Tuesday morning with K

[J]

We feel so incredibly lucky, we almost don't dare to talk about it, for fear that the luck will turn. We know that there are plenty of ups and downs ahead of us, but at the moment, we're on an up.

K slept through the night. That alone would be enough, wouldn't it? But he's also showing quite a bit more personality this morning. He gives coy smiles, plays with his new toys, gobbles down the cereal and formula, gives the occasional grunty shout, and is very attentive to whatever is going on around him. He was stoic and serious all day yesterday, even enduring the elimite treatment for scabies. (That involves being slathered all over, from scalp to the soles of the feet, with pleasantly toxic permethrin cream, which must stay on for 8-14 hours.) (Note to Patty -- Scabies may be more icky than lice. Think lice under your skin.)

We spent much of the afternoon holed up in the hotel room, which made E a bit stir-crazy. Then we went out for a walk to the Citimart for formula, baby cereal, a baby bowl and spoon (which K grabbed as soon as E picked it up, and clutched through the rest of the walk), and various other items, including AA batteries. (We seem to have fried our new battery charger when B plugged it into the 220 outlet without realizing that it needed to be switched from 110v to 220v. The popping noise and the smoke coming out the outlet was our first clue.)

We then wandered around looking for somewhere to eat dinner, until we ended up at a little sidewalk spot. We had decent bun cha, fruity drinks, and ba-ba-ba (333) beer, a Vietnamese standby. One of the many young girls selling flowers and gum stopped at our table to try to make a sale, to which we said, "No, thank you" many times. But even after it was obvious that we weren't buying anything, she stayed standing at the table, staring at E feeding K. Finally, she said, "Lady, you give him bia [beer] so he'll sleep." (Those weren't her precise words, but that was clearly the gist.) She seemed to think it was very funny, but I wonder what she thought of this odd part-Vietnamese family group.

Right now, behind me, K and TM are playing together with books, stacking cups, and a big rubber ball. Having TM here is a wonderful gift. K seems entranced with the blur of motion and noise that is TM.

Despite being two years old, K is much like a one-year-old in size and development. He can walk and has pretty good small motor skills (especially with the stacking cups), but he's a little tyke. We'll be packing the food into him at every opportunity.

Now we're considering a walk to the botanical gardens and zoo, but we also know that the Holt rep will be coming to the hotel at some point with paperwork. So we're not sure whether to wait or go. [Note -- Before I hit "publish," the phone rang and the papers arrived!]

Good news! We were able to upload one video to PhotoBucket. When you click the link, look near the top for the links: (all, 99 images, 1 video) and click the link for "1 video."