Liam the Hoard...

Today has been a day of rest. Liam slept very well again last night. We went to bed late since we took an evening nap. It was at least 11:00 when we went to sleep. Liam woke up at 1:00am and took a bottle. Then he slept until almost 7. It was very nice to sleep in a little.

Liam is still so well natured. He loves us, but I am not sure if it has anything to do with us being his parents. He just loves everyone. I know that I mentioned that he loves food, but we are beginning to notice why. He is a hoard. That is typical behavior of an institutionalized child. Since other children will eat their food if they don’t eat it quickly, they learn to store it. We noticed it in some of the children at the orphanage when we visited. When Chaunta shared our Cheerios with the children there, they would stuff them in their pockets and come back for more. We didn’t think that Liam would do this since he is so young. But we were wrong. We have often found rice stored in his cheeks long after the meal has been finished. Today at lunch, he must not have been hungry but he took food anyway and stored it in his cheeks. We didn’t notice until it was too late. He stored so much in his mouth that he started to gag and eventually vomited. Yuck! So we will have to watch him closely. Another family’s child does the same thing. They found soggy Cheerios stored in her mouth from hours before. It is sad to think that our children have learned to hoard food.

Just down the beach from our hotel are several tents and clap board houses. Evidentially, people are living in them. It is very sad. We have become friends with a waitress in the hotel restaurant. Her name is Kien (Kee-UHN). She has a four year old son that her grandfather cares for while she works. She just loves Liam. If she comes by and his face is messy with food, she cleans him up immediately. We noticed that she seems to always be in the hotel when we are there. So today we asked her what hours she works. She comes in each morning at 6:30 and works until 10:00 each evening 6 days a week! We were told that the average salary is $50-60 per month. It is so hard to imagine working that long and being away from my children. She is always so pleasant and helpful even after 16 hours of working.

We took Liam swimming again today. He just loves it. There is not many things that he doesn’t love, but there are a few. He hates getting his diaper changed and hates having his clothes changed, but he loves being naked! And it never fails, when he is naked he pees! He says da-da often, but no ma-ma yet. This makes me happy, but it is obvious that he prefers Chaunta over me (and that makes her happy!).

Tomorrow we leave to return to Saigon. We are not looking forward to the long bus trip (7 hours). This time we will have 5 children in tote. UGH! But I am sure we will survive.

We are really starting to miss home, especially Aiden. Chaunta is having a harder time than I am. Last night she broke down. Liam must have known that she was sad. He did his best to change her spirit…and it worked. He has the most infectious giggle. Check out the video below.


If you see Aiden, please love on him for us. Linda is brining him to Shane’s party today and to church tomorrow. I think it is a good break for my mom, caring for Aiden is wearing her down. We are so grateful for her. We are also extremely grateful for Nikki, Nathan, Carla, and Linda. They have been a huge help. It is so nice to know that we have an extended family to watch after Aiden. Thank you all so much!