Well we've been home a full week and had we not been able to change our return flights, we would have been in travel mode today and I am so so so so grateful that we've had this week at home…while there are still some challenges…we are so doing better especially where jet lag is concerned!!….Matteo is back at school and I'm trying to sort out some kind of routine for Malia while also getting some of her documents ordered…
I think I am only now starting to feel the immense gratitude and relief that I remember came after the adoption process was really over. I know parenting will continue for the rest of my life, but it is nice to start to feel that I am not "waiting" anymore….
…anyhow I did want to try to record some of our experiences so I wouldn't forget these things so will try to record some of the travel experiences with Malia and Matteo.
…Malia is a bit motion sick though I had not seen any of this until our travel day. I brought three changes of clothing for her and two for Matteo and diapers and pull-ups that I thought should be enough for everyone (one change of clothing for me)! Well two hours into our journey and Malia was already into her third set…..on the way to the airport in the taxi I unfortunately didn't catch her feeling queazy in time and about 10 minutes from the airport Malia got sick…all of my wipes and bags etc…were in the back of the taxi in my backpack and fortunately had a wonderful taxi man who I could tell was a dad (or had seen everything in his cab)…he quickly pulled out some wet wipes and a plastic bag and opened the windows for some cooler air (there was some)…I cleaned her up as much as I could and the cab seat too…. the taxi driver helped by putting all the luggage on a cart for me and just went a bit further than he needed even after my daughter soiled his cab…the smell was there after we left…this is the kind of thing I remember about some of the people we met…generous of spirit and heart …..after checking into Cathay I planned to change her clothes, so this was now her second set.…Cathay was really quite wonderful to us too….on check-in we were sent through the priority line and then when the agent saw that I was on my own, she made a point of trying to send notices to different checkpoints….as we had changed our seats, we actually weren't sitting together on the etickets but this was going to be changed which I knew….and she made a point of showing how they would do what they could to support us….
….after going through customs and security we headed for the washroom…I decided not to give Malia any of her milk but stuck to water…I also tried to get her to take a children's gravel, she spit it out…!!….and decided to go minimal on food but sadly on our HCMC to Hong Kong flight…. after a short nap, she woke up, wanted to eat something…and then proceeded to throw up again!…..Again I cleaned her up, changed her clothes and then when we landed reorganized my carryon etc…and again tried with the gravol and tried to explain to her about her getting sick…somehow she understood but I also gave Matteo one and she followed suit and chewed it up! THANKFULLY! Anyhow she ended up not eating much, but not getting sick on the longer flight…when it was time to sleep she slept on me for the first few hours, though she moved a LOT…Matteo got the two seats….once he woke up, he watched tv. and as she was so tiny I propped her on one seat with a loosened seat belt around her and she managed to sleep a lot better….the rest of the flight was uneventful except for the fact that Matteo kept waking me up after I started to get some serious sleep, I think he didn't' want to be the only one awake….also this time around Matteo, unlike when we travelled to Vietnam, Matteo had achieved some independence at the hotel with going to washrooms at various parts of the hotel and didn't need me to go with him, was perfectly happy to go to the washroom on his own on the planes too…I could see the washroom from my seat on the longer flight and a couple of times saw some people helping him open the doors which can be challenging…so we had a lot of help ….and all went well!
….anyhow Cathay again showed me their attention to detail as we left the plane in Toronto there was a Cathay agent with a card and our names on it…she gave us a personal escort through to the priority line in customs. Unlike with my adoption of Matteo, noone asked me for documents not through Vietnam customs nor Canadian…but here, this Canadian border officer, first asked about the temporary passport and I explained about the adoption…..she then asked if I had documents….I was a bit surprised and of course tired and tried to keep Matteo from jumping around…so I dug into my backpack and brought out my two files of documents…but first I remembered that at the Canadian embassy when I picked up the passport, the agent there gave me a letter that she told me to show to Customs in Canada if they ask….so this is what I did, it was a letter basically stating that they have granted Malia Canadian citizenship…her name is on it, my name etc…and explains the details…after I gave the custom's agent this, I pulled out the original Vietnamese birth certificate, the Adoption order and the G&R ceremony record and was about to pull out the translated and notarized copies of these three documents when she said, she didn't' need to see them and all was fine…after that, she cleared us through….!!
….anyhow I think for now that's all I'll say, but just want to really impress that I was impressed with Cathay…they also checked in with us on the longer flight…I mentioned about Malia's motion sickness and they brought extra bags, towels and ginger ale whenever I wanted it….anyhow while everyone was worried about us with travelling alone, it really turned out better then expected…Matteo was still acting out related to his new sister, but really, Matteo is a good traveller, and Malia who slept a lot, ended up also doing quite well…I did have to use those tiny washrooms to change Malia but she managed to stay still unlike what I remember with Matteo when he was a baby who would not let me change him…..we were so happy to be home and are still very happy…we do miss Viet Nam and I think I am only now appreciating how much we did and saw and the miraculous and amazing experience and gift we had with this opportunity of adding to our family by adopting Malia.
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