My sister flies to Russia next Saturday to meet her daughter, Sonia.
Svetlana was her given name and what they call her in the orphanage.
But Sonia Rose is the name my sister and her husband have chosen for
her. 

Ducky is her nickname around our house.  My daughter came up with
that. The only picture we have of Sonia is one taken when she was five
months old and she was swaddled within an inch of her life in a blue
receiving blanket with little ducks on it.

So Ducky it is. I wonder if it will stick?

Today we spent this day before Mother’s Day at Target getting the
remaining items on the list of things that adoptive parents must bring
to the orphanage. This includes new baby and toddler clothes for the
other children, art supplies, educational toys, and gifts for the
caregivers.

My sister picked out a cute outfit for Sonia, a host of drugstore
items, rice cereal, soy based formula and a baby book where she can
document everything about their life together. After much ado, I
selected two board books for her. "The Wheels on the Bus" and "Daddy
Kisses,"which begins "Daddy wolf gives his pup a kiss on the nose."

It was a surreal day. A sweet one, really. Pushing a big red
shopping cart around Target Knowing that in just one week my sister
will be with her nine month old baby. What a long road it has been
through infertility, medical prodedures and the arduous process of
international adoption.

Unfortunately, next week is not the end of the road. They will have
to return to Russia in early July to pick up their Sonia and bring her
home. It’s all part of the adoption game. One can’t help but wish that
they could swoop her out of the orphanage next week and bring her home
to Brooklyn. But they can’t.

I can’t wait to give my sister her first Mother’s Day gift tomorrow.
Even if she has never met her daughter who is thousands of miles away,
my sister is already a mother full of love and attention for her little
girl.

Happy Mother’s Day, sis.