Tippy Toes

Her latest accomplishment? Yep, walking on her tippy toes! Amazing how something so small can bring a child such joy. With the grace of an elephant, and the determination of an ant under heavy load, Devi surprised us the other day, parading through the kitchen squeaking out "Tippy toes, tippy toes" as she bobbled by.

This new talent is only matched in enthusiasm by her mastery of bubble blowing...all by herself. The successful blow is always followed by an appropriate "Bub-bles!" exclamation at an ear splitting, glass breaking decibel range.

Tonight we were blessed by the cutest rendition of the Happy Birthday song I've ever heard. The whole thing. I have no idea how she learned this but she got so excited when she inserted her own name into the proper spot. She never ceases to keep us entertained!

Ethnic Fest July 26th 2008

Dancin' with daddy

More Dancin'

Denise and Devi's boyfriend, Ben.
Devi does not understand he is married!

Our summer has continued to keep us busy attending festivals in our area. Ethnic fest was celebrated in late July with 2 full days of music and dance from around the world. Devi enjoyed dancing through the crowd, meeting people along the way. A local cameraman took a shine to her and gave her a little cameo seen on local television. Ah...a star is born! I think our favorite performers were the Trinadad/Tobago dancers and a pan drum group. Of course, we dined on a plate of food from Gateway to India, our favorite local Indian fare.

Holi Picnic, July 27th, 2008




We also attended our first activity with a local group of other Indian adoptive parents. We had a picnic, flew kites, blew bubbles and rounded out the day's activities with the tossing of colored powders, typically celebrated during the Hindu holiday, Holi, in March. It is meant to mark the beginning of spring and good weather - a time to celebrate and "let loose". This was Devi's first opportunity to meet and interact with other Indian children. She had a great time and is still commenting on that fun day.

Last weekend, August 9th, was our annual cul-de-sac party. With our addition, the children in our neighborhood number 8 this year! Typically we roll our BBQs out into the street and the adults enjoy grown up conversation while the children play. Patrick, a kid at heart, plays with the kids and invariably ends up in time out! This year, he was kept in check by the periodic downpours that kept us all jumping into, and out of, the limited dry tarped spots protecting the food and us from the elements. Devi had a blast! She got to play with the big kids, ate her hot dog that hit the ground, stomped in puddles, chased after gigantic bubbles and fell into bed at 7, absolutely exhausted!

Summer Picnic at one of our favorite parks

The angel sleeps :)

Sometime during all those events our daughter lost her innocence and purity, uttering her first nasty word. We call it the toilet trauma story. Daddy was holding Devi on his hip and was attempting to smooth her bath towel across the shower curtain rod to dry. Somehow during the single handed flip of the towel to the bar, the hood of the towel caught the porcelain lid on the toilet tank. The weight of the tank lid caught daddy off balance as the lid catapulted itself into the air. Daddy managed a round house kick over the seat of the toilet, catching himself on the other side in the bath tub with baby still comfortably straddling his hip! Turning to witness the broken bits and full extent of the damage, the shock caused daddy to waver and he said, "damn it!" which he claims was soon followed by a quiet, sweet replica of that same phrase. With a hung head, I say what is a mother to do? I praised daddy for his true fatherly instincts to protect the baby...not the towel :)

Soon thereafter,we were out walking with Devi and our dog. We were startled by this sudden fierce barking coming from a teeny tiny dog which thankfully was fenced. Anyway, Pat made a comment..."He's a killer!" joking about the size of bark vs. size of animal. Whoops!!! tiny ears heard it too! All the way to the coffee house destination we heard Devi saying "He's a killa" in her small little girl voice. Okay, inappropriate, I know, but it was sort of hilarious. Slow learners? Yes, we parents are :)!!!

The proud girl received her social security card, ironically, one year to the day
that we became her legal guardians!