Giving Thanks

Anju eating Thanksgiving pumpkin pie.

Anju had a great Thanksgiving. She loved the sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie and didn't care for turkey, gravy or potatoes. Her and her brother had about the same diet. She likes to feed herself now, so I load her fork with food and she shoves it in. She also went after-Thanksgiving shopping with us on Friday morning and was pretty happy unless she was putting on her coat or getting in the "evil" car seat.



We bought her an early Christmas gift--a Little Tikes shopping cart walker. She loves to walk behind it in the kitchen and put kitchen magnets in the basket. She is really coming to life--getting into things and being silly just as a child her age should. She even sat on the floor and played with her brother today while we were watching a movie as a family and didn't need to be on my lap or showing me things. I think they must have played Legos together for nearly half an hour!

We are so thankful this year for Anju, and all those who helped get her home with their gifts of recommendation letters, notary service, financial help, child care (Mom) and prayers. We are also so thankful to have her home before the terrorist attack in Mumbai--both because our flight into India originated there, and because we think everyone (including us) would have developed ulcers if we were leaving now.

I am foregoing (at least for now) the outside Christmas lights but we got the tree up yesterday (Saturday) and it is just beautiful. Shawn and Solveig did a great job of putting the tree together (fake due to Shawn's pine allergy), Amy put on the lights and Solveig and Jonah did the decorating.

All the rest of the pictures I'm trying to post Blogger is being a pain about--I'll retry later because Anju just woke up from her nap.

First Week Home with Anju

Here we are into the first week with Anju at home. She likes oatmeal, pizza, macaroni and cheese and waffles more than lentils and rice. She loves tickling, being tickled and blow tummies. She loves her sister and is joined at the hip to her mother. She needs to be held by me or on my lap all day--even wants to sit on my lap while I go to the bathroom. She is not very accepting of the men yet, but hopefully progress is being made in that area. That said--she is doing so well considering all the changes she has experienced in the last couple of weeks. We are seeing lots of smiles and belly laughs. If she's in the right mood, she gives "5's". She is vocalizing--saying one syllable sounds and pointing. She likes to type at the computer. She is sleeping through the night again.

I have posted a few pictures back on some of the India posts--so if you haven't gone back to check, please do. Blogger is being really a pain regarding uploading them, so it is taking 5 or 6 tries sometimes to get a picture up. It's not for lack of trying that the pictures are still sparse.

Introducing: Anju Grace Stafford!

A new life for Sweeti (Amy)

There are many things we saw in India that we have no pictures of. Cameras are not allowed to be used at an Indian airport. They are not allowed at all at the American Embassy- so there were 2 days when we didn't bring it along to assure that it wouldn't get lost/stolen at the check point. Then there were all the moments on the street where we were uncomfortable reaching into our pocket and taking pictures like "tourists". When we were on the busy streets we wanted to try to fit in as much as possible and not draw attention to ourselves. This helps avoid touts and beggars and felt more respectful to their lifestyle.

But there is one picture I have taken in my mind that I wish I would have been able to take with my camera. It was standing in the immigration line (again no cameras allowed) with Sweeti in Minneapolis in row number 2. After a dozen rows of lines for "Citizens", and a few for "Visitors" stands a single line-- "New Immigrants". To stand there behind a man from Africa and in front of a couple adopting a couple teenage girls from Russia was like being at a portal to a whole other life. The worker called us up to his desk and we handed him the packet that the Embassy had prepared for Sweeti in India. He checked it over and looked at her passport, and said, "Welocme to America!". Our tiny new immigrant then passed through the gate and started her new life in America.

Sweeti has made the adjustment pretty well--considering the 11 1/2 hour time difference and probably thinking she's been taken by hobos who move every couple days. She is growing attached to her sister and even to her daddy if mama isn't around. Her brother is still a bit sudden and loud, so that may take a little longer--although she likes his "Let's Go Fishing" game a lot.

She awoke at 4 a.m. yesterday morning and I brought her downstairs to give her some breakfast. She was very upset that I was not feeding her. I told her in America, we have to make our own food--no servants. I think she expected to just sit at the table and start eating like we had done in India where we had at first hotel staff, and then the B&B's household servants waiting on us. When I thought about it, I realized we didn't bring her to the table/kitchen until supper was ready when she arrived. So, she cried loudly the 3 minutes or so it took me to make her some banana oatmeal and cut up some banana pieces into it. What a princess!!

I am getting more adjusted to Lengby time--although I am blogging at 4:30 in the morning now--so hopefully tomorrow or Sunday I will get the pictures onto the computer and back posted into all the relevant posts from our trip--so stay tuned.

