Pooh, Indian banquet, and first snow!

*Hopefully, there will be photos with this post soon! We have a new camera that is not playing nicely with our computer!*

One really funny thing to report from Miss Anya Rashi. At a baby shower last summer, someone gave us a package of Huggies diapers featuring Winnie the Pooh on the front of each diaper. She has a Pooh stuffed animal, and was REALLY excited about the diapers. In true almost-two-year-old fashion, she turned the whole thing into a mildly embarrassing episode. In public, to anyone who is remotely interested (or not!), she will point to her diaper area and say loudly, "POOH!!" So far, the response has been a few semi-horrified looks, and one person who said, "Looks like mommy needs to change you." Ha!

In other news, this weekend, my sister Alicia visited. She lives about 100 miles away, and we always wish we could see her more. She's the ultimate fun aunt, and gets right into whatever the kids are doing.

This time, Alicia came for a grown-up reason: to go to an Indian event with me! Our city has an organization called Indus, which is a group for both Indians and non-Indians who are interested in Indian culture. Each year, they do a variety of cultural, educational, and fun events. Friday was their 10th annual banquet. The food was outstanding! The theme was "Fusion," and the menu included:
Paneer Tikka Pizza
Chicken Masala Almandine with Pinapple and Nuts
Sweet Potato Kofta in Spicy Tomato Sauce
Grape Raita
Lime Pickle
Naan and Papad

There were about 300 people, including two congressmen, our mayor, and variety of community leaders. About 2/3 of the crowd was Indian, and it was glorious to see the variety of Indian dress represented. The women wore elegant, beaded saris in every possible hue -- beautiful! I saw my doctor there, as well as an Indian mom that I knew from swimming lessons at our YMCA. There was a silent auction, and a play about the blending of cultures in a first-generation Indian family.

Also attending was another mom with three adopted children from south India. Her kids are all quite a bit older than Anya Rashi, but we've gotten together at a local park and e-mail each other. She was seated near one of our congressmen, and went to bat for Wisconsin families who have adopted from India and Korea. We have to apply for and pay $450 for our Certificate of Citizenship, in contrast to families who've adopted children from other countries -- their children are citizens upon their arrival in the US, and pay nothing for the exact same piece of paper. She's investigating a letter-writing campaign to lobby for the fee to be eliminated. Go Mary Beth!

I "won" a gorgeous embroidered kurta in the silent auction. (All the proceeds went to fund early childhood education in our city and in India.) I will be happy to wear it for a few special occasions, then I plan to pass it along to Anya Rashi when she's older.

Oh, and today we woke up to our first snow of the season! I had a good time shoveling with Anya Rashi "helping." :o)

Indian cinema notes

I caught part of a documentary called I for India, and thought I'd pass along this interview with its director, Sandhya Suri. Released a few years ago, the film is about her family's journey to England, where her father was a doctor. Some years later, they attempted to relocate in India and ended up back in Darlington, England. The film features the family's home movies, and is full of poignant insight about parents and children, and how working to fit into a new culture sometimes means you can't quite mesh back into the old one.

(Just so you know, there's one scene in the documentary that is definitely R-rated. It's the sales pitch of an Indian patent medicine salesman, and contains graphic language.)

Here's a link to an interview with her:
http://www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk/features/2007/08/27/interview-with-sandhya-suri/


And, of course, Slumdog Millionaire is out in theatres now! It is set in Mumbai, and I hope to be able to see it soon. It's the story of two brothers who survive on the streets, and follows the two different paths their lives take. Peter has visited Mumbai twice on mission/service trips, so I'm eager to see if the depiction on screen matches his memories.

This reviewer called Slumdog Millionaire one of the best films of 2008:
http://www.christianitytoday.com/movies/reviews/2008/slumdogmillionaire.html

Cleo = Cletus?

Get ready for bird drama, part II . . . when I brought Cleo to the vet for her re-check, the receptionist looked at her chart and said, "Cleo? That's a funny name for a boy." Apparently the vet discovered and recorded that Cleo has been living a lie (and didn't really mention it to me!). So our bird is actually a male.

A woman in the waiting area cracked me up. She overheard our conversation and asked, "How much did that operation cost you?"

My sons are thrilled that the balance in our house is no longer 3:3, but 4 to 2, in favor of boys again. They can turn anything into a competition! Of course, we had to come up with a more manly name, so we're happy to announce that Cleo shall hereafter be known as Cletus. :o)

Apparently it's possible to be morbidly obese, yet malnourished . . .

Poor Cleo. After just two months of pet ownership, we made our first-ever trip to the vet. We discovered that Cleo has been hitting the birdseed a little too hard over the course of her three-year life, and is overweight. She's supposed to weigh 30 grams, but tips the scales at 50. (Mind you, she looks just like all the other parakeets at the pet store, but what do I know?) Ironically, she is malnourished too -- the vet said her seed diet with raw veggies has not provided balanced nutrition.

The solution? Jenny Craig for parakeets: she must switch over to lower-cal pellet food and take a vitamin supplement. We are treating her for a possible digestive infection of some kind, which means I have to catch her twice a day and give her medicine from a teeny dropper.

Cleo is not amused by this process (although she doesn't seem to mind the liver-flavored medicine -- yummo!). Aaron and Nathan, on the other hand, LOVE watching the whole procedure. It's better than TV, candy, or a trip to the zoo, judging by their reactions. Clearly, we lead boring lives. :o)

In people-related news, Anya Rashi is trying out some new words. "Domino" is the funniest, which requires a tongue flipped in and out of her mouth to make a sound like "mun-ah-min-uh." She is also saying the favorite phrase of every not-quite-two-year-old: "I do it!" This week she started calling Peter and me "Daddy" and "Mommy" instead of Dada and Mama -- she sounds so grown-up!

