Happy 2nd birthday Anjali!!

Anju turned two on March 6th. We had decided to spend a quiet day at home. I had not even planned on ordering her a princess cake or figuring out what she would wear. I happened to be at the store when I saw the cutest dress ever and Anju's eyes just lit up when she saw it. So, we bought her a spring-y, girly dress and I happened to find a cake to match!! Anju looked radiant on her birthday. Even the usual gloomy Oregon skies parted to let the sun shine brightly. Anju got quite a few presents for her birthday including a kitchen from us!

That birthday weekend was sunny and we took Anju to the park where we met up with some friends. She watched us play cricket and enjoyed the food. Nothing like picnicking Indian style with your close friends. It was lovely to meet our friends and their kids. I really appreciate how much they supported us during our adoption journey and what amazing people they are. After cocooning Anju for close to two months, I think she is slowly grasping her new world without getting overwhelmed. Anjali has shown great body language when we have been out at social events with her. On our side too, it is nice to break out of the routine and talk to humans who are around the same age as us!! :)

Anjali has had a busy but good March so far. Anjulily's medical tests have all come back normal which is great. She seems to be gaining weight and growing well despite the fact that she does not figure in the growth percentile charts yet. She is a tiny dynamite. We had our three month social worker visit and I realized when comparing notes with the first visit in early February, that Anjali has come so far. She is so much more relaxed these days and less anxious. I think Anju gets Dhruv's affection for her and she allows him to kiss her a lot. It is funny since Dhruv claims he only loves his baby sister and can't seem to resist her. If you meet Dhruv you will know that he loves his space and is not the hugging and kissing kind. But looks like with his baby sister (or 'papa' as he calls her), there are no such rules. Dhruv seems to have matured so much as well in the last month. He is taking on more responsibility for his eating and entertainment. Anju and Dhruv seem to fighting less over toys too. I think our poor baby was getting too overstimulated with the abundance of (noisy) toys and kept toppling bins and throwing toys. I finally (with Dhruv's input) put away most of the non-baby toys in bins in the kids closet and now our living space mostly has Anju-friendly stuff. She has totally bought into the idea that certain toys go in certain bins so that you can find them easily. We are starting to meet halfway on so many more things now. It feels comforting to walk towards each other as a family; like pieces falling into place in a puzzle.

Dhruv did the cutest thing yesterday when he drew Anjali's orphanage and said that he did not want her to cry anymore. He also said that he wanted to draw one for each child in the orphanage so that they won't cry as well. I think my heart almost burst with pride and love for sweet Dhruv and Anjali. It is easy to forget where she came from and though she doesn't show us her sadness, we know there is loss from her past. My heart goes out to the many Anjalis out there who still need a family and a home. My biggest wish is that every orphan finds love and joy that they deserve.

To end my post on a happier note, here are some pictures from Anjali's birthday weekend.

Progress and some more...

I took Anju for a speech therapy evaluation this morning. The therapists did not think there was any cause for concern at this time as she was pretty on par in other areas of development. They thought that her speech was behind due to the changes in her environment and also possibly due to the lack of stimulation in the past. One of the big challenges in adoption is that we really don't have information about our child's past. It makes it more complicated to figure out if an issue is due to adoption or because of other health problems. I have to say, I was really relieved to hear that Anjali might not need speech therapy after all. She just said 'eye' this morning and pointed to her eyes so she is making progress.

Progress is what we have seen so much of in the last few weeks.  Anjali has really blossomed in the six weeks that she has been with us. During the first few days, Anju would not let us take her shoes or clothes off. As unusual as this sounds, she could not handle it at all. She used to cry so hard if we took them off even for a diaper change. Now, she can hardly wait to get her clothes off and run for a bath. She did not want me to pick her up and would only be happy interacting with me from a distance. This morning, at the therapist's office, she cried for me when the therapist picked her up and also looked me for approval before doing anything. For the first time, she showed me how much she trusted me. It felt so good!! Anjali used to scratch me if she ever saw my bare skin. Now, instead she looks at my skin and thinks for a second before stroking it gently. I think her wounds are healing. Somewhere, the anger or trauma is slowly being replaced with love. I didn't think she could be any happier but she is!

One big change I think in the last week is that Anjali has been trying to engage with me more. She has started to play goofy games like blinking or making a funny sound and wanting for me to mimic her. She even prompts for me to sing "Twinkle Twinkle" to her. It is really cute and I feel that she and I have grown closer.

Anjali continues to amaze us with her acrobatics! She jumps, somesaults, tries to climb onto everything and fit into any space she can find! Her antics make us laugh quite a bit. For such a tiny person, she has a lot of strength and energy! Here are some pics of Anju's stunts!