Cutest baby ever who's not related to any of us

[silvercamaro]

At Home Depot, in a fruitless search for tung oil, I heard someone call my name. It was a young woman I had worked with about five years ago. She had an adorable blonde toddler in her cart.

I told her I hadn't heard! I also noted how much the little girl looked like her.

She laughed. "Everybody says that, but she's from Siberia."

Yep. The baby was adopted from an orphanage as far away as you can get without being on the way back home again. This was the first time I'd heard of anyone getting an infant from Siberia. The new mother and the child seem like a perfect match.

[TheConfessor]

Really? A baby that's not related to Bob Juch?

[silvercamaro]

Really? A baby that's not related to Bob Juch?

I can't be sure about that, of course. Siberia was the last known address for Czar Nicholas.

[Ritterskoop]

I saw three very cute babies in Las Vegas, at Siegfried and Roy's Secret Garden habitat at The Mirage. They are twelve-week-old tiger cubs. There are five of them but the room is too small for one person to keep up with all five now, as they weigh 25-30 lbs. There is a human with them 24/7 until they are one year old, to teach them not to bite or scratch people.

There is one orange boy with black stripes, and four white kittens, two with stripes and two without. The orange kitty is the only boy but that's random, they said. Their mommy is in Florida. They have been in Vegas since they were six weeks old.

[silvercamaro]

Were they Siberian tigers?

[Ritterskoop]

Were they Siberian tigers?

They called them white tigers. But I can't remember if they said that is a subspecies, or just a grouping like a breed of dog or cat. I lean toward the latter. They said they all had the same daddy, as there are not that many daddies available.

[ulysses5019]

At Home Depot, in a fruitless search for tung oil,

Were you looking for something to keep jokeyguy lubricated?

[Beebs52]

At Home Depot, in a fruitless search for tung oil, I heard someone call my name. It was a young woman I had worked with about five years ago. She had an adorable blonde toddler in her cart.

I told her I hadn't heard! I also noted how much the little girl looked like her.

She laughed. "Everybody says that, but she's from Siberia."

Yep. The baby was adopted from an orphanage as far away as you can get without being on the way back home again. This was the first time I'd heard of anyone getting an infant from Siberia. The new mother and the child seem like a perfect match.

Sliver! My niece adopted Lily from Siberia just this year. She's a beaut, too.

[silvercamaro]

Sliver! My niece adopted Lily from Siberia just this year. She's a beaut, too.

I remember that you talked about your niece adopting from Russia, but I guess I had pictured some dreary orphanage near Moscow. Even though Siberia is part of Russia, it seems even more exotic to me, based upon the additional difficulty in getting there. My friend said her destination was an 8-hour (or thereabouts) train trip beyond the 12-hour flight to Moscow, as your niece's may have been, too.

I wish I had asked more specific questions, as it would be interesting if both babies came from the same orphanage. Siberia is so vast that it's unlikely, but still....

[Beebs52]

She and my sister (her mother) had to travel through hell and back to pick her up (after the initial trips that my niece had taken). A total of two weeks or so to and fro on the final. They had to carry cash in bunches and couldn't fold papers and other weirdnesses.

It was a massive blessing that she came home with my niece. Lily was a preemie, and about 15 months old when adopted. No hidden medical problems, but when they got there she just wasn't eating. Sort of a shut down. She may not have made it.

She is a glowing healthy pistol of a girlie now.

[kayrharris]

Sweet story. God bless your niece.

[ontellen]

Maybe that's what our friends daughter and her hubby should have done. They had a son on THE 9/11 but he was working with all kinds of radiation at the time and now can't have kids. They went the Chinese adoption route because they heard that there were no guarantees healthwise with European or Russian adoptions. They are now into this thing for about $30 grand and still no sign of a kid. China is tightening up their adoptions so they may be sol - very sad.

[silvercamaro]

Maybe that's what our friends daughter and her hubby should have done. They had a son on THE 9/11 but he was working with all kinds of radiation at the time and now can't have kids. They went the Chinese adoption route because they heard that there were no guarantees healthwise with European or Russian adoptions. They are now into this thing for about $30 grand and still no sign of a kid. China is tightening up their adoptions so they may be sol - very sad.

