New Photos

We are obviously still in NY. I really need to book a flight back to Atlanta. We're waiting for Santosh to have some time to drive down to Atlanta with Durban. I really wish Durban was small enough to take on the plane with us. (He's such a good dog - we just won't subject him to the cargo area of the plane though.) I thought we'd all drive down together but Kieran is clearly not going to enjoy sitting in his car sear for 18 hours and I will probably jump out of the moving car if we have to listen to Kieran's baby CD with "Ain't gonna rain no more, no more" the entire trip.

Kieran obviously thinks it's a toe tapper but Santosh cannot be expected to drive under those conditions. Oh and Durban can't stand music so our poor puppy would go nuts too. I can't always protect him from music but we try. Durban has a habit of sitting right next to us as we cook. If you move him, he comes right back. The only way to keep him away is to sing. If he knows you have an "earworm" (annoying song) stuck in your head and plan to keep singing - Durban will find a quiet spot and give you some space for a while!

I'm trying to organize our photos from Vietnam. It's taking a while. Some would be great if only Photoshop had a "sweat remover" function. I fell in love in Photoshop after a trip to Disney World when we had some annoying people nudging in on every shot. It took forever to find Minnie and Mickey for a photo op and then someone person holding a greasy smoked turkey leg would sneak in (those of you who go to Disney World often know who I'm talking about - those people who wear a free T shirt that says "Dirt devil" or something like that and who eat those smoked turkey legs continuously even though it's 90 degrees. It's just not normal. It was great to have Photoshop to just remove them and still have a great photo left.

Some of the photos of me from Vietnam are just so bad. I never, ever wear my hair up because I have a square head and it is not a good look for me (yes - I do have two corners on the top of my head making it a real square. The only think it would be useful for would be to carry things on my head. It's my only chance of getting on David Letterman's Stupid Human tricks so someday I will learn. Ok, I'm off on a tangent here.)

Anyway, the photos in Vietnam of Kieran are great but the photos of me are not so great so some will stay hidden away with the photos of me and my big "angry bangs" from high school. I'm only sharing them with people if I have an equally bad photo of them in case they threaten blackmail at a later date. So if any of you want to see my scary photos from Vietnam - just forward one of yourself - and I'll be happy to respond in kind.

Ear worms

So Kieran's been with us for over a month now. We can already see how much he's changing. Sometimes he seems like he's so mature. He has such intense focus and seems to catch on pretty quickly. The other day we were playing a game online - a pretty annoying one actually. Every time you press the space bar, a different animal pops ups and says "Peek a boo." I stopped for a moment to prevent my mom from going insane (her eyes were rolling back in her head and I thought she needed a break.) Kieran was having none of that - he reached over and pressed the space bar to get the game going again. I've created a monster. He'll probably expect the game to activate every time he hits the space bar.

Yesterday Santosh and my mom had Kieran in the exersaucer in the kitchen. When they turned their backs, he reach for a drawer in the desk. When they'd turn around, he'd quickly go back to playing with his toys. When they'd turn around, he'd grab the drawer again. When caught he just giggles like crazy.

We were given a few CDs with children's music and I really hope Kieran is enjoying it because I was up at 1am last night with these songs playing over and over again. My mom told me it's called an ear worm - something that plays over and over in your head. She tried to pass it off to me but I already had the same one stuck in my head.

Of course it's so annoying that you feel you have to give it to someone else in order to rid yourself of it.

So here goes. . . .

"It ain't gonna rain no more, no more
It ain't gonna rain no more
How the heck can I wash my neck if it ain't gonna rain no more . . "

Repeat 30 times getting faster and faster each time with a hilbilly twang and you've got it.

Endless Hunger

Kieran wants food all the time. He grunts in between spoonfuls because apparently he cannot wait 2 seconds between bites. We introduced some chicken the other day - we were hoping that some added protein might help Kieran feel full. Durban kicked it into high gear. He was always willing to take a baby biscuit or other baby food if it fell on the floor. However, when he smells the chicken, he really has no pride. He'll stoop to anything to get some. He licks the bib, Kieran's hands and is just waiting for the moment when we leave the baby food unattended.

Our Little "Angel"

So by now you've seen lots of angelic photos where we are all smiles. I thought it might be time to come clean. Kieran has always been oddly drawn to the camera. No matter where we move it - he's keenly aware of where to look.

This photo of us at the Giving and Receiving was our first family photo. You'll notice, of course, that Kieran has a very strong grip AND he is looking right at the camera (he always wants FULL credit for whatever he does.) However, what shocked me was that Santosh wasn't helping me at all. At the time, I distinctly remember Santosh saying he was doing all he could to free me! Photos don't lie. Santosh's hands never left his side!


This second photo was taken at the party Saturday just as all the guests left. He was so well behaved when everyone was around. Nobody believed us that he was hell on wheels as soon as he was bored.

I am amazed that Kieran can really aim that well at Santosh's nose and still be camera ready. That look on his face is so telling though. He's definitely a lot quicker than we are and catches us off guard fairly often.

I can only predict at this point that he will be a very productive member of society or a destructive member of society.
Stay tuned. . . . .

Finally - some sleep

Well Kieran has slept through most of the night twice in a row. I'm still waking up if he shuffles around but he's getting back to sleep quickly once he's comfortable again. Getting some sleep is making it so much easier for me during the day. He's napping right now so I'm rushing to eat, shower and get as much done as possible. Santosh was supposed to be in Detroit for a few days but his flight was cancelled so he's with us for a while working from home.

The weather on Long Island was gorgeous on Saturday for the party but has been freezing ever since. I don't ever remember a time in August when the weather was in the upper 50's during the day. In addition to the cold weather, it's been raining a lot so Durban has not been getting the walks he needs and seems a little depressed.

