A Special Friend

Nathanh has come home to a pet bunny, Scooter.  I have to say, Scooter and Nathanh were fast friends.   I started by taking Nathanh to Scooter's cage and letting Scooter come up to his hand.  Nathanh had his eyes glued on Scooter the whole time.  He pulled his hand away the first time Scooter's whiskers brushed it but after that he was just excited that Scooter could move around.  After a few more meetings divided by bars, I let Scooter out onto the carpet where Nathanh was playing.  Here are some photos of their first playtime.


Nathanh follows Scooter with his eyes wherever she goes.



Scooter checking out Nathanh.

A bit more checking and smelling.

Eye contact...I think they both like that they have someone else at their own level!

Friends

Nathanh is going to get a bunny nose kiss yet...those are my favourite!

Is it possible for a bunny to teach a baby to crawl?  If so I think that is what is going to happen here.  Nathanh is going to be so motivated to get to Scooter he is just going to start moving around after her.  And really... hopping - crawling is there much of a difference?

Meet and Greet

Nathanh has been very busy his first week in Canada.  He has been meeting new family and friends everyday.  I have to say he is being quite the sport being passed around from new face to new face but he does it with such a smile that I think he must just be enjoying all the attention!

Cuddled up with his cousin Connor.

Rockin' with Robyn

Nathanh and Nana

All smiles with Auntie Jen.

Nathanh and Auntie Joyce

Hangin' with cousin Kyle

Sean passing the torch as youngest member of the family

Nathanh and Auntie Elaine

Visiting with Uncle Colin

And there were more visits too...but somehow mommy doesn't have any more photos, perhaps the nice friends and family will email her a copy of their photos! 

Thank you to everyone who came by for a visit (or had us over).  The kind words, gifts and flowers have all been very much appreciated.

New Posts

I've added in some back dated posts that I didn't have time to do before.  Scroll down to see them.

Back at Home

The first few days home have been a blur. On Tuesday we headed to the doctor with Nathanh. He checked out well and the doctor said his heart and lungs were very strong. He has put on some weight since we got him...I thought it would have been more but at least the scales are tipping in the right direction! The doctor wants to see him again in 3 weeks just to check in on him and we also have a paediatrician appointment coming up.

After our doctor appointment Nathanh got to meet Grandpa for the first time. He was a bit shy at first, and then fell off to sleep for a 25 minute nap while my dad fixed Erwin and I lunch...gotta like being taken care of! When Nathanh woke up Nana was home and he got to be adored all over again! Nana also pulled out another new little outfit for him...I told Nathanh this Nana person would be spoiling him!

On Wednesday, Nathanh got to try out his car seat many times over. He likes his car seat...it is soft (Nathanh loves soft things) and I think he likes feeling secure in a moving vehicle after all the Hanoi taxi cabs! Every time he is in his seat he promptly goes to sleep!

Nathanh got to try out many strollers. He finally found one that he liked and that had a coffee holder for mommy. So we got it! When we put it together in the evening Nathanh was all smiles watching and was very accommodating at being put in and out while we adjusted all of the straps just right. Once it was all ready he got to go for a stroll around the kitchen...he’ll have to make do with that until the snow is gone! He is so excited when he is in it he kicks his legs and squeals with excitement. He’ll have to say a big thank you to Nana and Grandpa for buying it for him!

Today we just stayed in. The lower mainland was blanketed with snow so there was not really much reason to go out. Besides it was time for me to get busy filling out all of the paperwork I need to do.

Coming Home

Whew, I have not had time to post anything until now...and even this will be a short one.

We left Hanoi Monday morning. In the car on the way to the airport I had Nathanh in the carrier, strapped to me. Usually in a car and in the carrier he will quickly fall asleep. But it was strange he was very quiet and looked out the window for the whole 45 minute drive to the airport. I almost thought it was like he knew that this would be the last time he saw Vietnam, at least for a while. I didn’t expect it but I got rather teary too. As much as I was looking forward to coming home it was really hard to leave the place that gave me one of the greatest gifts in my life. I still get teary thinking about it.

Both Nathanh and I were fine at the airport, until it was time to board the plane then emotion swept over me again. Nathanh seemed to have come to terms with things by then as he was fast asleep in his carrier! Leaving Hong Kong was emotional too, just knowing that this part of our journey was coming to an end, a long imagined and dreamed about end.

Even now I can hardly believe it is real – except it feels so right. Here I am sitting at the computer with my baby sleeping in his room upstairs and I can watch him the whole time on the video monitor beside me. Ahh...time to breathe a sigh of relief.

Operation Pick Up Plan 2B

We kind of confused things on the home front by changing our flights.  but everyone pulled through and the pick up plan was a huge success.

My mom and sister went into our house the day before and picked up our coats and shovelled our driveway so that we could make it into the house safely!

My sister drove our vehicle with Nathanh's car seat to the airport and my mom came with my brother.  They were all waiting to see us (well Nathanh) at the gate. 

Nathanh sporting his Canada hoodie

A perfect T.E.N.

Nathanh was pretty content taking it all in while we were inside the airport. I do wish I knew what he was thinking when we walked outside to the car in the -11 weather! All I could say to him was "you ain't in Vietnam no more baby!"

Last post before Home?

From The Dad - Last leg of the flights is coming up Hong Kong to Vancouver. Nathanh did very well on the first leg, Hanoi to Hong Kong. Everywhere we stop he seems to be the main attraction including the wait after the check-in in Hanoi and going through security in Hong Kong. Now as I wait at the Hong Kong airport Tammi is taking a turn entertaining Nathanh.

