Small steps and giant leaps

Every day Tananya becomes more comfortable with her new family. According to her schedule from her foster home, she was taking seven bottles a day and two night time feedings. Her foster mother said that Tananya is a very fussy eater. We can't help but think that some of that pickiness may have been due to the fact that she was always full of formula. She had never had milk before but once I realized that she wasn't lactose intolerant, I gave her fresh milk. She seems to be tolerating the milk fine. She has also been sleeping through the night, only waking briefly with a soft cry that ends once I touch her to reassure her that I am still there. Getting her off the bottle has been a little more challenging. Our first day with her she refused all but one bottle. The second day she took one bottle and let me spoon feed her out of a cup. But today was a giant leap because she drank out of a regular cup and sippy cup and it is my firm plan to only give her back that bottle during an airplane crying crisis. Today for the first time, she was able to be in our room without having to be held constantly and even let go of me for brief moments. She even voluntarily went to Jess when I was unavailable (in the bathroom) and was able to be comforted by him. She is not smiling or laughing but for brief moments when she seems to be thinking, "That's funny 0h wait, I'm not supposed to laugh". We checked out of the Amari and have moved back to the guest house. Mikayla was playing with some basketballs and Tananya picked up a ball and let it bounce a few times. She is starting to become more interested in Mikayla. Poor Mikayla though has had a hard time. She loves Tananya so much and wants to play with her but Tananya is not quite ready. Tananya had never been around other children and her foster mother did everything for Tananya. Mikayla said today, "Why isn't Tananya attaching to me yet?" - a very grown up thing for a six year old to ask. As the day continued on, Mikayla was encouraged by the small steps Tananya made in reaching out to her. We took the kids to the zoo today with Nana (whom by the way, Tananya has taken a great liking to). Tananya slept in the Ergo baby carrier (a wonderful purchase) for most of the zoo trip but was awake for the elephants which she seemed to enjoy. Mikayla had lots of fun, especially in the snake exhibit where she watched a snake kill a live mouse which then made her sad and led to an explanation about the circle of life. We returned to our room and had supper with some friends of Nana and Papa's who work here with World Vision. They too have a Thai adopted child who is now 18. Mikayla ran around so much this evening that she perspired right through her clothes. Tananya is in the room without me at the moment as Jess is putting her to sleep - another small step. Tomorrow we are going to the famous weekend market and then we will be headed back to the USA where we can see our beloved son and introduce him to his precious new sister! "See" you back home! Hey, Betty - don't forget to come and get us and bring the car seat too :)

She's All Ours, Baby!

Yesterday we finally took custody of Tananya for good. She did remarkably well saying good-bye to her social worker and was less emotional than Mummy was. However, once she got up to the hotel room she realized that things were a bit different this time. For some reason all of her worldly possessions were here as well, and that did not bode well for a speedy return to her foster home. She began to whimper and was clearly unhappy so we decided to put on her bathing suit and take her and Mikayla down to the swimming pool. She looked darling in her pink bikini and enjoyed sitting on the edge of the pool splashing her hands in the water while her sister swam like a dolphin around her. Nana and Papa finally arrived at the hotel and met Tananya for the first time. We went out for dinner with them and ate at a really neat Japanese restaurant where they bring a little charcoal grill and set it in the middle of the table and you grill your own food. Tananya won't remember any of it because she slept through the whole meal. After lunch we had some ice cream at Swenson's. Mummy tried to feed Tananya some ice cream. She responded as though I were trying to feed her brussel sprouts! She would have none of it. Nana and Papa left while we continued shopping in hopes of tiring Tananya out so that she would go to sleep easily. Fortunately, this plan worked rather well as she fell asleep easily. However, when Mikayla and Daddy climbed into bed, Tananya woke up and refused to lay back down. She therefor fell asleep sitting up with her head bobbing about until Mummy finally laid her down. Tananya didn't wake for her usual night time feedings which is GREAT because we had no intention of continuing with this routine. We had to wake her this morning to get ready for our meeting with the Thai adoption board. We were first on the schedule and they did a brief follow up interview with Mikayla. Jess had to actually speak this time as I prevented the hearing from being conducted entirely in Thai as it was last time for Mikayla. After the meeting we headed to Bang Sae where Mikayla's foster parents live. We had a wonderful visit with them. Her foster parents were so happy to see her they cried tears of joy. They had a photo album that contained pictures of Mikayla that we had never seen before and in which they have kept all of the photos we have sent to them since she left their home. They had a beautiful framed photo of her hanging prominently in their home. Mikayla played with her older foster sister much like she had done 5 years ago. Her foster siblings stayed home from school in order to visit with her, and extended family members dropped by as well. Mikayla had so much fun and was tearful when it was time to leave. Jess and Mikayla left a lasting impression as they each spilled a glass of red Fanta pop on the floor. (Like father, like daughter, I guess). Tananya is falling asleep so we will close this for now.