I'm still trying to figure out how much to feed Kieran. He's old enough to eat more advanced foods but because he didn't get these on a normal schedule at the orphanage, I've been starting from scratch. I really need to accelerate the introduction of new foods. He's eating oatmeal now and that seems to be filling him up more than rice cereal. It just didn't seem right that he needed a bottle every 3 hours on the dot. He seems to old for that but of course we didn't want him to be hungry. He really will eat anything. At Costco the other day, my mom and I stopped to sample some food and Kieran leaned over with his mouth wide open as the woman handed me a chicken burrito. He also wants to eat very fast. He grunts between spoonfuls and trust me - I'm going as fast as I can.

When he's done eating, he now blows bubbles into the bottle to let us know it's time to play. With the baby food, he knows how to spit is back at us. He does this for fun though - we're not sure if it means he's full or not. Santosh and I have both been hit in eye by unwanted prunes though. Of course I'm the only one who has actually been bitten though. Kieran leaned over while sitting on my lap and took a nice bite out of my arm. I think it sounds like it would be a cute baby bite - maybe even somewhat uncomfortable. This felt like a snake bite - those little teeth are sharp!

So this brings me to the topic of what a mischievous guy he is. On Saturday, he really was a little angel. When he's being carried around and sees lots of people, he is so content. The only exception was when we were online at the Hanoi airport and a woman in front of us had a large bag of items wrapped in red tissue paper. Santosh and I were figuring out our tickets and Kieran was with me in the Bjorn. I felt Kieran bouncing up and down and when I turned around - he was holding one of the items from this woman's bag. There was no mistaking where it came from - she was clearly the only one with these items. I just looked shocked and motioned to Santosh to do something. Always quick on his feet, Santosh took the item, tapped the woman on her shoulder and said, "Excuse me, you dropped this." She totally fell for it - I guess she didn't notice the look on my face.

I'm going to post some of the mischievous photos later. He's rarely caught in the act, and when he is - he seems to rather enjoy it actually.

Welcome Party for Kieran

My parents hosted a party on Saturday to officially welcome Kieran into the family and to introduce him to some of our family and friends.

The party went very well. The weather was perfect and most of our family and friends were able to join us. Santosh's friends from his MBA program drove out to Long Island and we were excited to see them. Even though we want everyone to meet him, it's just not that easy to travel with him yet.

Kieran seemed to have a great time at the party (he loves being surrounded by a crowd - especially if he is the center of attention.) He is charming everyone he meets and his giggles are so contagious. They'll come at the oddest times and he is still not taking any requests. You get them when he's good and ready and trying to tickle him or do silly things may get you only a confused stare from Kieran.

You can tell from the photos (and perhaps the quantity alone clues you in) that Santosh and I are very excited to be his parents. We were prepared for Kieran to have some development issues but so far he's exceeded all of our expectations. He appears to be ahead of the developmental milestones for his age so WE have a lot of catching up to do as far as childproofing our house. Who knew he'd be so close to walking at this age? He's a very intense little guy and keeps us on our toes every minute. This means when he's happy - the giggles are so loud that you cannot help but giggle as well. It also means that when he's not happy, he really makes sure we are aware that we'd better fix that . . and fast. We are so grateful to Kieran's nannies who clearly gave him a lot of love and attention.

Durban also had a great time and had never behaved better. It's the first time we haven't worried about him jumping on guests. We all really wanted him to be a part of the celebration so we were thrilled that he really has stopped tackling all of our guests at the door (my mom practiced with the air conditioning repair guy this week and then we tested Durban's reaction to the plumber just to make sure he understood that he wasn't allowed to jump on anyone. Durban's signature greeting had previously included a 'two paws to the crotch' move that appeared to be rather unpopular with some guests. Wheaten Terriers really struggle to restrain themselves. The Wheaten Greetin' as it is called is pretty common and even the toughest trainers have told us to give up. Leave it to my mom to find a way to solve it whilewe were away in Vietnam. Of course he still licks everyone - but we'll let it go since it's fairly harmless. We do need a sign around his neck (similar to those at water rides at amusement parks) that says, "If you touch this dog, you WILL get wet."

More to post but since Kieran is sleeping, I must sleep too.

Way too much energy

Well we've been home for 11 days now. Jet lag is still an issue for Kieran. He is really such a fun kid and has such a great giggle. He is in no way easy going, but overall he's a very happy baby. He's very determined and it's tough to see him want to do so much but not be ready to do it yet.

Gradually, we are getting to a point where he sleeps a bit longer each night. It's a battle to keep him from nodding off at 8pm. Normally that would be a decent bedtime but if he goes down at 8pm - he's up at midnight so we are trying to get him to bed later.

He's changing so much each day. When we first met Kieran, he was crawling but not all that consistently. Within days, he had developed a lot of confidence and was trying to stand up. Now he holds on to his crib, a table or a pant leg to try and stand up. His grip is very strong and he can usually stand by himself pretty well. As you can see in the video, Kieran can walk fairly well with support. He often wants to jump and bounce more than walk but at times, he can walk pretty smoothly (it just isn't as much fun as jumping!)
I'm sure his Fred Flinstone feet are helping him balance quite a bit.

This dog can't hold his licker

I know a lot of you have asked why I haven't posted in a while. Well, here's our schedule -
Kieran sleeps from 8pm until 12am and then 7am until 9am. It leaves me with about 2 hours of sleep since I have a lot of catching up to do once he falls asleep and then I cannot fall back asleep in the morning despite being exhausted. I guess I'm now a morning person (minus the smile that accompanies most of those perky morning people.)

Kieran does fall asleep at some point during the afternoon and then it is nearly impossible to wake him. Poor guy is having a really tough time adjusting. He has a bottle every 3 hours (and if we get to 3 hours and 1 minute, Kieran makes it very clear he thinks I'm slacking off.)

