Day 4 in Hanoi - We Are ALL Learning SO Much!

We are all really learning to communicate so well. Myke has a much better understanding of what she is trying to say and communicate with us. I am learning fast though. I teach her a lot of thing sin English and Myke pays more attention to what she is saying in Vietnamese. Chianna is so good at communicating with us and fully understands that we do not understand her, so she is good about pointing and repeating and saying yes or no as we point to things. As we point to something and tell her what the word is in English, she is telling us what it is in Vietnamese! She is trying to teach us, just the same way we are trying to teach her. We have a little smarty pants on our hands, for sure.

So far after 5 days together, Chianna says:
Daddy
Mommy
cup
garbage (as she throws things in the garbage pail - she loves cleaning up, how about that!!??)
juice (sort of)
bye bye (and waves)
inside (putting her toys inside her backpack
light

She understands much more, just does not repeat them, but nods or shakes her head no, and usually says it in Vietnamese:
diaper
wipee
powder
tissue
flush
pee pee (when she has to go potty)
"ok"
up
sun
fish
kiss (she blows kisses)
sun
circle
box
DVD
tv
water
milk
bottle (which she has not used for 3 now)
cup (we have also learning that means "kong" or "gong"
hungry
thirsty
out side / bye byes
shoes
nighty night (she doesn't like that one at all)
close
open

WoW - that's a pretty good list, I am sure there are more that I just can't think of right now.

So day 4 in Hanoi, we went to breakfast at the hotel here. Chianna had hot dog and watermelon for breakfast. A weird combination, I know, but she loves hot dogs! They have them at the buffet labeled "sausage". She also had a little bit of rice and noodles too; but mostly hot dog and watermelon. She likes to have Daddy help her with her fork. she likes to feed herself, but needs a little help with it, but only when she asks, and not before then, or else! And she likes mommy to give her sips of juice, she drinks out of a straw. She loves juice and water and drinking out of a straw or her new sippy cup.

Here is the "elevator game":


Then we went back to the room for a while and tried to see if we could get her to nap. She was sitting on her bed watching her DVD and playing with some toys, when I started lowering the drapes in the room. She shook her head "no" at me, and I said "yes" and then Myke and I just turned off the lights and laid down. She turned her back to us and just sat up the whole time watching her DVD or playing with something, but did not sleep at all. I was upset that I laid down because then I became very tired but could not sleep since she was not sleeping, I didn't want to not be able to keep an eye on her. So she knew that it was quiet time and did not protest much, she became kind of sullen and just accepted it. When we finally figured that "nap time" was over, we got up and I had such a bad headache and was so tired, I really did need a nap! I won't be making that mistake again!

So we got up and got ready to go venture out into Hanoi for the day and see about getting a stroller and picking up more groceries and the market. We got a map to the location of the street with the toys and children's items and it did not *look* like it was very far from our hotel. So we started on our search. About half way down the first block, Chianna decided that she didn't want to walk, she seemed tired (no nap, again) and wanted me to pick her up. *Uh Oh* Here we go again! So, I started carrying her and off we went. We decided to stop at a Thai Express for lunch, which was very yummy. I had curry and Myke shared a Pad Thai with Chianna. We also got a watermelon icey drink for her, which she loved! It really taster like fresh watermelon.
















Then we started off again in search of the toy alley. We started heading the wrong way (unknowingly) and walked on the bridge and looked at the temple on the water, and then got on the right track, but after a few blocks, I was just all worn out, still exhausted from yesterday. So I insisted that we take a cab back to the hotel. Myke reluctantly agreed with me and we went back to the room top rest for a few minutes before Myke headed out on his own to find the toy alley and go to the market. Chianna and I stayed in the room together to wait for Daddy. We played with her toys and colored for a bit. Then she was hungry and wanted yogurt, then she wanted another one, and then ate half a small banana. This hotel is awesome, they deliver a complimentary plate of fruit every afternoon! Then Chianna started putting all her toys away in her backpack. (This took a long time & a lot of effort, but she did not seem to mind.) She would put a few things in, then zip it up and close it, then look around and get something else, open the zipper and put it in and close it. She repeated this at least 10 times. Each time, we would say "open" and "close" and "inside" as she put the toy inside. Then when she was content and satisfied that all her toys were picked up and put away, she walked around the room and picked up any stray paper or tissue (one at a time) and would walk over to the garbage basket and say "garbage". I was amazed to watch this all, I did not tell her to clean up or anything - although Daddy did teach her "garbage". So at this point, I think probably almost 2 hours has gone by and I am thinking "Where is Daddy?" Then I realized why she was cleaning up everything, she brought me her shoes and her leg brace and pointed at the door. Uh Oh! She is "done" with this room! WHERE IS DADDY??? I tried to entertain her, but she wouldn't have it, so I figured he must be coming back soon, we will go down for a walk and visit the lobby and the hallways, but i do not want to go ont he street alone with her, besides we only have one key and daddy would not know where we were. So, we put shoes on and went downstairs. We hung out in the lobby for about 15 minutes. We met some other hotel guests and chatted with the hotel Manager Tuan, who is extremely nice and friendly. Chianna was pulling me towards the door, but I told her no. Then she started to want to play in the lobby and was laying on the floor, but this was just not the place. So, I took her back upstairs and she was not happy at all. By the time we walked into the room, she was in full tantrum, not a happy camper at all. WHERE THE HELL IS DADDY!!!!!! ARGHHHH!!!!! He finally came in after about 30 minutes of almost constant crying and screaming. She would stop for a few seconds to catch her breath or something on the DVD would catch her attention, she would stop for a few seconds and then seem to remember she was crying and start all over again. And she almost instantly calmed down as soon as he came in the room. He had her giggling and laughing in no time!
whew!



Myke had gotten lost and said he pretty much navigated the whole city are around the lake. He made it the store and got a few more groceries and he found the toy alley with the strollers but was not sure which to get or how much anything is. He is having a real hard time figuring out the money conversion. Oddly enough, I am the one who has to handle it, and I am the worst with numbers, but I guess I am good with money! LOL One dollar is equal to a little under 18,000 Vietnamese Dong, so a 20,000 VD bill = a little over $1 (or I round things to $1) then 200,000 = $10, so I kind of just figure things out like that.

After Myke got home, he rested a little and we unpacked the groceries and put them away. We played in the room a little. Chianna was over the incident and didn't seem mad at me or anything. She is beginning to understand that when I say no, it means no and yes, means yes. She may not really like it, but she accepts it.

Myke and I were both just exhausted and frustrated over the long and hard day. Chianna wasn't hungry for dinner after she had another apple for a snack and Myke and I just wanted BED, so after a little debate with each other about whether to go to dinner, order room service or not, we decided to turn it in for the night. We gave her a bath and she really loved it because with the soapy water from her shampoo and the jacuzzi jets on, bubbles started forming. She washed her hair about 5 times and she washed daddy's hair too. At least we know we will always have a clean little girl! This time, she got out of the bath quickly. We were very surprised, but I think she was just so tired from the day as were we.

That's it - Day 4 in Hanoi OVER!

I wanted to show pics of this great room we have here at the Hoa Binh Palace:


Our living room area.


Chianna's bed, the bureau/cabinet and the mini car area.


Our bed, it looks so soft and cushy but in reality, we believe it is made out of bricks. : (



The view from our room of the market & the small little congregation at the front is the butcher!


Bird cages across the way.