The Hanoi Story--Part 1

Only parents of constipated children will understand our relief that CN finally pooped this morning. Even the non-medically informed writer of this post knew that 3+ days w/o pooping is worrisome. (Not that I'm asking for a poll or anyone to submit their own poop-related anecdotes).

Now that the important news of the day is, shall we say, disposed of, on to our activities in Hanoi. First, the weather reports were wrong. It is not sunny and in the low 80s. It is cool (though not unreasonable--from the perspective of a Pennsylvanian--for Nov.) and windy. Reminds me of Columbus in winter. HCMC, BT, and VL were sultry even with clouds and mild temps. So with help from more friends of the friend (see VL post--see I can do citations even while blogging), we went shopping last night to get CN a winter coat and hat. Hopefully we'll now be able to spend more time outdoors as he loves to watch all the action on the street.

We're staying in the "old town" district--a maze of narrow streets filled with shops. Until recently cars and scooters were not allowed--only rickshaws and pedestrians. They should have kept the old rules. European "old town" districts have boulevards compared to these streets. We thought the traffic in HCMC was choatic; here its the same amount of traffic but it's funneled through a straw. The noise also is considerable at night with everyone honking, music blaring, people eating their meals on the sidewalks--but we're new parents--we can sleep through anything except a crying child. Actually CN has been a great sleeper. He wakes up a couple of times a night and cries because he doesn't know where he is, but falls back to sleep within minutes after we comfort him.

The view is great from the balcony of our room. And a famous lake at the center of the city is only a few blocks away. We plan to walk down there this afternoon. We'll skip the ice cream once we arrive, I think...

We arrived in Hanoi on Friday afternoon. We were supposed to have arrived in the AM, but our flight was delayed twice in HCMC. No matter, we didn't have to catch a connecting flight. And we had business class tickets, which not only provided better seats and better service, but a posh waiting area in the airport. I wish business class tickets in the US cost $160 two days before the flight! The Hanoi airport is quite a distance from the city. (This seems the perfect place for a sarcastic observation, but I've got nothing at the moment. I'm losing it already!)

Once we arrived, E went to submit the passport application for CN. I expected the passport office to have long lines and much order and discipline. The lines weren't long, in part because there weren't lines. You just push your way to the front and try desparately to get an official to take your papers, make eye contact with you, and commit to doing something with the papers, while fending off others who are trying to nudge ahead of you. The stereotypical New Yorkers and Philadelphians are class acts compared to this this. Fortunately, our guide from the agency did the elbowing with petitioners and jawboning of officials for us, as I would have been way too cautious and polite for that environment.

Reflections on CN: I'm really impressed with how well he's doing. Fortunately, we were well prepared by other couples who have adopted toddlers regarding what to expect. He needs constant attention; he particularly likes to be carried constantly. We make lots of laps of the hallway outside our room. He seems a bit more willing to walk on his own yesterday and today. Let's hope that trend continues. I'm hoping that his desire to keep moving and seeing things means that he'll be a good hiker; but I'm clearly getting ahead of myself as that would actually require walking. He is good at helping us get him dressed. Getting him to sleep in his own room when we return to NC will be difficult. He's eating very well. He likes beef noodles, yogurt, rice, orange and mango juice, chom-choms, bananas, cantalopes, eggs, toast, and various kiddie snacks. Just about everything we've given him to try, in fact. But not formula, which, as T has indicated, was the staple of his diet in the care center. He demands any spills or pieces of stray food or random objects on the floor be cleaned up immediately before he continues with the task. (Argh, that sounds like a lot of housekeeping work!) I'm sure this comes from the nannies who cleaned up immediately because babies who don't wear diapers are creating lots of messes on the floor where others are playing. He only allows one type food on his plate at a time and does not alternate eating and drinking--the rule appears to be that he deals with one item at a time (perhaps casseroles are out the the question; I would starve! Perhaps this is an extreme version of T's unwillingness to eat any veggie other than peas.) He gets lots of attention in the lobby of the hotel, as many people--both Westerners and natives--ask about him. He doesn't seem to mind the attention, but prefers moving along to standing and gabbing (good boy!). Oh, and did I mention, he now poops!