So we've had a lot of waking hours to bond. He's a lot of fun and usually pretty giggly from midnight to 7am or so. Since I'm still at my parent's house in NY, I go through my closets and take some trips down memory lane late at night after we've played for a fwe hours. At 33, I think this is the first time I've been sent to my room and of course there's no TV in there so I'm always searching for things to occupy me after Kieran and I have played with the toys and he's moved on to something on his own. Lately, he likes to stand outside his crib and hold the railings. He'll stay like that for 15-20 minutes. It's just about the only time he stays still all day so I just sit behind him and read since he really wants his alone time during this activity.

The other night, Kieran and I went through my high school yearbook. Boy, those angry bangs will haunt me forever. My mom told me that. It's hard not having one photo from my teenage years where I don't look like I'm caught in a windstorm. We also sorted through mix tapes and my 80's cassette tapes (Yes - I will now fess up to owning the soundtrack to Flashdance.)

So Kieran giggles rather often but not always at times I would predict. Funny faces or noises don't necessarily put him in a good mood. My mom's singing elicits quite a giggle from Kieran but since Durban really cannot stand music, he has to leave the room. It's not as though I thought Kieran was going to be laughing with me while watching an episode of The Office but I thought it would be easier to predict what would make him laugh. I guess that will come in time.

Kieran and Durban are getting along really well. We had to rush Durban to the vet last night after he ate the tip of his tail. Just another manifestation of his severe allergies. Last month it was ear infections and the month prior - it was him eating his paws. Luckily Kieran isn't grabbing Durban too much. Kieran is definitely the instigator though. We thought Durban would be a good dog with babies but worried he might get too excited. He has really been great. He can't pass up the opportunity to give a walk by lick - especially if Kieran is in his exersaucer. I guess that's what makes Durban so cute. There's a sign to put on your car that says, "This dog cannot hold his licker." Santosh and I really think it's perfect for Durban.

Kieran also encourages Durban though and he doesn't seem to mind being wet all the time from doggy kisses. Durban is on steroids now for his allergies so that makes him a bit sluggish. He's supposed to wear the Elisabethan collar to keep him from biting to his tail but of course we feel too guilty so we just keep him with us so we can prevent him from doing that. When he was neutered, I tethered him to my belt loops with his leash so he didn't have to have that huge collar on. I wonder if he knows how hard it was to go 14 days after he was neutered without letting him out of my sight for a minute. In the end, he did pull out his stitches but it was already healed. I did this out of love but also out of guilt.

The only issue with Durban is of course the toy stealing. He's used to all the toys being his and as Kieran tosses a toy to the floor, Durban scoops it up. He is very aware of what Kieran leaves behind. When we all leave the room, he sneaks back in to get whatever was left behind.
Too bad for him that everyone knows the sound of the prance he does when he has some contraband. It makes it tough for him to get away with much. Yesterday, we caught Durban with Kieran's little stuffed puppy. Durban had moved aside the little cape on the stuffed dog and was trying to get as much "quality time" with the puppy as he could. For a long time after we took it away, Durban stayed close by the stuffed puppy to see if there would be another opportunity to, well, have his way with him. My mom has been great in helping with Durban so we can focus on Kieran and trying to get into a routine.

I have to go print some photos for the party we're having tomorrow (to welcome Kieran home.) I think we have a few hundreed photos of him and about 4 of Vietnam. Oh well, he was too cute not to photograph all the time.

I'll post some photos from the party tomorrow night or Sunday.

More photos

1) Durban meeting Kieran for the first time
2) Signing official adoption documents

Kieran's first dip in the pool (a few hours after Giving and Receiving ceremony)

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.)

We're back in the US

Not quite home but close enough.
We landed at JFK this morning and will stay with my parents in NY for a few weeks.
Very tired but will post more tomorrow if time permits.

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

Visa Appointment complete

We had our visa appointment yesterday and Kieran's visa should be ready late on Monday afternoon. Once we have that, we are ready to come home. We will likely stay until the 9th as planned just because we haven't seen much of Hanoi 'm not sure if we'd be able to get a flight anyway.

Kieran isn't sleeping much so we are dragging a bit during the day. Additionally, he still needs a bottle every 3 hours like clockwork plus baby food a few times during the day so by the time we get everything ready to go out and sterilize the bottles and change him, it's time for another feeding. Part of the problem is that he will only take in small portions of food and formula. If we can get him to drink a bit more, I'm sure we could extend the feeding times.

Yesterday, Brenda, Molly and I went to a jewelry store. I only bought 2 things but I was able to find one of the portraitists as they call themselves who was right next door. Laurie, who traveled last month, told me about them and we'd really like to have a sketch done of Kieran and another of Durban. I can just see the look on their faces when I bring in a photo of our dog and want to pay some obscene sum of money to have a sketch done. Oh well, I'm sure they'll do it if we are willing to pay for it. I hope we have enough time to get it done before we leave. They are really amazing.

We bought some sketches from an old man on the street in Saigon. When we asked what he charged for the sketches, he said he only wanted enough money to buy some food - maybe $1-$2. Of course I started crying and Santosh knew I was about to buy them so he just started picking out some stuff and then we handed over most of the money in our pockets. We are never sure they are telling us the truth - it's a much better tactic to say you need money for food than to try and give us the hard sell. We always pay three times what we would have if we think they really need the money. In a lot of cases, we know we are being completely ripped off. At the Ben Than market, one person wanted to sell me a baby t-shirt for $12. In the end, we walked away and she chased after me saying she'd take 30,000 dong which is about $1.90. Of course we didn't buy it out of principle at that point. If she starts with $12 - her original intent was to really take advantage if she could.

Santosh bought Kieran an exersaucer at a local store here in Hanoi for $15 yesterday. Of course it would never pass any US inspection tests but since he's only in it while we are with him, we thought we'd give it a try. It plays My Darling Clementine over and over and over and cannot be turned off - even when Kieran is out of it so I think Santosh will take out his portable tool kit and put an end to that this afternoon.

