Our camera broke. It was in its case, but the zipper had been left opened and out came the camera and with a small impact onto the ceramic floor, it was over. Alex was still able to upload the photos on our memory card, but worked on the camera for a good while in hopes of repairing the damage. In the meantime, our little man had the runs. You could tell he wasn't himself as we cleaned him up for the 100th time. We've been so concerned about getting enough fibre, fruit and vegetables into him that it took its toll. We finally decided to head out and see if we could find a camera repair shop. Should be easy since there are about 5 for every block. With every repair man we spoke to, they told us they couldn't fix it. We then decided, hey, we're in Vietnam. We should be able to buy a camera for cheap, right? Wrong. The cameras cost more here than they do back home. It's funny everything else is cheaper so then we went to plan C and decided we would use our iPhone camera. The clarity is not the best, but it will have to do. We ended up at the Tax Centre by coincidence, okay, it wasn't coincidence. As Alex ran into the supermarket to buy some diapers for Reuben, the rest of us sat in the chairs all facing the centre of the whole department store (so you could see everything going on....The Vietnamese love, Love, LOVE to watch what is going on and it is clearly their favorite pasttime) and I turned to Franca and in Italian said "Does the man beside me know that he's still in his pajamas?" Franca then said "Is that a man or a woman?" So we turned around and we did what we do best...analyze the situation. We concluded that it must be a woman since the person had nailpolish on their toenails. The "woman" then turns to me and looks at my bundle of joy all dressed in "Blue", in "Boys" clothing and asks "Man or girl?" Trying to hold onto my laughter, I told her Reuben was a boy. Then Franca asked me to ask the "woman" the same question. As Franca sat beside me killing herself laughing, I held on to the giggles with the occasional slip and continued a lovely conversation. She was such a sweet lady (albeit looked like a man) and if I could have, I would have slipped her into my luggage. Alex soon returned with bags and we said our goodbyes to the lovely "woman". And then, what was supposed to be 5 minutes turned out to be a few hours later and we walked out of bursting at the seams with shopping bags. I even managed to find clothes to fit me in the Overly Obesed and Mammoth section. Sometimes we'd come across things that were even cheaper than the Ben thanh market and realize we'd been had. Oh well, it's all part of the experience and it's never much more than a couple of dollars at worst. So this is how it works. For every US dollar, you get about $18000 dong. So for every $100 US, you get $1,800,000 dong and become a dongonaire, mind you with all the conversions, I just become a ding dong. Some things are so cheap. For instance we were able to buy Reuben some suits for like $54,000 dong or $3 US. Crazy huh? Regardless, we have luggage weight limitations so we are trying to make the best of every kilo. We got caught in the rain but still managed to get out to a children's store, recommended by Heather, called Thanh Thuy Children's Boutique. And yes, Heather, it's still fairly cheap. We were able to get some things that we had our eyes on in other stores for about 1/2 the price, so thank you once again. We made a quick stop back at the hotel, dropped off the bags and headed out again to see the infamous Vietnamese Water Puppet Show. Portia loved it! (www.goldendragonwaterpuppet.com)
We headed home for a super late dinner and Franca and I stayed up until midnight chatting away. How we managed to stay up that late is beyond me since our regular bedtime is 9pm on a late night.
Little Notes on Portia & Reuben: Portia is learning better swimming techniques with every lesson here and is enjoying the one on one lessons, rather than the group lessons we usually put her in at home. Reuben has changed considerably. When we first got him, he would drink about 2 - 4 ounces maybe 3 times a day with a little bit of rice cereal in between. His sucking ability was like a newborn child. His strength and crawling ability were weak and he was quiet when he cried or said the few things he says. Now he wakes up and drinks 8 ounces staight, holding his own bottle, in as little as 5 minutes flat. And this is only as an appetizer before breakfast. We have started him on some solid foods which he is quite enjoying and is learning how to chew on foods with the 8 little teeth that he has. He crawls everywhere and is into everything. He can be quite loud sometimes but we're enjoying his constant determination to talk. He also mimics Portia sometimes in things she does. His laughter brings such joy to our hearts. We are learning all of his tickle spots and sometimes he's in the mood and sometimes he forcefully pushes our hand away. When he sits beside Alex's shoe (which btw, he's obsessed with anything Alex) he's as long from back to heal (when sitting up) as Alex's size 13 downhill, ski length shoe. As well, we've also noticed that the soft spot on his head is growing in and is more firm. He loves sucking his thumb and when he has to get cozy or sleep, he needs to have a blanket or will grab his shirt in hand. He even sometimes likes to sit there feeling his inner palm with his finger. He has bonded well and he still hasn't had a moment where he didn't feel at home with us. I still believe though that Portia had a lot to do with that and I'm grateful for the bond between the siblings right now.
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