Our third year together was more like how we imagined our second year would be before all of Anjali's health issues came up. Anjali was happy and healthy and grew so much as a person. It is amazing how much you appreciate simple things like being able to walk your daughter to school every day and getting a peaceful night's sleep when you have come through a difficult time. There is nothing to compare to watching your child mature and develop as a person. There are certain things that don't change. For Anjali, it is her infectious laughter and loving nature that continue to be at her core and yet she is smarter, taller and more experienced in the world. It is truly the most rewarding thing in our lives to witness and be part of her growth. This year was marked with lots of ordinary happy moments where Anjali just got to focus on being a kid.
August 2017
We tried to get in as much of summer as we could before school started this month. We spent lots of time at the swimming pool. Anjali finished up her group ukelele lessons with Mia B. We took a weekend camping trip up to the mountains and visited with my dear friend Cherilyn. We also witnessed the solar eclipse. Anjali attended a Parent's Night Out at the local community church and met Adeline who would become one of her closest friends in Kindergarten. Anjali also started taking Bharatanatyam dance class. She has always loved to dance and studying this dance forms gives her the opportunity to play with other Indian girls while learning about Indian culture and Hindu myths as this dance form focuses on telling stories through dance. And of course there was the growing excitement of going to the big school where she would take her place amongst the other big kids at Conn Elementary School. Kindergartners at Conn do a staggered start so they only attend school one day on the first week of school. They teachers then decide on what class to put them in and on Friday they learn who their teachers are at a "Meet the Teacher" presentation. We were super excited to learn Anjali would have Ms. Humenuik and Ms. Wright as her teacher. After attending the "Meet the Teacher" presentation, we knew Anjali would be off to a great start during this next phase of her life.
September 2017
In September, Anjali really began to get into the groove of life as a kindergartner. We set up "Big Girl" routines so that she would be a little more timely and responsible with getting to bed and getting ready in the morning. Anjali earned Hello Kitty bucks for completing each of her responsibilities in a timely manner. Then when she earned enough bucks, she could buy a toy. It worked out well. At school, we set up a 504 plan for Anjali to ensure that any necessary accommodations are met for her. It was a relief to get that in place. Anjali began taking private ukelele lessons with her good friend Mia Burton every two weeks at Notasium. This not only let her take lessons, but spend time with Mia. These two bring double the amount of cuteness when they are together. Anjali had her first professional pedicure done with Mia and another good friend Eva. They felt like little princesses! Anjali's Bharatanatyam teacher held a Vijiyamari pooja as an auspicious occasion for starting off a new year of dancing. We headed back to Greensboro for the another National Folk Festival. This time we invited Anjali's good friends Eli, Cade and Dax. There was lots of great music and dance to be enjoyed by all.
October 2017
Anjali really seemed to be enjoying school. The first quarter was all about learning the sounds of letters and school routines. At her school, they use a program called Letterland where each letter of the alphabet is a character. In October, they have Letterland Day where all Kindergartners get to dress up as a Letterland character. Anjali chose to be Zig Zag Zebra and of course, her Papa made her a fantastic costume that included a springy z headband. Another exciting school event was that Anjali got to go on her first field trip to the Pumpkin patch. This was no ordinary Pumpkin patch. It was a true North Carolina pumpkin patch with a big set up with lots of equipment and play areas for kids. The kids got to go on a hay ride and pick out their own pumpkin and then spend the rest of the time. It was a blast for all the kids. Of course, one of the most exciting things for them was getting to ride a school bus to and from the Pumpkin Patch. Though, I hear that most of them fell asleep on the way home! We ended October with a fabulous Halloween. Anjali decided to be a witch and boy was she cute with her bangs and custom made witch hat. Anjali trick or treated in the neighborhood with her good friend Elsie and came back with lots of goodies. It's hard to believe that this month marked the two year mark that Anjali has been in the US. We finished up the last piece of adoption paperwork which involved renunciating her Indian citizenship. We had to send paperwork and her passport to the Indian embassy. She is officially 100% an American citizen...and more importantly no more adoption paperwork for Anjali!
