Who loves a parade?

It turns out that Aaron loves a parade! Today was the annual Collingswood Holiday parade, which features High School marching bands, Mummers from Philadelphia and, for some reason, every Corvette in South Jersey (I capitalize "South" because it really is a different state). He seemed mesmerized by the floats and wasn't scared of any of the noise! I guess after Vietnam, drum corps are barely audible.





Here is Aaron a few days ago wearing a cool hat from Grandma Susan.

Grandma Linda is visiting right now and for some reason, wants to paint two rooms in our house. No complaints from me!!

Day to day

Our day to day life is not so interesting, really. We do a lot of mundane things now that we are in our own country. We take a walk most days and bundle Aaron up against the wind. There is a lot of feding and changing of diapers. Aaron is learning to pick up cheerios and put them in his mouth, although he only has about a 45% success rate. I would be much skinnier if I had the same odds of getting the food in. We have a high rate of lip-sticking.

Bouts is ever hopeful in his mealtime position.

Exploring

Aaron has started being more comfortable exploring his environment. Here he is playing in the breakfast room after refusing to take a morning nap. It's like living with a terrorist that I love whose demands even he doesn't know. He just fell asleep on Mike's lap, so we will try the crib again.



Over all, things are going well. He is eating us out of house and home, but still doesn't want to drink anything. Ah well... He sleeps at least 11 hours at night and naps for 3 hours in the afternoon. I am thankful for that, although I still feel exhausted all the time! My upper torso and upper arm muscles are incredibly sore from lifting, lowering, carrying. It didn't occur to me that 18 lbs would feel so heavy. I should be really buff by New Year's.

Visits

The visit with Grandpa Alan and Judi is going great. Aaron is starting to warm up to my dad, which is very cute. He has a harder time with men. Judi can communicate with him on a level that I, frankly, cannot achieve. It's like she is a baby mind reader. Happy to say that Bouts has found his niche as cleanup crew.


It's hard to get a picture in which both Aaron and my dad are smiling. Aaron turns his head too fast and my dad is a typical Starr and if he smiles at the camera, his soul is stolen.



Aaron has also gotten more used to not being held 24/7. He spent 10 minutes in the crazy bouncy activity center that Barbara Gordon sent.


We had our first visit to the pediatrician today. Aaron is 80%ile for length and between 5-10%ile for weight. Long and lean, just like his mom and dad. Other than some eczema, he got a clean bill of health. The jury is still out on whether his immunizations will all need to be repeated. The doctor is going to have the records translated from Vietnamese to English.

First few days at home

Well, we've made it through the first few days at home. Last night, Aaron slept through the night for the first time since we came home. Thank goodness! I think all three of us will be in a better mood today. Aaron has met his maternal grandparents and uncle this week. They seem to like him. My mom was such a help during the first few transition days. Dad and Judi came yesterday and are here through the weekend. Aaron prefers to be held only by me, but he will go to other women easily. Especially if that woman has food. He will eat anything, although refuses a bottle, no matter what is in it. We go to the pediatrician tomorrow and I'll ask about it.



We had been feeding him on our laps until last night, when a high chair arrived courtesy of Carolyn and Chris Trend. Thanks Trends!! My dad put it together for us and Aaron was very happy in it.

Travel Epilogue

We've been home for 36 hours, after the ongest 40-hour travel ordeal of my life. Aaron slept a total of 3 hours in that time period and screamed his head off for the remainder. We were very popular on the plane. On the last leg of out trip, from Dallas to Philly, an anonymous "concerned passenger" sent me a note to tell me that the baby was uncomfortable and maybe I should try giving him a bottle so his ears would be more comfortable and maybe he would fall asleep. Really? Try calming the baby? We hadn't thought of that! We thought that screaming and crying were happy signs! We had pretty much tried everything. At one point on the Tokyo to Dallas portion (11 hrs), I started to cry from the same exhustion and frustration as the baby.