So that's about it for now. We hope to go shopping a little later and maybe do some sightseeing tomorrow. Not sure about Halong Bay - I'd really like to go but I'm worried Kieran will have trouble with the trip since it is 4 hours each way and a long boat ride too. I think someone said the boat was very hot too (so that will make me unhappy too.) I really don't want to miss that though so we'll see if we can do it.

That's all for now

More massage mishaps and the elf pants

Well, I typed a rather long post earlier today but I don't see it so I'll see if I remember what I wrote. The internet connection at the Horison Hotel is much better at night.

We arrived in Hanoi yesterday. It was only a 2 hour flight from Ho Chi Minh. So far Kieran has been fine on the flights (though they have been short.) Well, the flight was fairly busy in that Kieran need two very serious diaper changes. He is thoughtful enough to fire some warning shots out of his diaper before he plans to really fill it up. At least we have some notice!

So at this point, we are getting to know our little guy's favorite activities. They include chewing on electrical wires, playing with plastic bags and pulling out the hair on my head and the hair on Santosh's chest. Those little fingers are amazingly strong (and sticky.) We really never see it coming. Kieran will gaze into our eyes and take one hand and gently place it on our face. Just as our hearts are melting, Kieran's other hand comes from out of nowhere to stick a finger in our eye or pull out some hair. This baby has such a mischievous streak in him. We secretly love it.

Oh so I forgot to mention that the night before we left Ho Chi Minh, I decided to get a massage at the spa at the Duxton Hotel. The hotel was nice enough and I had heard the massages were interesting so I thought I'd try it out. I already had a massage at the Novotel Hotel the first night we arrived. That was an experience in itself. They hand you a uniform to put on when you arrive and then make you change in a tiny room that has a clear glass door. Always up for a challenge, I decided to try to hide in the corner only to see the massage therapist staring at me through the door which was now slightly ajar. She waited until I had this silly little outfit on (the shorts bubble out and have elastic that gathers below your knees. Can't picture this? Well, just believe me that it's impossible not to laugh at yourself as you wear these silly little elf pants and I'm positive nobody has ever allowed a photo to be taken of them wearing it.)

So I finally finish putting on the Vietnamese massage costume and then she bursts in and tells me to get on the table and yells, "OFF OFF. NO GOOD." Ok, I guess they make you put this on for amusement only since they rip it right off of you immediately. Her shaking her head at me out of frustration was just too funny (why watch me put it on then?)

The massage was OK - I've had a lot of massages and it was Ok but not necessarily worth subjecting myself to the humiliation of the elf pants again. At the Sandy Beach Hotel, I stuck to a foot massage - I was not falling for their bubble pant costume party tactic.

Well, since I had heard the spa at the Duxton was so great, I made sure I squeezed it in the night before we left. Well, sure enough, the receptionist gave me the same silly getup with what looks like the same the inflatable pants. This time, they didn't peek through the door though - they just walked in and while I was putting it on and ripped it off and told me it was silly. Ok, well at least we agree on that but I am still not sure why they make you put it on in the first place.

So as I was getting on the table, I noticed that there were strange bars on the ceiling. Must be for the A/C I figured. As I got on the table, the massage therapist was right there with me and she literally sits on your back as she does the massage. A little odd for me (I mean I know they get rather personal during a massage but mounting the client seems a bit over the top to me.)

I barely adjusted to that and she jumps up onto the rafters and starts walking on my back! Well why not at this point? I have to say - it was the best massage I've ever had. If I hadn't laughed though most of it - I think I would have enjoyed it more. It made me look back at every massage I've ever had in the past and wonder what kind of training those people must have had because this was what a massage was really supposed to be like (ok - except for the bubble pant humiliation and mounting the clients.)

Well, so we'll see how it goes here in Hanoi. There will be time for a massage since we aren't near much. The hotel is pretty out of the way but I'm still not sure where we are supposed to be. I'm still not sure where you want to be if you are in Hanoi.

I know we aren't anywhere near it though.

Tonight we had a group dinner with the group. It was at a great place (Brother's Cafe) but since it was outside and dreadfully hot, it was a bit tough to get through. Also having Kieran in the carrier means that whoever is wearing the carrier just sweats.

After dinner we went to the water puppet show. Before we went in, Santosh was holding Kieran who was just dripping with sweat. We unzipped Kieran's outfit a bit to let his neck get some air and a woman on the street freaked out. Some other families have told us that they have been scolded for having their baby out in the rain (not sure where the Vietnamese put their babies in the rain but maybe they use those secret tunnels they dug during the war to hide the babies in when they sense the danger of precipitation.)

One other family has also been scolded for not dressing their babies warmly enough to brave the 98 degree temperatures out here. So while we waited to go into the show, this woman ran up to Santosh and put her finger about an inch from Kieran (who was falling off to sleep) and started yelling that his neck was exposed and he should be bundled up. Apparently she doesn't see the sweat dripping off of him? She was really relentless though and just kept yelling at us.

Of course we were about to go into a building with AC and I wanted to zip it up but it was too much fun to let this woman have a fit outside. I think the ironic thing was that as she was screaming about Kieran's neck being exposed, Santosh pointed out that her own young child wandered into traffic and was almost run over. Now that's good parenting - make sure your kid's neck is warm but pay no mind to it being broken!

Ok, so we are off to sleep. Hope to get Kieran's visa appointment tomorrow and then the visa should come Monday.

Some video of Kieran

Well, he's been crawling quite a bit but he seems to have been a little camera shy here.
Today, we are on our way to Hanoi. We went to the Reunification Hall in HCMC yesterday. The English tour consisted of a welcome greeting in English and an informational tour in Vietnamese. Oh well, they tried. Kieran did really well - he enjoys being in the Baby Born but of course when he faces out, we cannot see him and he gets into all kinds of trouble. At the airport today, he ate a good portion of Santosh's airline ticket as I was loading some of the bags.