November 2017
November started with a Dia de los Muerte celebration at the Raleigh Museum. We thought it would be fun to dress up for the celebration. Unfortunately, we were the only ones that did and though we felt a little awkward about it, we still had fun and many people appreciated our costumes. Anjali also had lots of fun adventures that included a trip to the art museum for the Ebony fashion exhibit, birthday party pony rides and face paint, and dressing up as a cowboy for Literacy Night for her school. The week before Thanksgiving Conn hosts a Thanksgiving day luncheon for the Kindergarten students and their parents. They all dressed up and said what they were thankful for. It was super cute. The last week of November we spent in Las Vegas where Anjali was spoiled by her Aji and Ajoba. She spent lots of time at the playground and we also went back to Red Rock Canyon. Anjali got to go to her first Cirque du Soleil show, Mystere, and was absolutely enchanted. We also visited the flower garden at the Bellagio that had these amazing giant Peacock floats. It was a fun and festive month!
January 2018
During this month the extreme cold continued along with threats of snow and ice. There were a lot of cancelled school days and early releases. Lots of time inside. Anjali's favorite activity was doing science experiments with her green science goggles on. Despite the cold weather, she was getting better at biking! When the snow finally came it was beautiful and Anjali got to do all the things you are supposed to do in snow including making a snowman and snow angels, having snowball fights and of course, going sleddding. Anjali got to go sledding at Dorothea Dix and she was fearless. She wanted to go as fast as possible down the hills. After doing a few warm up runs, we went down the biggest hill. She was thrilled, but unfortunately on the way down we ran into a kid who was walking up and knocked the wind out of him. I was mortified, but he was all right. We also took a trip to Johns Hopkins so Anjali could get her annual cystoscopy. We stayed at the Children's House and met others with Bladder Exstrophy. Anjali's cystoscopy went smoothly and we got the good news that her bladder had doubled in size! She had a growth spurt in general and was about two inches taller and 5 pounds heavier. Such a relief to have all good news at a visit to Johns Hopkins.
February 2018
February brought more cold. Luckily Anjali had the excitement of Valentine's day to keep her busy. She was tasked with writing the names of all of her classmates on cards for a Valentine's exchange which was no easy task for a kindergartner. I started to volunteer in Anjali's classroom once a week and one of my favorite days was helping each Kindergartner put cards in each of their classmates' Valentines Day boxes. It was such an exciting day for the kids, not just getting a box full of goodies and loving notes, but also helping them take part in doing something nice for their friends. Anjali's class also had to dance to Pharrel Williams song "Happy" as they entered the gym for the Black History Month Assembly. So much fun! Another exciting thing for Anjali was that she started to receive Kiwi crates as a present from her grandparents, Papi and Pixie. Each month the crate has projects and activities around a theme. They are fun and educational for all! The first theme was arcade games which tied together so much of what Anjali was learning in school. She had a blast creating games for her arcade and also making posters for it. There were a few nice days in February and on one particular nice day Anjali went for a bike ride with her good friend Elsie and came across some really cute puppies that looked like they could have been born from our dog Papi. She also began swim lessons with Elsie at Gypsy Divers. I couldn't imagine taking swimming lessons in the middle of February, but she had a blast despite coming out with uncontrollable shivers at the end of every session.
March 2018
March is always about the excitement of a birthday party. This year was no different. We decided to have a circus themed party and had her party at Cirque Du Vol which is a Circus Arts gym in downtown Raleigh. Anjali and her friends were treated to an aerial silks class, then cake and ice cream and running around the gym with balloons. Anjali had such a good time with her friends. Her birthday landed on a school day which also happened to be the day of the Kindergarten Egg Hunt. Her classmates made her a beautiful card. Each child drew a picture for Anjali and her teacher put it together in a card book. She also brought cupcakes to share with her classmates and it turned out to be a special first school birthday for her.