She's logged a few time-outs this week, most notably for taking a plate off the table and walking into the family room to hit Nathan on the head with it for no apparent reason. Good times. Oh well, you only hurt the ones you love, right? We had our dear friends Scott and Molly over this weekend with their three children, and there were some serious 2-year-old territory issues between Anya Rashi and their daughter Morgan. It was pretty funny to see two such cute little girls scowl and face off over the coveted Wiggles book.

On Friday, we took Anya Rashi to lunch at one of the Indian restaurants in our city. We may not go to that particular place with her again . . . almost every dish on the lunch buffet was quite spicy, and she would only eat naan and gulab jamun. No surprise there -- she's got quite a sweet tooth! She's been dragging a chair over to the counter by the boys' Halloween candy and saying "more?" It's nice to know she has "inherited" something from me. :o)

Cute costumed creatures

Well, our costume plans changed due to weather. It was quite warm here -- in the upper sixties! -- which is very unusual for Halloween in Wisconsin. The boys were thrilled because they didn't have to wear coats over their Spidey costumes.

Anya Rashi was going to be a lady bug, but her costume was too warm. It's one of those furry one-piece toddler outfits that could double as a snow suit. Instead, we took a look at some dress-up clothes from her friend Sarah . . . and voila! Cinderella to the rescue! She was a princess who did not wish to be photographed, however. :o) Trying to get away before the clock struck 4:00, no doubt.

After going trick-or-treating at a few neighbors' houses, we headed over to our church. Each year, we host a Fall Festival for anyone who wants a safe, non-scary Halloween experience for their children. There were inflatables and games for older kids, and toddler games (which Anya Rashi wanted no part of!). She kept up with her brothers as best she could, playing Plinko and tossing pom-poms into fishbowls (or at least in their general direction).

The best part was when Peter took his turn in the Dunk Tank. We all took a turn throwing bean bags at the target, which resulted in water balloons crashing down on Daddy's head. Anya Rashi LOVED it, and kept saying, "Dada . . . WA-WA!" Aaron and Nathan were quite impressed that their mother could lob a bean bag while holding Anya Rashi in one arm, with a diaper bag slung over my throwing arm!

Anya Rashi will probably remember the occasion because she had her first taste of chocolate! It was a huge hit, and she kept diving for the candy bag while I carried her from game to game. Of course, with so much going on, it completely escaped me to take any pictures at the Fall Festival . . . :o)

Happy Diwali!

Happy Diwali! Diwali is a major Hindu holiday in India, and is about the victory of good over evil or light over dark. In India, it is celebrated differently in various parts of the country, but virtually everywhere there are lamps and fireworks. I'm hoping Zachary's family will experience a little bit of Diwali while they're in Kolkata (and share it on their blog, of course!).

Our second-grader Aaron made the Diwali lamp pictured above. His class has been studying India and China, so everyone made his or her own clay lamp. Nice work, Aaron! We love their school -- our city has 12 charter schools, each with their own focus. (Our school's focus is the E.D. Hirsch core knowledge curriculum.)

Literally 24 hours after Anya Rashi was over her first cold, she was hit by another one! We were really fortunate last winter -- even though the boys had lots of bugs, she only caught one or two of them. This year, though, we're out and about much more than in our first months home with her, so she seems to be picking up every germ that gets within a mile of us.

She's trying out some new phrases, including "I don't know," complete with a shrug of the shoulders. In preparation for turning two, she also likes to declare "No, no, no!" She even said it in her sleep the other night! So much for trying to use other words when we redirect her . . . seems like she really enjoys saying "no!", no matter what I say. :o) She's also enjoying taking care of her dollies -- feeding them and reading stories to them are two favorite things right now.

Over the weekend, we saw something very interesting: a glimpse of our boys' understanding of adoption. They were playing "Adoption Center" with their stuffed animals. Each animal, starting with Hoot the Owl, had a turn in a basket covered by a blanket. Nathan sat to one side, busily "writing out papers" for the animals. I guess all that paperwork made an impression on him! It's sweet to see their take on adoption, and that it's a normal part of life and play for them.

It snowed here yesterday! Yipes -- winter's coming!

Three more families are traveling!

My new look is in honor of Kristi, who "tagged" me . . . I am very happy with my 'fro, circa 1978. It's a shame I was too young to be in charge of my own hair decisions in '78, or I'd have much more memorable school pictures. Ha!

We're celebrating -- and living vicariously through -- three Dillon families who are traveling to pick up their children in Kolkata this week! Two of the families are completing their second adoptions from Kolkata, India.

Zachary's family is in India right now, and are almost to the happy day when they will meet their son for the first time! He has big sister Hannah and big brother Samuel to welcome him home. He is a doll, and you can follow their trip at: http://rightler.wordpress.com/

Amanda is traveling to meet her son, Prasun, and her blog is at: http://ourboyprasun.blogspot.com/

I feel especially invested in Prasun because we met him at Anya Rashi's orphanage and took photos for Amanda and her husband. He was such a sweet, sunny boy, and I'm so excited that he will finally be with his family! They have another daughter from Kolkata named Ananya, as well as a bio son Anthony, who shares the same birthday as Prasun (although Anthony is about 7 years older!).

Also, Kristi is traveling to meet her new daughter Shaili. Their daughter Daya is from Kolkata too, and they have two bio sons, Alex and Eli. If you'd like to travel along, their blog is at: http://werrefamily.blogspot.com/

Nothing nearly as exciting as an India trip is happening at our house -- just a nasty cold for Anya Rashi, and three mice that took up residence in our basement (which the boys wanted to keep as pets. Sorry, guys.). So, I think I'll sign off for now, with a smile on my face for these three families!