Wouldn’t it be cool if Max learned to drive in my daily driver? Manual steering, manual gearbox, manual windows, hell it even has optional (as in factory option) non-retractable seatbelts!
Category: Oh, baby!
Birth of a U.S. Citizen Abroad, reported
Now all we have to do is wait for the results. If everything goes well I’ll go to pick up his passport in two or three weeks.
The entire application took less than an hour, including filling out forms for reporting the birth of a U.S. citizen abroad as well as a passport (BTW, did you know there are “passport books” as well as “passport cards” now? The former are standard passports and the latter are for visiting countries bordering the US and US territories or something like that.).
One funny thing is that the interviewer didn’t believe that I didn’t have dual Japanese/American citizenship although I thought I explained what a Japanese American is very well. Oh well, the mixing pot is sometimes hard to imagine unless you’ve been there (the interviewer in question wasn’t from the US).
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Max did fine on the plane and in the Bangkok confusion. He only threw a fit once, and we happened to be at Nam’s aunts’ house in Lad Prao at the time, so everything went very smoothly.
Back Soon…
We are off to Bangkok to claim Max’s American citizenship. Wish us luck!
We should be back on Wednesday of next week. We will probably not be checking email until then…
Almost crawling
He can lift his head quite high, and he can propel himself forward with great force, but he can’t yet do both at the same time. He has a lot of fun acting like a human bulldozer, though.
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We are greatly enjoying these days of limited mobility – he can move to one side on of his crib while sleeping and even roll over occasionally, but he basically stays put. Also, he can cry and sigh and burp and laugh and coo, but he can’t tell us, “no.” All in all, newborn to five months is a pretty great age.
Pimp Ghost Riding (Sky on Fire)
The other day we went to nanny’s village to see the flooded rice fields. The Chi River has overflowed into the fields, and huge invading catfish are happy to feast on drowned field mice and other flood detritus. Unwilling to take Mr. Max out on a flimsy boat, we watched the villagers go spearfishing for dinner.
It sure is a good thing we took the trusty old Crown out on the muddy roads instead of our pretty car.
Where is Max?
Coming soon, I promise.
I’m putting together another PC monstrosity. It shall live, and it shall help me gain access to Max’s photo vaults again – soon!
Day 2 Update
Max’s lungs are apparently sounding much better. The blood tests point to a bacterial, rather than viral, infection. This is good news because it means all the antibiotics going into him weren’t just to piss him off (he caught me on the jaw with not one, not two, but three Tiger Uppercuts with his cathetered and bandaged hand when I held the oxygen mask over his face this afternoon).
He is here for a three day course of meds and observation, which seems to be a WHO standard adopted in Thailand.
He is sleeping now and I’m writing my exams outside on a large balcony at the end of the hall.
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At around noon, a physical therapist came around with a gaggle of nurses and performed a series of percussive strokes with a cupped hand to Maxie’s back, and then to his chest. This loosened up some phlegm and fluids, so the gaggle of nurses and Nam pinned Max down and the therapist performed suction with a small tube to his mouth and nose. It was hard to watch him choking and sobbing, but the results were immediate and effective. He slept, well, like a baby for a long time after this session. Actually, we’re waiting for them to come around for another one right now.
Maxie’s Hospital Stay Day 2
There’s something hugely wrong about sleeping on a hospital sofa. The body rejects it, the mind rejects it.
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The catheter in Max’s arm had to be replaced this morning (to his other arm, actually) because it partly worked it’s way out last night and we had it removed to facilitate ease of motion. He cried a lot less than he did yesterday, because he was still very sleepy. I had to hold him down today, though, and it wasn’t fun. In the end, though, it was all good and he was smiling again five minutes later.
Uh oh it’s time to give him the inhalants via oxygen mask…
UPDATE: OK,he complained a lot but didn’t throw a tantrum like yesterday.
The hardest part about today is going to be when I go home to make some finals for next week. It’s too quiet without the baby.