Just Smurfy!

Solveig and Jonah wanted their grandparents to see the

Smurf village they made for their toy Smurfs.

Here you go!

Assessment

Definitely not a picture to send to India!

  Anju helps me clean the kitchen.

Anju likes to wear her "dupatta" around the house.  

She calls it "ta-ta".

Couch (or rocking chair) potato Anju watching Elmo, clicker in hand.

Today had great moments.  Anju allowed me to clean the whole kitchen for almost an hour.  She grabbed a paper towel and "helped" and ooooed and aaaawed and was so pleasant.  She loved it when I vacuumed, and was so nice.

Then there is now, when she is upset because I won't open the can of diced tomatoes she's been carrying around for half an hour.  This confuses me.

Anyway, the nurse came today  and evaluated Anju.  She tested at the level of an 18-month old.  So, she is about 4 months behind developmentally.  Since she has made great strides in recent weeks, is only a few months behind, and I stay home with her, we decided that we would not enter her in any intervention program now.  I will continue taking her to storytime at the library and doing whatever I can to expose her to learning opportunities, read to her, etc. and the nurse will return after she turns 2 to reassess.  If at that time she has not caught up or has remained at this level in a certain area, we will do something about it.  She felt that many of her linguistic issues are due to all the growth in the gross motor area she has done lately causing her not to focus on the language right now, and the fact that she heard other languages in the orphanage--both of which I'm sure contribute.  

She's on my lap right now and I just figured out the tomato thing.  She is making the sign for "apple" and wants me to open the can.  The tomato on the can looks like an apple.  Whenever I think she has lost her mind, it always makes sense later.  What a girl.

Is there a developmental psychologist in the house????

Anju has called us "Mama" and "Dad-n" for quite a while now.  However, sometimes it is hard to recognize what she is saying and I'm sure her vocabulary is much fuller than we give her credit for, since many of her "words" are nasally grunts or one-syllable sounds and it takes us awhile to realize, "hey, that's her word for ______!"

In the last few days, it has become clear that "Mama" refers to a girl and "Dad-n" is a boy.  We sat in the last pew in church on Sunday, and each man that passed was pointed to and called "Dad-n."  Solveig and I are both "Mama" and "Mom" is usually me, but can be whoever hands her what she wants/needs.  Anju also seems to call herself "Mama" at least sometimes.  "Dad-n" is Jonah and Shawn and apparently every man at church.  But if I say Jonah or Solveig or Daddy's names, she knows who I'm talking about.  Hmmmm?

"Pup-Pup" is still every animal with fur and 4 legs, including cats, puppies, camels, horses, bunnies, and cows.  They all say, "woof."  The only other kind of animal in Anju's world is a monkey, which she loves and doesn't seem to say, but if anyone says the word, "monkey", or shampoos their hair (our kids shampoo has a picture of a monkey on it), she makes very convincing monkey noises.  She even pointed out that there was a monkey on her diaper and made the monkey noise.

So, we're still in the overgeneralization phase, which is at the same time cute and annoying.  I still don't understand why she can say "ba-bye" but "baby" is a 2-syllable nasal noise.  I took the Psychology class, "Human Growth and Development", a language development course from the Communication Disorders department, and many ESL classes in college (jeepers, I minored in linguistics!!) and I am still confused about that one.

By the way:  Little People baby from the last post is still going "na-nite."  She saw her this morning in the chair and pointed at it and said, "na-nite."

Of course.....

Anju would wake up from her nap the second I open the blog window, so this will be brief.  

Anyway, she has 2 new words today that she is using, "off" and "na-nite".  She lifted her foot bearing a shoe toward me like she usually does when we got home from seeing the "tax man" for me to help take off her shoe, and said, "off".  Then the other foot, "off!"  Then back to the first foot for sock "off", and second foot sock "off."  Then, of course Mama's socks had to come "off" too.

Then, she put her Little People baby (whom she loves soooo much) in a Little People chair and said "na-nite baby" and kissed her.  Then she walked away and turned around and waved at the baby and said again, "na-nite."

Coffee drinker?

Inspired by and named after the man who cared for an abandoned orphan whom this family would later adopt, Gobena Coffee is gourmet, organic, fair-trade coffee that is delivered fresh to your door.  

100% of the proceeds from Gobena Coffee are going to help fund orphan care in Ethiopia, Zambia, Ukraine, and India.

Please check out their website to learn more about how this family was blessed through adoption and about the specific projects they are currently sponsoring through this company.

Assessment

Shawn talked to the Polk County nurse today, and she will be coming to assess Anju's development next Tuesday afternoon.  This way, Anju is not signed up for anything....we can get a good picture of where she is at and what she needs and the nurse will present what the choices available to us are after her assessment.

Anju's faves this week: her fuzzy scarf (really any fleece fabric), "The Foot Book" by Dr. Seuss, Valentine candy, and Elmo, which she saw for the first time this week and was mesmerized by.

Please keep Anju's friends at Ashraya in your prayers as the poor economy has been keeping some of them from finding homes.  Especially keep "Vee", the little boy with SB who was featured in the same waiting child article as Anju in your prayers, as he once again waits for a family.  This little boy was a joy to play with at Ashraya and was the one who kept calling Shawn "Auntie" when all the other kids called him "Uncle."  

Snapshots from today

Anju enjoys Indian food for lunch--basmati rice, kidney bean/lentil curries, pita & sour cream.  

Her faves: kidney beans and sour cream (not Indian, but preferred to plain yogurt).

Anju performing "licking the spatula" duties after helping Mama make bars in the kitchen.  

If you look at the picture closely, you can see her bottom teeth coming in.

Mmmmm....chocolate!

A girl after my own heart.

After the bus came, Spiderman made an appearance and scared the living "stuff" out of Anju.

Once she tried on the mask and saw herself in the mirror she laughed.