We're home!

Here are some pictures of Hanoi's outskirts as we drove to the airport.

The red river.

A pretty church in a small town outside of Hanoi.

Madeleine's last few minutes in Vietnam.

Playing in the Hello Kitty baby room in the Taipei airport.

Playing on the Hello Kitty playground (which is now clean) in the Taipei airport.

We made it home Thursday night. I knew the trip might be long for all of us but wow -- it was tough and I'm SO happy we're home! Madeleine was incredibly tired and her teeth were really bothering her. On both the Taipei-Seattle and the Minneapolis-Chicago flights, Carol (my step-mom) was the only one who could console her -- thank goodness someone could!

Madeleine right before we went to Immigration.

When we got to Seattle, we went through the non-citizen line to drop off Madeleine's paperwork. I thought she'd be a citizen when we both arrived with her. However, the immigration officer said, she is actually a permanent resident and that she is eligible for citizenship. So we need to file an N-600 form to receive the actual certificate of citizenship and change her status from permanent resident to citizen. The immigration officer seemed to think it would be fine to wait 6-weeks until we change Madeleine's name to file the new paperwork - so that's what we'll do.

Playing in the hotel in Seattle.

First car seat trip.

The ride from the airport in the car seat went incredibly well. Madeleine thought is was a little strange but I think having her brother next to her helped. 

I have forgotten (blissfully) how messy a toddler is. :) Madeleine immediately pulled all 52 letter magnets off the refrigerator. 
Our first full day home we just unpacked and tried to recuperate from jetlag. Madeleine is overall doing well. Her sleep schedule is off like the rest of ours. Thursday night she went to bed at 9 pm and got up at 4 am. Friday night she went to bed at 9 pm again but was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at 2:30 am. Isn't this the wrong direction? :) Eric's parents arrive from TX tomorrow afternoon and Eric leaves for Switzerland for a 1-week conference Sunday. Life keeps going and Madeleine will settle into our family life soon I think.

We're headed home

This is our last night in Hanoi. Madeleine had a really bad teething day - so sorry no new pictures from today. Here's a typical picture of Madeleine though from Sunday. It will be good for us and hopefully good for Madeleine to be home soon. We leave Wed at 12:50 pm and arrive in Seattle technically at 7:00 pm (still Wed). Then we'll arrive in Minneapolis by late evening Thursday. Thanks for all of you who have followed our trip in Vietnam and sent us all good wishes. We really appreciate all the love and support.

Eric and Dad went to the perfume pagoda about 60 km outside of Hanoi. I'll leave you with some pictures from their trip. They took a van 2 hours outside of town and then a 1.5 hr row boat to arrive at the base of the trail leading up to the pagoda.

The perfume pagoda in a cave (there's more behind but no cameras were allowed).

Looking back at the tram down the mountain from the platform.

Out and About

Yesterday Madeleine looked so American in her shorts and shirt. She mostly wears 9 month clothes (she's 17 months - 19 lbs) but I was able to pull 8 button holes in on her adjustable 12-18 month shorts.

Taking the bow out of her hair. Many think she is a boy so I thought the bows might help but I can't keep one in her hair for more than 20 seconds - it's too much fun taking them out.

We did get sunglasses on her for a few minutes before they came off too.

We have discovered that if we go out after Madeleine's nap (~3 pm), we can walk around a bit, then go to an early dinner (~5 pm) when the restaurants are empty and Madeleine stays in a good mood for the whole trip. Yesterday we took a cab to the Old Quarter on the other side of Hoan Kiem lake.
Then we went to dinner at Garden Vuon (36 Hang Manh). Here's Andrew with the restaurant lion. It looks kind of like an alley from the outside but its really quite nice inside. (FYI - the bathrooms are also nice.) We had tons of very good food including fried noodle dishes, a wonderful sauteed chicken with pears, lots of freshly made juices (tomato, mango) and wonderful spring rolls.
When we walked back to our hotel, St. Joseph's Cathedral was letting out of church (~7:30 pm) from celebrating Feast of the Assumption. The church was just packed full of people. We took a short cut through the church grounds to get back to the hotel. As soon as we exited the church compound, we happened upon a bunch of people (~200) standing singing to the Virgin Mary. It was really quite cool.

