Today, July 9, is now one of the most important dates in American and Vietnamese history. It's Joanna's birthday. This is our daughter's first birthday, and mommy Phuong and Daddy John celebrated in style. We had Vietnamese food in the morning, which Joanna rejected in favor of Daddy's smoked pork, mashed potatoes and cheese. That's my girl! Phuong's aunt made an amazing cake with whipped cream icing. Joanna loved the cake and the ice cream, which I insisted she have with the cake. I don't think that's a real tradition here, but I'm not sure. I made spaghetti, another Joanna favorite, for dinner.
Like my first four talented and intelligent children, I truly believe Joanna will be someone who makes a difference in life. She was walking before she was 11 months old. She has a wonderful smile like her mom. It's obvious she's smart like her mom -- she's already learned to fiddle trial-and-error style with our TV remote and my computer keyboard. Unfortunately, I see signs of her dad's temper, which we're working on getting under control. Not her temper, mine. Really, she already hands us stuff she shouldn't have, like cell phones and the aforementioned remote. A truly wonderful baby.
We took Joanna to the zoo last week and had a nice time. The zoo in Ho Chi Minh City is pretty nice. It's small with a decent variety of animals -- a white tiger, elephants, snakes and all the usual suspects. Joanna loved it because she loves animals -- she'll make a squealing noise of recognition when she sees a dog, cat, gecko, bird or spider around our house. The only problem we had was the weather ... again. It was so hot Joanna and I got cranky, but we persevered like always. Even Phuong and her two nephews, who joined us on the trip, got worn down by the heat. I bought Joanna a stuffed giraffe -- her new favorite animal -- and a bubble-making gun designed like a tiger. Joanna is fascinated when we make or blow the soapy bubbles, and sometimes she'll burst out laughing.
Joanna has settled into our nightly reading routine and loves Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, My Dad is Beautiful, Chameleon Colors, and Goodnight Moon. Goodnight Moon is also one of her favorite videos, and we play it every night before she goes to sleep.
I quit tennis with Tai because he either didn't show up or he showed up late. Remember, I was paying him to play because finding a singles partner is almost impossible here. Everyone plays doubles. I guess Tai didn't need the money. Besides, the tennis scene at Dong Nai Square sucked because the chuckle heads walked across my court while I was playing. I've moved to yet another court with yet another partner. Both seem more acceptable, but my game still stinks. No matter. I need the exercise because all my students constantly tell me, I'm "OLD" and "FAT". You gotta love education.
My blog gets more hits from Russia these days than any other country in the world. By far. No wonder Trump seems fixated on Putin and his countrymen and women. The Russians pay more attention to what we do than we do. I guess we're always looking into our cell phones, so there's no time for any real reading.
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