Links to videos of Kieran

Well, we leave on Thursday. We will miss Vietnam - though perhaps not the Uncle Fester style bed of nails we've slept on at most hotels. Seriously - these beds are really odd - no padding whatsoever. The heat and humidity have also been very tough. It is really indescribable. The humidity ranges from 80-100% each day so it is just a sauna all the time. I think it would be much easier to tolerate if there were more AC here to give us a break. Usually there is no AC in stores or cafes. Once you leave the hotel, you know you will not stp sweating until you return. Sometimes there is a little bit of AC in a restaurant but this really just removes a little of the humidity and lowers the temperature a few degrees. It's semi-air conditioned and not what we are used to. (Taking it from 95 degrees to a rather cool 92 degrees.)

For the most part, if we see a store that has AC, we go in and just keep buying things until we dry off a bit. I'll buy anything from a store that has AC and lets me hang out for a few minutes. Kieran is so good with the weather. He is just dripping with sweat and in the Bjorn - I sometimes feel like he's cooking but he seems content. As long as there is a lot to see - he's fine. If I'm holding something he can grab and chew - even better. Tomorrow we have to pick up the sketch we had done of him (and the other of Durban.) Kieran ate the part of the receipt that showed our $50 deposit so let's hope they remember us.

Kieran is really cruising around in his walker. He went from almost crawling to racing around in a few days. He really would prefer to walk though so he always tries this while crawling - often resulting in a face plant (that he finds very funny.) He is not phased by knocking into things - he just howls if he is bored (and it is not easy to keep him entertained all the time.) Of course pulling my hair is always entertaining. I've heard of women losing their hair after having a baby but never after adopting. I think I'm quite a bit balder these days - Kieran often has several strands in his hands that he's yanked out and seems very proud of his accomplishment.

We are winding down our trip. I don't think we will make it to Halong Bay - Kieran really cannot do a 4 hour drive twice in a day. (I'm not sure I can either.)

It's taking a while to see Hanoi. By the time we are out of the room after Kieran's morning nap and get downtown, it's already well into the afternoon. Two hours into it - we are just too hot to keep going so we head home. The suite we have at the hotel has been worth every penny since Kieran has room to use his walker and we have lots of room to stretch out. Overall the hotel has been ok. The food has been pretty good but since it's the same thing every day - we are really looking forward to something else to eat.

We had a fabulous dinner last night at the Green Tangerine. The food was really great - very similar to what we'd get at home at a top notch restaurant. It was our last dinner as a group since Molly leaves today for a quick trip and she returns after we leave, the Popps leave today for the US and Brenda may go too if she can get on a flight.

We have to go to the Thai Airways office to have Kieran inspected for the flight to see if they will give us a bassinet. I guess he's over 6 months and they don't think he'll fit. Well, except for the huge feet - he's pretty small so I don't think it will be a problem. At 17.5 pounds, he's still fairly small by US standards (though a virtual giant here in Vietnam I think. Guess he's a good match for Santosh who is really easy to spot since he's at least a foot taller than most of the Vietnamese.) This might be our last post until we get home.

Here are some of the videos we've posted to You Tube

Once you click on the links - you can also click on "More from this user" in the middle of the page to see updated videos.

This is the one where Kieran crawls, does a face plant and then giggles.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEhvRU7rkvY

Here he is in his walker (yes - we know it's not a sturdy toy - trust me - it's not coming home with us but it kept him pretty happy here in the hotel room)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyfiLwl4aLs


Sorry - Blogger is timing out when I try to post photos. I have to run but if you go to Flickr.com and go to Search and type under the "PEOPLE" tab "jlm3131" some of our photos will come up