Thursday

We finally had our Giving and Receiving (G&R) ceremony yesterday afternoon. This is the official Vietnamese adoption ceremony where we become the real and legal parents to Anh. Yes, it is finally legal. Now we just have to convince our government that it was also legit. Today Anh had his medical exam for his US visa and we applied for his Vietnamese passport. At the medical, the doctor checked him out from head to toe and then pronounced that he was "too healthy"! I guess he is accustomed to other babies who are ill from the orphanage. It is true that Anh seems to be the exeption, as most of the children have at least some kind of virus. Anh officially weighs 19 lbs, which is actually less than we were speculating. I guess he just feels heavier.
So to recap our in-country timeline thus far
Arrival on Sunday Sep 10
Received Anh on Monday Sep 11
G&R ceremony on Wednesday Sep 13
Medical and passport on Thursday Sep 14
We are still waiting to hear about the US Embassy appointment

It still amazes me how much the Vietnamese, women and men alike, love babies. Every time we go anywhere, Anh is always getting touched and cooed at and smiled at. Everyone is curious whether he is Vietnamese and where he is going to live. This morning, our driver was so thrilled when I handed him Anh and he planted a million kisses all over his head. And yesterday, the men working at our hotel wouldn't let Anh down and just kept playing with them. This is something I can't imagine happening in the States. Restaurants are always fun because the staff come and whisk away the babies so that parents can eat in peace. Last night our whole group went out for dinner and all the babies were taken by the wait staff while we ate. One by one, each baby returned to the table except Anh. After a while I felt strange that he was being passed around the staff (and even around the tables of Vietnamese) so I took him back. A few minutes passed and one waitress came over under the guise of determining whether I was finished. When I said "yes, go ahead and take my plate" she replied "can I take your baby" and she whisked him away again, leaving my dirty plate! Again, at lunch today, Anh went off with the servers and they just loved him! I think that he eats up all the attention.
Speaking of lunch, we discovered that one of the best bun cha restaurants is around the corner from our hotel! We were so pleased to have found it and had a wonderful lunch there. Bun cha is a traditional Hanoi dish of fried pork patties in a soup-like broth with noodles and fresh herbs. It was delicious - I think we might become regulars.
I am trying to add photos to our album daily. The link hasn't changed, but here it is again
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AYuGjJu0cuXQw
Cheers,
Shula