Smiles, smiles, smiles

Well, just over 3 weeks since we first met Maiya in person, and it's hard to believe how much she's changed in such a short time! The improvements in her muscle development and coordination have been incredible and she seems to be catching up to her 6 month milestones very quickly. We have a pediatrician's appointment tomorrow here in Toronto - thanks to Auntie Shannon's great connections we got one who's affiliated with Sick Kids so she will be great and should be able to help us get immunizations on schedule, skin issues looked at, etc.

I have been sick this week with ear & sinus infection (but fortunately it seems I've missed the pneumonia!) so it's been great to have my mom staying with us as Brett was back to work. In our little condo it means she's the first one up when Maiya decides it's play time in Vietnam (usually around 2:30 a.m.) so it's been great for Brett & I!

Grandma and Maiya modeled their rice hats for the blog today, as well as a shot of her obviously enjoying the change from the stainless steel & bamboo mat crib to the nice, comfy one she has now!

The final picture is a big thank you from Maiya to everyone at TLS for their support to Daddy while he's been off taking it easy in Vietnam, and for the Bumbo and other gifts she received at her welcome party at Daddy's work today. She discovered the chair is great for easy access to her toes & enjoys it immensely!

We'll keep the postings coming for a while, as our family & friends are spread out & it seems to be a good way to keep everyone posted on Maiya's progress. So if you're interested, keep checking in!

A few more pics to tide you over...

Presenting....Maiya Thanhlyn Clarkson

Here you go Poppa! Show her off!

Home Sweet Home

We're baaaack! And unfortunately I can't get pictures to upload today - so I'll post this so you know we're home, and will try pics a bit later!

All went well with our tickets, and Maiya had her first plane ride from Ho Chi Minh to Hong Kong on Saturday. We had exit row seating with an extra seat, so couldn't have had it better. On the Hong Kong-Anchorage-Toronto flights, we ended up being able to get Brett's seat moved so we could sit together, and had a bassinet, which was great - she slept almost the whole time!

Immigration & customs were unbelievably smooth & quick and we entered the waiting area around 11:00 p.m. It's hard to describe the emotions of walking down that hallway knowing grandparents and other family are finally about to meet your baby girl!

Maiya was full of huge smiles & laughs as we came out to meet everyone, which is amazing after travelling for over 24 hours straight & an 11 hour time difference! Although I think everyone had already fallen in love with her over the process of the adoption, I'm pretty sure the impact of actually seeing her in person was pretty strong, judging by the even bigger smiles on everyone else's faces! I thought Poppa Heise and Grandma C. were going to hurt their cheeks from the huge grins on their faces! Both sets of grandparents, plus Breydon & Chantler were there to meet us.

Breydon (my brother) had brought our car to the airport with the carseat, so we headed home. We were anticipating some screaming with the car seat, seeing as she'd never been in one before, but she actually loved it & smiled all the way home.

Grandma Heise is staying with us for about a week, so she helped out lots Night #1 - I think she maybe got an hour or two sleep! Sunday was busy with meeting more family - Uncle Craig & Aunt Heather, Cassidy & Carson, Aunt Shannon & Willow, Johnnie & Leanne, and another visit with Grandma & Grandpa C. The second night has been better (although since I'm writing this at 5:00 a.m., she's not quite sleeping through the night yet with the time difference!).

So, we're back & thrilled to be home. As Maiya gets adjusted to the time difference, new home & continues to attach to Brett & I, we will start to make the rounds and introduce to her everyone!



Thanks again to everyone who followed this part of Maiya's life with us. It was great to know so many people were reading & commenting - it kept us feeling very connected while we survived the first few weeks of parenthood!

Coming home tomorrow....hopefully...

Well, another eventful day, on what we're hoping is our last full day for this trip to Vietnam. We'll definitely be back some day!

After some last minute touring around & shopping in the pouring rain, we headed back to the hotel, only to find out that the single mother, whom we were rooming with for tonight, had to pack her bags & take her son back to the clinic, where he is being admitted to the hospital for asthma treatments. This means he's not allowed to fly for a few days. She has been amazingly strong taking care of him on her own this whole time, with all of the various health issues he's had, and we wish her the best over the next few days.

The problem - she called Cathay Pacific to cancel her flight for tomorrow - and they cancelled ALL our flights!! Fortunately we called to check and found out this afternoon rather than tomorrow morning at the check-in counter! Supposedly they re-booked Brett, Maiya & myself, after a stressful discussion on the phone with the Cathay people. So, we're hoping everything is okay and we will be able to fly. If they did re-book us, it does mean we should get a bassinet for Maiya, even though we're sitting separately.

