Happy Easter!

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 . . .

It's official . . .

We have officially broken a 118-year-old record for snow by logging over 80.3 inches this winter! We are supposed to have more this weekend, but I'm hoping it will melt on contact.

Also, Aaron and Nathan officially have influenza. Yuck. So far, they're the only ones, and it's been a long haul: Nathan has had a fever and other assorted miseries for 7 days, and Aaron for 4 days. We're washing hands like crazy, hoping Anya Rashi will escape the bug. Hope your household escapes it too!

Are you sure it's March?

Yipes. It was zero degrees when we took the boys to school this morning, and tomorrow is supposed to be colder. On the news last night, the weather folks said that if we have 0.3" of snow yet this season, we will break a 118-year-old record for the most snow. Just wanted to include that for future reading, so Anya Rashi will know that her first winter was a doozy!

Anya has been trying out some new words: "die-tah" is diaper, and she is a pro at nodding and saying "yah" for yes. She was saying "uh-oh" if she dropped something, but the boys trained her out of that! One day when I picked them up from school, I told them she could say "uh-oh" and they thought it was so cute, they kept repeating it over and over -- to the extent that now she thinks that's what you say while riding in a mini-van. :o) Many errands are done with her crowing "Uh-oh! Uh-oh!" from the back seat.

Last Friday, she melted our hearts by giving her first on-the-lips kiss to . . . Daddy, of course! She's been blowing kisses for a long time, but had never planted one on before. It's so sweet!

Another heart-warming moment happened yesterday. For the first time, she woke up from her nap and called out "Mama" so I would come and get her. It felt so good to hear that, and to know that she understands I'll be there for her, even when she can't see me.

She's imitating lots of things. The latest: she likes to take a cloth and pretend to scrub the floor, just like Mama. She also offers her hands when it's time to put on mittens, and gets her changing pad and a diaper (or several!) for me when it's time to change her.

It's so good to see how much she takes her new life in stride -- and she hasn't even been home three months. We feel so blessed to have her, and it sure seems like all the prayers people have offered for her smooth adjustment were heard and answered. Thanks, everyone, for supporting us in that vital but unseen way. We love you and appreciate you so much!

A rare sighting

Since I'm so often the one taking pictures, Peter snapped one of me to prove to Anya Rashi in later years that I did, in fact, exist. :o)

Our other rare sighting was of Anya Rashi in the tub! Sorry, no photo of that one, since she insisted on standing the entire time. Thank heaven for non-skid bathtub mats! A little explanation: since we met her, she's been terrified of running water and the bathtub. Even having me in with her didn't help . . . so we've been sponge-bathing her, washing her hair in the sink, sitting in an empty tub, and enlisting Aaron and Nathan to demonstrate that bathtime can be fun. (Thank you, big brothers.)

All our efforts finally paid off yesterday, when she looked like she wanted to go in the tub as I ran the water -- so in she went! Aaaah -- just-bathed-baby is one of my favorite scents in the world. What a brave little girl!

Busy girl

Anya Rashi is soooo busy learning new things . . . Her ongoing fascination with the garbage can, unfortunately, has not been replaced by any of her new hobbies. :o) Wish we had another place to put it . . . we may have to get creative soon!



She is learning so quickly! She knows where her eyes are, and loves to blink very deliberately (a la I Dream of Jeannie), then point carefully to them. She also loves to point out the eyes on her dollies and stuffed animals. She knows where her hands are, and makes great big starfish hands when asked.

She knows the sounds that puppies and elephants make, too, and will do them when asked or when she sees pictures in a book. Her "woof" sounds like "boof," and an elephant, according to Anya Rashi, says "bweeeww."

She is a one-woman wrecking crew, dumping out our tupperware drawer and clearing the backpack shelf by the back door faster than we can believe! She also likes to throw things down the clothes chute, including tub toys, a ball, Mama's jar of facial mask, and other assorted things. (Actually, she's never thrown CLOTHES down it, now that I think of it . . . ) Oh, and she's starting to try to climb things . . . be very afraid!