Foster Home Visit

We had another great visit with Tananya today. The kids arrived early and I actually walked right past Tananya but Mikayla pointed out that the crying child I had just walked past was her sister. We had a brief visit at the hotel and then went to Central to go "shopping". It was outrageously expensive and we didn't buy anything other than some diapers. After lunch, we were able to go and visit Tananya's foster home. We had a great visit with Tananya's foster mother and foster grandmother. The family was Muslim which was a surprise considering the prevalence of Buddhism here. The home was on the grounds of the mosque. They had several pictures that they had taken of Tananya over the past 15 months which was wonderful to see. We videotaped her album and took digital photos of some the pictures they had. We had a really marvelous visit and Tananya is interacting with us very well. She is such a happy, beautiful and silly girl that we can't wait to take custody tomorrow. Nana and Papa will hopefully be able to come and meet their newest grand-daughter tomorrow. We also plan to take the girls swimming tomorrow, which will be Tananya's first time. She'll be experiencing alot of first over the next few days. I am very tired and therefore will leave today's entry a short one for now.

T-Day Has Arrived!

We got to meet our beautiful daughter today and what a great first meeting we had! Tananya is so beautiful with these deep, dark pools for her eyes and eyelashes that curl all the way up to her eyebrows. She has soft CURLY hair which we could hardly believe. Tananya actually had fun, laughing and playing with us! Mikayla was so fantastic with her and was the key to much of the happiness her little sister experienced today. After breakfast, we went to the lobby to wait for Pat, the director of Holt Sahathai. While waiting we met Jeremy, Diana and Elliot who are also from the USA and are here adopting their son Benjamin. When Pat arrived we were surprised to learn that we are the only two couples going through with adoptions at this time. We went to the meeting room where we first met Mikayla five years ago to have our pre-child meeting discussion. We received a medical update and a CD with more photos of Tananya and of her birth mother and birth aunt (we haven't seen these yet). Tananya and Benji arrived right at 10:30 and with only two children, one boy and one girl, Jess had no trouble figuring out which child to videotape :) Tananya is so adorable and was wearing a darling little outfit complete with little lacy socks and red sandals. She weighs a little over 22 lbs and we received a copy of her schedule which is likely to go out the window once we take custody(for one thing she still wakes in the night for feedings and is still using a bottle). She toddles around with a cute little toddler walk and had seven teeth. Mikayla immediately started to play with Tananya and in only a few minutes Tananya was smiling and laughing. Just like her Daddy, she is a real ham - making some of the funniest faces and cocking her head to the side to mimic us. She leaned her head so far to the side that she almost tipped over! When I held her the first time, she began to cry but after being placed back on the floor with her sister and toys, settled down and enjoyed herself. Before long it was time to go and eat lunch, so Jess picked her up to carry her out. Just like with me, she tried valiantly to push away from Jess, using both her feet and arms, but Jess, now an experienced parent, gently continued to hold her. I held her once we got to the restaurant and was able to calm her by rocking back and forth. We ate lunch and although Tananya didn't eat much, she did feed herself a small amount of apple and played with some rice and egg. After lunch, Tananya walked with Mikayla and I to the elevator and up to our room. Tananya enjoyed playing in our room, especially with her big sister. We had a pretend tea party with Pat, and Tananya was even comfortable enough to offer Daddy and Mummy some "tea". She walked around our room and kissed her reflection in the full length mirror. Tananya was so cheerful, especially since she had missed her morning nap. Too soon it was time to leave, with Mikayla in tears at Tananya's departure. We had to reassure Mikayla several times that in two more sleeps, Tananya will be ours forever.

Big day in Bangkok

Today was a busy for us! We left the guest house at 5:00am to catch a taxi to a hospital where we met my host sister Toum and her boyfriend Peter. It was so great to see my host sister again and we had such a fun time speaking to one another in "Thanglish" as we call it. We arrived at the floating market well before the hoards of tourists on double -decker buses and enjoyed a ride through the market. We were paddled through the floating stalls by a Thai women and stopped to buy some noodle in soup to eat while we were floating around. Mikayla was tickled with the trip. I was teasing my host sister because when I lived with her family, her mother took my Mum and I to the floating market but, for reasosn I cannot recall, Toum did not go with us. Therefore, today was Toum's first time to the floating market too! After purchasing a few more souvenirs, we headed off for the Rose Garden. We got lost trying to find our way and when we were arrived we were disappointed to see how much it had changed, with few exhibits and expensive entry fees. Nonetheless, we ate a delicious lunch along the river and watched the fish jumping out of the water. The highlight of the day was after lunch when I took Mikayla for an elephant ride. She loved it and got to pet a smaller elephant afterwards and it even gave her a kiss with its trunk. She gleefully squealed, "It was really hairy" when describing what it felt like to touch. We headed back into Bangkok and picked up our luggage from the guest house and took the Sky Train to our new hotel. We are still suffering a bit of sticker shock as one night at the Amari is nearly triple our two night stay at the guest home. In fact, it is cheaper to buy new clothes than have them laundered at the Amari :) The upshoot is perhaps new clothes (wink-wink). They wheeled a crib into our room for Tananya nearly the size of our bathroom so Mikayla is going to sleep in it for now. And best of all . . . WE GET TO MEET OUR DAUGHTER IN 14 HOURS! What could be better than that? We are back at Siam Square to use this computer and there is jewelery store I need to check out for someone before we go back to our hotel thereby concluding today's entry. (HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO JESS TOO! He turned 40 yesterday although I forgot to mention that in yesterday's post)

Good morning Bangkok!

