We have arrived!

We are here...after a LONG trip home, we have made it. It was rough for the girls, they were fine on the long flight, but the last leg from LA to Houston was too much. They had had enough. Quynh slept ALL day today and Audrey for most of the day. I am sure they will be ready to go about 10p tonight, but I am just as jet-lagged so not a big deal.

Everything else is good. Grandparents are spoiling them. Audrey LOVES my oldest brother (and he seems to like her too)! Quynh hasn't really opened up to all the new people yet. She is following me around the room though, which is a plus on the attachment front. Audrey is fine with just about anyone holding her. She loves to be held. Overall, they seem to be doing ok, but a little uncertain about meeting all the new people and my parent's pooch, who thinks they are about the scariest things ever.

More soon!

Good Night Vietnam

Well, we have visas in hand and we are D-O-N-E, done. Wit got into Hanoi this morning and I spent the most part of the day packing up. We had to run by the Cathay office to get tickets and then we met with our agency rep one last time to go over all the paperwork and double-check the visas. Everything looks good.

We leave the hotel around 8:30a Hanoi time and will be arriving in Houston around 6a on Sunday. My mom is meeting me in Hong Kong to fly the long legs of the trip, so that is a great thing! The girls have no idea what is coming, but doing well otherwise. They were both really happy to see Wit and just smiled and smiled at him. He is such a good dad already -- he even lets them play with his Blackberry. :-) I secretly hope they destroy the damn thing, maybe a little more drool would do the trick.

Next update will be from Texas. Good night!

Getting closer!

We have been approved by USCIS and have our visa interview Thursday at 2p. We have known we were approved since Monday, but because we live overseas, we have been trying to sort out which visa to enter the US with. We have chosen a path and we will see where that takes us. The most important thing is the ability to get US passports while in the States to re-enter Hong Kong. So, that is the goal.

If all goes well with visa issuance, we should be out of here Friday night (Hanoi time) and in Houston by 6am Saturday. 3.5 weeks in Hanoi!! It's going to be a long haul, but we will get there some way or another. For those of you wondering, Wit is going to see me to LA and then turnaround on the next flight back to HK. What a great dad!!

I will be in Texas for a week or maybe two visiting family and getting passports and then we are off again to see Wit's parents before heading back to Hong Kong.
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As for the girls...they are doing well. We had a great day today. Audrey is finally playing a bit on her own and didn't need me to hold her every second of the day. We'll see how that goes tomorrow. Quynh actually took a 1-hour nap instead of her 30-minute regulars and boy, did she wake up a happy girl!

As for night sleep, I guess bad habits are hard to break. I am going to ride out whatever sleep patterns they have right now until I get back to HK and then we will start the intervention!

Audrey did go swimming the other day too...it was about the same as Quynh's experience. Pretty flat -- no thrills, no cries, just neutral. Baths are getting a bit better though. I will post a few new pics tonight.

Sunday Funday

Quynh went swimming tonight for the first time. It was fun? She didn't cry, didn't smile, just sat and looked around like what in the world are we doing all wet. There were other kids splashing so she was definitely checking them out. All I can say is she looked damn cute in her pink polka dots and hoodie coverup. It was difficult for me to take pics because I was trying to hold her at the same time, but I did post a couple. Where was Audrey during all of this?? Sacked out. We will try her tomorrow.

Quynh is also turning into a blankie baby, well, more like a burp cloth baby. She wakes up and starts fussing because she can't find it...put it in her hand and back to sleep. She also sucks her thumb. Audrey likes the burp cloth too, but not as much.

Audrey is going to be the picky eater of the bunch for sure. Still dislikes apples and bananas, but Quynh will clean up the scraps.

Hoping to hear some news tomorrow.

Life with Two

It's almost 8pm and (gasp!) I am about to watch a movie. Today was pretty uneventful. I had to run some errands and get some food for the girls who are chowing down on baby food. Also had to get some more diapers -- you have no idea how many diapers we go through in a day (well, Jenn knows!). No news from the Embassy yet, so we wait into next week it seems. The girls are doing good, we are up to 3 meals a day and loving every last bite. Audrey wasn't too keen on apples and bananas, but loved the pears. Quynh only takes 30 minute naps, so she can get pretty crabby around bedtime. Bedtime is still around 6:30ish and they are still waking at 1a and 5a. It seems to be a pattern that I can live with for a while. Other than that, everything is going well. They are handling the baths a lot better now, not so petrified of being in water, but not quite sure they like it either.