There's no guarantee with Chinese babies either, unless many things have changed. About 10 years ago, a former co-worker and her husband were in China to pick up their baby girl, when the infant died. The couple had to pay for the funeral before coming home with empty arms. They firmly believe the authorities knew the baby had a severe birth defect, but kept that fact from them. This was the single saddest adoption story I've heard. On the other end of the spectrum, another colleague adopted a Chinese baby who had been diagnosed in the orphanage with "failure to thrive" syndrome, and they were told she probably would be mentally challenged. (They were okay with that. They were not permitted to adopt a normal child because they were just above the preferred age "limit.") Once they got her home, however, the little girl has bloomed into a bright, beautiful, happy and healthy child.

[Appa23]

Maybe that's what our friends daughter and her hubby should have done. They had a son on THE 9/11 but he was working with all kinds of radiation at the time and now can't have kids. They went the Chinese adoption route because they heard that there were no guarantees healthwise with European or Russian adoptions. They are now into this thing for about $30 grand and still no sign of a kid. China is tightening up their adoptions so they may be sol - very sad.

There's no guarantee with Chinese babies either, unless many things have changed. About 10 years ago, a former co-worker and her husband were in China to pick up their baby girl, when the infant died. The couple had to pay for the funeral before coming home with empty arms. They firmly believe the authorities knew the baby had a severe birth defect, but kept that fact from them. This was the single saddest adoption story I've heard. On the other end of the spectrum, another colleague adopted a Chinese baby who had been diagnosed in the orphanage with "failure to thrive" syndrome, and they were told she probably would be mentally challenged. (They were okay with that. They were not permitted to adopt a normal child because they were just above the preferred age "limit.") Once they got her home, however, the little girl has bloomed into a bright, beautiful, happy and healthy child.

I could go on for a very long time about this subject, but the simplest thing might be to say, the "guarantees" have everything to do with how you decide to proceed. If you adopt through a well-established, reputable agency, then you have all of the information that you need and have far fewer "bumps" in the road. (I am amazed that anyone would pay $30,000 or more, especially if you have not completed the process.)

As I have noted in the past, I have nothing but praise for Holt Children's Services. They were the first agency to do international adoptions in this country (literally creating the legislation and rules for the US Government), and still the best, IMO.

[Beebs52]

Maybe that's what our friends daughter and her hubby should have done. They had a son on THE 9/11 but he was working with all kinds of radiation at the time and now can't have kids. They went the Chinese adoption route because they heard that there were no guarantees healthwise with European or Russian adoptions. They are now into this thing for about $30 grand and still no sign of a kid. China is tightening up their adoptions so they may be sol - very sad.

There's no guarantee with Chinese babies either, unless many things have changed. About 10 years ago, a former co-worker and her husband were in China to pick up their baby girl, when the infant died. The couple had to pay for the funeral before coming home with empty arms. They firmly believe the authorities knew the baby had a severe birth defect, but kept that fact from them. This was the single saddest adoption story I've heard. On the other end of the spectrum, another colleague adopted a Chinese baby who had been diagnosed in the orphanage with "failure to thrive" syndrome, and they were told she probably would be mentally challenged. (They were okay with that. They were not permitted to adopt a normal child because they were just above the preferred age "limit.") Once they got her home, however, the little girl has bloomed into a bright, beautiful, happy and healthy child.

I could go on for a very long time about this subject, but the simplest thing might be to say, the "guarantees" have everything to do with how you decide to proceed. If you adopt through a well-established, reputable agency, then you have all of the information that you need and have far fewer "bumps" in the road. (I am amazed that anyone would pay $30,000 or more, especially if you have not completed the process.)

As I have noted in the past, I have nothing but praise for Holt Children's Services. They were the first agency to do international adoptions in this country (literally creating the legislation and rules for the US Government), and still the best, IMO.

I believe my niece paid $40,000+.

[Beebs52]

Double post. Bored is slow and weird right now.