This morning, Dad and Madeleine actually sat next to each other. They also passed a hotel key card back and forth. So there's progress on the non-Dad male front.

Another Quiet Day

Today while I went to Big C to stock up on baby-related items, Eric et al. went to the pool/sand box. The pavement was very hot and the kids didn't have their sandals on. Madeleine was upset about the hot pavement so Dad went and scooped her up -- she didn't cry! She has this thing with men (except Eric because he feeds her). We've had Madeleine now 12 days and she generally won't look at Dad and won't eat when he is in the room. she is slowly getting used to him but it is a very slow process.

So all you male family members here's a warning, when we get home -- Madeleine may scream, cry, bury her head, arch her back and generally get incredibly upset when she sees you. Try not to take offense. :( You might have to move out of the room until she gets used to you. As she adjusts to life in the US and attaches more to us, I am hopeful this part will get better.

On a bright note, Andrew is learning how to swim and will even jump off the side of the pool. He still doesn't like getting his head wet but we are making progress in that area. By the time we leave Wed, I am hoping he might dunk his head under. :)

We have had such a wonderful time here. I am sad that we are leaving so soon. Aaaah, we will have to come back when Madeleine is older.

Some of you emailed and asked what it's like here. Here are some pictures of Hanoi. Also, you can't see it but everyone here walks slowly because of the heat. I felt like such an American walking fast. Also in a store, count on at least 4 people helping you at the same time. Dad and I went to a little french bakery around the corner. There was 1 person behind the counter getting our desired baked goods out of the display. There were 2 people who would tell the person behind the counter what I wanted - in unison (interpreting the number of fingers I held up and what I pointed to) and there were 2 people checking me out when I paid. :)

We have a visa!

This morning we went to the US Embassy Annex, about 20 minutes from our hotel, for Madeleine's visa interview. It was kind of surreal because here we were with a room full of about 20 other couples and their Vietnamese kids. Our names were called and we went into a little room. She asked a few off-handed questions (like, "How is she doing?" "How was everything in Danang?") and then she said we could pick up Madeleine's visa at 2 pm (the same day). 

Our Holt staff person gave us a brown envelope with Madeleine's birth certificate, the Adoption Decree and the G&R Minutes with English translations. We'll use these for the recognition of adoption in Missouri when Madeleine will officially change her name, etc.

When Eric went to pick up Madeleine's visa, he was also given some large yellow envelope that we're supposed to hand to the immigration officials when we get to Seattle. Interestingly Madeleine's visa says that when endorsed, she will be a permanent resident for a year (to give us time to receive her Certificate of Citizenship in the mail, etc.).

Andrew and Madeleine are getting along well. Today Madeleine thought it was funny to rub Andrew's head. She's a very physical kid and Andrew got a little rough with her (accidentally rolling on her head). Amazingly Madeleine was not phased at all!  She would easily walk off the side of a bed or lunge off someone's lap without another thought. So we will have to keep a close eye on her and be very serious about the baby proofing!

Pictures and the Little Fish

Madeleine in one of her favorite positions.

Madeleine getting into the diaper bag.

Eric decided he just had to try snake soaked in rice wine (it's a common apothecary).

Eric's reaction.

Then Dad and Eric had to try it together. They didn't die but it sure stank!

Andrew in front of a tank at the Military History Museum.

Madeleine swimming.

Yes. She has her face in the water. She thinks she's a fish.

OK - let's try this.

"Swimming"

Dr appt, VN passport and such

Yesterday, Madeleine's Vietnamese passport was ready to be picked up. Our Holt staff member picked us up in the Holt van and we went to the VN passport office then the SOS International Clinic for Madeleine's immigration check-up. The part where the female nurse took her temperature, etc. went well but the part where the male doctor was in the same room with her did not go well. After a lot of screaming, he did determine that she is healthy. We also picked up some extra Tylenol because her teething is really bad. 

