Birthday success!

Two blog posts in one day? I try not to be so long-winded, but want to write down my thoughts about this day before they get lost in the business of Thanksgiving. And I'll post more pictures soon, I promise. So as you can see from the last post, I made the Patrick cake today, put her down for a nap without the use of the car (first time since Hanoi), and wrapped her presents. When Bố came home, we drove over to Pho Anh Dao, a local Vietnamese restaurant with cheap prices and good food. There was one other diner in our section and the waiter; I guess not many people go to Pho Anh Dao on Thanksgiving Eve. Gianna had a blast. We ordered her some pork and noodles, she ate some of the Vietnamese hot sauce, and we talked to people about Vietnam and Vietnamese adoption. They spoke to her in Vietnamese, wished her a happy birthday, and we talked about what a lucky girl she is. In our adoption classes, we learned not to use this language because it sets up the parents as saints and the child as someone that needed saving. But really, she is a lucky girl to be a US citizen, to grow up with parents, to have an education, proper nutrition, and love. These are all things her little buddies back in Vietnam only dream of. So yes, Gianna has won the lottery, considering how many other Vietnamese children are in orphanages (half a million). This was her birthday meal and Thanksgiving all rolled into one.

We came home and her gifts were on the table. I got her a bunch of boring winter clothes and a motorized monster truck, but she really liked tearing open the packages. Then we lit the candle, she blew it out, and we tore into the Patrick cake. Like any two-year-old, she started out using the fork, but ended up using her hands and getting icing all over the place. Gianna is actually a lot like her Mẹ in some ways; she went for a second piece of cake when one was clearly enough, and enjoyed mooching off of other people's plates more than eating what was on her own plate. In the end, we decided not to even try to wash her face, and just put her in the bath to clean up. I thought eating so much cake might keep her up, but it had the opposite effect. She crashed and fell asleep before Dan could take her back to her room. Happy Birthday indeed!

This Thanksgiving I am particularly thinking of Gianna's friends back in Vietnam. I wish I could send them my turkey and mashed potatoes...or maybe they would like the pork and noodles from Pho Anh Dao better :-) Those kids deserve the same life Gianna has and I pray someday they may also win the lottery like she did.