August 2017
We tried to get in as much of summer as we could before school started this month. We spent lots of time at the swimming pool. Anjali finished up her group ukelele lessons with Mia B. We took a weekend camping trip up to the mountains and visited with my dear friend Cherilyn. We also witnessed the solar eclipse. Anjali attended a Parent's Night Out at the local community church and met Adeline who would become one of her closest friends in Kindergarten. Anjali also started taking Bharatanatyam dance class. She has always loved to dance and studying this dance forms gives her the opportunity to play with other Indian girls while learning about Indian culture and Hindu myths as this dance form focuses on telling stories through dance. And of course there was the growing excitement of going to the big school where she would take her place amongst the other big kids at Conn Elementary School. Kindergartners at Conn do a staggered start so they only attend school one day on the first week of school. They teachers then decide on what class to put them in and on Friday they learn who their teachers are at a "Meet the Teacher" presentation. We were super excited to learn Anjali would have Ms. Humenuik and Ms. Wright as her teacher. After attending the "Meet the Teacher" presentation, we knew Anjali would be off to a great start during this next phase of her life.
September 2017
In September, Anjali really began to get into the groove of life as a kindergartner. We set up "Big Girl" routines so that she would be a little more timely and responsible with getting to bed and getting ready in the morning. Anjali earned Hello Kitty bucks for completing each of her responsibilities in a timely manner. Then when she earned enough bucks, she could buy a toy. It worked out well. At school, we set up a 504 plan for Anjali to ensure that any necessary accommodations are met for her. It was a relief to get that in place. Anjali began taking private ukelele lessons with her good friend Mia Burton every two weeks at Notasium. This not only let her take lessons, but spend time with Mia. These two bring double the amount of cuteness when they are together. Anjali had her first professional pedicure done with Mia and another good friend Eva. They felt like little princesses! Anjali's Bharatanatyam teacher held a Vijiyamari pooja as an auspicious occasion for starting off a new year of dancing. We headed back to Greensboro for the another National Folk Festival. This time we invited Anjali's good friends Eli, Cade and Dax. There was lots of great music and dance to be enjoyed by all.
October 2017
Anjali really seemed to be enjoying school. The first quarter was all about learning the sounds of letters and school routines. At her school, they use a program called Letterland where each letter of the alphabet is a character. In October, they have Letterland Day where all Kindergartners get to dress up as a Letterland character. Anjali chose to be Zig Zag Zebra and of course, her Papa made her a fantastic costume that included a springy z headband. Another exciting school event was that Anjali got to go on her first field trip to the Pumpkin patch. This was no ordinary Pumpkin patch. It was a true North Carolina pumpkin patch with a big set up with lots of equipment and play areas for kids. The kids got to go on a hay ride and pick out their own pumpkin and then spend the rest of the time. It was a blast for all the kids. Of course, one of the most exciting things for them was getting to ride a school bus to and from the Pumpkin Patch. Though, I hear that most of them fell asleep on the way home! We ended October with a fabulous Halloween. Anjali decided to be a witch and boy was she cute with her bangs and custom made witch hat. Anjali trick or treated in the neighborhood with her good friend Elsie and came back with lots of goodies. It's hard to believe that this month marked the two year mark that Anjali has been in the US. We finished up the last piece of adoption paperwork which involved renunciating her Indian citizenship. We had to send paperwork and her passport to the Indian embassy. She is officially 100% an American citizen...and more importantly no more adoption paperwork for Anjali!
November started with a Dia de los Muerte celebration at the Raleigh Museum. We thought it would be fun to dress up for the celebration. Unfortunately, we were the only ones that did and though we felt a little awkward about it, we still had fun and many people appreciated our costumes. Anjali also had lots of fun adventures that included a trip to the art museum for the Ebony fashion exhibit, birthday party pony rides and face paint, and dressing up as a cowboy for Literacy Night for her school. The week before Thanksgiving Conn hosts a Thanksgiving day luncheon for the Kindergarten students and their parents. They all dressed up and said what they were thankful for. It was super cute. The last week of November we spent in Las Vegas where Anjali was spoiled by her Aji and Ajoba. She spent lots of time at the playground and we also went back to Red Rock Canyon. Anjali got to go to her first Cirque du Soleil show, Mystere, and was absolutely enchanted. We also visited the flower garden at the Bellagio that had these amazing giant Peacock floats. It was a fun and festive month!
