Sleeping / Dogs

It's 6 a.m. and I'm up.   I had gone to bed early prepared for another middle of the night session of with jet-lagged Troy at 2 a.m.  - as I've had for the past two nights.  I suppose it is jet lag or all the changes but he was up and a big handful - not wanting to sleep, not wanting to play, and just generally unhappy.  The last two nights, I ended up co-sleeping with him but Wednesday night was really rough... he tossed and turned and cried and clawed me for an additional 45 minutes before drifting off.

Last night was much better.  Troy went to sleep at 8:00 right after his bottle.   He was up at 11 and I was able to get him to fall asleep pretty much right away (good investment, that $150 Target glider rocker chair).   Troy was up again at 1:00 and hungry.  I fed him and rocked him and we both fell asleep for a bit in the chair and then I put him back in his crib.  That was it.  So, a number of factors are starting to go our way:  Troy is overcoming his jet lag, I'm understanding Troy better, and Troy is getting more comfortable in his new environment.  I'm also managing my fatigue better, which is tough because I have a nice little head cold at the moment.

Unrelated other than that I happen to have the time to post about it is the fact that I discovered that Troy likes dog.  No, I did not let him taste "Thit Cho" in Vietnam.  Actually he likes our dog, Lani (and she likes him).  Where Evan and Lani had a crying/barking fit when they first met, Troy has had nothing but fascination for Lani, following her around and making barking noises.  We'll never know but perhaps Troy got comfortable with all the (cooked) dogs he saw in our travels in Vietnam.  Ha!

Here's Troy and Lani:

Bonus Video

Bandwidth is not great in Vietnam so I was unable to upload the following video of Troy eating breakfast on the second-to-last day. He seems to be enjoying it, though somewhat distracted (Sorry about the clumsy ending to the clip):

Home!

We made it! Not that there was any doubt but I was pretty exhausted even before the trip started.

Troy did fine on the flight from Hanoi to Taipei, having taken a good nap at the Hanoi airport. He did not sleep on the plane but was content enough and it was great that EVA gave us a bulkhead seat with an empty seat adjacent. Here we are:



My travel group split up in Taiwan, with the others headed to San Francisco and Troy and me headed to Los Angles. The connection was only about two hours - the perfect amount of time. Here's my group and the babies. From left to right it's Kyle, Kari, Brendan, me, Troy, Jamie, Victor, and Madison.



The next flight was a bit tough, at least at first. It was wonderful that I had the entire center bulkhead section (3 seats) and the bassinet on the wall in front of me. However, Troy was overtired. I spent close to 3 hours trying to get him to sleep, walking up and down the aisles of the plane with and without the Ergo carrier, as my meal slowly got cold. Eventually, I put Troy on the floor to play, ate, and then lay him down in the carrier and zipped it shut. He was unhappy but he was not overly loud about it. Before long, he drifted off to a fitful 7 hours of sleep, allowing me the same. So, all in all, it was a pretty good journey, given the possibilities when traveling with babies. There was no screaming fit, no problems with air pressure, no diaper blowouts, and no projectile vomiting. Here we are just after landing - right before we learned that immigration was completely shut down because the computers were down:



All I can say is that I was lucky to have Troy with me. An agent took pity with me and took me around the huge unmoving line of people directly to the special processing desk for immigrants. There, they processed Troy's I600 visa (and my passport) in barely enough time for me to change Troy's diaper. We grabbed the bags and were out the door to a small group of friends and family, including impatient brother, Evan.

I swear Evan grew while I was gone. He seems to have turned from toddler to kid in my absence, and he weighs a ton (or so it seemed when he insisted on me carrying him).

Evan really did his best with Troy and he'll be a wonderful big brother. Of course, there were several meltdowns over the course of the evening, but that is to be expected (and was not helped by Evan having missed his nap to be at the airport). Here's Evan giving Troy his first bottle:



The difficulty sleeping on the plans seems to have helped with the jet-lag adjustment. I let Troy have a brief nap in the afternoon then put him down for good at about 8:30 in the crib in Evan's room. Troy woke up crying a few times but I was able to get him down each time until about 2:00. We were up for about an hour and Troy got a bottle. Troy slept the rest of the night with me, soundly, finally waking up around 8:00 pretty much his normal self. I felt a heck of a lot better too.

Only 18 years to go!

Last Post from Vietnam

We're ready to go. This afternoon and evening was a blur of visa appointments, airline office visits, and last minute shopping for gifts. Troy was a trooper, being dragged all about well past his bedtime. In some strange way, I think all the dragging him around from place to place while smashing him against me in the carrier is actually good from an attachment standpoint.

Troy is sleeping and I'm drinking the last of a bottle of red wine from Hanoi. It's peculiar but serviceable. I still have to shower and pack the bags. Tomorrow morning, we'll be up early for breakfast and hopefully there will be enough time to eat breakfast and buy some formula and coffee before the driver comes, at 9:00 to take us to the airport. Hanoi-Taipei-Los Angeles is my routing and the schedule is to be home Tuesday at a bit before 2 p.m. local time.

