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On to today. It’s shopping day with Mia! We woke up at 8! Whaa hoo! (It still doesn‘t feel like jet lag has a hold on us at all. I am attributing it to Encompass Nutrients – just sayin‘.) We went down for breakfast which is amazing! Aaron and I had a little prayer time out in the garden / patio area this morning too which was refreshing. Ty‘s trip was really hard on this day and were prepared for a repeat.
The van pulled up and we could already hear her crying. We were ready for it. Miracle of all miracles, we were able to calm her down almost instantly once Aaron picked her up. The van ride was great and our shopping day was even better. Aaron got her to sit in the shopping cart and she was smiling and laughing and oh.my.goodness absolutely wonderful. She let me carry her and did really well. Mia picked things up for us off the shelf and put them in the cart and she thought that was a fun game. I set her down and she walked with me holding my hand. Breakthrough after breakthrough and she was so happy. We finished our shopping day first, and she held both our hands confidently as we walked around the store. Brilliant.
Lunch was at KFC and still – 100% awesomeness from Mia. I was holding her and putting her close to Aaron‘s cheek to give him a kiss, but then spinning her away quickly and she was giggling and comfortable and it felt like we just fit together. I pulled an Elf quote and said, “I‘m in love! I‘m in love and don‘t care who knows it!“. 🙂 She ate – again – something the social workers thought she wouldn‘t be comfortable enough to do and let us feed her as well as grabbing bits for herself.
We came back to the hotel for an hour of family time and that‘s when it fell apart… for the next hour… screaming inconsolably. I can‘t tell if she is mad or just wants to go home. I think it was a mixture of both along with the fact that all of these events and outings really mess with a kid‘s nap time and sleep schedule. Interesting fact about our girl. She could give King Kong a run for his money. She will claw her way up you to squeeze as close to you as she can possibly get. Not a bad thing for attachment, but horrific for ones eardrums when she is screaming.
We tried snuggling, walking, looking outside, going outside, going inside, looking in a mirror, picking her up, putting her down, standing, sitting, watching traffic, reading a book, playing with toys. Tears and screaming. We walked her down to the social workers that way. I‘m pretty sure they look at us and are thinking – man, they stink at this whole parenting thing. All that to say, we had a big meltdown today, but we feel good, confident, and strong about this whole parenting thing with her. Lesser people, not so much, but we’ve got this. 🙂 We are also 100% sure of our decision to leave this hotel at the earliest opportunity tomorrow.
She was thrilled to leave in the van, happy to be heading home. I told Aaron that our time thus far has been a little like The Father of the Bride II scene where Nina has just found out that she is pregnant. On the car ride home, she sees mothers skipping with their kids, getting ice cream cones, and looking dreamily at all of the precious opportunities ahead of her. George looks out his side of the car and kids are messy, kicking their dads in the shins, and are being absolutely horrible.
That is a little what we feel like right now. The other families – Nina. Our family – George. The van pulled away and the other girl is sad to be leaving and blowing kisses. The little boy is waving to his parents as they sadly wave back. Mia is a crying mess and thrilled to be going home.
We decided to head over to the MBK Mall which we‘d never been to. Insanity. 7 floors of insanity. More escalators in one building then I have ever seen. Stores offering anything you could ever possibly imagine. The goal was to find Mia a couple of traditional Thai dresses to wear and that was accomplished. I also might have found her a couple of other dresses too. 🙂
Aaron gravitates toward food when he travels. Me, not so much, but Aaron sees a vendor selling candy, or pastries, or just plain weirdness, and he goes. He asks for samples. He speaks with people who speak very broken English for their recommendations. We have more snacks than we know what to do with. Aaron actually said today, “If it were up to me, I would buy a piece of luggage just to take snacks home in.” I‘m hoping he eats most of it before then so we don‘t have to.
We thought we would just take a taxi back to our hotel, but after being told that the traffic was too bad, we decided to try the Skytrain. “Try“ being the operative word there. We meandered down this awesome outdoor food market (think fried crickets, frog legs, grubs, grasshoppers, squid, etc.) up to the train station only to be intimidated by the process / not knowing where we were going.
We finally decided on a taxi after killing an hour or so. Can I tell you a secret? As much as I love traveling, I stink at public transportation. Stink at it. The plus side – we got some awesome photos and videos of the city. The down side – we still needed to find a taxi and had already wasted time. We decided on a tuk tuk, which was so fun in the city, but tons of stop and go traffic all the way back to the hotel.
Dinner was room service again on the balcony (it‘s been one of my favorite bits about this hotel) and uploading photos / blogging again. There is thunder and lightening in the distance. The city is alive and smells slightly of fish at the moment.
Tomorrow is a huge day for our family. Mia will be placed with us permanently at 10:30. We‘ll already have our bags packed so she doesn‘t feel the weight of that transition, but we will be checking out, having lunch, and then driving a few hours down to the beach. CAN NOT WAIT!
Also, I have never in my life felt so confident, calm, and present to live in the moment like I do right now. Thank you so much for praying for us! I am attributing 100% of this to Jesus, because apart from Him, this just isn’t normal for me.
Tools to document your day…
- Camera Phone (for easy pictures and handheld video)
- Wide angle moment lens (for wide angle interiors or tight moments where you want to fit more in)
- Osmo Pocket (for adding smooth movement to your video)
- Go Pro (for unique and interesting angles in video)
It’s shopping day. The name of the game is keeping it light today. This is a no pressure day, but it does allow you to start to get some really fun interactive photo and video with your child. Our kids have loved interacting with a Go Pro attached to a shopping cart or thought it was great fun when we followed them down aisles with an Osmo. This is how we roll, but it doesn’t mean you have to. Mix and match what is going to give you the best experience and level of documentation that you are comfortable with. Technology changes quickly, so we’ll try to keep you up-to-date with what is currently in our camera bag and the tools we are now using to document travel.