What an adventure we had last night! We enjoyed breakfast at our hotel and then spent a few hours in the pool and on the beach. Jess and Mikayla made a fantastic sand fort, complete with a pool filled with living shells. After our beach time, we checked out and went across the street to eat lunch before catching our bus to Saigon. The first ominous sign of the trip was the late arrival of the bus. We had been assured that the bus would be arriving in Saigon at 5:30pm. To us, a 200km trip should be safely covered in 4 hours but after only a few minutes we heard our driver say that we should be arriving around 6:00 or 7:00pm. We tried not to worry about the likelihood that we would be missing our eight o'clock flight and Jess did a much better job of not "stressing" than I did. As we crawled into Saigon, it became clear that unless our Air France flight was delayed, there was no way we would be able to catch our flight. My patience with driving in Vietnam had worn thin by 6:00pm on that awful bus and by 7:00pm when we stopped to pick up some guy to scam us all into staying at his hotel, I was ready to scream. We stopped outside this guy's hotel, rather than the bus station and I bolted off the bus very upset. I dragged our luggage by myself to the curb, while Jess tried to get off the back of the bus with Mikayla. I hailed a cab and we began our hopeless dash to the airport (by now 7:20pm). We arrived at the poorly marked airport and wandered around aimlessly trying to find an Air France representative to re-issue our tickets for today. Several people kindly told us, "Your plane go already" "Yes, we know" we replied and continued to search for an Air France representative. As a last ditch effort, I stopped at the Thai Airways desk as I noticed they were boarding an 8:50pm flight to Bangkok. They told us that if we could get Air France to endorse our tickets, we could fly on Thai Airways at no expense on their flight. To Jess' great credit, he sprinted around the airport, up and down stairs to another building after being scrutinized by security, and found an Air France worker! It was an answer to prayer because although I enjoyed most of my time in Vietnam, I was eager to get to Thailand where things are so much more advanced and easier. Thai Airways was superb to us, both the ground staff in Saigon and on the plane. We arrived at the new airport in BANGKOK (hooray!) around 10:30pm and caught a taxi to the guest house. We are all so very glad to be here. After breakfast at the guest home, we hired a taxi to take us to the Grand Palace. Mikayla really enjoyed it - so shiny and sparkly and quite frankly, GRAND. After the seeing the palace we came down to World Trade Centre and are currently at Siam Square (I've been thinking about you Jen as I see all the high school students in their uniforms down here where we often visited). The downtown area has grown tremendously, with many features far superior to things at home, for example the movie theatre offers a variety of seating luxury - bean bag chairs, individual recliners, etc. There is even a Toys R Us and a White Spot here now! During our shopping today we found Mikayla a simple Thai dress for herself and one for her Barbie too. Her first real meal in Bangkok, at her request was Italian, oven-roasted pizza. Jess and I snacked on some guava and ate our meal at MK. MK is a restaurant chain in which you have a hot pot at your own table and cook your own food to your liking. Mikayla thought that this meal was delicious. We had some marvelous Thai desserts which we have waited for since this last time we were here five years ago. Mikayla is going to go on her first Skytrain trip here shortly and then maybe a tuk-tuk from the Skytrain back to the guest home. Jess and I really have to pace ourselves with the food - so many things we see we say, "Oh, I love that - I haven't had that in years!" It brought tears to my eyes to see Mikayla here in Bangkok. It means so much to me for her to be able to experience the country of her birth. I have been very proud of all the Thai women who have commented on how cute and beautiful she is. I am pleased with how much Thai I remember but it is a far cry from what I used to know. Tomorrow we will spend with my host parents and it should be a fun time. And the best part of all, is that we will meet Tananya in two days! We bought our first gift for her from Thailand today - a pearl necklace. Jess bought Mikayla and I one last time we were here and of course as our newest little lady, Tananya will be getting one as well. Mikayla has sat so patiently (and even Jess has too) while I've typed this so it is time to close for now!

Blissful Beach

Today was a beautiful day at the beach. After swimming in the pool with Dad, Mikayla wanted to go into the ocean. Her reaction once the water was past her ankles, was sheer terror. She completely panicked and clung to me like the ocean water was battery acid waiting to devour her. Luckily, the joyous experience was captured on video for future reminiscing. After we finished traumatizing our daughter, we took a taxi into town and ate lunch. Mikayla fulfilled another one of her goals - as she tried duck today. She wasn't very fond of it but neither did she hate it. After lunch, we strolled around town and bought some souvenirs (Betty and Nana Lou scored today). We then headed back to our hotel where Mikayla took a much needed nap while Jess and I read books. I have removed my watch since arriving here and it was so refreshing to lay in a hammock, watching the waves roll in and simply be. Jess is playing pool with a Danish young man as I write this. We are getting ready to go and eat supper so I'll close for now