We put her in the bathtub tonight--and she DID NOT like it!! In India we had no bathtub, or basin big enough to bathe her in--so we washed her hair over the sink and wiped her body off with Pond's facial cleansing wipes instead. What can you do?

A Warm Reception

We brought Sweeti into the house and she stayed sleeping for a while. The other two kids were so excited to see us. Jonah said, "Daddy, we've been waiting so long for you!" The kids watched Sweeti but let her sleep.

I put the pizzas in the oven and Amy went upstairs to bathe after a day on 3 planes. When Sweeti woke up, I was the only one she knew in the room and so she wanted to be picked up by me.

Sweeti looked around and studied grandma and the other kids. Jonah was having trouble waiting to open the presents we brought home. When the pizza was ready, we sat around the table. Sweeti enjoyed eating the sausage pieces!

After supper, we brought out gifts for the kids and showed some other souvenirs. Amy showed them pictures on our digital camera. Jonah exclaimed, "I didn't know having a toddler would be this good!"

A Chilly Reception

When left Delhi at 1:40 a.m., it must have been 90 degrees outside. When we touched down in Bemidji it was 14 degrees. In Bemidji there are no hangers and nice warm tunnels to walked through to the arrival gate. You have to walk outside down some steps and into the building. Shockingly cold after being in a tropical climate for 10 days, or 19 months in Sweeti's case. Sweeti had needed a new diaper just as we were descending for landing and didn't appreciate having to wait for that. So the first thing Amy and Sweeti did was to head to the restroom for a change.

I brought our luggage outside and ran out to the car to warm it up and idled it by the door. I also had to bring in our winter coats and Sweeti's snowsuit. Sweeti did not appreciate having to put on the snowsuit. It was pretty large for her but it covered her completely, which was the most important thing. She also did not like having to get strapped in a car seat, a new experience. Though she had been on several car rides with us, in India babies just sit on their parents' laps.

We called grandma Carolyn to tell her we had touched down in Bemidji. We asked about what to get for supper. We decided on some pizzas from Bagley. I also had to buy some food for our cats.

Sweeti fell asleep on the 35 minute drive home. No toddler or baby can resist the car's power to put them asleep!

Touchdown: MN!

After being home now for about 36 hours, here is my attempt to piece together the remainder of our voyage. Mind you, some details may be lost due to jet lag.

The flight from Amsterdam to Minneapolis went well. Sweeti ate from mama's meals and handled the travel pretty well for a toddler adjusting to her new parents and new surroundings.

A highlight of our flight to Minneapolis was chatting with guy in the seat next to us. He was a college student from Jefferson City, MO, hometown of our friend Rebecca Brooks and current home of our friends Rev. and Mrs. E. Gernander. His accent was nearly cajun sounding. He thought we were from a different country with our MN accents. Amy told him we have the same accent as Sarah Palin, whom we never knew had an accent until we heard Tina Fey playing her on SNL. The guy from Jefferson City had gone on a 5 day trip to Ghana, on a trip paid for by an African student who attends University of Nebraska-Lincoln with him. We thought we had a bad experience with security until we heard his story. He was strip searched and even body cavity searched by security in Ghana because they were suspicious of someone who only went to Africa for 5 days. When they did the latter, he proclaimed, "I'm not gay." We told him they were probably searching for drugs. He hadn't thought of that. Poor naive kid, to have gone through that.

Even the landing went pretty well for Sweeti. When we were exiting the plane, a girl mentioned how cute Sweeti is and how she handled the flight so well.

When we landed on American/Minnesotan soil, I felt like kissing the ground. But then I realized that it was so cold that my lips would probably freeze to the pavement.

We had only about an hour between landing and boarding to go to Bemidji. Since our check-in had been two legs ago, we could grab a bite to eat. We had planned on having Big Macs and sundaes at McDonald's, but we had just had ice cream on the plane. Instead, Amy grabbed a Diet Dr. Pepper and a burger from A & W. Sweeti ate off the bun.

We took the tram to the faraway Bemidji departure gate. The girl checking people in looked familiar. I thought maybe she was from my home area. When she came up to me, she saw my St. Olaf sweatshirt, and said, "Oom yah yah!," the greeting you are to give fellow Oles when you meet them. We introduced ourselves and I told her I had graduated from St. Olaf in 1996. So had she. Then I remembered that we had lived in the same dormitory our senior year and had served on hall council together. She had married her college sweetheart. I remembered now how distracted she had been with wedding planning our last year of college.

There were only about sixteen people on our little plane. Sweeti was dozing off during take off. The flight was less than an hour long. We visited with the lady across from us, who lives in Bemidji and is an airline worker. Before we knew it, we were on the ground in Bemidji. Thank God!- no more flying!