Good boy

Thien Nhan continues to recover well. "He is being such a good and brave little boy," says his mum, Mai Anh. "But of course he misses home and wants to see his brother, Little Minh, and to be able to get up and play normally."

Today, Thien Nhan is meeting prosthetic experts from a nearby prosthetic center in Bologne. "I hope that they'll be able to find a good solution for him," says Mai Anh. Because the stump of Thien Nhan's right leg is very short, to date, it has proven impossible to attach a prosthetic limb that has enough stability to allow him to walk comfortably.

"After his genitals heal, my next big goal is to help find a way for him to walk," says Mai Anh.

There Were Four In The Bed...

Just when Thien Nhan and his two big brothers were all finally free of the flu, their mom, Mai Anh, fainted and hit her head. She ended up in hospital where CAT scans revealed that she'd suffered swelling of the brain. Luckily, with rest, she will recover! The family deserves a "frequent customer discount card" at the local hospital, of the type handed out in coffee shops...

Ordered to rest in bed, where she's hooked up to an IV, Mai Anh has had good company. Check out this adorable picture of the three boys, sleeping like angels!

Homesick in Houston

Having been in Houston for more than a week, Thien Nhan is homesick. "Me oi, I want to go home and play with my brothers," Nhan told his mother, Mai Anh, speaking about his brothers Big Minh, 10, and Little Minh, 4.

"All day long he begs me to phone home," says Mai Anh. "He misses home and especially his big brothers."

[Photo shows Thien Nhan (on stool) with his brothers and cousin, back in Hanoi.]

Summer Bug

While winter is typically the "flu season", a nasty flu is going around in Vietnam. Poor Thien Nhan has been ill for three days now, with a cough and a fever. So far, his older brothers are fine, as are Mum and Dad.

"It's summer holidays, so that's an extra miserable time to be sick!" says the boys' mum, Mai Anh. Before this little setback, Thien Nhan had been enjoying a great summer, getting up to lots of mischief with his brothers. Here's a photo of the three of them getting cleaned up after a day spent playing.

[Photo, left to right: Little Minh, Thien Nhan, Big Minh]

A Great Big Brother

Thien Nhan's big brother, Big Minh, 8, is in charge of updating the "Education" section on Thien Nhan's Vietnamese-language website: http://www.thiennhan.info/vn/news/hoc-tap.aspx Each day after school Minh rewrites some of Thien Nhan's preschool teachers' comments and posts them online. A recent example reads: "Thien Nhan learned the poem "Lotus Flower". He also stuck flowers onto a card to make a Women's Day gift for his mom."

*Photo, left to right: Big Minh, Thien Nhan & Little Minh

Super Brothers!

To help Thien Nhan to celebrate the New Year in style, one of his supporters in Hanoi presented Nhan and his two brothers, Big Minh, 8, and Little Minh, 3, with matching superman outfits.

The kids had a great time modelling their new costumes and are reportedly so fond of them that they refused to take them off. "They told me that they did not want to eat too much in case they grow out of them!" reports the boys' mom, Mai Anh.

Playtime

After a few weeks being plagued by colds and flus, Thien Nhan and his brothers, Big Minh and Little Minh, are all healthy again. Check out the cute video link of the boys playing with modelling clay at the Hanoi Children's Palace.

"Winter isn't an easy time for Thien Nhan because cold weather makes his leg stump ache," admits mom, Mai Anh. But the tot is looking forward to spending his first Christmas and Tet with his adoptive family in Hanoi.

http://bnok.vn/nhatkychulinhchi/2008/12/08/965/

Brother's Keeper

When a bigger kid recently kicked Little Minh, aged 3, Thien Nhan rushed to his big brother's defence. "He raced over, jumped in front of the other kid and started babbling threats," said Mai Anh. "Nhan was really angry and strong-looking." After checking under Minh's shirt to be sure that he wasn't badly injured, Thien Nhan went back to chastizing his tormentor. "Thien Nhan is really tough," said Mai Anh. "He's like a little police man."

A Little Gang

Along with two big brothers, Thien Nhan has a male cousin and these four little boys have a lot of fun together. Here's the whole gang.

Big Changes

It's exactly one month since Thien Nhan was adopted, and what a difference that month has made! "He was like a wild animal, with no idea what toys were for, and he didn't know how to eat anything except bananas and cold rice," recalls Mai Anh.

Today, eager to make up for lost time, Thien Nhan is eating everything that he can get his hands onto. "We need to be careful or he will get too fat," says Mai Anh. When Nhan was fitted for his first prosthetic leg 2.5 weeks ago, the doctors estimated that it would fit him for two months. But Nhan has gained so much weight and grown so fast that his prosthetic limb is already getting too tight and too short. So it's back to VietCot --the GTZ-funded institute that's supporting his prosthetic care--for adjustments...