Temple of Literature

On our last full day in Hanoi we managed to get out to the Temple of Literature.  Here are some photos of our little outing.

Coming Home & Bath Time

Now that we have all of the paperwork we need for Nathanh, Erwin and I are ready to head home...to snow apparently. We went to the airline ticketing office today to see about changing our flights. Our requirements were simple two seats together with a baby bassinet. We got lucky and found exactly what we wanted for Monday, Nov. 22 so we booked it on the spot!


We were the last family of our group to arrive in Hanoi and we’ll be bringing up the rear on the way home too! One family left yesterday (Friday), two more this morning (Saturday), one tomorrow (Sunday) and we go on Monday! Whew, what a trip it has been!

There are still three things that I’d like to do before we leave but somehow I do not think it will happen. They are to go to the Temple of Literature, go to the water puppet show and go for a ride through the Old Quarter. We wanted to check one or two of these off the list today but Nathanh was not feeling well so we returned to our hotel for a quiet afternoon and evening. He just had some gas and seems a whole bunch better now.

We did manage to give him a bath in the little tub the hotel got for him. Here he is looking as cute as ever!

This photo was taken a few days ago at Halong Bay but it is one of my favourite ones of him, so I thought I’d share.

New Posts

I have posted four new posts so you may want to scroll down and read them in order.  Enjoy!

I Am Canadian

This morning we met up with the other three families in our group doing the citizenship route at the Canadian Embassy.  It was a much better visit this time around and I have to admit...even though I was skeptical...everything worked out just fine and somehow all of the paperwork and confusion seems so long ago now. 

Here are some shots of Canada's newest (and cutest) citizens!

Nathanh getting ready to get his passport!

Nathanh is Canadian before Erwin.  Erwin is jealous that Nathanh didn't have to take a test!

Proud mamas

Proud daddies!  Right after this photo Sarah's dad asked Erwin what his son's intertions were toward his daughter!

A family portrait!  Nathanh was fast asleep under the hat!

Nathanh pretty excited after his special day out!

Babies Rock Hanoi!

Last night we met up with the other four families in our group for one last dinner and photo opportunity together.  The two families that did permanent residence received their documents Thursday afternoon and the first of the families flew out Friday morning.   Here are the babies together in Vietnam one last time.

From left to right we have Sarah, Tegan, Nathanh, Baby, and Abby

Nathanh is in the middle of all his girlfriends...he is going to be teased about these girls relentlessly over the years!  He has been spoken for four times over and if he appears to hold the gaze of any one of the girls the others certainly get jealous very quickly...(or maybe it is the parents!!!)  If you can't tell from the pictures he is crying (screaming) quite a bit from being surronded by the girls!  Okay, it might have something to do with the fact that we had to wake him up to get the photo!!

The next time the babies see each other will be at our Vietnamese Christmas gathering in Vancouver!

Our New Hotel

When we returned to Hanoi we no longer had our residence at the Somerset.  We found a new hotel, through a friend's recommendation, called the Hanio Moment.  We arrived yesterday evening and I have to say it must be the friendliest hotel in all of Hanoi.  We were met by Michael the owner right at our cab and shown in.  He had refreshments waiting for us while the staff took our bags to the room.   The hotel has only been open for 3 weeks so it still has fresh paint and new elevator smell!  It is a boutique hotel so we have a lot less space than before but the hospitality has definitely made up for it!

When we went up to our room, it had been decorated to celebrate our new baby.  The room was filled with balloons and rubber duckies.  Nathanh had a brand new completely decorated crib waiting for him and I have to report that he must have loved it because he slept only woke once during the night and slept for a six hour stretch without waking!  Here are some photos of our new home!

The view from our window.  We are in the heart of the Old Quarter.  The windows are double pane glass so even though we are closer to the street the honking is less than the Somerset.

Nathanh enjoying his rubber duckies!

They had even got a baby bathtub and filled it with rose petals and what else...rubber duckies, of course!


We were even offered free babysitting anytime!  I don't think we'll take them up on it but it was a very sweet offer.  Michael's wife very happily took Nathanh during breakfast this morning so that we could eat at the same time!!

Halong Bay

I heard that the natives were getting restless for a Nathanh fix...sorry folks but we have been very busy! We went to Halong Bay on Tuesday and returned Thursday night.

Halong Bay was everything I had imagined and more! It is so beautiful and picturesque. We stayed in a lovely resort hotel with a very friendly staff who were absolutely ecstatic to hear that there were three Vietnamese babies staying with them. We had another couple along with us and their two children. Baby Sarah and big sister Emily, who was adopted from the same orphanage a year and a half ago. I have to say, it felt like a bit of a horse and pony show at times but it was fun to have such a friendly staff. When we came down in the morning, the morning staff had heard about us from the evening staff that had checked us in. We were asked almost immediately if we were Thanh Trung’s (Nathanh’s Vietnamese name) parents!

We booked a day cruise to go out into the Bay. It was such a nice atmosphere and we got lots of pictures. We then went to Surprise Cave. We were not sure what we were in for...as it turned out Nathanh went on his very first spelunking adventure!! Anyone who knows Erwin will laugh at this. Erwin got to carry Nathanh in the carrier up the stairs into the cave and through all three chambers and back down more stairs to get the tender back to the boat! Mommy was laughing the whole time! Here are some photos of our adventures.

The rest of the passengers were staying onboard overnight but we didn’t want to attempt that with the babies so they brought us back by tender late in the afternoon. They sail boats just like they drive here...when passing another boat they cut it awfully close!

Nathanh sleeping on the tender boat all tuckered out after his first day at sea!