David and Emma

well today we woke to the sound of two tiny wee ones screaming their heads off. they got up and instead of coming into our rooms made their way to the front door. maybe they thought we left? we both jumped out of bed ran over and picked a child up. they were so frightened poor babies. imagine the life at the orphanage, then new people, then one hotel room then another. so much to keep track of. we thought we'd get them to lay with us and settle in for a bit but it was 6am, silly mommy and daddy, time to get up and play play play

it's our day off and so far we haven't left the property yet. it just takes so long to get four people all dressed and ready and before you know it it's meal or nap time. we bought all these groceries so we could eat here in the room but of course we had no oil or butter to make the eggs so we ended up going to the restaurant. Chieu is having a very difficult time when we leave the room. he did it yesterday when we went to the pool and again this morning. he'll fuss and scream and thrash around on the floor. Emma meanwhile sits like a dainty princess on papa's lap. she'll occasionally climb down to console big brother but then hops back up on Ba's lap. i tried really hard to get David dressed and out the door. he HAS to inspect each item of clothing and will linger over his approval before we can dress him. he has this thing about tags you see. No Taggy No Wearey. well i decided to take a firm hand and insisted we put his shorts on (the underwear fight we'll leave for another day) that led to WW3. so we all sat around while siren boy hollered and hollered. after 5 minutes (the neighbors will say it felt like 30) i had a sudden DUH! moment. and i sat down on the floor with him and started to put toys into his backpack. well Emma scurried off daddy's lap in no time and David took an interest. approving or disproving my choice of toys. next thing you know this family of 4 were marching out the door. (hey we're trying and it's all learning one day at a time) at the restaurant he would not sit anywhere but on my lap. usually i can get him to sit next to Emma but screams ensued. so he sat on my lap and we both managed breakfast. i know it may seem to some few of you not familiar with adoption that we're letting them get away with murder. but all the research I've done says do the complete opposite of "common sense" with adopted kids. they need to know that they're yelling and screaming, and crying and pouting brings comfort and love from both their parents. so we're getting thru his rough patches best we can and using a firm hand when we have to.

Emma has completely and totally rejected me. Ever since THE INCIDENT by the pool she'll barely look at me and only wants pops. of course it's my turn with David so it works out fine. but i really miss her little smiles and giggles that were once only intended for me. man these kids can just break your heart with a tiny little look or a cold shoulder. we figure in a few days things will switch again, but for now Jeff is EATING THIS UP. he loves loves loves having his baby girl all to himself. she's such a doll too. it's so easy to fall into her trance. David is an amazing kid too and when he smiles at you, you just melt.  Emma's very independent and resilient. She will bonk her head, and unless it's really hard, she'll just smile and get up again. no worries. we really think this one will be an actress, she just loves to have you at her beck and call. David is, like most little boys his age, much more sensitive and any small thing will set him off. so we try to find ways to ease him into moving forward.

after breakfast we took the kids to the playroom in the hotel. the moment we walked in the kids eyes lit up and they were off. David had every toy scattered about and was on and off every plastic hobby horse in sight. they have a separate room with a bouncy ball area and a play area with a slide. they were having a blast until a bunch of Western kids came in. at first they just stopped playing and eyed the kids. but eventually, convinced these interlopers meant them no harm (as in would not take their toys away) they relaxed. Jeff and Emma were in a separate area where the slide was. David started taking all the toys and wheeling them into that room. i think he was trying to de-toy all the other kids. he took his favorites first and then just whatever he could grab. Emma just stayed glued to PaPa's side and really made no mind to these kids. David eventually climbed into the bouncy ball area while another kid was there, but preferred to play on his own.