But we're home. My mom picked us up from the airport and brought us home to a gorgeous new baby room and a fridge full of food. Then she sent us to bed and was up most of the night with Aaron. He is sooooo jet lagged and overwhelmed. He has been up most of tonight as well. We let him scream for a while, but it feels so cruel. So it's 5 am and we are awake. I am blogging and he is eating a gross teething cookie that even Bouts isn't interested by. Aaron met Bouts tonight and seemed kind of scared, but I'm not worried. I am so glad to have my puppy home! Thank you Cheryl and Maggie for dogsitting.

Aaron is wonderful and totally worth everything we went through, but we are not hurrying to travel overseas with a baby again. We figure he'll want to find his roots when he is 15 and he can fly again then. Thank you to everyone who has been following our trip and progress and making comments. It really helped us get through this crazy time. I can't decide whether or not to continue with an Aaronblog or not. Any input from the peanut gallery?

love,
Beth, Mike, Aaron and Boutros Boutros Boutros

Last Aaron fix until the USA

It is friday morning in Vietnam and Aaron woke up happy.  Probably because we are soon to get out of this hellhole of a city.  Our flight isn't until almost midnight, so much of the day will be spent sitting around with our stuff.  We can't wait to be home!!

Almost out of Hanoi

We are so ready to come home.  Aaron is having a little bit of a tough time with the eating again.  He loves juice, but I think we have made him an addict.  He takes some formula and eats a little rice cereal, but not nearly enough.  

The three of us have been walking around Hanoi, which is a lot harder than it sounds.  The scooters and the cars don't follow any kind of logical traffic pattern and they don't care about pedestrians.  The people selling things on the street are very aggressive.  They have also been pointing and laughing at Mike when he is carrying Aaron in the baby carrier.  He has started just saying, "Mike Lovell" to everyone who comes up to him or points.  He thinks he is Denny Crane.  

Errata

Our plans are back to coming home on saturday.  It has been a regular clusterf*@k here in Hanoi.  First, we were told our embassy appointment would be wednesday, so we changed our flight to wednesday.  Unfortunately, Veterans' Day screwed that up, so we were then told thursday.  We ran around changing our plans to fly home on thursday.  This morning, we got a phone call saying our appointment is friday because the embassy is really busy. 

Here's Aaron eating rice cereal, oblivious to the change in plans

Coming home

We have changed our plans and will be coming home on friday during the day, not saturday.  We have had a run around with timing of the Embassy appointment and flights.  So, we changed our plans.  Aaron is having a crying/not eating day.   Not fun.

In Hanoi

We made it to Hanoi yesterday afternoon.  Unfortunately, much of the day was spent like this:

Aaron likes to be held and walked around and basically freaked out if we so much as sat down for a second.  Luckily, that is getting better.  He is turning out to be a great plane baby, at least on the two short flights we took so far.  He falls asleep during takeoff and sleeps through the flight until we get up to deplane.  He also seems to enjoy the business class lounge.  Who doesn't?  

Our place in Hanoi is a great two bedroom serviced apartment with carpeting that he can crawl on.  We slowly worked up to not screaming when put on the floor.  It was Ferberizing for floor, what Michael termed "Berberizing".   Aaron has his own bedroom where his baby cot is (Vietnamese term for crib).  We all slept much better last night and he woke up in a good mood.  

We met Nikki from Mandala yesterday and she is taking all of our paperwork to the Embassy today.  She said we should plan on an appointment in the afternoon on Wednesday to finalize his visa.  After that, we are free to leave for home.  Today, Mike is going to get in touch with Korean Air and try to sweet talk them into changing our tickets.  We are very anxious to get home.  It has been a good experience, but we would all benefit from being in a permanent place with a regular schedule.  It has also been a challenge to figure out the washer/dryer unit here in the apartment.  We are very good at using the one at home.

I don't recall when this picture was taken, but it is so cute!!!

The Eagle Has Landed

If by Eagle you mean poop and by landed you mean Aaron's diaper.  He is so much calmer and more comfortable after two ENORMOUS bowel movements.  