To close things out, here we are, with Troy's visa:

This and That

Troy's sleeping so I had a few minutes to post. Last night was good... Troy slept well and only cried out a few times - I was able to get him back to sleep quickly both times. Here's Troy at breakfast in his "Phil and Teds" portable high chair (about 2 pounds and a lifesaver for me as a solo traveler):



I got a Skype call from Evan, who was a little ragged today and seemed to be missing me. It'll be good to be home soon.

Finally, I got my phone connected to the computer so could finally get the Bourdain picture downloaded. I was leaning forward to try to get Troy into the frame (he was on my back) but only succeeded in looking dorky. It's something I do well, I guess.

Sunday in Hanoi

Today was intended to be a bit less full but somehow it did not work out that way.

The night was a bit up and down. Troy started in the crib but eventually woke up and seemed unable to get back to sleep. I put him in the big bed and that did the trick, but he was restless and woke up a number of times.

Before lunch, Kyle (a dad in my group) and I went on a quest to find the pond in which you can see fragments of B-52 that was shot down in December 1972. I knew it was near the hotel but it took lots of twists and turns in back alleyways to get to the right area. En route, we passed a very "local" market. Here's an example of the kinds of treats for sale:



We eventually found the site with the help of some young locals who seemed perplexed as to why it would even be interesting. They say that Vietnam is a very young country and something like 80% of the population therefore has no recollection of the war. Here's a shot of the downed plane:



Afterwards, I stopped at a bookstore and got a detailed map book of Vietnam - something impossible to find in the US. It shows where both Evan and Troy are from, where their orphanages were, and where their G&R's were. Evan was born in remote district and I had never seen it on a map before.

Lunch was a Pate Banh Mi ("Saigon Sub") from a street vendor. Wish my gut luck. Troy had a bottle and some cheerios. Here he is in one of Evan's old outfits, looking very much like Evan did at the same age. I can hardly tell them apart in this picture.



While I was carrying Troy around to put him to sleep, I stopped by the very basic massage place across the street from the hotel. I figured I might get another foot massage tomorrow if the price was right (I had one for $6 in the old town). Well, something was not right. The full body massage was $30 (VERY high for Vietnam) and they seemed puzzled as to why anybody was asking for a foot massage at all. I persisted, and they quoted $20, but seemed very puzzled as to what I would do with the baby if I got one. Why could he just not sleep on my chest, like he did the other day? Go figure, this was definitely one of those places where they massage one leg, then the other leg, then the OTHER leg. No thank you.

This evening, after Troy's nap, we went to the market in the old town, but it was already shutting down so I got absolutely no shopping done. I explored the ex-pat West Lake area and had dinner of beef salad and deep fried soft shell crab at a decent but forgettable restaurant overlooking the lake. Troy did great sitting in the high chair (in Vietnam, they are literally nothing more than high chairs - no buckles or trays or anything).  All I can say is you know it's Christmas in Vietnam when they are pumping out Feliz Navidad and a hip-hop remix of "Do They Know it's Christmas" on the sound system.

Bedtime was rough. It was my fault for the late wanderings, during which Troy napped too much no doubt. Anyway, he was overstimulated and my usual trick of carrying him in the Ergo carrier after his bath and bottle only elicited unhappiness. So, we tried the crib. Troy absolutely raged for perhaps 5 minutes (even though I was there beside him), working himself into a fever and a full sweat. I kept talking to him and rubbing his belly and he calmed down, lay down, and was out in under 5 minutes. I've never seen a kid decompress that fast. Probably better to avoid the situation entirely but it was pretty amazing to witness.

Tomorrow is a big day... final USCIS interview and issue of Troy's visa. So, I'm off to bed.

Saturday, Evening

We spent the afternoon eating at Cha Ca La Vong, visiting the "Hanoi Hilton" prison, and walking around the lake (with an obligatory stop for ice cream/coffee at a cafe...Troy slept). Here we are by the lake, at dusk:



Dinner was Pho, at a very historic and local place in the old town. I filled up for about $1.25 and it was probably the best Pho yet... The place was wall to wall people with tiny tables and stools. The locals were nice enough to let me squeeze in.

I let the taxi driver have it for his fast meter - 2 1/2 times what it should have been. I gave him the choice of coming to the hotel where we could discuss his fare and I would write down his car info etc. or accept the actual fare. He thought it wise to take the second option. I can't stand being "profiled" as an easy target.

Back at the hotel, Troy and I played on the bed and he crawled all over me, under my legs etc. He's definitely becoming more interactive and comfortable with the turn his life has taken. He had his best bath yet - very nearly enjoying all of it - even though is basin was in the big tub this time. Here he is afterwards, in the bath robe I could not resist bringing with me. Troy loves the penguin which is from his great aunt, and he happily hits it to make it squeak, bites its beak, and throws it off the bed.