December 2017
The festivities didn't stop in December! At school there was lots of fun to be had. The students took part in a Winter Workshop which involved making holiday gifts for the Winter Market. They earned a penny for each session they worked on their products and then at the end got to use that money to purchase items from the market to give to family members. They also got to design and build a gingerbread house. By the middle of December it was unusually cold in Raleigh and stayed that way until the end. No snow...just cold. Granparents, Papi and Pixie came for a Christmas visit. Anjali got to go to the Gregg Museum of Design for the first time where there were lots of artifacts from the collection on display. Anjali of course took Papi and Pixie to Pullen Park and we took them to our favorite Mexican restaurant, Centro. Anjali also got to go see the Nutcracker performed by the Raleigh Ballet. It was quite a production and Anjali especially enjoyed it having performed in her own version of it back in preschool a year before. Anjali was as excited as usual for Christmas. She wrote a letter to Santa and got a bicycle with pedals from him. We went to a lovely Christmas service at the Church of the Good Shepherd and just tried to stay warm.
During this month the extreme cold continued along with threats of snow and ice. There were a lot of cancelled school days and early releases. Lots of time inside. Anjali's favorite activity was doing science experiments with her green science goggles on. Despite the cold weather, she was getting better at biking! When the snow finally came it was beautiful and Anjali got to do all the things you are supposed to do in snow including making a snowman and snow angels, having snowball fights and of course, going sleddding. Anjali got to go sledding at Dorothea Dix and she was fearless. She wanted to go as fast as possible down the hills. After doing a few warm up runs, we went down the biggest hill. She was thrilled, but unfortunately on the way down we ran into a kid who was walking up and knocked the wind out of him. I was mortified, but he was all right. We also took a trip to Johns Hopkins so Anjali could get her annual cystoscopy. We stayed at the Children's House and met others with Bladder Exstrophy. Anjali's cystoscopy went smoothly and we got the good news that her bladder had doubled in size! She had a growth spurt in general and was about two inches taller and 5 pounds heavier. Such a relief to have all good news at a visit to Johns Hopkins.
February brought more cold. Luckily Anjali had the excitement of Valentine's day to keep her busy. She was tasked with writing the names of all of her classmates on cards for a Valentine's exchange which was no easy task for a kindergartner. I started to volunteer in Anjali's classroom once a week and one of my favorite days was helping each Kindergartner put cards in each of their classmates' Valentines Day boxes. It was such an exciting day for the kids, not just getting a box full of goodies and loving notes, but also helping them take part in doing something nice for their friends. Anjali's class also had to dance to Pharrel Williams song "Happy" as they entered the gym for the Black History Month Assembly. So much fun! Another exciting thing for Anjali was that she started to receive Kiwi crates as a present from her grandparents, Papi and Pixie. Each month the crate has projects and activities around a theme. They are fun and educational for all! The first theme was arcade games which tied together so much of what Anjali was learning in school. She had a blast creating games for her arcade and also making posters for it. There were a few nice days in February and on one particular nice day Anjali went for a bike ride with her good friend Elsie and came across some really cute puppies that looked like they could have been born from our dog Papi. She also began swim lessons with Elsie at Gypsy Divers. I couldn't imagine taking swimming lessons in the middle of February, but she had a blast despite coming out with uncontrollable shivers at the end of every session.
March is always about the excitement of a birthday party. This year was no different. We decided to have a circus themed party and had her party at Cirque Du Vol which is a Circus Arts gym in downtown Raleigh. Anjali and her friends were treated to an aerial silks class, then cake and ice cream and running around the gym with balloons. Anjali had such a good time with her friends. Her birthday landed on a school day which also happened to be the day of the Kindergarten Egg Hunt. Her classmates made her a beautiful card. Each child drew a picture for Anjali and her teacher put it together in a card book. She also brought cupcakes to share with her classmates and it turned out to be a special first school birthday for her.