Hopefully we will have better internet access in Hanoi at the Horison Hotel.
Here's some video and I'll try to get photos posted but Kieran doesn't give us much time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67c0BEZvk8A

"Careful - he bites"

We only have two more days left in Ho Chi Minh City before we head to Hanoi. We are just waiting for Kieran's Vietnamese passport to be ready. Everyone told me to do my shopping here rather than in Hanoi. So far, I haven't bought much as far as gifts or items for Kieran. I really have to focus on that tonight. I do wish I realized how easy it was to buy necessities here though. I might not have packed less but I would not have stressed about making sure I had everything. They may not have an extensive selection of everything - but they have enough that we would certainly get by just fine. Almost all the pajamas I brought with me were too small but I've been able to find pajamas here for under $2 (really plan cotton pajamas that are probably equivalent to Carters brand.) Paying $2 a night for new pjs is cheaper than having the hotel wash them too.

I do want to get some things for Kieran's room and they have very nice embroidered wall art at many shops but I cannot find exactly what I want. Today we headed to a market that is not as touristy as where we usually go- I knew I wouldn't get decorative items but I wanted to see if I could get some small toys or other authentic Vietnamese items for Kieran or for gifts. It is very hot in these markets and extremely crowded. I think it would be OK by myself but with a huge backpack and Santosh carrying Kieran, it is tough. I'm definitely getting used to the heat.

Most people think (as I did) that the Vietnamese babies can tolerate the heat. This isn't the case at all actually. They all seem to sweat quite a bit and develop heat rash regularly. We have to continually bathe Kieran as soon as we get home or wipe him down when outside.
For the most part, he likes being in the carrier. He should like it - we cannot see him and he gets into all kinds of trouble. He grabs things in the market or right off the shelf. He's doing really well and is extremely active and a pretty tough little guy.

So today we went to the market and some women stopped Santosh (as usual) to yell "Baby, Baby, Baby" and run right over to kiss Kieran and rub his face or feet. Santosh had about enough of that and today he said, "CAREFUL - he bites!" as he made a chomping motion with his teeth and hands but pointed to Kieran. As you know, Santosh keeps a straight face through this kind of stuff and people backed off a bit. The people mean well but it becomes overwhelming and when Kieran is sleeping, it can be frustrating to have people come up and kiss him or touch him so much. Kieran really doesn't like it either so we are mostly trying to protect him. It's OK most of the time but in the crowded markets - it is tough.

After leaving the market, some old man wearing a mask (as many people here wear) ran up to me and stared at me - putting his face as close to me as possible (tough to do since he was about a foot shorter than I am.) I just kind of looked confused and walked around him. A second or two later, I feel something hit my backpack and he had thrown the peel from his fruit at me. When I turned around and looked rather angry, he ran off. People around me tried to motion that he was crazy. I guess he was - but it was still kind of funny.

We had to come home after only an hour of shopping because the rain was really coming down. Not that I'd recommend a trip to Vietnam in the July/August heat but because it is monsoon season, it rains extremely heavily each afternoon too. If you have a choice, come at another time of year. We have our anoraks which are really great. Santosh can wear Kieran in the Bjorn on his chest and then have Kieran poking his head out of the opening by his chest/neck. I'll see if I can post the photo o that. When Santosh tried this for the first time - I just couldn't stop laughing. I knew we'd get a lot of strange looks on the street with just this baby head sticking out of the raincoat while his body is entirely hidden.

When we walk around - we often walk one behind the other because of the crowds. If there is a little distance between Santosh and Kieran and myself, I can really notice the comments and stares that they get. If we stop near a crowd, they all point and yell "Baby, Baby" and then I think they make a comment about Santosh carrying Kieran. I guess they don't see 6'2" Indian guys carrying Vietnamese babies too often. And they don't know what to make of me as part of this either. I guess they don't think we are all together - that would just be too strange.

Yesterday on our tour of the Cu Chi Tunnels, a Veitnamese man asked our tour guide to tell Santosh that men should not carry babies - this is a woman's job. (I was inside watching the documentary and Santosh was feeding and walking Kieran around.) This guy never saw me at all so Santosh's response was, "What woman is supposed to take care of him? What if I was raising him by myself?" The tour guide was not about to translate any response from Santosh though - despite being in her 20's, she seemed to also think it should be me who carried Kieran around. Kieran was with me most of the tour so Santosh could explore the tunnels and shooting ranges (clearly something Kieran had to sit out and I didn't mind skipping it either.)

At one point, they showed us some of the torture devices and traps the Vietnamese used during the Vietnam War. The tour guide said sometimes people in the group ask to try them out. Well, of course Santosh told her that he'd like to volunteer that nosy old man who made the comments about him earlier in the tour.

The videos they show about the American War (as they call it here rather than the Vietnam War) are all clearly biased. They talk about the ruthless Americans who dropped bombs indiscriminately. Santosh said they peg it as a war between the mean Americans and innocent Vietnamese children eating rice.

We are enjoying our time here and it's great to have the change to really focus on Kieran. We don't have to worry about cooking, cleaning or other every day issues. It's still so much work though so I'm kind of wondering how I will do it when we get back. Kieran (or Durban) will have to pitch in a bit.

I hear Durban (our dog) has been very good for my mom. This is of course except for him rolling around in fox droppings. That just cannot be helped though - way too tempting.

Well, the rain has stopped so we will set out once again to go shopping. Our hotel is so centrally located and cabs to most places are $1 if it is too far or too rainy to walk so we go in an out a lot in a day.

