Precipitation vs Perspiration

NOTE: Kieran carrying huge golf umbrella by himself. He had held it with Santosh for several blocks and later once it was closed up and he could really grab the handle, he carried it by himself.

He has a very strong grip when he's really interested in holding something. I'm amazed that he can hold onto his teething toys for an hour or so. It's those sticky fingers. Are they coated with fly paper? Kieran also insists on holding absolutely every item we pick up. At immigration at JFK airport, Kieran grabbed all the passports when the agent gave them back. He's pretty good about giving it all back to us but I get the feeling that isn't going to last very long. So far he doesn't throw tantrums but I guess he's too young for that.

Though perhaps not award winning photos, these two are very much favorites of mine. We took these in Ho Chi Minh city when we were on our way to Brenda's daughter's birthday party. The rain was really coming down and we didn't have a baby rain coat for Kieran.

Santosh already had Kieran in the Baby Bjorn so slipping the anorak over his head to include Kieran just made sense (to us anyway.)

Well, I walked a bit behind them on the way to the party and was fascinated by the looks Santosh got from the locals. I think they are pretty upset whenever they see a baby in the rain. Additionally, they are completely confused that a man would carry a baby and then the confusion over who Santosh is and why he has a baby face sticking out of his chest just makes them think we are all some kind of freaky side show. I laughed the entire way (mostly because I thought it was cute but also because the Vietnamese people were so horrified. Kieran was actually quite content in there.)

I'm not quite sure why the Vietnamese are OK leaving babies out in extreme heat but don't allow them in the rain.

My mom said she is also puzzled why Vietnamese fear precipitation so much but welcome perspiration. (It's quite the opposite for me.)