April 2018
Aji and Ajoba came for a visit for Spring Break and Easter in April. Anjali had fun showing them around. She had a great Easter egg hunt with Papi and then we had a nice Easter lunch with our neighbors. At school Anjali was struggling a bit academically, so over the break we made a Panda project and read lots of books about Pandas. She got to go to Marbles with her good friend Mia B. Towards the end of the month, she also made a cute project with her classmates about butterflies. We took her on many biking trips as the weather got better. At the end of the month we drove out to Nantahala National forest for Adam's birthday. We spent three days camping. It was beautiful during the day and freezing cold at night. Anjali hiked 8 miles and so did our old dog Papi. We were impressed by both. She loves camping almost as much as her father.
May 2018
May stayed fairly cold and we were all ready for some summer warmth and vacation time by this time. Anjali and I took up gardening during this month. We planted cucumbers, green onions, carrots, peppers, radishes and herbs. We also spread some wild seed flowers. Anjali had been working hard since Spring break to do after school enrichment work and earned a couple of trips to the toy shop. At school, things were winding down and her class had their Spring field trip to the strawberry patch. Anjali stepped on two red ant holes, but still had a lot of fun. While the other grades were being tests at the end of the year, the Kindergartners got the opportunity to have Camp Conn which they loved. Mrs. Humeniuk set up a big tent for them and the got to have s'mores. It was a very memorable experience for them. On Mother's day, we went to Eno State Park. It was a great weekend and Anjali and her Papa took a little dip in the river. For the Memorial Day weekend, Anjali and I drove up to the mountains to spend the weekend with her Uncle Warren, Aunty Tanya, and Diego and Lucy. We went on a nice hike and tried out square dancing. Anjali had a lot of fun doing face paint with Diego and Lucy.
June 2018
The end of the school year at the beginning of June was bittersweet. I was so proud of all that Anjali had learned during her first year at Conn, but also sad to see the end of the year come. She had a close group of friends and learned to read and come so far! She was also used to playing every day after school with her friends at the creek. We were both looking forward to a long, lazy summer...but still! On the last day of school we celebrated by going to Neomonde and then went to a Firefly program at Prairie Ridge Eco Station. We learned about fireflies and then went to work being Firefly researchers which involved catching fireflies and recording data about them. Anjali went to a half day camp at one of the local parks her first week out of school called Champ camp that introduced her to different sports. Anjali continued with ukelele and dance lessons and added a gymnastics class to her schedule which she enjoys a lot. We went swimming 2-3 times per week and tried to do a bit of math, reading and writing a a few days every week. Mostly, Anjali got a lot of down time to play and be a little bored. She had an appointment with Dr. Chua and we finally got her off her last medication which was reason to celebrate. We went to the library every week for fun summer programming. I got my own ukelele so Anjali and I could play together. We went to two summer concerts in June, one at Duke Gardens and the other at Saxapahaw. June was a great start to the summer. It was such a relief to have such a carefree time after two summers spending in the hospital or recovering.
Ukelele video
July 2018
During July, we continued with our lazy summer routine. It started to get really hot and then the rain came and was pretty constant throughout the month. For the fourth of July, we went to the Alamo Draft House and then to a Greek restaurant. In the evening we lit fireworks in the front yard. Anjali's swimming ability continued to get better and she even went down the big waterslide at Lifetime Fitness. Anjali lost 3 teeth in the month of July including her two front teeth. She was very happy to get money and notes from the tooth fairy. The biggest excitement in July was we learned that Anjali would have her first Bharatanatyam dance recital for Indian Independence day on August 15th. She was so excited about this and worked hard to learn the dance.
Our third year together as a family was a huge breath of fresh air. Anjali got to focus on being a kid. She grew and played and laughed and learned. It was a wonderful year that was full of normal kid things. Anjali continues to delight us with her cheery spirit and adventurous mindset. It is such a wonderful journey to watch her grow and develop. I can't wait to see what next year brings. We are all hoping a little brother.
