he throws or falls on them. Here's a link to the blocks she got him. As my friend said they are also useful for the plane "Foam blocks=more fun for Elian and less lawsuits for you" Thanks Dahlia!
4) Board books=Endless fun and easy distraction for restaurants so parents can eat in peace. Also reading=good. Not that he reads them.. yet!
5) Portable Changer: This thing is just so much awesome that I can't even get over it. I want to buy stock in this product alone, it is so helpful! We will probably get a second one to keep in our car when we get home. Ours is from Target. You can check out a similar one here.
6) Friends and family helped us make videos of both our house and my niece and nephew demonstrating how to use a carseat. Elian likes to watch both of them.
7) Adoption-related books: There is nothing like re-reading the books while watching your child in action. We have the "Temper-tantrums" page bookmarked!

Stuff I wish we'd brought:
1) Those bibs that are like little painters smocks. Elian is so dirty all the time and the bib selection here is not great.
2) Baby spoons & utensils: Same reason as above. I also would've brought more than one sippy cup.
3) More than one book to read: After Elian goes to bed at night we can't really leave the house. I can only watch so much SonyCanal and I already finished the one fun book I brought.

Side Note: Just to be clear all of these items were presents or purchased by us. We did not receive any of these items from the companies linked to above.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Thanks a lot for this update! Just in time for us :)
January 14, 2010 at 4:35 AM
Jane King said…
Are you in Bogota? If so, there is a bookstore in Unicentro that carries books IN ENGLISH! It's a major store.....
January 14, 2010 at 6:07 PM
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