A happy and blessed Easter to everyone! We hope that the first inklings of spring remind you of the new life promised to us through Christ. Our Easter celebration included a visit from Nancy's sister Alicia, going to church together, then time with both sets of grandparents, as well as Uncle Matt and Uncle Mark. Our stomachs and hearts are full!
With our new little girl in the family, we had our first experience with an Easter dress, little black patent leather shoes, and a third basket hidden (in plain sight) for the hunt this morning.
Anya Rashi has been learning all kinds of new things. Most panic-inducing is her new talent for climbing! Her first climbing victory was the rocking chair in her bedroom -- thank goodness she can't get out of the crib . . . yet. She can also scale the kitchen chairs, and the sofas at both grandparents' houses (ours are too tall). Now, silence is ominous if Anya Rashi is out of sight!
She's also learning new words. "Dar" means star, "bubba" means baby, "dat" means that, and is usually punctuated by a finger pointing to whatever she wants. The funniest times we hear "dat" are just after bedtime and in the middle of the night, when she's thrown stuffed animals out of her crib and wants them back. :o) She has also discovered crayons and coloring, and insists on coloring in her high chair if she sees the boys doing schoolwork or art projects at the table.
Another really cute thing is her singing "la la la." We checked out a Muppet Show DVD from the library when the boys were sick, which included an episode in which Elton John sings "Crocodile Rock." Aaron and Nathan have been singing the "Laaaa, la la la la laaaa" chorus (a little bit of overkill after the 564th time you hear it . . . ), and Anya Rashi joins right in!
She also thinks that chickens (and most birds) say "bah bah bah," and will start clucking even when the word chicken just comes up in conversation. As in, "Should we have chicken for dinner?" "Bah bah bah!" Anya also likes to help us read "Goodnight Moon," filling in on both pages when the quiet old lady is whispering "hush" -- except Anya Rashi's lady just says "shhh."
It's so hard to believe it's been three months since she came home. In some ways, it seems she has always been here -- maybe because we spent so much time staring at her pictures and talking and thinking about her before we ever met her. In other ways, it still feels very new, and it's a joy to see her personality continue to show itself. We love thinking about the fact that this is just the first three months of a life-long journey . . .
With our new little girl in the family, we had our first experience with an Easter dress, little black patent leather shoes, and a third basket hidden (in plain sight) for the hunt this morning.
Anya Rashi has been learning all kinds of new things. Most panic-inducing is her new talent for climbing! Her first climbing victory was the rocking chair in her bedroom -- thank goodness she can't get out of the crib . . . yet. She can also scale the kitchen chairs, and the sofas at both grandparents' houses (ours are too tall). Now, silence is ominous if Anya Rashi is out of sight!
She's also learning new words. "Dar" means star, "bubba" means baby, "dat" means that, and is usually punctuated by a finger pointing to whatever she wants. The funniest times we hear "dat" are just after bedtime and in the middle of the night, when she's thrown stuffed animals out of her crib and wants them back. :o) She has also discovered crayons and coloring, and insists on coloring in her high chair if she sees the boys doing schoolwork or art projects at the table.
Another really cute thing is her singing "la la la." We checked out a Muppet Show DVD from the library when the boys were sick, which included an episode in which Elton John sings "Crocodile Rock." Aaron and Nathan have been singing the "Laaaa, la la la la laaaa" chorus (a little bit of overkill after the 564th time you hear it . . . ), and Anya Rashi joins right in!
She also thinks that chickens (and most birds) say "bah bah bah," and will start clucking even when the word chicken just comes up in conversation. As in, "Should we have chicken for dinner?" "Bah bah bah!" Anya also likes to help us read "Goodnight Moon," filling in on both pages when the quiet old lady is whispering "hush" -- except Anya Rashi's lady just says "shhh."
It's so hard to believe it's been three months since she came home. In some ways, it seems she has always been here -- maybe because we spent so much time staring at her pictures and talking and thinking about her before we ever met her. In other ways, it still feels very new, and it's a joy to see her personality continue to show itself. We love thinking about the fact that this is just the first three months of a life-long journey . . .
