Future gymnast? Rock climber? Who knows?

Our little girl continues to amaze us. In the past two weeks, she has been very busy practicing new skills, such as taking marker caps off and trying madly to clip her own highchair "seat belt" and car seat harness.

She also figured out how to open the front door! I watched her for about ten minutes as she worked with great concentration. She experimented with pulling the lever and pushing on the door, then gradually figured out how to do both at the same time. Success at last -- she made it out onto the front porch, with Mama quickly scooping her up before she got to the steps!

She is very adventurous at the park, figuring out ways to climb onto and off of play equipment that was never intended for a 17-month-old! It never fails -- every time we're at the park, other parents always comment on how fast she is, and how busy. They almost always say "I hope she takes a long nap, so you have time to sit still!" Maybe gymnastics or rock climbing are in her future . . .

Or boxing. She has learned the fine art of smacking at her brothers when she's frustrated with them. Where do kids learn these things?! The funniest thing is watching how indignant Aaron and Nathan are when she does it. We've had some hilarious conversations with them about how they used to bite, hit, etc. when they were little (they can barely believe us, of course).

Anya Rashi is also working on her first-year molars. Her top right molar is halfway through, and we can see the bottom two below the surface. We're hoping they don't take too long to come through, since there have been a few (okay, more than a few!) nights with wake-ups and tears this past week. Funny how easily we get used to a good night's sleep, and how quickly we miss it when we're not getting it. :o)

Today marks five months home. The time has really flown by, and it's hard to remember that she was once much more hesitant and reserved with us. Now, she's a little whirlwind who freely offers hugs, kisses, and a content head resting on our shoulders -- she is just as confident as can be in so many ways.

May 1

This week held a special anniversary for us -- May 1 last year was the day we saw the first picture of our daughter. We all gathered on the living room couch after a call from Tami at Dillon International, with the computer in the middle of the huddle.

With great anticipation, we opened up the photo of a gorgeous four-month-old girl named Rashi. She had caramel skin and deep black eyes, and our breath caught in our throats as we thought, "This is the tiny person God chose for our family."

We are so blessed to be the family who got to welcome her home -- and love her for the rest of our lives.

Identity crisis

I'm having a very small identity crisis. :o) Anya Rashi's new fascination has been using the word "mama" for many purposes. Gone are the starry-eyed days of mommy bliss when she used that word for only me! She still very deliberately points to me, gives a kiss and says "Mama." Then, just as deliberately, she points to her father and says, "mama." Same goes for both of her brothers, the hallway, the clock in our living room . . . you get the picture.

And, apparently, she has quite a sense of humor. Today, I was clicking her into her car seat, and she pointed to me with a sweet smile and said, "Dada." Ha! What a little imp. Also, she has developed what Peter and I refer to as "the 'no' that means 'yes'." She says it with a coy little look that we've come to know well . . . then she will laugh and nod her head yes.

A new hobby at the moment is taking the clothes off all her dolls. She insists that they be al fresco, for reasons known only to her. Her other favorite activity, now that we're letting her bangs grow out, is ripping barrettes out of her hair. She really enjoys the putting-in part of the process, and gives a big cheesy smile while I say "pretty!" -- and then, within seconds, out it comes. Maybe she's going to be short hair kind of gal.

In other family news, Nathan just turned six! He will share a birthday party with his friend Jack on Saturday at a local nature center. Frog cupcakes will be the treat of the day -- I had a practice run making them for Nathan's class last week. (I'm sure his teacher loves it when parents send in all that sugar!) You'll have to ignore his age ticker at the top of our blog -- for some reason, it has him living in the past as a five-year-old.

Both Aaron and Nathan are playing in a flag football league this spring. Their team is the Buccaneers, and it's a short 6-week season complete with football jerseys -- very cute! Umm, did I say cute? I meant fierce. They wanted me to write about a new noise Anya Rashi is making. Here's how they spell it: "rrrraahhhhhhh ggglle." She says it in a really low, throaty voice and will keep on doing it if they laugh. (Which they always do.)

So far, it's been too cold, rainy, and windy to have Anya Rashi outside at their football games. In fact, it snowed for a few hours this morning. Sigh. I'm reasonably sure that by the time baseball starts it will be warmer.

An eventful week

Well, this week contained a variety of events, some more pleasant than others! On the down side, all three kids had a stomach bug, and the boys had colds on top of that . . . yuck. The boys have missed a ton of school -- a week and a day last month with influenza, then they went back for two days before spring break . . . and now, the week after spring break they missed another four days! Their teachers probably wonder if I've secretly decided to home school. :o)

On a much happier note, Nathan and Aaron were very excited to get their new glasses yesterday! Nathan is the newest member of the family to join the nearsighted club, and looks quite distinguished in his new glasses. Aaron has had glasses since the week before he began kindergarten, and needed new frames and lenses. It was a fun way to end a yucky sick week.

Anya Rashi is up to many new tricks, and can now climb onto the kitchen table, the couch, and almost anywhere she wants to be. Dinner preparation (or any other job that requires two hands and more than 3 min.) is now a bit of an adventure . . . and I've been using the pack-and-play occasionally as an Anya Rashi-containment device, but not surprisingly, she does not enjoy being caged when there is so much to climb! For some reason, she is much more active in the evenings, when she's starting to get tired. That's when the boys call her by the titles they've given her: "Danger Baby" and "Princess Destructo." :o)

She is trying out some new animal sounds, and says "moo" for cows, "baa" for sheep, and "ooooh aaah" for monkeys. For some reason, she thinks that cats blink their eyes!! It's so funny, and she's completely consistent with it -- we say "meow," and she very deliberately blinks both eyes. Wonder where that came from?! She also sings "woe, woe, woe" for "Row, row, row your boat."

Yesterday was a race day for our family! Peter and Alicia ran a 5K that ended our local baseball stadium. Aaron and Nathan were registered to run the kids 1/2 mile, but given that they'd been so sick, we opted out in favor of them saving their strength. They still got their t-shirts, so they weren't too disappointed. It was beautiful weather, too -- the first day this year that went over 50 degrees -- and it wound up reaching 62 degrees! We went to the park after the race, rode bikes, and spent lots of time outside.

Anya Rashi likes pinecones, sand, rocks, dead leaves, and lots of other things that she discovered in our backyard. Now, to keep her from eating them . . . :o)

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!