Wit is feeling better, so that is good news.

Sleep Update

Ask for advice and you get it -- thanks for all the helpful pointers. So here's what I changed yesterday and how it worked.

First, forget the pacifier ideas, neither of them are interested at all! Which is good and bad! I won't be chasing the things around, but it would be nice if something else soothed them like a bottle. I keep trying, but to no avail.

Yesterday was a long day, so probably not the best starting day. I took Jenn's advice first (since she is the mother of twins!) and decided to put them down after a bottle at around 4:30ish for a nap. They slept until about 5:30ish and then we played for a bit before starting dinner. Dinner is a messy event, but they seemed to like it last night. They are on the same schedule, just one follows 20 minutes behind the other. This lets me feed one, while the other is fine playing. I turned the lights down low and got them pretty drowsy before putting them down. They fussed (not even cried, really) for about 10 minutes and then were out around 7ish.

Audrey woke at 10p and was hungry, because she wouldn't take a bottle before bed. Quynh still woke at 1am on the dot and wanted a bottle, which was fine. I usually just go ahead and feed Audrey at that time too, even though she isn't awake. The good thing is that one doesn't wake the other. Just because one cries out, the other usually is unaffected.

Today they ate their breakfast meal earlier (since they are up around 5am), so I will also add a lunch meal today.

My conclusion so far is that they might actually be hungry. Quynh is so active during the day that I think she is burning everything off, plus she needs the extra calories. Audrey takes less bottle, but eats more of the solids.

Everything is one big experiment as my friend Marilu says. Things will work themselves out, but in the meantime, I am ready to get home and stop ordering in!

Medicals & Passports

Today I picked up their VN passport, which was quick and easy.

This afternoon, we had our medical evaluations. Everything went really well. Quynh is 13 lbs and Audrey is 16 lbs. Audrey is 2 cm longer than Quynh, but Quynh's head is slightly bigger than Audrey's. Both had clear lungs, regular heartbeats and no temps. All in all, it was quick and painless and they were great.

We are now officially done with all other stuff and just waiting on our call from the Embassy.

As for tonight, they don't do well after long days. Plus I woke both of them up from a nap for their medical visits. We did introduce baby food instead of cereal tonight and it was a HUGE hit. It might have stained everything all of us had on, but oh well - more went in than not. It was Hipp Vegetables with Rice, didn't smell too bad either. They drained an entire jar between the two of them and it was a bigger jar than normal baby food jars!

Sleep & Schedules

Got a question on sleeping thru the night. At 6 months old, or possibly even older(?), is it unfair for me to expect them to be sleeping through the night? I think they were being fed thru the night at the orphanage because Quynh wakes up like clockwork at 1a and 5a and will take a bottle (all of it at 1a and some of it at 5a). Audrey sometimes makes it all the way until 5a, but it isn't predictable. Then after about an hour of being wide awake, both of them go down again for about 45 minutes. I am not liking the schedule they are used to!

I am feeding them solids only morning and night and sometimes they eat like pigs and other times they just aren't that interested. I don't think they are hungry at 1am, just used to being fed I think. Should I let them cry it out to get back to sleep in the middle of the night? (I know, cry it out method is frowned upon with adopted children, but with 2 of them and 1 of me, it is almost impossible to rock them both to sleep!) Should I be feeding them 3 times a day? They are also wanting to go to bed for the night very early, like around 6:30ish. I have been trying to push it back, but they get very crabby and cranky.

I know a lot of this will iron itself out once I get home and in a quasi-routine, but until then, any ideas?? Remember, I need to start my routine now because I don't make it back to my home in HK for a while given all the travel I have to do.

Tongues!

Quynh has full on figured out that she has a tongue. She sticks it out constantly. I finally got a good pic of it and have added it. Audrey laughs at us when we stick out our tongues, but hasn't quite gotten the hang of sticking hers all the way out.

Not much new, we are picking up passports and going for the medicals tomorrow. Will let you know exact weights tomorrow evening.

