Shopping with Abe

After we left the boys' home, we were on our way to a mall for shopping and lunch with Tuk and the other adoptive families. The mall we were headed to was facing a larger build-up of red shirt protesters, so Tuk called Mo and they decided to change our shopping location to somewhere far from the altercations. We traveled maybe an additional 20 minutes (still in Bangkok) to the new meeting place. The department store we went to was called Central Department Store, and I was very surprised to see the same brand names of clothing and toys here in Thailand as we see in the U.S. Abe needed some tennis shoes, and he told Tuk he wanted shoes like Daddy's...and the pair he picked out were Osh Kosh. How funny. We also picked up some socks and underwear for him because the home didn't send him with any. I also picked up a few books in the store that are written in Thai and English. After shopping, we met inside the mall for lunch - great - another Thai food restaurant! :o Matt found something on the menu that was like Chicken Parmesan, so that is what we both ordered. Abe had told Tuk he wanted some sort of fried rice dish, but she showed him what we were ordering, and he told her he wanted what Mom and Dad were having. :) That was probably the best food we have had since being here.

After shopping Tuk brought us back to the hotel, and then it was time for her to say her goodbyes to Abe. After today, we won't be seeing Tuk anymore, only Mo. As soon as we got to our room, she sat Abe down at the table and took him by the hands and talked for what seemed like forever. They both looked very sad, of course we have no idea what she was telling him. She has known Abe for three years, so her attachment to him is very strong. It was sad to watch. After their goodbyes, it was our turn. Tuk and I both started crying, but I'm not sure if they were sad tears or happy tears - we both were feeling a lot of different things. She gave us her email address and telephone number. We told her we would stay in touch and send her pictures often. Abe will miss her, and so will we.

Abe had spotted the swimming pool from our balcony, so after Tuk left he asked to go swimming (okay, he made arm movements that left us know what he was asking :) ). So Matt and Abe put on their swim trunks and we headed downstairs. I'm not sure that Abe really knows how to swim, but he has the basic idea. More than anything, he liked Matt picking him up out of the water and letting him slash down. They both had a lot of fun together!

After swimming, we came back to the room to clean up and go for dinner. The hotel sent up his roll-away bed, and as soon as he saw it - he knew it was for him and he smiled a big smile and said Abe ~~~~ (Thai word for bed). He was very excited! At the restaurant, I ordered fried rice with chicken, shrimp, and pineapples in it for Abe, and he cleaned his plate again. I even gave him part of my dinner, and he ate that too! He is an eating machine for sure!

When we to the room, we gave Abe his pajamas, and he changed clothes and hopped into bed. We pulled out a few books to read to him, knowing he couldn't understand them - but I could tell he liked story time anyway. One of the books we bought while we were shopping was Snow White, and it has Thai and English words. Matt read the English, and Abe read the Thai - it was so cute to listen to him read! He was very tired, so finally it was lights out.