Her new favorite books are Elmo's Puppy Book, The Lady with the Alligator Purse, and Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed. She's also been to church with us twice -- which is good, because everyone kept mobbing poor Peter asking when they'd get to meet her!

Aaron and Nathan find her discoveries very amusing, and are busy making their own. Aaron is entering an art contest for a greeting card design. (The greeting cards will be sold to benefit our school district.) He has also lost two more teeth, and looks like a jack'o'lantern. Nathan has, in the past few weeks, become an independent reader! He's normally very noisy and/or chatty, but has gotten lost in books lately to the point that Peter and I will ask each other "Where's Nathan? What's he up to?" Both boys recently had a day off school due to extremely cold temperatures, and we took that opportunity to make a gingerbread house. Fun! This weekend, they will be writing out Spiderman valentines to give to their classmates.

Things the boys have said lately:
Nathan: I don't want any kissing. I just want adventure!
Aaron: (looking at a snowman about to topple over) That snowman's doing yoga.

Hope everyone is staying warm . . . we are, mostly by chasing a very active 13-month-old!

Winter fun

This sight was just too cute not to post! Peter, Aaron and Nathan went out to play and shovel, while Anya Rashi and I watched the snow (and snowballs) fly from inside. Then I stuffed Anya Rashi into her snowsuit, hat, mittens, and boots. The result? A devastatingly cute (and completely immobile) little puffball of a girl!

The boys built a fort complete with two towers -- Peter has been reading them The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkein, coincidentally . . . Anya Rashi took her first little sled ride, and walked down the street with me to deliver a thank you note to our neighbors.

She has been transfixed by falling snow when watching it from inside the house, and outside was no different. She was the quietest we've ever seen her, as she tried to make sense of the floating white specks landing on her cheeks and fluttering through the air around her.

One thought did cross my mind -- what would our nice hotel ladies say about having the baby out in 25-degree weather?! These were the same ladies who warned us not to give Anya Rashi a bath in Kolkata's winter (70+ degree weather, with lows in the 50s!!). It's probably good that they didn't see our outdoor fun. :o)

Firsts

We have experienced many firsts with Anya Rashi in the past week: first doctor visit, first immunizations in the U.S., first blood draws . . . first family bout of the stomach flu. So far, she has not caught the bug, but she did have a two-day fever following her shots, poor girl.

On a brighter note, she's having lots of other fun firsts:

First recognizable word: "shoe," which sounds like "dooooo," and is usually uttered rapturously as she carries pairs of shoes from her changing table to all corners of the house. I'll be lucky if I can find a matching pair in time to take the boys to school tomorrow!

First social worker post-placement visit: Anya Rashi is doing very well! Sleeping has taken a few steps backward since the shots, but we're hoping she'll recover within a few weeks.

First games with her brothers: Every night after dinner this week, Aaron and Anya Rashi play chase, with Anya in hot pursuit as Aaron tries (not very hard) to run away from her. As for Nathan, he likes to do dramatic play with stuffed animals (complete with every sound effect a boy can make) to make Anya Rashi laugh.

First favorite music: When Peter plays the Charlie Brown/Peanuts theme song on the piano, she goes crazy and dances all around the living room. Also, baby likes jazz! I've played her some Dianne Reeves, and she bops away to the faster pieces.

Other firsts: When asked how old she is, Anya Rashi holds up a carefully extended index finger. She also figured out where her nose is, and gleefully points to it (or in it) when asked. She's had her first trip to the library and the grocery store, too.

Other discoveries: the hallway nightlight, any crumb or scrap of paper on the floor (which instantly winds up in her mouth), the garbage can (ick), and two favorite books: Kipper's Book of Opposites and Oscar the Otter's Book of Colors. She also likes our Darth Tater and Spidey Spud potato-head accessories.