Other than that, it was a typical day, with lots of people admiring Maiya. Our only concern is that, despite constantly being dressed in pink, everyone keeps asking us if she's a boy! We picked up a few little souvenirs for her and had fun dashing from doorway to doorway in the downpour! She enjoyed it too - she likes being out and about. Apparently she gets bored just seeing Brett & I all the time!

Attached a picture of her trying to escape from her crib last night. This is how we found her about an hour after she went to sleep! Also added a picture of the motorcyclists lined up at the light, with their questionably effective rain ponchos on!

Sorry it's not too exciting tonight, but have to get back to the room to pack. Next post will hopefully be with pics of Maiya's first meeting of the grandparents!

No shrimps here...

Passport & immigration visa arrived this morning!! Great news for us. We went to Cathay to try to change our flights to Friday, but no luck, so we are arriving Saturday night. Still haven't been able to get a bassinet or exit row seating, but at least we have flights!

Spent the morning at the Ben Thanh market while Brett went to Cathay Pacific. It's a huge indoor market with everything from flowers to food to Vietnamese souvenirs to designer "Gucci" bags & watches (for cheap of course!). Thought dad would like the size of the shrimp in this picture! Maiya is modeling her new cone hat and seems to like it - we'll see if it makes it back in one piece though! We got a beautiful instrument with mother-of-pearl inlay - it's too big for our suitcase though, so may have to juggle it as a carry-on! It will be a nice addition to my instrument collection from my travels (and now Brett's & Maiya's travels too of course!). Still have a few things to pick up tomorrow as well as a bit of sightseeing perhaps, then the joy of trying to pack everything up!

Maiya continues to do well. Gave us a full night's sleep last night which was great! Brett was in a much better mood after sleeping without any late night interruptions! She's taking longer naps in the day too, which is also good. Hopefully she'll sleep for a good part of the flight, especially if we're in a tight space, as she usually likes to move around & be entertained a lot! She's been enjoying the music on American Idol, as we get a couple of English channels on the TV. She seems to like music (or maybe it's the flashing lights....)!

Not much else today - hung out by the pool and cooled off as it was especially hot & humid here today. Hope the weather's good back home too!

More sightseeing...

Things continue to progress here, with the passports on their way back from Singapore. We're hoping they arrive tomorrow (Wednesday). We're currently booked on flights for Saturday, but no bassinet or exit row seating, so could be a tough flight. We may try to see if we can get a flight Thursday or Friday, but the single mother traveling with us spent the day at the clinic with her little guy in an oxygen tent for his newly diagnosed asthma, and they don't want her to fly before Saturday. So, we'll play it by ear the next couple days - seems like flights are booked solid anyway. A little frustrated with the fact they didn't tell us this would be a problem before we left home, but it's one of those "unknowns" in this process that you just have to go with! And hey, at least we don't have to swim!

Maiya's been doing well. Slept from about 8 pm until 4:30, had a bottle, then back to sleep until 7:30 am, so not too bad. It appears that my usual late night schedule has come to a screeching halt, as we are both having a hard time keeping our eyes open past 8:30 pm! As you can see from the picture, she has quite the sense of humour and loves kicking up a mess in the bathtub. She has now upped the ante with Brett, and has gone from peeing on him while he changes her diaper (3 times so far) to pooping in the tub for him! I'm sure she will love us for sharing that once she's older!

Went to the Reunification Palace today for a tour. Maiya was again a big attraction, but no big school groups to swarm us this time thankfully. The picture is of the front gates where the tanks crashed through when the North took over at the end of the Vietnam War. There are some absolutely beautiful grounds in various places around Ho Chi Minh, and it makes it an interesting city to tour. We haven't been able to see as much as we'd have liked, given the heavy, sweating baby we have to carry! But we've seen enough to know we'll definitely be back when Maiya's older to enjoy it more thoroughly.

Tonight we went out to a German restaurant in the silk area. My stomach has been pretty rough for about 3 days, so thought maybe some potatoes would at least sit okay. Made it through the meal, although didn't eat much. Brett loved his though. After, we wandered around the little shops. It's so lively at night and not quite as sweltering, so made for a nice evening. We stopped in this little alley filled with art work, and bought 3 little pictures with silhouettes of a girl in a white ao dai. They were just over a dollar each, and I was too tired to try "bargaining". When I went to pay, the lady and an older woman whom I assume was her mother, had made quite a fuss over Maiya and were so happy we had adopted her. So when I gave her the 60 000 dong, she got out her money and said - "I want to give you 5000 dong back because you get the baby and it is good." Now the 5000 really only translates to a few cents, but for her, and for the gesture, it was a big deal. So now we have a great memory to attach to the pictures as well.

That's about it for tonight. Brett's upstairs likely getting a bottle ready for Maiya so I'd better head up and do my part!