New Year's in Kathmandu

The DeGrande's, the Meeks', me and Anuraj.

This New Year's Eve, Anuraj and I managed to get out and celebrate with some friends while Anusha stayed with her grandparents, aunt, uncle and cousin (just until 1am...not the whole night). We hit a local restuarant/pub then went to a party of one of our friend's coworkers. This is one of the first times we had been out in a long time -- without Anusha, and was it fun!

Back to Nepal

So it's been an entire 2 months since I last blogged. So much for my New Year's resolution. What were we doing those 2 months? Traveling! Anusha and I made our first international flight where she had her own seat and it was wonderful. Anyone who is traveling with children who have their own seats, I highly recommend taking the "bulk head" seats (the ones where they usually seat people who have babies and want to use the bassinets). She had tons of space to move around, we could spread our things out, and I could lay her on the floor to sleep. The only drawback was that the arm rests don't go up, but it's a small price to pay.

July: Anusha and I recovered from jet lag in Goshen, IN for a few days before heading off to Harrisonburg where my mom helped my youngest sister with wedding prep, Anusha got in some quality "Nani and Aunt Carrie" time, and I got to visit friends. We headed back to Goshen and spent a week on our own, then welcomed Anuraj to the US for the first time since he left December '07. Our highlight was a weekend getaway (Anusha stayed with my folks) at our friend's lake house not far from Goshen. Anusha did great and we had a very relaxing time. Anuraj especially enjoyed the fishing and I enjoyed an early morning solo kayak ride and our canoe rides together.

Julie, my sister, and her daughter Adria came to Goshen for the last week of July and Adria and Anusha began their push-pull relationship. They really love each other, but hey, they're both 2!

August: My mom, sister Sallie, Julie and Adria, Anuraj, Anusha and I headed out to Harrisonburg once again for final week wedding preparations. My dad and Julie's husband joined us later on in the week. The week was hectic. I was able to get out a few times to see some people, and Carrie and Preston got married, Yea! It was of course fun to see family and enjoy the valley once again. My whole family (minus the honeymooners) took off to VA Beach after the wedding and enjoyed the sand and water . . . next time we have to spend more than one night there (and not leave our camera and ipod and docking station in the hotel ... my fault and yet to be found!). Anuraj, Anusha and I bid farewell to everyone else and we stayed back in the 'burg for the rest of the week to visit friends.

Back in Goshen for our final week: I don't think I adequately prepared myself for my last week in the U.S. When I was in Nepal, I was packed and ready to go literally 2 or 3 days before my flight left. I guess it was anticipation. Not the case on the return trip! Cousin Kirsten, who was our first visitor to Nepal last year, came to visit us in lovely Indiana . . . a breath of fresh air : ) . . . Anusha and Adria reconciled and are fast becoming non-bickering friends, and we had a teary goodbye with family.

September: We have been in Nepal for a week and the sadness was replaced with sickness. I'm feeling much better, but little Anusha is still not feeling well . . . I'm hoping the meds kick in and we notice a difference tomorrow.
I have managed to meet up or talk to a few friends already, which makes the transition back more manageable.

As for pics . . . my camera was stolen when our house was broken into in June (in Kathmandu) and Anuraj's camera is gone due to my forgetfulness.

If you are the blog-reading praying type . . . please pray for little Anusha and our health in general. She had super appetite the first 4 days we were here and since this sickness has wanted to eat nilch. I'm afraid all the weight she gained in the US over 2 months she lost in 5 days. And for our transition back . . . and friendships. (Can't live without 'em.)

Pull Goat's Tail and Other Funny Things

We spent two weeks at Anuraj's parent's home in Biratnagar. We survived the heat (it was 83*-95* in the house alone!), enjoyed the animals and being surrounded by all the green grass and trees, and even got to visit some of our Mennonite Central Committe friends, Charlotte and Micah Shristi, who are living just 30 minutes east of Biratnagar. Here are photos of some of Anusha's favorite activities and highlights from our vacation. The only thing that is missing are pictures from when she was holding Charlotte and Micah's new baby chicks. Here are some pics from the weeks:

Anusha riding a baby cow


Anusha's favorite activity, touching the goat's tail and watching it run (aka terrorizing the goat)


Anusha holding a little bird that someone caught (and tied on a string for her...don't tell PETA)


Anusha with Biratnagar Neighbor Kids


Anusha petting the cows . . . just her size!

Anusha-isms

So the two year old is quickly developing her vocabulary. Much more quickly than I could have imagined. Here are a few of the funny and quirky "Anusha-isms" that we hear nearly every day!

+ Holdu . . . translation: Hold me. Taken from my questions: "Anusha do you want me to hold you?" She applies this to anything. "Holdu baby." "Mommy holdu."

