Sunday...a day of rest

Today we got up, got ready, ate breakfast and headed to church with Nicola. I'm pretty sure we got lost because we turned around several times. It rained in Bangkok last night and some of the side streets were flooded almost to people's knees yet everyone was still walking and driving through the water. There were no worries of being swept away because you would just be swept into a building. The streets are so narrow and the the buildings are very close to the road. It was amazing. The whole driving experience in Thailand is crazy, parking too. Everyone does their own thing. No one waits for an opening to turn into traffic, or to cross traffic, or to do a u turn if they waited they would never get anywhere. They just go for it and everyone stops and/or moves. In U.S. we would have been killed on the first day! We went to a large mall the other day and parked in the garage. I noticed that people were parked in front of the cars parked in the actual parking spaces. When we came out we were blocked. I couldn't believe it. I asked Ms. Oh what we would do now and she said "just push the car out of the way" and that's what they did, they just rolled the car forward about 3 feet and we drove way. Everyone leaves their cars in neutral so it can be moved. The motor cycles do as they want as well, they drive the wrong way, drive between cars and generally make their own rules. On the interstate everyone drives on the shoulder, in between the lanes and in the lanes. A 3 lane road can have 5 cars across with a motor bike or two thrown in. Pedestrians walk out in front of cars and either the car swerves or the ped moves a little more quickly when they realize the car isn't swerving. It can be unnerving, but it is so very fascinating.

Our day with Max today was very, very good. We spent most of the day with Nicola and other volunteers from the orphanage. I was a little concerned about Max being reminded about the orphanage, but he's on the bed playing with Veldon right now and seems perfectly happy to be here. After church we went to eat Mexican food, Max had noodles...his favorite food, we then went to a very nice house in the ex pat area and watched a movie. Max is not really interested in movies, he is interested in standing really, really close to the TV. We went to the pool in the neighborhood and had a great time. Max loves for Veldon to throw him in the air into the water. Veldon throws him to me and then I kind of toss him back to Veldon. He is constantly chattering while we play this game. Today Nicola started laughing and tell us Max was saying "now to the lady", "now back to the guy" "now to Nicola" "now back to the lady". Nicola told him we aren't the "lady" and "guy" we are mommy and daddy. Veldon and I have been joking that he just thinks we are the nice people we give him food and new clothes. Turns out we aren't far from wrong. The whole concept of mommy and daddy is something that has to be learned, you can't just tell a child "we are mommy and daddy" and expect them to understand it...if they've never had parents before. It will be a good long time before Max really gets that mommy and daddy means forever and always, but he will eventually get it. We then went back to Nicola's and finished our laundry had a little snack and headed back to the hotel...what Max calls our house. I feel like we are setting him up for the real disappointment when he sees the real house in GA! Oh well, he'll need to get used to disappointment...it's a part of life. Today he has been very much like he was yesterday...a typical little boy. He laughs and cries, throws fits and shows his stubbornness, he wants to exert his own will and have his way, but so do I often times! He basically says no to everything and then we do it anyway. No to getting dressed, no to taking a bath, not to putting on his swimsuit, no to putting on his pjs. He doesn't, however, say no to food...ever. He is hungry all the time and is always looking for more food. We've been told that at the orphanage he always had food in his hand. I can believe it. I don't think he's an orphan who has ever feared for his next meal. The nannies constantly fed him snacks and brought him special food. I asked how the other kids felt about that, they said that orphans learn that life is what it is, that Tankhun always had food and got his way and that's life. That philosophy wouldn't fly at our house, our 3 older kids definitely were born with a "fairness clause" of course they were never orphans so it makes sense.

Max fell asleep on the ride home from Nicola's. He was very annoyed to have to wake up to put his pjs on, he was happy to wake up and eat noodles. He is awake right now, off the bed and running all over the room. This is the latest he's been awake since we got him and he is running around like a tornado, I'm pretty sure he's exhausted and just needs to sit still for a couple minutes, but right now he's pretty determined to undo everything in the room and right now we're pretty willing to let him!

Pictures coming soon...