Jennifer

Kieran's settling in

Three of the four babies in our group are pretty easy going. Guess which of the four babies we have? Was it Sesame Street that had the four photos on the screen that read, "Which one of these is not like the others?" Well for us, that would have three babies laughing and calmly sitting on their parent's lap and Kieran would be the fourth child banging on whatever is in front of him.

Well, each day is so different from the one before. Kieran is learning so much (and I guess we are learning a lot about him too.) We are so in love with this little guy and are amazed at how perfect he is for us (he is a head strong kid just like his mom and dad.)

His teething issues and heat rash are subsiding so we are seeing so many more smiles now. He is obsessed with pulling himself up and if we grab his hands - he pulls himself up to sit and then stands - with very little help. He is a handful to say the least - we are shocked by how strong he is. We feel so lucky that he is doing so well developmentally. We never thought he'd be crawling and standing up already. The orphanage definitely gave him a lot of attention. That said, he's a very in your face kind of kid. He will NOT be ignored and he will NOT be still if he is awake. If the waitresses here didn't offer to carry him when we eat, it would be nearly impossible to eat anything at all. He is getting slightly better about us sitting down once in a while.

He still doesn't sleep through the night so we are very sleep deprived. We also don't have internet access regularly so posting to the blog is tough at times.

Tonight all the families (except for Molly who is very sick) went to Brenda's daughter's birthday party. Raven was five years old today and we had ice cream and cake after dinner which was really nice. During the day, Santosh, Kieran and I went to see the Cu Chi tunnels today with Brenda's husband Jeff and son Ryker. Her kids are doing really well on the trip and so are Molly's. I'm amazed at how patient and mature they all are - there is a lot of waiting around and they handle it so well.

After the party, we went to the store buy yet another 5 liter bottle of water for Kieran - yes he went through 5 liters in just under 3 days - you can figure out how many diapers we have gone through if he's drinking so much. It was pouring as usual so we had the very large gold umbrella that the hotel lent us on our way out. Santosh was holding Kieran in the Baby Bjorn and Kieran was holding the umbrella with both hands as they walked - he always has to do what we do.

When we got to the store, Santosh closed up the umbrella and Kieran grabbed it. Santosh must have lost track of what had happened and a few minutes later, we realized that Kieran had been carrying this huge umbrella for quite a long time in the store. This little guy is very strong for a 7 month old - that umbrella was very big and bulky - about 36 inches long and it was no problem for him. Of course when we saw this and thought it was so cute - we tried to get him to do it again. He refused to do it again and I'm sure everyone around us thought we were nuts for trying to get this infant to carry a family size umbrella for us.

Well, I'm far behind on the blog - lots of stories to catch up on but when Kieran falls asleep - we hit the deck. We fall asleep immediately knowing it will be a very short time until he's up again and running around.

More info to follow tomorrow.

Jen

Quick post

Hey,
Well, we found a cafe with wi-fi. Kind of in a rush (story of our lives now.) Just wanted to say all is well. Kieran is a wonderful little guy. Very inquisitive and energetic. He is reaching for everything - almost took out the lamp at the concierge desk and picked up loose candy at the market. When he's in the carrier, we can't see him well but we'll find odd things in his hand that he's picked up along the way.

He's eating every 2-3 hours. Someone who traveled a month ago said her daughter was always hungry and Kieran is definitely the same. He cannot get enough food!!! Actually he only likes to eat a little at a time. So that's a lot of bottles and a lot of diaper changes since everything is a little at a time. Still sleeps only a few hours at a time. We hope when we can get him on a schedule, it will get a bit easier.

So we will have to share our amusing stories with our next post.

All is well here in Ho Chi Minh City and we had our Immigration Interview with the woman who is notorious for being tough. She actually wasn't too tough on us and we are happy it is behind us. The medical exam is also over and the dr was great - he spent time in Atlanta at the CDC so we had a lot to talk about.

Keiran's teething issue is still a problem but the high fever is gone. He has suffered from heat rash but we are trying to work on that as well. It is just unbelievably hot and these babies sweat so much. I'm handling the heat a lot better than I thought I would but it is tough on us - very tiring and a bit frustrating that we always look and feel sweaty.

Kieran is really an incredible kid. So much bigger and smarter than we expected. I cannot say enough about the Red Cross Orphanage. Obviously they took very good care of him (I think they held him TOO much - he refuses to be let down unless two of his favorite toys are around. Those "toys" are electrical cords or plastic bags. Obviously we don't keep them around but if he sees them, he just freaks and starts grabbing. I'm amazed at what trouble he can already get into. He tore the official paperwork from the gov't officials at the ceremony, tore up the receipts from the hotel as soon as they were handed to us and eats any paper product he sees.

We changed from a regular room to a suite - Kieran needed more space - what a good move. There is a swivel chair in the room and this was worth the cost of the suite on its own. Santosh and I are both struggling with sore backs since we can never sit down while Kieran is awake (so that would be about 18 -20 hours a day). So we are taking turns pushing each other around the room with him or swinging it around. This seems to satisfy the urge to keep moving AND has the added bonus of preventing him from getting into mischief at the same time.
Ok, off to hotel since my mom is online and said she can call us soon.

More later

He's Finally Ours!

Well, it's been a wonderful 24 hours (and of course - very exhausting too.) What a great way to spend our 3rd wedding anniversary.

Yesterday, we left around 1pm for the Giving and Receiving ceremony. It was held at a government office in a pretty small room. There were 4 families (16 people total with the babies), plus two gov't officials, a judge, the orphanage director and Quoc from VORF. It was a very tight squeeze.

It was essentially just lots of paperwork we needed to sign to complete the process and make everything official. The nannies from the orphanage brought the babies in and we could see it was tough for them. They've been caring for the babies for 6-7 months so they have really bonded with these babies.