+ Ingether . . . transaltion: Together. I have to say I'm impressed with the interchange of, what is that a pronoun, an adverb, I'm rusty on my grammar rules. She uses this when she wants us all to do something together. Yesterday it was blowing bubbles in our water glasses at Fire and Ice. "Mommy, blow ingether." (We did!)

+ Having Fun . . . this is just something that she periodically says to inform us that she is indeed having fun. Like when we're walking down the road with her, both holding her hands, and swinging her, out will pop, "Having Fun!!!"

+ Ghee-dad: This is her word for Grandad and we just think it's cute. It might even stick!

+ Nanan: This is the name Anusha calls herself. She actually did say her name the other day when someone asked her something, but otherwise, it's just "Nanan take nap," "Nanan" do this or that!

+ Very Good . . . she has used this twice with Sabina's burritos.

+ Very . . . She really likes to emphasize things with "very". "Very heavy" . . . when she's lifting her chair or a back pack or a book. "Very cute" referring to the little puppy or baby we saw.

+ Awesome. This was a brand new one, used today. We were sitting on the bed and suddenly out popped this word. Followed by all those she must think is awesome, starting with: "awesome Papa," "awesome Nanan (her name for herself)," "awesome Happy (cousin)," "awesome Shilpi (aunt)". There were a few others on the list and I think I even made the cut.

+ Pink Eye: So Anusha had pink eye the other month and I had no idea a little kid could squeeze their eyes shut so tight (tight enough it made it nearly impossible to give her the drops or cream we were supposed to give). Since then, if her eye hurts or someone else is rubbing their eye, she quickly diagnoses it as "pink eye."

+ Towel: Anusha's favorite medical relief. When she had pink eye we had to clean her eyes with a washcloth every morning (especially to remove the crust that once or twice sealed her eyes shut...yes she was very brave!). Since then, when anyone is "hurt" she asks for a "towel" to place on the point of pain! This seems to work with her at least!

+ Hurt: This is a big thing. She learned what "hurt" means the other month and isn't afraid to use it. One of the surprising things that "hurts" or she thinks "hurts" are these temporary tattoos that my mom sent her. We put it on her and she cried and said "hurt" and cried some more. We put it on ourselves just to show that it didn't hurt but she was not convinced. We finally took it off her, and she would ask us if it hurt us...convinced that it did! She likes to use this and actually cried the first time she watched "Curious George" because there were so many times she thought that he was "hurt."

I finally thought of the phrase to describe this little kid: matter of fact. Maybe it's just the age. But it's funny to hear how literally she takes things . . . not so much serious, just, well, matter of fact!

So . . . perhaps this will inspire you to create your own -isms. They are great fun to use, with or without a 2 year old!

the other side

Straight ahead
I see the little boy -
the one that holds his tin bowl
and wears his shabby clothes
and an unconvincing forlorn face.
I see his mother -
the one who holds his little sister
and holds out her bowl
and prods the boy to follow people
who might make a donation.
And I think about the Good Samaritan
who didn't cross to the other side
who didn't harbor feelings of angst
and confusion
and annoyance.
I think about the priest
who probably did harbor those things.
And today I confess I feel like the priest
and I aptly follow him
and cross the street
to the other side.

Anusha Turns 2!

We celebrated Anusha's 2nd birthday on April 25 with two of her cousins, her aunt, uncle, grandfather and our landlords (she calls them "Minner Tater" as in Mr./Mrs. Tater or "Dada/Dadi" which is Nepali for grandpa/grandma). I posted pictures from her party and the a few other random pics from the past few weeks.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=256007&id=586180321&l=91b4d2dfb0

What you can do when you're 2 (or at least Anusha can):
- Watch Elmo (and maybe even NOT cry when it's turned off)
- Practice Jumping (and practice and practice and practice) until you can get both feet an inch off the ground simultaneously.
- Help wash dishes
- Tell your mom when you're pooping (in the diaper...)
- Scream when attempting to be potty trained
- Forgot that you've turned 2 and answer "1" when asked how old you are
- Hold up half of your fingers when asked how old you are because, for some reason, 2 fingers just don't seem to want to stay up by themselves (1 was much easier!)
- Finish the sentences of favorite story books
- Have a strong opinion about which clothes to wear (which happen to be the same pair of pants and shirts...what about those other 20 outfits!!)
- Still manage to sooth a rising BP with a sweet smile

That's Anusha for now! Enjoy the latest pics.
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Happy Mother's Day!

This is dedicated to Nani (Anusha's grandma Landis) and Aunt Julie on the occasion of American Mother's Day! Anusha would call you if she knew the right buttons to push! Wish we were there to hug you in person!