This post may contain affiliate links which means we may earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase (at no extra cost to you). As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Oh friends. What a day. We had a successful first night with our girl! She slept from 8 to about 4:30 and started crying a little bit. Aaron picked her up, put her on his chest, and she fell right back asleep for another hour and a half or so. I got up around 5 and came out on the terrace to check up on things at home. I think it was just me and a rooster that I could hear crying in the distance who were up. Mia and Aaron joined me around 6. It was a relaxing morning, hanging out in our lounge chairs, watching the moon and stars turn into a beautiful sunrise, waves crashing beneath us all the while. Our hearts needed a beach day.
Breakfast here doesn‘t start until 7, but it‘s worth waiting for. It has the standard Asian fried rice / noodles / meat buffet, but it also has a cereal station, pastries, an omlette station, crepe station, and pain au chocolat. Friends – it is my favorite thing in all the world and I can‘t find it anywhere but Paris and Starbucks. Louis was singing “A Kiss to Build a Dream On“, we were seated in a beautiful covered but outdoor-ish space, on the most comfortable wicker furniture ever. A man with a cart walked around to each table and in his Thai / broken English asked if we wanted tea or coffee. The staff here are immaculately dressed, loose flowy pants with a short sleeve button down shirt. So classy and all of them so gracious and kind. They each greet us with a smile even though we have a crying girl accompanying us everywhere we go. The women reach out their arms to comfort her and she gladly responds, wanting them to rescue her from us. I politely thank them and shake my head “no“, carrying her away each time to a new distraction.
There are many here – distractions, that is. At night, lizards come out and climb down walls, some as big as 6 – 7 inches, some as small as about an inch. They scurry each time they see us. At breakfast, and throughout the rest of the day, we saw people taking horseback rides down the beach. There is a sign in our room advising us not to feed the monkeys and today, we saw our first ones. One on a rooftop of a room across the pool from us and then 3 more tonight when we were in the pool, one using a pillar like a fire pole to get down to the water for a drink.
Aaron and I took turns eating breakfast and feeding her – lots of tears in there for her – but this time around, it feels like we are giving each other more space and grace to just meet this girl‘s needs, but not worry so much about killing ourselves in the process. It was wonderful to eat this morning without the awkwardness of businessmen sitting around us and worrying about what they were thinking. We are surrounded by families here, many with small children, and it just doesn‘t feel so bad when there is a cool breeze blowing in off the ocean.
We went for a short family walk on the beach. Mia was not as happy about a beach day as we were. We are loving on her constantly and holding her a ton, but we are letting her walk and hold our hands too. 1. Because it is hot as anything by about 9am. 2. This girl packs a punch with her weight for her petite size. And 3. I have a theory that you need to physically move to keep the poo moving too. So there ya go. Baby Girl is still used to 2 naps a day, so she and I came back up for a rest while Aaron when on a photo exploring adventure. She screamed at me for a solid 30 minutes before giving in and falling into my chest to sleep for an hour. Thank you, Jesus!
We woke up unhappy (theme of the day – think infant crying / screaming “mai ow!“ at you constantly), but it was almost time for lunch. Another beautiful meal at the restaurant downstairs that provided enough food to just have leftovers for dinner on our terrace tonight. We fit in another short nap this afternoon, but we fell asleep together, and then woke up with more tears. A day at the beach wouldn’t be complete without a long stroll, so Aaron packed Mia up on his back (literally) and she was brilliant. Content at least. So beautiful here! The beach is shallow and huge. It is littered with shells and if you look closely, you‘ll notice lots of them moving with little crabs living in them.
Aaron kept his magic touch going as we relaxed on some rocking chairs with attached footstools for more than an hour watching the water and a family playing putt putt. She doesn‘t want down – ever. Not to play, not to walk, ever. She only wants to be held constantly… by Aaron. 🙂 Some might feel rejected after being yelled at for hours on end that they aren‘t wanted, but I‘m not taking it personally. 🙂
Aaron is doing an awesome job of making sure that she knows that I love her, I can take care of her, etc. We don‘t want to get her into the habit of only going to Aaron for comfort, so we push through, even when she is unhappy with me. It definitely takes a lot longer for me to comfort her, but we get there eventually and I‘m happy that she is still allowing me to meet her needs (like diaper changes, feeding, and getting drinks), even if she would prefer Aaron. We‘ll get there.
By late afternoon, the sun wasn‘t hitting the pool anymore, so we decided to go for a swim. Oh My Goodness. You can‘t even handle the cuteness of this girl in her bathing suit. 🙂 She didn‘t love the water at first – probably never having been in a pool or lots of water in her life – but as long as she was with Aaron, she was ok, getting in, hanging on his shoulders, and playing with a squirt toy. We have officially decided that Mia is a koala. It was a toss-up the first day, unsure if she was more like a monkey or koala, but koala it is. She will literally shimmy up you, trying to get closer to you, squeezing her little legs around you as tightly as she can to hold on. Aaron‘s already made up a song for her. It‘s adorable.
Dinner on the terrace tonight. Still not a happy girl, but she ate some chicken, polished off a carrot / pear / tomato squeeze pack, and finished off an 8 ounce apple juice that we had been mixing 3 to 1 with water all day. Aaron took her after dinner and she was fine again. We sat in our lounge chairs outside and watched a rain storm blow in over the mountains in one direction and a lightning storm in the other over the ocean.
By 7, Mia was dozing off on Aaron’s lap, so I took her for a diaper change and to put her pajamas on and she didn‘t put up a fight tonight. We came back out on the terrace and I was able to rock her to sleep without any tears by 7:20. Another huge victory! This is hard – watching her cry and be so sad with so much fight in not wanting to be here with us (especially me), but we are so hopeful in the progress that we see in her. She really is doing great!
So last night, I wrote down some random things that I didn‘t want to forget. In no particular order…
She repeated “dek dii“ yesterday after I said it. That‘s really the only words we‘ve heard so far other than her screaming “mai ow!“ at us.
She loves holding on to something that is her own. It doesn‘t really matter what it is – something from home or a new toy that we give her, she just likes holding on.
Our current hotel room is perfection. 3 of the walls are basically giant sliding doors full of windows. Inside is tiny, but it has room for a solidly hard bed, two chairs, a closet, bathroom, and teeny tiny kitchenette. It‘s home for 2 1/2 more days and we couldn‘t be happier staying here to figure out what it looks like to be a family with this girl.
Tools to document your day…
- Camera Phone (for easy pictures and handheld video)
- Mirrorless Camera (for wide angle & zoom options to add quality video and photos)
- SLR (for beautiful, intimate moments with your child)
- Osmo Pocket (for adding smooth movement to your video – like walks on the beach)
- Go Pro (for interactive fun in the water at the beach and pool)
- Drone (for unique perspectives of the hotel and beach)
It’s a beach day! We were super laid back today, but that meant we had lots of time for creativity with our photo gear. While Mia napped, Aaron explored the area and got some amazing shots with his drone, adding some unique perspective to our video. While she was awake, we grabbed the Go Pro to play with at the pool. 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.
Where did you stay in Hua Hin? It looks beautiful. 🙂 We’re still awaiting first approval, but I’m a planner so I love to explore all my options ahead of time!!
For our son’s adoption, we stayed at The Devasom. For our daughter’s, we were at Anantasila. Both were incredible experiences. The Devasom was much more secluded and took a little bit to get to town, but was quiet and peaceful and absolutely wonderful. Anantasila was much more centrally located and had more to offer with activities and food options. We loved them both, but if we could go back as a couple, we’d stay at the Devasom. Going as a family, Anantasila would be our pick.