leaving here resulted in another meltdown when i tried to take a toy car away. oh how he screamed. a nanny there told me it was okay to take and we could return later. so i gave him the car back. he sniffed and whined for good measure but was okay more or less. we had BIG plans to leave the property today and go shopping. David's butt is so minuscule none of his pants will fit. they just slide right off. but Jeff was concerned this was too much for them and we were going to just go to the market downstairs for a few items. David seemed curious about the outside, so i figured let's strike while we can. i walked him around the block. now that may seem like soooo Woo Hoo, what's the big deal? but David would much prefer being toted around and trying something new is just not of his liking... but he did fine. we walked around a bit (this time dad carrying Emma -- he always ends up with the child insisting on being carried heheheh) there's a small "mall" here in the hotel with some very over priced stores. but we stopped in one so i could buy him one pair of small shorts. while we were browsing he kept running to the bikes with training wheels on them. you could just see the gleam in his eyes! oh how much he coveted one of these big boy bikes. but he was great... fabulous actually. didn't scream or cry when we did NOT buy him a bike. instead i showed him a variety of cars and when i showed him a race car his eyes lit up. he had no idea that we would actually buy something for him. that he could actually get something. these things just don't happen in his life. when i handed him the car, he just scooped it up in both his arms and hugged it. didn't even try to open the plastic case, just stared at it. Oh My What Riches I have here. Dad and Emma just walked around. she was quite content being the goddess of the hour.

the food market is always fun with the kids. their eyes just bug out at all the food items. they don't try to grab anything.. i think they're just amazed. they were both very well behaved.  lunch in the room brought on yet another meltdown. while i was cooking for them, Jeff opened the case with the car and David was having a laugh riot pushing that thing around. we got Emma a toy we thought would work in the pool (it was a fish!) but apparently requires batteries and has wheels so hmmm let Jeff figure that one out. when it was time to eat David would just NOT let go his car. nuh uh no way. so this is one of those points where you do choose your battles. i wanted him to sit and eat and he wanted to play and play. so when we took the car away and sat him down he just did that twisty turney bending thing kids do. so we said okay.. then time out. we sat him in the living room and ignored him. Emma our little growing porcupus chomped away unaffected. but after a few dozen bites had sympathy for her brother and scurried over to him. he was being pouty so we just all sat there and relaxed. we tried bringing his lunch over but we got one of those I'll just show you my back! so he ended up not eating. no biggie, it's not like we're not constantly stuffing their tiny faces as it is. We figured it was time for a nap and we brought them into their room. oooh man screams galore! Emma made her best effort at a scream but was out in 2 minutes -- and this with David right at her ear hollering and hollering. Jeff left to make us lunch while i laid there with David. i would not pick him up but just stroked his hair, something he really loves. he wound down a bit, eventually wiggling so much he ended up on the floor. we wonder if the soft mattress are too strange for him because when he's laying on the floor he usually goes right out.

we're really hoping to make it off property one of these days. we want to hit the market and get him some clothes not to mention all the touristy things like the water puppet theater. not so sure how they'll handle it, but we'd love to check it out. they seem totally content when they're in the room, even when some hotel staff were here. no biggie for them. i think the day will be pool and that's about it. David has become such a natural water baby. he was trying really hard to swim and even floated for awhile. Emma would copy him and they'd be kicking their feet and frolicking like crazy. first thing Jeff said is the MINUTE we get home it's swimming lessons for the two. i wish we had a really shallow end in our pool. but they are getting more and more used to it and were allowing us to take them into deeper water. oh and bath time here is just the best time of the day for us. these kids were born for the water. last night Emma kept trying to wash and bathe David.  she'd put her tiny hands out for shampoo and would scrub him all over. then she'd wash her hair, over and over and over again. they can both be pruney from the water but no matter they love it so.

okay so this post is kinda all over the place but i keep thinking of things. David is a BIG BOY now when it comes to potty time. only Me can bring him in and he stands on my feet to make it over the rim, and before i can pull his pants up he's racing to flush the toilet. of course this requires several flushes for better waste management.... : ) i finally have to stop him and say okay that's enough. he has completely rejected the potty seat. he's rather slip and slide on the regular toilet seat then sit on that baby thing! no way for him. we really think they just both needed the opportunity to act their own age. they were not allowed to do what they wanted at the center since it was no doubt quicker for the nannies to do things.