When we left the clinic, I thought our traffic situation was really funny because our van had to go take a left turn into traffic to get back to the hotel. We were perpendicular to 5 lanes of honking motorbikes/taxis for a good 60 seconds before anyone would let our driver into the lane he needed. :)

Today we went to the National Art Museum. It is across the street from The Temple of Literature. The art museum has two buildings and there's a certain path you're supposed to take from the basement floor to the top of the first building and then again floor 1-3 on the 2nd building.  I liked the older silk paintings and the buddha sculptures the best.

Madeleine is taking a nap now on a twin-sized mattress on the floor in Andrew's room. We had been cosleeping with her in the king-sized bed but she managed to kick Eric out of bed and hog 2/3 of it. She still requires one of us to snuggle for 30-60 minutes with her before she'll fall asleep but she's transitioned fine (surprisingly) to the mattress on the floor.

The rest of the crew is out visiting the Military History Museum with the camera and internet is funny right now but I'll post more pictures when they get back.

Water Puppets and Sign Language

Yesterday we spent the day around Hoan Kiem lake and then walked over to the North end of the lake to buy tickets for the Water Puppet show. We got 1st class tickets (front few rows) for the 4 pm show. It was really a wonderful show. The puppetiers have puppets attached to sticks that they wave in the water to make the puppets move. It was about an hour show. Madeleine slept through it -- which was good so we could enjoy the show -- and Andrew loved it.

These last 2 days we've had some major break throughs with Madeleine. Yesterday, when she was eating, she signed for more food. Today she signed "more" and said "more" -- so yeah we can communicate!! Her appetite has also really increased. She now takes 8-10 oz. of bottle plus regular food. Madeleine doesn't seem to prefer one of us over the other and we're able to interchange our roles pretty easily. We were just talking last night about what an amazing transformation we've had in our relationship in just 1 week. Below is the infamous towel -- Eric jokes that it has opium in it.

A Quiet Day

Yesterday we just stayed in. The trip to see Uncle Ho was a little much for everyone. There's a nice indoor playground and lots of other families adopting (from both US and Ireland). Other than that we just stayed in our room and played in hotel apartment.

We got a little over zealous in the food department too and she developed a large rash on her torso. So we're back to baby fruits & veggies, yogurt, a little fruity porridge and formula. Madeleine is teething (molars) and we're half way through our Tylenol supply. We got some baby biscuits (Hipp) from the grocery store downstairs in the mall. It took two of us to pry them out of her hands long enough to pay for them.

Andrew is having a good time playing with Madeleine. They mostly play hide and seek/peek-a-boo. He is still having some adjustment issues sharing toys and attention. He's said he "misses Little Abby" at day care at least twice a day. I think with time they will begin to play better and more often together.

Uncle Ho and Family Rough Housing

This morning we all dressed in long pants and short-sleeved shirts to go see Uncle Ho. Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum is just 1.5 km from our hotel. It was a really long line but it moved very quickly. Soon we were ushered in two-by-two to see Ho Chi Minh's embalmed body. It was kind of scary honestly just because we didn't quite know all the rules were supposed to follow and there were kind of foreboding guards. So very cool to see Uncle Ho but we enjoyed the rest of the compound with a more relaxed feeling. We visited the Presidential Palace and the little house on stilts he lived in during the 1950s.

Madeleine is doing extremely well. She is warming up to Grandpa Denis. Today he got his 2nd smile. Eric has been able to feed her and she is in general in a very good mood even  though we're out sight seeing. She doesn't seem know quite what to do with most food/drink. We've noticed we have to take a bite ourselves and then she'll eat it.

Hanoi quite honestly still feels very hot and humid to me even though technically this is the way MN or MO summers can be. Maybe its psychological but it does seem more humid. We all are dripping in sweat from just walking at a slow pace 1 mile or so.