Livin the good life......

Can anybody else see the determined look in his eyes??


This is SO OK!

Our breakfast just got delivered to the room. Hot Vietnamese coffee, fried eggs, crusty french baguette. Zee slept 10 hours and so did his mom and dad. He is stuffing his face with rice cereal, baguette and fresh mango. There is a knock at the door, and.....oh....our laundry is delivered nicely folded....ahhhhhhh.....the good life. Doesn't get any better than this. Then it hits me, that we think this is hard, being new parents with the ups and downs( 2 hour screaming fits because he does not want to go to sleep, combined with the sweetness of opening your arms and asking for your little boy to come to mama and dada, and he runs to you). I have to go home and learn to do my own laundry again and cook our meals and not have anyone make my bed anymore. REALITY CHECK. HOW DOES ANYONE DO THIS??? We have come to realize how amazing all of you mommies and daddies are, and Scott and I have truly realized how lucky we are to have had great parents.

Hanoi is a beautiful city. There is a lake we walk to every day and have lunch. The Old Quarter surrounds the lake with alley ways and markets that feel just like Europe. The buildings are French colonial, as the French were here for 100 years. The quiche lorraine is excellent, along with the baguette. A few French staples left behind. We have met many adoptive couples with their babies walking the city too, which is so nice to here their stories. The Vietnamese men and women stop us on the street and want to touch and play with Zee. We must look pretty odd and it entertains them to no end. Even the school children stop us and want to see the sleeping baby and say hello. Today we will follow Ziens lead and let him sleep on us for hours , we will ride in the bike cart around the lake and introduce him to more moving things. We will play soccer in the park with the big kids, as he really likes the older kids that play ball with him. Last night after dinner he said his first word, other than mama and dada. He said "ights", for lights. There are twinkle lights in the trees outside the restaurant we like and we point to them and say the word lights. The way I say it to him has a raised up tone at the end of the word, almost like asking a question, and he repeated the same tone and said it, as he pointed at the lights...........smart little kiddo. As I am writing this, he is putting Scotts phone into the laundry basket. Scotty just told me we have a new concern. Lost items..........

The video clip is a demo of how to cross the road. They do not stop for you, even if there are red traffic lights, or a cross walk. So, you hide in the 'shadow' of another vehicle/person, preferably a local that knows what they are doing. I am carrying precious cargo, in the 'shadow' of Shauna, and the bike. The traffic was not busy on this occasion, so we got a bit of a break, plus we didnt want to 'create concern'. Night time is fun, staring into the headlights, hoping the riders are facing forwards and watching us. You have to be careful to not act too hastily and step into the back wheel of a scooter, don't hesitate, dont move eraticly. And no, the footpath is no safer.