Playful baby is back!!

Detente

Well, we've perhaps reached a detente with now-I'm-sleeping-now-I-refuse-to-sleep boy.  Screamed again almost all morning, but he did take some formula and some rice cereal.  I finally gave in to my instincts and put a glycerin suppository in his butt.  I'm sure he's really uncomfortable!  He's been sleeping now for an hour and half, inch'Allah.  We did manage to get a few non-open-mouthed scream pictures this morning.  They aren't that flattering of either of us, but we need to give the paparazzi what they want!

You wouldn't think such loud noises could come out of that little face.  

Paradise temporarily regained

Sir Sleeps-a-lot proved today that he won't be pigeon-holed.  He slept for a total of 30 minutes between 5:30am and 6pm.  I finally rocked him to sleep and put him in the crib, where, thankfully, he is still sleeping at 7:30.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he sleeps through the night.  

I only captured one non-crying moment today.  He had just woken up and looked so darn cute in his dinosaur pyjamas.  

This parenting thing is hard!  How come nobody told me?!?  One thing I will say, in response to some of the comments, is that I don't feel like a bad mother when Aaron bonks his head.  Children get boo-boos.  

Paradise Lost

While I type this on the veranda, Aaron is having the crying/screaming event of the century.  I did all the ER doctor things- I checked for hair tourniquets and foreign bodies (I did not bring my flourescein).  When I pick him up, he stops immediately.  He will fall asleep next to me on the bed.  But put him down and all hell breaks loose.  Especially if he is in what Mike calls the baby jail (his crib).  He is screaming his head off.  I am hoping he cries himself to sleep.  He also hasn't been eating that well today, refusing any formula.  He like the peach juice/water combo, but he can't survive on that.   Still no poop since we got him.  I'm not sure what to do next.  

Sorry, no pics of the screaming baby.  

All that AND a bag of chips

We are currently in Vietnamese paradise.  This morning, we bade farewell to Ho Chi Minh City.  We are not made for that kind of heat and humidity.  After the most harrowing taxi ride I've ever had, we made it to the airport, checked in, and hung out in the business class lounge.  It was only $50 more to fly business class from HCMC to Danang, so we sprung for it.  And what a difference!  Fancy shmancy lounge with complimentary food and beverage, while waiting on plush couches.  Will I ever fly coach again?  Oh yes, on the way home from Hanoi to Philadelphia.  Crap.  

Aaron had his first minor head trauma when he flung his whole body off a couch directly into the corner of a table.  He is fine, but we (I) wanted to document his first boo-boo in our care.  Mike is actually pretty traumatized.

We landed in Danang and were spirited away to our resort in the town of Hoi An, a beach community on the South China Sea.  It is a paradise here.  We are staying in a private bungalow that has a beautiful veranda with rocking chairs, facing the enormous swimming pool.  Our main room is very large with good AC.  The bathroom, shower and tile tub are outdoors.  

Aaron ate more today than yesterday, but still not a lot.  He did have a good time channel surfing, though.  It must be on the Y chromosome.

We ate at one of the resort's outdoor cafes for dinner and the staff there couldn't get enough of the baby.  One woman actually picked him up and walked around with him for a while.  Our waiter remarked that he looks a lot like Asian people.  Indeed.

There must be a sea chanty about the Mekong, but damned if I know it

It is 3:45pm and we are all exhausted.  We were all up at 5:30 this morning.  Aaron actually took 3 oz of formula, which felt like a breakthrough.  Then he took some time to read the paper.  

We breakfasted at the hotel's buffet, which is ridiculously lavish, and met our tour guide at 8:00.  His name, I kid you not, is Ty Phoon (sp?).  Even he thinks it's funny.  We were driven in a hired car to the Mekong Delta, which is about an hour and a half away.  Guess who slept.  

