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 restaurant at about the time we arrived in Hanoi for our year abroad. Bobby is now on Travel Channel Asia with his own show! I know, enough Bobby, [View Full Entry]

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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. [View Full Entry]

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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 to leave and then he will hear no more Vietnamese. So, the attention he is given by others is immense. [View Full Entry]

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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. It was a very special Tet service and there were many older Vietnamese women attending. It was a beautiful temple, [View Full Entry]

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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, indicating the first university in Vietnam, dating back to the time of Confucious). On the other side of the road, I saw a woman dressed in Dao clothing [View Full Entry]

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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 Uncle Ho holding baby that looks exactly like you know who? Last night I left Bao here in room with Allen when I went off in search of [View Full Entry]

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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 gave in to the pressure and dressed him in a thick sweatshirt, thick pants and socks. Then they said "But no mittens? No hat?" Poor Bao [View Full Entry]

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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 crib, as he does it now and at the other hotel, but gets his foot caught in one of the rattan spirals in this crib. Today [View Full Entry]

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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 sides of it. The man who sat next to us on the plane was not nice. It was obvious that he was [View Full Entry]

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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 "Tee-en", and means angel/spirit/heaven/sky 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. [View Full Entry]

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