I'm so glad we were able to meet Kieran the day before - it would have been nearly impossible to concentrate if this had been the first time we met him. Luckily all the babies were really easy going. Kieran loved the toys we brought and Santosh secured the teething toy to Kieran with the strap from the camera (so we didn't have to keep washing everything he threw or dropped.)

The ceremony ended with us all sitting around for a long time staring at each other and eating fruit. Not really what I expected but the language barrier makes it a bit tough to do much more than that. It's hard not being able to ask the nannies what they fed Kieran or what his routine is. We just didn't have anyone to translate for us. Lots of pointing and smiling. Quoc is way too busy handling the paperwork and he was serving as the official translator. We do have one person on our trip who is Vietnamese and she is a great help to us since very few of the people we encouner at the hotel or orphanage speak English.

Santosh and Kieran both snoozed on the way back. Kieran fell asleep again as soon as we got to the hotel. We went for a swim after Kieran's nap yesterday and Kieran really loved the pool. It is heated (to the point of being too warm) and is very relaxing. So far, Kieran seemed fine and all was going well. He was even excited for his bath. Soon after, it became obvious that his teething problems were more serious than we thought. (I'm still wondering what the heck the nannies gave Kieran to keep him so calm during the G&R. He was clearly suffering.) He had a high fever and was in a lot of pain last night. We gave him teething gel and Motrin and it helped a bit but he was just so miserable. He had these sad little cries and just wouldn't settle down unless we were carrying him around the room.
He refused to take a bottle but was very excited for some baby food that I had so I guess that's his introduction to baby food. So far - it's a hit.

Today was also pretty tough - Kieran napped a bit but has been pretty sick. Motrin, Tylenol and teething gel just wasn't enough and his fever was very high.

When we decided to add the Tylenol, we realized that we didn't know how much to give without his weight. Santosh ran out to weigh him and I stayed here to find a dosage chart online. Thank God for Google.

Santosh came back 20 minutes later. Apparently 7 people from the hotel were running around with him trying to help. People from the spa found people from the bar who brought people from the gift shop to translate and then someone had a vegetable scale!

So he's 16.5 pounds - a bit bigger than we thought. As far as length - he seems to be OK but he definitely needs to gain some weight. I think he lost some weight in the hospital last month and probably more during these teething episodes.

In the end, the fever just wouldn't break and he was screaming way too much. A doctor came to the hotel to examine him and it appears it probably is just teething and he'll have to tough it out with what we've been giving him. Strangely, his fever didn't go down until we went in the pool today for a little while (even though the pool is very heated!) He of course wouldn't sleep in the room but was out like a light once he hit the pool. Trust me - we are ready to go back at 3am to the pool if necessary to get him to sleep tonight too.

Well, we are leaving the Sandy Beach Hotel tomorrow. I will miss the pool and the beach but not the hotel (more on that later and why I think the South Beach diet is dead. The Sandy Beach diet is where it's at. Four days here and our clothes are falling off of us. Luckily, Kieran distracts us from the hunger. The hotel is the ONLY game in town it seems so we can eat their stale food or go without. We've mostly gone without.)

I'm trying to post photos but since my view of all of this is only in Vietnamese - I don't know if I can figure it out. Last time we guessed, we deleted our posts.

Tomorrow we head to the Duxton in Ho Chi Minh. We hear it's pretty average BUT is the best location. I'll do anything right now just to be able to eat something. We hear Vietnamese food is great but the Sandy Beach hotel is desperately trying to keep that a secret.

We met Kieran yesterday

What a cutie he is! When we walked into the room, he was sitting by himself with his nanny. Of course I was trying to play it cool and not hold him right away. I wanted him to get used to us first. Well, that lasted all of 15 seconds. As soon as Santosh came in, he scooped him right up. He was very easy going and happy to play with the few toys we brought or just to gab my hair (Santosh encouraged that since hair pulling is clearly not something Kieran can do to Santosh!)

Kieran was bigger than I thought he'd be but it seems he's probably going to fit into most 6 month clothes. Now as far as shoes are concerned, we are going to have a problem. I've never seen baby feet like his before. We always noticed that he had long toes in photos but in person we noticed that his feet in general are just huge. He should definitely be able to balance on those things fairly soon.

At one point, the nanny handed Santosh a bottle for Kieran. He grabbed the bottle from Santosh and started gulping down that bottle as fast as he could. We'll definitely have to work on that. He shouldn't be so self sufficient at that age. It was kind of sad seeing the really young babies feed themselves or have bottle propped up for them rather than having someone feed them. Overall, the nannies seem to do their best and seem to really care about the babies. I think the G&R ceremony today will be very sad for them when they have to hand over the 4 babies.

We left while the babies napped so we could buy more donations for the orphanage and some food for the nannies. Now I know why they are so desperate for chocolate. I searched every corner of the store for chocolate. Lots of other candy but not one single chocolate bar. I guess when I saw all the same candy I lugged over from the US in the stores in Ho Chi Minh City, I thought it was easy to get. Definitely not the case in Danang so I'm glad I have some to give them. I wish I had more for them and I'm definitely in withdrawal myself.

We snuck back into the orphanage for a few minutes after we returned from the store. We dropped off some diapers for him and an outfit for the ceremony. I also wanted to get some Benadryl cream on his bug bites. His skin looks pretty good overall but he seems to have some heat rash and bug bites that hopefully will get better soon. We just switched hotel rooms to one that has working air conditioning. The hotel is not air conditioned except for the bedrooms. Our first room was very hot and I didn't realize the unit was broken. I thought all the rooms were like that - equipped with an AC unit that made it slightly cooler but still uncomfortably hot.

All I can say is that the AC unit we had compares to a real AC unit like an EZ bake oven compares to a real oven. It makes an effort and lots of lights went on but not much happened. Kieran will hopefully be a lot more comfortable in the new room. He has a crib that the hotel just delivered for us too.

Well, we are off to the G&R. We will finally be able to post his photo later today.

