Happy Halloween From Hanoi

Happy Halloween! We are dressed and ready to party! The hotel is actually having trick or treat tonight, but we did not sign up for it. None of us need the candy :) We may go down to the lobby in a few minutes to see the trick or treaters.

Lucie has made an amazing amount of progress in just four days. She loves to walk around (with help) and loves to get on the floor and play. She talks all the time - "mamamamamamamamamamamamamama" (as much as I'd like to say that she knows I am her mama I think it is just an easy and fun thing to say), "eh", "eh", "eh", "eh??", "eh??", "eh??", "huh, huh, huh, huh". She is eating more than she would to begin with. She is teaching us too - we now know which cry means she is hungry and sometimes we know which cry means her diaper needs to be changed. She can imitate me when I blink my eyes like I Dream of Jenie - she does it back. She tries to clap and is getting better at it. She likes to bounce. When we sing to her she tries to imitate us. She is just a total joy! Mom and I are amazed at what a sweet baby she is, and how much fun.

We are in the midst of a monsoon. We have had rain, thunder, lightening for 24 hours now and it is supposed to continue for 3 days. The streets are flooded. The mopeds and people walking continue, with water up above the wheels on the mopeds and up to the people's knees. We did not leave the hotel today. Thankfully we are in a really nice place and have room to spread out and relax and not get claustrophobic. I'm disappointed that we cannot get out and explore the area but there isn't anything we can do about the rain! It's pretty incredible. We are now surrounded by a lake!