When I threatened to incorporate references to 11 American movies in my next post, I really wasn't serious. Nevertheless, it is really appropriate to get two out of the way at the outset. C was playing Superman tonight. After three flights around the room, the result was the projectile vomiting scene from Stand By Me. All over T. It's good it was on her--for the obvious reason that it wasn't on me and, as a nurse, she is capable of being barfed on w/o returning fire in kind. Plus, she was egging us on by yelling "again, again." I had long since forgotten my mother constantly telling my Dad to cool it with the Superman routine or we'd barf. Oh well. Score one for Mom. (Yes, I know she'll never let me forget I wrote that; nor will she ever let Grandpa play Superman w/ C. C's loss.)
BTW: For all you Weather Channel junkies out there: Yes, we know there is a typhoon off the coast of VN; rest assured (though you won't because you're watching the weather channel), that it is nowhere near us. Do not; I repeat, DO NOT, call the US consulate asking them to track us down as the mother of one of the other families did.
Today we visited the US consulate for our I-600 interview, to determine our legal eligibility to adopt C and bring him w/ us into the US. It largely went fine though, surprise, surprise, we need to get some minor paperwork attesting that we are capable of handling a 26 month old rather than merely a 24 month old. I've forgotten my Piaget (obviously, since Piaget would say that dates aren't terribly relevant in child development. But it's such cool name and I don't remember what any of the others said either, so I'm using it anyway for name dropping), so I don't know the critical difference between the two, but its really all about the paperwork. We were both pleasantly surprised that C sat quietly throughout the interview on T's lap w/o demanding to "go." On our way out of the consulate, I stopped by the bathroom. T was carrying C, and I could hear C yelling "Ba, Ba" (Dad) at me from the hallway. Touching.
T and I have been trading baby patrol days as our gastrointestinal fortitudes have been compromised. It hit me first, then hit T, then came back to me. At this writing, we're both good (though only for half of the day for E). Thankfully, it hasn't hit both of us simultaneously or C at all (since his puking was induced by Kryponite). The lack of a post yesterday was thus due to my health issues and T's exhaustion from full time C and E duty. Having a nurse in the family comes in handy--free labor! (I was made to write that--no offense to all nurses reading this post.)
Yesterday we traveled first to Hoa Lu, a 10th century capitol of VN. The main attraction was the pagodas. We're unsure if they are the originals or reconstructions on the original site. One gets a lot less out of a tour guide's presentation with a two year old in tow. Thanks to C, we know the VN word for "go" sounds like "dee." We heard it a lot. He was fascinated by the water buffalo.
Our next stop was Tam Coc, where we took a sampan ride (similar to a row boat) on a river, through three grottoes/tunnels. Two natives did the rowing; on some boats, the rear rower rowed w/ his/her feet. The scenery was fantastic and the ride relaxing until the rowers started pestering us to buy merchandise from them. Our tour guide forewarned us about this, so it was the repetitiveness that became annoying. E took a cue from the natives, however, and snapped a couple of pictures of another family in their boat, and then demanded $2 US for the pictures. C stayed quiet and enjoyed the views throughout, but didn't want Mama to loosen her grip! Among other things, he enjoyed seeing the mountain goats. (Goat was served as one of the courses for lunch; it tastes like lamb, not surprisingly. T refused to try it.) We'll try to include a couple of photos from this voyage on the blog.
C progress report:
BTW: For all you Weather Channel junkies out there: Yes, we know there is a typhoon off the coast of VN; rest assured (though you won't because you're watching the weather channel), that it is nowhere near us. Do not; I repeat, DO NOT, call the US consulate asking them to track us down as the mother of one of the other families did.
Today we visited the US consulate for our I-600 interview, to determine our legal eligibility to adopt C and bring him w/ us into the US. It largely went fine though, surprise, surprise, we need to get some minor paperwork attesting that we are capable of handling a 26 month old rather than merely a 24 month old. I've forgotten my Piaget (obviously, since Piaget would say that dates aren't terribly relevant in child development. But it's such cool name and I don't remember what any of the others said either, so I'm using it anyway for name dropping), so I don't know the critical difference between the two, but its really all about the paperwork. We were both pleasantly surprised that C sat quietly throughout the interview on T's lap w/o demanding to "go." On our way out of the consulate, I stopped by the bathroom. T was carrying C, and I could hear C yelling "Ba, Ba" (Dad) at me from the hallway. Touching.
T and I have been trading baby patrol days as our gastrointestinal fortitudes have been compromised. It hit me first, then hit T, then came back to me. At this writing, we're both good (though only for half of the day for E). Thankfully, it hasn't hit both of us simultaneously or C at all (since his puking was induced by Kryponite). The lack of a post yesterday was thus due to my health issues and T's exhaustion from full time C and E duty. Having a nurse in the family comes in handy--free labor! (I was made to write that--no offense to all nurses reading this post.)
Yesterday we traveled first to Hoa Lu, a 10th century capitol of VN. The main attraction was the pagodas. We're unsure if they are the originals or reconstructions on the original site. One gets a lot less out of a tour guide's presentation with a two year old in tow. Thanks to C, we know the VN word for "go" sounds like "dee." We heard it a lot. He was fascinated by the water buffalo.
Our next stop was Tam Coc, where we took a sampan ride (similar to a row boat) on a river, through three grottoes/tunnels. Two natives did the rowing; on some boats, the rear rower rowed w/ his/her feet. The scenery was fantastic and the ride relaxing until the rowers started pestering us to buy merchandise from them. Our tour guide forewarned us about this, so it was the repetitiveness that became annoying. E took a cue from the natives, however, and snapped a couple of pictures of another family in their boat, and then demanded $2 US for the pictures. C stayed quiet and enjoyed the views throughout, but didn't want Mama to loosen her grip! Among other things, he enjoyed seeing the mountain goats. (Goat was served as one of the courses for lunch; it tastes like lamb, not surprisingly. T refused to try it.) We'll try to include a couple of photos from this voyage on the blog.
C progress report:
He is operating a bit more independently from us, especially in the hotel room. Today for the first time, he walked/toddler-ran up and down the hotel cooridor rather than being carried. He began responding to us calling him C rather than N or CN. T had a VN version of a Hazelnut Frappacino; C didn't like the first sip, then proceeded to drink about half of it (on top of his own full glass of OJ). Before dinner, we visited another family. C started by feeding Cheerios to his friend D, but soon resorted to eating as many as possible before D could get them. (OK, let's do the math: 1/2 a Hazelnut Frappe, one OJ, 3 or 4 bowls worth of Cheerios. That's the real reason he puked! I'm feeling a lot better about it anyway! I suspect, however, that this will have no effect on Grandma's willingness to allow Grandpa to play Superman--though nothing ever stopped him in the past.)
1 comment:
E&T:
Looking at your pictures with your son brought me back to the days when I first had Gwen. It just made me cry. There will be days when things are crazy and you don't feel good, but you have your child! He will love you forever.
Martha
P.S. Kiss your son for me, too!
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