Two Weeks with Anjali

It’s hard to believe we have had Anjali in our care for two weeks now.  It’s been a lot of fun and we’ve learned so much about our sweet little girl.  Most importantly, she eats like a champ!  We are amazed at how much she is eating.  She has cereal and banana in the morning, a mid-morning snack, lunch, mid afternoon snack, dinner, and usually a glass of milk before going to bed.  There isn’t much she won’t eat, but her favorite things are roti and chocolate wafer cookies.  She usually asks for seconds at dinner.  Starting this week, we have had a cook come every morning.  She prepares two vegetables for us and fresh roti.  It has been a blessing to have this and only costs us $30 for a month of cooking.  We supply the ingredients.  Vegetables in season right now are eggplant, okra, green beans and squash.  Mangos, papaya, banana and apple have all been delicious and we snack on them throughout the day.

Naps are difficult for Anjali.  At the orphanage she had a nap after lunch, so we have tried to keep that schedule.  It takes her about a half an hour to wind down and then she sleeps for about an hour.  She is a high energy, task-oriented little girl.  Her favorite thing to say is “Bungaya!”  which means it’s fixed.  She will say this after she has completed anything with a big smile.  She loves to help out whether it be cooking, washing dishes, folding or putting things where they are supposed to go.  She loves flashcards and repeating words after me.  We have one set of common objects flashcards and another set of feelings flashcards that have bright vivid pictures on them.  We also go through her photo album at least twice a day and she is catching on to everyone’s name in the family.  We have had facetime sessions with family back home and she really enjoys that.  She says everyone’s name and listens intently as they talk with her.  She is an athletic girl and seems to be left handed when throwing a ball or swinging a cricket bat.  But when coloring, she uses her right hand. 

Anjali is a smiley, happy girl with a great sense of humor.  She loves to laugh with us and will sometimes make fun of us by imitating what we say.  She is affectionate and showers us with hugs and kisses and loves to be held by us and never gets tired of being swung.  She is also very talkative.  She loves to make play phone calls and tell us what to do.  She has done a good job teaching us her hindi words for all of her important basic needs like brushing her teeth, going to the bathroom, getting dressed, eating and drinking.  She has some basic English words down:  apple, juice, thank you, good night, and I love you.

We have been trying to take her on short excursions in the afternoon.  She loves to get out.  We take a cycle rickshaw to the main road then catch a Tuk Tuk (motorized rickshaw) into town.  She loves riding in Tuk Tuks.  She is fascinated by dogs and cows and calls out kutta (dog) and cow every time she sees one.  Our favorite place to go is the zoo, not so much to see the animals, but it’s a really nice park to walk around in with big trees, a lake and quiet pathways for a toddle to run around on.  There are chipmunks running every where and Anjali enjoys chasing them. 

She is most attached to her Papa.  She runs after him and says Papa, Papa constantly.  Having a male caregiver is something new and she is soaking up his love.  She will not go to bed without him by her side.   She is also very loving to me and often reveals things to me.  The other day she counted to 20 in English which was a big surprise.  She will not engage with other people right now.  She gets very shy around them.  Even our hosts who she sees every day and who can speak hindi can not get a response out of her.  This is not necessarily a bad thing at this stage of attachment to her new family.  In fact, it shows that she knows who her parents are and has a special relationship with us.

We are blessed to have this time together to grow close as a family.  There have been no updates with our court date.  We have been told a request was made to the court by the advocate to prepone our case and we are waiting to hear from the courts.  Adam is trying to work from here, but it has been challenging.  Every day is a new one and we are facing each new challenge with energy and love and a sense of wonder at being a family.