http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Cindy-and-Allen/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Cindy and Allen en-us Thu, 07 Jan 2010 22:05:38 +0000 Thu, 07 Jan 2010 22:05:38 +0000 Well we are back home safe and sound and Bao is snuggled in his new crib. This is where our story ends of our journey to Bao. And this is where our new life begins as a family Allen Cindy and the boy from Vinh Long. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Hanoi/blog-367386.html We have just added photos to our blog. They are throughout and we have also added two videos to the entry We Got Him Enjoy. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Hanoi/blog-367385.html So the Boy from Vinh Long who rarely got outside the orphanage door took his first international flight Hanoi to Seoul Korea. He was pretty good well when he was sleeping which was most of the flight. They brought us a child's passport holder with pages to have the captain of each flight sign. They also brought us a really cute bassinet and attached it to the wall in front of us in bulkhead http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/South-Korea/Seoul/blog-366750.html Shortest flight we could find on the return and still it will be about 27 hours door to door between our hotel to home. The itinerary is Hanoi to Seoul 4 hours 4 hour layover in Seoul airport 13.5 hour flight to Atlanta 1.75 hour layover in Atlanta during which time we have to collect our luggage and go through customs and hand sealed Bao envelope to customs official and get Bao admitted int http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Hanoi/blog-366565.html It is the day before Tet and we are leaving tonight. We went for lunch at our second favorite place Quan An Ngon. It means Delicious in Vietnamese. The restaurant originally was set in a courtyard with chefs cooking all around the outer perimeter. The cuisine is all traditional Vietnamese based on the three regions of the country the North South and Central Highlands. The courtyard remains http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Hanoi/blog-366558.html Today said goodbye to our friends. Our friend Lan had a beautiful scroll made for Bao with very special calligraphy. On the right hand side at the top it says in Chinese characters Tet 2009. On the left hand side top is the lunar new year. On the right hand side bottom is his name Bao Tien and in the middle is a message for health for children. The calligrapher was ranked number 1 in Vietnam fou http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Hanoi/blog-366334.html Aah post scabies treatment. Bathtime was fun for Bao except that the water was room temperature. We used La Vie bottled water as we didn't want him to get the shower water in his mouth. Ok when arrive home are going to resume our pledge of not spoiling baby. Then we dressed him and laid him down in his crib. He looked at his hands like long lost friends. I thought I'd never see you again he http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Hanoi/blog-366211.html Forgot to mention the biggest news Bao got his visa yesterday This was the final step in such a long process and we were thrilled Our interview with the U.S. Embassy was easy basically just waiting while the liasion reviews your paperwork and paying the visa fee. Just like the passport photo the visa photo was fabulous. Again don't know how they got him to look so perfect like glamour shots http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Hanoi/blog-366014.html Today was the day of reckoning the second scabies treatment. The doctor said he didn't have scabies after we applied the first treatment but we decided to apply it again as a preventative measure. We had to keep the cream on all of us for at least 8 hours. As you recall Bao's favorite thing besides feeding time is sucking his thumbs. Therefore we had to swaddle him with arms at his sides. Lu http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Hanoi/blog-366010.html Well it has been eight days since we have been united with Bao. This is what we have observed. For the first nights and days he had a lot of night terrors. At first we would think that he was awake as he would be screaming and thrashing around but he was really sleeping. Even when he slept without the night terrors it was fitful and he would contort his body and head and thrash about every http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Hanoi/blog-365672.html We have mostly been eating takeout pizza delivered from across the street from our hotel as it is the easiest way to eat lunch or dinner while Bao is napping. Plus who knew that gorgonzola on pizza could be so good Last night we went to dinner at our very favorite restaurant in town Bobby Chinn's. He is a former stockbroker from New York opened a restaurant in San Fran and opened this restau http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Hanoi/blog-365570.html Again thank you so much to all who are sending us comments and again we apologize that we can't answer all individually but we love reading them and do appreciate them very much. The computer is slow and we can barely keep up with our blog entries. Also don't think we can post any more photos as we don't have the hard drive in the room will still try somehow or else when we get home. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Hanoi/blog-365300.html Everywhere we go people ask to hold the baby. I know some of the other parents once they got their precious babies grab on and don't want to let go as it has been such a bumpy ride. But we love it when someone holds baby Bao and he loves it too. It seems so calming to him that someone speaks softly to him in Vietnamese and he always starts babbling like crazy. I will be so sad when we have t http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Hanoi/blog-365298.html Today we dressed baby Bao in the red and gold costume and hat with furry collar as it was a special day for him. Our friend Lan offered to take us to the temple that Uncle Ho visited to ask for help from the top monk during the American war. We asked her if the costume we bought was traditional for Tet and she said No for royal babies. We did not know that there would be a ceremony going on. I http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Hanoi/blog-365289.html The other day we lamented that we wouldn't have the chance to visit Sapa on this trip. It has been three years since we have been there and really love visiting with the hill tribe people especially one family that we have known for 6 years. Yesterday after we left our friends we crossed the street to visit the Temple of Literature a 1000 year old area with a temple and ancient tablets indicat http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Hanoi/blog-365228.html When we were in Saigon everyone said that Bao was not dressed warmly enough in his onesies. The weather there is sweltering and hotter than South Florida and he was used to only being in a thin shirt in the orphanage. Still we got comments wherever we went and started dressing him in long pants. And everyone warned us of the cold weather once we reached Hanoi. So on his last day in Saigon we ga http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Hanoi/blog-365050.html Does he really need hand embroidered pajamas with frogs on them Or an ornate gold and red costume with furry sleeves and matching hat aka mini Last Emperor Actually yes to that one as I suspect that he will have several welcome home parties to attend. Lacquer paintings with boy on water buffalo as this year is the year of the buffalo and it is definitely our lucky Tet And framed picture of http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Hanoi/blog-365046.html Fabulous. And love the hotel. They held the babies there are two other couples here adopting one from Appleton WI while we all had breakfast and brought baby Bao's crib to the room along with a baby tub. The crib is like a hanging rattan bassinet with two poles on either side so it rocks. So cute but he has almost toppled out during naptime. He must have always had one foot out of his cri http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Hanoi/blog-364617.html On the drive to the airport Bao heard his second song Guantanemero. Bao was really pretty good on the plane. We gave him some formula and he cried a little but then because he is such a thumbsucker i think that helped his ears. We put him in the baby carrier when he was not on the plane and I think he really liked being able to retreat in that thing. Well that and he also liked chewing the sid http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Red-River-Delta/Hanoi/blog-364614.html Bao is pronounced more like Baow here but we are keeping the pronunciation of Bow and the spelling of Bao which means treasure in Vietnamese. His middle name Tien is pronounced Teeen and means angelspiritheavensky in Vietnamese. It is also the name of the man who designed the Vietnam flag which you can see on our home page. And Joseph well you know where that came from. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Southeast/Ho-Chi-Minh-City/blog-364215.html