The Mekong is a huge river!  We took a motorized flatboat to Unicorn Island to sample some honey products.  No unicorns were spotted.  We were served honey tea and banana wine.  It was clear that we were expected to purchase something, so Mike picked the banana wine.  Not sure what we're going to do with that.  We strolled down some paths and looked at the local fruits- papaya, dragon fruit, lady-finger bananas, etc.  We watched coconut candy being made.    Another stop for snacks (it's like they planned this trip with us in mind)- this time an assortment of the above-mentioned flora, and a short concern of traditional Vietnamese music.  It is very depressing music, but their history hasn't been so easy.

Next, we went in this tiny little canoe-like boat down some crazy narrow and busy riverlets.  Is that a word?  By this time, we were very hot and Aaron was very hot and very cranky.  But did he drink anything he was offered?  Nosiree!  He showed us!

The canoe took us to lunch, which consisted of a whole fish, called an Elephant Ear Fish, that had been fried, and was filleted for us at the table.  Some soup and side dishes rounded things out.  

(I cannot recall when exactly the donkey cart came in)

By this time, Aaron was nearing heat exhaustion, so we cut the trip short and skipped the other local attractions/tourist traps.  On the way home, he slept (natch) for about an hour and then sucked down a bunch of peach juice diluted with water.  What a happy boy he was.  

He is now, you guessed it, napping.  

Who needs sleep?

Aaron, apparently.  He is a marathon sleeper!  He was awake for about six hours  yesterday (wednesday) morning and then dozed off and on a few times in the afternoon.  He fell asleep again at 6pm and is still sleeping at 4am!  Obviously, his mommy is not.  I am not from the sleepers.  

After our medical appointment yesterday, we went to get his picture taken for his passport.  He was so good.  Apparently, it usually takes 10 minutes or so to get a good shot, but our little model only needed one take.  Then Peter, the Mandala rep in HCMC, took us to Vietnam Airlines to arrange the rest of our trip.  We will fly to Danang on friday to go to the beach resort.  We are hoping it doesn't rain a lot, but if it does, so be it.  Then monday, we will fly to Hanoi, where we will be until we leave on friday.  In Hanoi, we will apply for Aaron's visa tuesday and then pick it up wednesday.  After that, we are free to leave, but our plane tickets are not refundable or changeable, which was a mistake.  Hanoi is in the midst of the worst rain and flooding for 25 years. Peter told us that only the new parts of the city are badly flooded.  The old quarter is fine.  Sounds familiar, eh? 

The picture uploadery thing isn't cooperating right now.  Maybe it's tired.  I will post more after today's adventure boating on the Mekong.  Yup, you read it correctly.  When in Southeast Asia...

Food for thought

Aaron had been on a hunger strike until about half an hour ago.  He refused a bottle all day yesterday and would take a little bit of yogurt and cereal but not enough to bother calling a meal.  He finally took about 2 oz this morning and another 3 oz just now.  He started taking it as soon as he found out that Obama won the election.  I think he had butterflies in his stomach thinking about a McCain win.  We told him that we wouldn't be returning to the US unless the Democrat took the election.  

This morning, Aaron had his visa medical exam (for his immigration visa, not sponsored by the credit card).  It was the most cursory physical exam I have ever seen performed on a baby.  When the doctor asked about his eating and sleeping, I said I was concerned that he wasn't eating and was sleeping a lot.  She just smiled and nodded.  

For all y'all who want to know how big he is, he is 8.2 kg = 18 lbs.  The 12 month clothes are a little big on him, but he doesn't care.  He is a happy little fellow who LOVES his rattle and enjoys crawling around the hotel room.  He slept great last night. I'm a little concerned about how much he slept yesterday, but he's been up all morning and seems fine.  I think he is getting more acclimated to us and his environment.

A Day of Firsts

I never thought I'd be one of those parents who takes pictures of her child bathing, but first bath is important.  He loved it.  He splashed around and cooed.  After the bath, we got our first experience with arcing urine.  Rookie mistake, I know.  

Aaron loves the rattle from Judi.  It's hard to make out, because he is shaking it so fast.

Happy birthday dad from all of us!!