It's Morning in America!

The election is over--thank goodness there was a clear winner and the loser graciously conceded. It appears the country will move forward with energy and resolve. I would have been happy with either candidate--at various times I voted for both (without voting twice in the same election or primary). I just hope we can put the divisiveness behind us in the same way the country has put racism behind it

Yesterday Henry had a routine visit to the doctor. We got to there early and I let him sit behind the wheel. He's actually in my lap in this picture but he seemed to have a sense that he was driving the car. It did occur to me that I'm going to have to soon stop leaving the keys in the car when we are at home because he could be likely to get in and try to start it.

I looked over my blog after I posted this morning--I want to point out that the car is parked in the above photo--we were in the parking lot of the doctor's office, the engine off, and the keys out of the ignition. Reading over it and looking at the photo I realized people might get the impression that I'm actually letting him drive the car. We sat there for thirty minutes and I pulled Henry from the back seat to sit in my lap.As usual the doctor had the Ikea wooden toy that Henry enjoys. He got a second flu shot, she told me to give him Zyrtec once a day, and he got some medicine for a sinus infection. He was weighed at 27 pounds but that was with all his clothes on. I finally got out my portable DVD player and set it up in the car. I ended up switching it to hang higher on the seat so that Henry can't kick it. He seems to enjoy watching--I wasn't sure if he would like it because we don't watch much television at home. One problem is that it seems to skip. I thought it might be the DVD but I switched to another and it still skips, mainly when we hit a bump in the road. I wonder if a newer unit would be less sensitive.

Trick or Treat!

Friday Henry went out with friends to a nearby town for "Trick or Treating" in the town square. People were dressed in costumes and giving out candy in front of the businesses. Henry wasn't afraid of any of the goblins or monsters, but he screamed and clutched onto my legs when a boy dressed like a circus clown tried to put candy in his bucket.

After going around the square we went to a subdivision of the town and went door to door. Henry was unsure about what was happening at first, and kept tight hold of my hand. I stood right by him as the neighbor put candy in his bucket, which I also had to hold out. But he eventually caught on and dragged me to the door and held out his hand. He never tried to eat the candy. Maybe he didn't even realize it was candy. But he knew he was getting something given to him.

Henry's friend Blake gave him this rocking horse that he had outgrown. Henry immediately knew what do do and walked wildly back and forth.

Happy Halloween!

The afternoon snack at the children's center was turned into a Halloween party today. Henry sat quietly and ate while I stood a few feet away from him. He never got up or tried to get me to come over to him. But when I had to leave to come back to the library I told him goodbye--then he started to cry. I guess I should have just slipped out without saying anything to him, since he didn't seem to be paying that much attention to me in the first place.

Last night when we got home Henry noticed a grasshopper on his slide.

He was scared of the grasshopper at first. When I touched it he felt a little more confident and touched it himself.

We didn't try to pick it up--I was afraid Henry might accidentally crush it. So we just watched it and nudged it with one finger.

One Year Ago Today----Gotcha Day!

In the parlance of the adoption community this is the one year anniversary since Gotcha Day--the day that I traveled with my mother to a northern suburb of HCMC to pick up Henry at the orphanage in Binh Duong.
I remember the nervous anticipation--the moment was finally here. As I've said in the past, it was like meeting a movie star--somebody I had looked at in photos and wondered about but never actually seen face to face.

Here is the room where we all waited to be ushered upstairs where the babies were located.

Loc captured the exact moment when the caregiver put Henry in my arms.

Henry was not happy at first. He did not know me, he wanted the caregivers. The first few days were a huge adjustment for both of us.

But here he is this morning. When I open the car door he leans out to me and holds his arms out for me to pick him up. He is usually still dancing from the music that I play during the drive.

A year ago today everything changed in my life. It has been a wonderful time getting to bond with Henry.

Dewali!

Friday night I took Henry to the Diwali celebration sponsored by the students from India. He enjoyed watching the dancing and listening to the music. The campus has a thriving international student body, including students from Vietnam. I am glad to have a place in this rural area of Texas to expose Henry to international culture.

On Sunday I gave a talk in church. The meeting is a three hour block of three meetings--the first meeting is for everyone and Henry sits with me. We usually start out in the chapel and then move into a large classroom with a speaker running from the chapel. For the last two meetings there is a nursery for children 18 months to 3 years of age and Henry happily attends that. But I was worried about him Sunday because I had to ask a lady he didn't know to hold him during my talk. He was okay for the first ten or fifteen minutes--she sat toward the back and he couldn't see me. Then during a prayer over the sacrament (or communion) I heard a baby wailing. I thought it was Henry, but I was reluctant to open my eyes and look out into the congregation, fearing that they would all be looking back at me disapprovingly. Finally I did open my eyes just in time to see my Good Samaritan (which was also the subject of my talk) running out the back door with a screaming Henry. My talk proceeded and I sat through the next speaker's talk, but I dashed out into the lobby during the rest hymn and when Henry saw me he ran toward me like he hadn't seen me in days.

Haircut

Here is Henry's new haircut--as he intently watched The Wiggles this morning. He was fairly good for the procedure. We had to wait forty minutes, and then he had to sit in my lap while he got his haircut. I took a school book in that I bought in Vietnam and told her I wanted his hair cut like the boy on the cover--but not too short in the front because I didn't want him to look like Spock.

Just to show that he is not always in a good mood (though usually he is) he got bored with me trying to take pictures of his new haircut this morning. He wanted to finish getting ready and get in the car--because he knows he gets a big cup full of milk to drink on the way to campus. He threw himself on the floor and kicked for five or ten seconds, stayed still for another twenty seconds, and then he was back up again like nothing had happened.

Getting the car fixed

A year ago today I was in Hue, waiting to go to Danang for Loc and Hoi's wedding. And anxiously awaiting the day when I would finally pick up little Henry. I can remember being so worried--I knew things were not going smoothly between the two governments. Information about my personal case was very hard to come by. And my fingerprints were expiring. I had to Fedex hard copies of my fingerprints to Washington DC and wait for the results to be sent back to HCMC. It was such a trying and emotional time. It was hard to imagine the wait would be over at some point. Hard to imagine that I would have a son to love and raise. Hard to imagine that a child would change my life. But here we are today--happy and still moving forward.
This is Henry in the children's waiting room at the car dealership. I had to get my windows fixed. The front one wouldn't roll up and I yanked it--which was a bad move. I guess it could have been easily fixed but I pulled something loose from the bottom of the glass and the whole thing had to be replaced. Also a motor on one of the back windows was replaced. Luckily the extended warranty paid for it.
Tomorrow Henry is having a haircut. I like his hair the way it is now--but it's hard to keep clean when he smears yogurt in it. So stay tuned for his new look.