On our way to Danang

Well, the Novatel wasn't exactly luxurious, but since it was only one night, it was tolerable. It's supposed to be a 4 star hotel but any hotel that has those hangers where the hook stays on the rod (so you won't steal them) gets one star taken away in my book. Add to that, the hair dryer that is attached to the drawer under the TV and I'm taking another star away for that too.

Santosh had to remove the drawer so I could get to a mirror but then the drawer was dangling from the hairdryer. In the end, I blew out all the fuses with my American hairdryer so none of it mattered anyway.

So we are on our way to the Sandy Beach hotel near the orphanage and hopefully we will get to see Kieran in the morning. Lots of gifts and donations to sort out but then we will be one suitcase lighter (but one baby heavier of course!)

So, hopefully we have internet access there but we may also be a bit busy so we'll see how our communication goes.

We are in Ho Chi Minh City

We are in Vietnam !!

Landed in Ho Chi Minh City tonight. We are staying at a hotel close to the airport in anticipation of our trip to Da Nang tomorrow afternoon. Unfortunately we will only arrive in Da Nang tomorrow evening. This will prevent us from seeing Kieran until Monday. Being that close to him but not being able to see him will be extremely difficult.

The hotel is ok but a huge adjustment from the Sheraton in Bangkok. Anyway we had no problems getting through customs and passport control. What was surprising for us was the number of people waiting at international arrivals. There must have been about 250 people in a huge semi-circle outside of the arrivals door. The semi-circle of people was four to five people deep at times and walking out to a mob of that scale was pretty intimidating.

More soon.

We're in Bangkok!!!

Well, after a scary trip to the airport through serious flooding, we are finally here. Four hours on the runway waiting to take off didn't seem that bad because we felt we were on our way. (Of course add that to the almost 18 hour flight and it becomes frustrating but Thai Airways was pretty good and I was so grateful we upgraded and had a bit more space)

We're really exhausted but hopefully will have a productive day tomorrow and see as much of Bangkok as we can.

We see Kieran in 3 days!

On our way to somewhere in Vietnam

We head out tomorrow morning. Still handling lots of last minute things. It never seems to end. We always need one more thing. The suitcases are not full so at least we have space for any purchases made during our three day layover in Bangkok.

We gave Durban a bath on Sunday hoping he'd be all set and of course he's rolled around in deer or fox droppings every time I've let him out. So that's three baths in three days for a dog who really despises them. . . I guess I am no longer worried that he's going to miss me all that much while we're away. He definitely senses that we are up to something and has been on his best behavior (other than his rolling around in a variety of droppings but that's just too hard to resist I guess.)

No word from our agency on where we will be staying, so for anyone who needs to reach us -
our contact info for the next month is:

Jennifer, Santosh (and Kieran too)
Vietnam

Hopefully we'll get some info soon but it's likely we'll just have to try to find someone from our agency at the airport and figure it out (that seems to be what most people have had to do.)

Almost on our way

Well, we will be on our way to the airport in 48 hours. I'm enjoying reading the blogs of others who are over in Vietnam and we are getting really excited to finally go and meet our little guy.

I'm also planning some fun things to do during our brief layover in Bangkok. We'll have only a few days to check it out so we will have to be efficient. Anyone who has every been to Disney World with me (where I really kick it into high gear) knows my motto that vacations are for the mind, not the body. Santosh may mock my drill sergeant act, but he's very good at going along with it. (Kieran, on the other hand, may not appreciate it so we'll have to tone it down once we get to Vietnam. We won't get to see as much as we'd like but that's not the point of the trip anyway.)

Santosh and Durban spent the weekend getting the toys ready for Kieran - particularly the inflatable toys like the bathtub duck and the baby pool. We needed to use the pool to give Durban a bath outside after he jumped in the bay on Sunday. This morning, Durban had some choice words (non dog owners call these barks) for the pool. Though Durban seems to love water, bath time is definitely not his favorite activity. I'm glad to see that he's only holding a grudge against the pool and not me.

Santosh also installed the car seat Saturday. Durban, of course, was of no help. He occasionally jumped up to see what was going on since he considers the car (and especially the back seat) to be his. He stretched out across the entire back seat on the drive up to New York so I think he's going to be a little frustrated that he has to share on the way back.

Durban is not yet grasping that the baby toys aren't for him. I showed him a toy last week that had a large mirror on it. Once he positioned himself in front of the mirror, his tail started to wag like crazy. I guess he considers himself to be rather handsome. Durban also watched where we put the toys and goes back to get them later when we are distracted. He almost destroyed Kieran's boo boo bunny ice pack just moments after it was put away.

I spent the weekend trying to figure out what to pack for Kieran. Luckily I can only select from the clothes that I brought to New York so my options are limited. It's so hard to tell what size he will be. Kieran was 7 months old yesterday but many of the babies from his orphanage are his age or older and still wearing 3-6 month size clothing. We hear he is fairly chubby but it doesn't really seem that way in his photos. (By the way, we will be posting lots of photos of Kieran after the Giving and Receiving (G&R) ceremony on July 23rd or 24th.)

As far as packing for us, Santosh and I have acquired new wardrobes for the trip - none of it coming close to stylish. (Much of it ironically with "Made in Vietnam" tags.) We needed clothes that were light weight and washable in the hotel sinks. Footwear is limited to what is comfortable to wear when we go out and walk all day. Therefore, I'm formally requesting that photos of me only start from the ankles up. All other shots are at risk of being confiscated (pay attention Molly and Brenda.) Everyone should pretend I'm wearing something cute on my feet until maybe I can Photoshop a nice sandal onto the photo later on and erase all visual evidence that there were ever Tevas on my feet.

Well, back to packing. Santosh is making one last minute trip to Detroit before we leave - he arrives back in NY about 14 hours before we head back to the airport and start our adventure!