Hand, Foot, and Mouth

I have been singing to Léo the "Head, shoulders, knees, and toes" song. He loves it. Maybe I should start singing the "Hand, foot, and mouth" song, because OF COURSE he got that virus from day care. Of. Course. He is just out of a 2-day fever stretch. That was pretty bad. His sleep was hugely disrupted -and you know it's not good to begin with. He was cranky. He was tired. Today he felt better and was in a better mood but he slept for 3.5 hours straight this afternoon. He only has sores on his feet right now. I dread sores in his mouth. There will be nothing we can do to soothe him. AND I'll have to stop kissing him -and that's a problem because I kiss him all the time (you can see it in the video where he walks!). I just hope he feels better soon. He's been sick so much since he started day care in August. I know every kid gets sick at day care and I know it's good for his immunity system. Still... I hope he gets his full health back pronto.

He walks!

Léo's first steps. Taken the day he started walking. You can also see him "talk" on the phone.

He's been walking non stop since!

11 months!

Léo is already 11 months. It's his last month of infancy. *sad face* I know I sound like a broken record but the past few months have gone by so fast!

Léo has done a few very cute things while he was 10 months old, like putting the phone to his ear and pretend he's talking, pointing at things, and babbling more and more. He still loves the vacuum cleaner, still laughs a bunch, is still teething (finally #5 and 6 are out), and is still not sleeping through the night. He flew to OC for the 3rd time to be with Joe's family while I was in Vietnam. He does fine on the plane, which is really nice. He also eats a lot (avocados, strawberries, bananas, peaches, pears, green beans sometimes). He's still cuddly, which of course I love about him.

The main thing is that our baby is walking! He took his first steps a day before he turned 11 months old and he's been on the go since. It's super cute. We call him "baby zombie" because he walks with his hands raised in the air.

Here is our baby at 11 months (on St Pat's Day, so we're obviously late taking pictures):

We'll post a video of his walking soon.

Return!

I imagined my return to be quite triumphal, with Leo grinning and being SO happy to see me (kind of a slow motion movie thing). Of course it didn't happen that way. I got home by 7. Leo spent the day with his nanny share friend at her house and they were not back yet so I had a little time to settle in. When they arrived at 730, Jessica took him out of the ergo but Leo just stared at me. No smile, no hugs, nothing. I held him but all he did was look at my pendant, look at Jessica and smile at her, then look again at my pendant. He didn't look at me. AT ALL. I just let him be for a while. I fed him and gave him a bath. Joe was at a work event, so we waited for him to come home before bed time. Leo and I played a bit. I felt I needed to give him space and get re-acquainted. Then he just crawled to me and put his head on my lap. And he stayed there for a while. The same thing is happening today. We play, I tickle him and he laughs a bit, but he still needs his space. And then he comes to me and gives me a minute-long, silent hug.

My little boy... I missed him so much! I am thankful to be able to spend the day with him before going back to work. It is good to show him that I am not leaving again and if I am, it's only for a few hours. It's also so good to see him healthy! It's been a while (he goes back to day care next week, so we'll see what that brings).

And of course it was good to see Joe again! He really loved spending time with Leo. He took care of Leo when both of them were sick. He showed such selflessness and love. I am grateful for him beyond words!

Home sweet home.

Impressions of Vietnam

The landscape is beautiful. Mountains are everywhere. They seem to spring out of nowhere, cut into the horizon like they’re not quite finished and yet they’re full of splendor. There are quite a few rice paddies in which women work, benched over, planting seed after seed. I imagine that during harvest season all you can see is a sea of straw hats. There are other postcard images: women on bicycles, men and women on motorbikes with babies in front or in the back. Students riding their bicycles to school in packs. And smiles. So many beautiful smiles!

Vietnamese children are strikingly handsome. And quite calm. Vietnamese students are shy yet keep on shouting “Hello. How are you?” with huge grins they hide behind their hands. I love being around them. It was such a treat listening to them talk about their lives, dreams, and hobbies. Most want to be doctors, policemen, or teachers. Most care for their neighbors, hold hands, and are loved by their parents. This is something that always warms my heart –even more so now that Leo is in my life-, seeing parents interact lovingly with their children. In Vietnam, like in so many cultures, mothers are responsible for their children’s well-being, including health and education. Yet when we talked to parents of disabled children, 3 fathers were present and when their little boys came to them, their smile and the way they carried their children was so heartwarming –and so heart wrenching, considering the poor condition in which these children have to grow. I saw many dads holding their babies. And I saw many moms caring for, feeding, running after, smiling at, and playing with their children. I must have appeared like a creepy freak, staring at them with a big smile on my face!

The stories we heard were stories of hope. Life is difficult for sure. Many people are poor –farmers who can barely subsist on what crops they grow, mothers who have to work day and night to make a living- but love is evident and children have big dreams. And they want to give back. They want to be policemen to protect their communities (oh and because police school is free and you have a guaranteed job when you’re done), doctors to find cures for diseases, and teachers to give knowledge to younger generations. I’m sure they’re like kids all over the world and have flaws (one of the big issues here is actually online gaming!) but I left them feeling uplifted. Sad, but uplifted.

And through it all I missed my little boy. My sick little boy –who by now is feeling better, as is his dad. My little boy who, God willing, will never know what these children know and go through on a daily basis (how terribly sad is it that these children have repeated warnings and training about child trafficking?). He will never be bare feet when it’s cold and rainy. He will never wonder whether he is going to have food to eat. He will hopefully never see his mom cry because she doesn’t know how she’s going to make ends meet. He will never see us have to wonder whether we’re going to send him to school or send him to the doctor’s office. He will never be beaten. But like these children I hope he will care for others, love others, feel valuable, and have big dreams for himself that will allow him to give back, to thank God for his good fortune, to repay the universe for being born in the US instead of a little village in the Vietnamese mountains.

These lessons are also valid for me. I work for a NGO but tend to go through life without wondering too much whether it’s ok to spend money on Starbucks or on Itunes. Hopefully I won’t come home and get buried into my super busy routine. Hopefully I will still take time to pray and think of those kids who made me smile and made my heart burst. If not, please do call me out on it!

Beautiful Vietnam