Tips on Travel

Since I have been getting this question a lot, here's what I either brought with me and was thankful, or forgot and had to find.

hope it helps some of you on your way...

1. Bottle nipples -- glad I brought a selection. It took about 4 different nipples for Quynh to settle in on one she liked. Bottles -- Q likes the ventaire and A likes nuk, so who knows.

2. Infant Tylenol Cold/Cough -- Quynh had a cough that this cleared right up. I brought some, so haven't looked to see if you can find it hear. (In Hong Kong, the brand is Panadol, so maybe look for that.)

3. There is plenty of baby bath stuff here, don't waste space to bring it.

4. Spoons -- I didn't bring these and had to find them, so might be worth it to throw a couple in, especially if your child is around that age.

5. Formula -- the formula our girls was on was very grainy and smelly. We switched to Enfamil with Iron and have had no problems. There are plenty of selections to choose from, just may not be what you can get in the States.

6. Our girls became extremely constipated when we brought them home. So much so that we had to find infant suppositories, which was interesting. We did find them and they helped tremendously, but you may want to bring a couple just in case.

7. Diapers are just ok. The brand that is the best I have found and not so plastic-y are the Bobby Soft (teal green package). You can bring your own and they will be better, but you can get by on what's available here.

8. Big C is a wal-mart type store that we bought a lot of supplies from. Most taxi drivers no it by name, just make sure you ask them to wait for you. Ours waited for about 45 minutes and it was about $3 extra.

9. I brought way too many clothes for the girls. I found that with the heat, you might as well keep them in cool, cotton stuff. Save the cutesy outfits for home. You need to have them covered when you go out too, and most of my outfits don't cover appropriately. :-)

10. I have had sitters come and stay with my girls while I run errands. If any of you need one, please email me. We have a couple that are WONDERFUL! Would love to give you their numbers.

11. Hanoi is HOT in these months. I am accustomed to hot from living in Hong Kong, but be prepared for HOT and HUMIDITY! I can't stress this enough. Bring comfortable shoes, and clothes that can be washed and dried easily. Meaning, if it is thrown in the dryer, you don't mind. I brought all bermuda shorts and tees. I wore capris and ballet flats to the G&R.

12. Might be good to bring hand fans or those little battery operated ones. They will come in handy when you are sitting outside at restaurants and stuff.

13. A friend recommended that we do a bleach water dip after washing the bottles to help with diarrhea. We haven't had a diarrhea problem yet.

14. Shopping -- clothes are really cute here, so save room and buy some outfits.

15. Bjorns -- it is the only way we get around, but they are hot, so be prepared.

16. We are staying at Somerset Grand, which has been spectacular. There is a grocery store on the ground floor that has been very helpful and easy.

17. ATMs seem to only dispense VND 1,750,000 at a time, but you can use your card a few times. I seem to be using more Dong than Dollars, but always good to have cash.

18. If any of you are bag ladies, make sure to go to Ipanima or Tina Sparkle (sister of Ipanima) for some funky totes.

19. Lan Ong street is baby street, where you can find everything you need for supplies. Just walk around the area and you will find a ton of stuff. it's in the Old Quarter.

20. Toys -- throw some in, as well as teethers. They have been a big hit.

21. Teething gel has been a good thing too.

Update

Just posted a few new pics. Things are going considerably better now that we have started cereal. They are eating chicken/soya, vegetables, red rice, and rice cereal so far. Last night was the first "successful" night where we slept longer than 2-3 hour periods. They actually slept for about 8 hours last night and only woke up once for a diaper change.

Wit leaves today (Sunday) to head back to Hong Kong, again. He started feeling terrible last night and seems to have a bad cold, so probably better that he is leaving. I just hope he doesn't leave all of us ill!

We had our 1st visa interview on Friday and all went well. We were asked basic questions about job, home, Hong Kong, etc. We were told nothing about timing, so don't know when we start the "around the world" tour.

We've been venturing out to restaurants more and more. With two babies, we welcome any waitress who wants to hold our babies. However, they always give Audrey back because she is HEAVY! Our guesstimates were acurate. We sort of weighed them and decided Audrey was about 17 lbs and Quynh is about 13 lbs.

We pick up passports and have our medical evaluations on Wednesday and then we wait for the final interview. Hoping it is Thursday, but not banking on it.