What is Anya Rashi up to?

Anya Rashi is now three and a half, and is delighted with anything outdoors. She loves to swim, play in sand, look at leaves and bugs (and pick them up, too!), go to parks, and ride her scooter and tricycle. Unfortunately, we have set a record this summer for rain -- over 17 inches since June 1, with lots of flood watches, hail, and more -- so she hasn't been able to swim as much as she'd like to.

One morning, Anya Rashi woke up and asked me to make her little teddy bear into a knight -- so with some foil and a toothpick sword, her wish was my command. The sleeping photos document her new habit of wrapping her beloved blankie around her head while she sleeps! She wakes up with some crazy, sweaty hair most days.

One funny thing you'll hear a lot at our house is "I have the dots!!" For some reason, Anya Rashi's hands, legs and feet fall asleep often. When she has the pins-and-needles sensation, she calls it "the dots." The first time I finally figured out what she meant, it was the middle of the night, and I went back to bed laughing so hard I woke Peter up.

She is very perceptive about emotional things, and can read facial expressions and moods very well. If I am feeling impatient with her and trying to hide it, she can sense it immediately and says "Laugh at me, Mama." If I explain that I still love her, but I don't feel like laughing, she will follow up with one of her own jokes: "Why did the penguin climb the tree?" Sometimes, right after she's done something naughty, she will flutter her eyelashes and say, "I love you, Mama." What a stinker!

Over the summer, she has made great strides with playing organized games. Last month, instead of just playing with the cherries from Hi-Ho Cherry-O, she became more interested in actually playing the game. This month's obsession, however, has been Go Fish! She will play many, MANY games each day if she can wrangle us into it. Luckily, there are four family members she can con into playing -- we all take turns, and Aaron and Nathan are so sweet about playing with her.

She went to the dentist yesterday for the first time and did very well! She was very cooperative, with one condition -- she wouldn't sit in the chair alone. So, on my lap she went, and sailed through the appointment with ease. The Dora sunglasses (to shield her eyes from the light) were a big hit. She's very literal right now, and the hygenist was complimenting her by saying, "You get a star for being such a good helper!" So, naturally, after it was all over, Anya Rashi said "Where's my star?!" (Side note: Our dentist is an adult adoptee who was born in Korea -- I've had some good conversations with her about her experience being an adopted child.)

Something else that is unique about Anya Rashi the way she plays with dolls. She usually doesn't pretend she's the mommy -- instead, she most often plays dolly hospital. I wonder if she will pursue something medical as a career? Last time, our dollies had H-1-1-1 (H1N1), and cavities. Interestingly, she always calls her smallest cloth dolly Baby Rup. Her other dolls have made-up names like Keeney, or are named after people in our lives -- but her India cribmate Max Rup has a special spot in her heart, so one tiny boy doll is his namesake.

Something Aaron and Nathan didn't prepare us for was squealing and screaming. A variety of reasons -- happiness, glee, frustration, anger, excitement -- all cause high-pitched noises that we never heard before having a daughter in our home. Yikes!

She is very interested in her baby sister. Almost every day, she brings up the topic of the little one we're waiting for. She will often remind us, "When I'm 4, then our baby sister will get here." Last week during bedtime prayers, she said "Please bring my baby sister home so I can hug her and give her a bottle." We have been running our short list of baby names by her (that's one thing I seem to obsess over every time a new child enters our family!), and she has a few favorites of her own. We are waiting until our referral to make a final decision, though -- we want to see what she looks like and hear her orphanage name before we can choose.

She is very bright, and often cracks us up with her questions. This morning, we saw monarchs and cabbage butterflies flying by after the boys' baseball game. Anya Rashi asked, "Mama, can butterflies hatch out of raccoons?" Why not? Sounds like coccoon, right?