Butter And Syrup

Devi thrilled with her crumpled picture of her sister!

Once news hit the blog about our addition, the phones started ringing off the hook with supporters offering their congratulations. I found myself tiptoeing from room to room trying to keep Devi from hearing my conversation and it was getting to be a bit ridiculous. At a glance, Devi’s ears look size and shape appropriate, but I swear they are dumbo-sized when it comes to hearing things we think are definitely out of earshot. We were trying desperately not to make the same mistake of sharing too much too soon with her as we had carelessly done earlier in our adoption process. It had lead to some confusion for Devi which we were desperately trying to avoid. Finally, Pat and I came to the conclusion that Sonalika belongs with the three of us so why hold back?



Gateway to India was the restaurant of choice. Our happy place. Our spot to share good news, recognize milestones and eat Indian food at it’s best. It is where we went to celebrate the news of Bhargabi (Devi) and learn the proper pronunciation of her given name and so it seemed more than appropriate to celebrate our news of Sonalika (Treya) and share her existence with her soon-to-be big sister.

Soon after being sat and ordering a Mango Lassi for Devi, we explained that we had good news and shared the two small photos of Sonalika with her. She stared and stared and squealed with delight, her voice raising two octaves in excitement. CJ, the restaurant owner, saw us “ching” our glasses and came over to share our announcement. Swooning over Devi, he declared both of our girls to be gorgeous gifts, as Devi busied herself chatting about what sisters do together and how she was going to hold her and take care of this little girl because she was her sissy. This is also where we presented our list of names to Devi and where she made her choice. It was Treya, hands down. At one point in the meal, Devi grew very quiet and when I asked what was the matter, she said she was sad. I asked, “Why are you sad, pumpkin pie?” and she replied, “because I want to go get my baby sister right now!” It was so sweet.

In the days since our Indian feast of celebration, Devi has grown concerned about being a BIG sister. She is quite certain that she is still small, so we have taken to calling them just sisters, with no indication of their size attached.

Showing the attendant she was going to be a sister.

Our agency representative will see Treya in April and will be taking a small package to her on our behalf (and hopefully will take a few new photos). Seizing the moment, we took Devi to Build-A-Bear to construct a fluffy something for her sister to cuddle until we could come for her ourselves. Naturally, when we arrived, ONE of anything would just not do. Devi’s reasoning...sisters needed sisters, so two soft brown bunnies were born.

With a look of concentration and her size 7 foot firmly planted on the “stuffing” pedal, Devi applied enough pressure to force fiberfill from the the fluff machine and into the bunny skins. Testing them several times, she carefully squished each until the desired amount of cush was added. Next she selected two padded hearts to embed in their lifeless bodies. Jumping up and down 5 times started the hearts beating, followed by a litany of other gyrations that gave them other lifelike qualities. Finally adding kisses filled with love to each, she plunged her little hand wrapped heart into each chest cavity and brought the furry friends to life.

Sister bunnies in a single box....sharing!

The most ironic thing about the whole trip was the music playing in the store when we arrived. Since the day Devi joined our family, we’ve sung a certain Stevie Wonder song to her as her nightly lullaby, changing the words ever so slightly to make it special for Devi. Naturally, when we learned about Sonalika and were pondering names for her, we tried out Treya’s Stevie Wonder lullaby that we will sing to her when she arrives home. Yep! You guessed it, THAT was the song playing overhead when we arrived at the Build-A-Bear store. It warmed our hearts and brought us smiles.

Lastly, the naming of the bunnies took several days as Devi tried out several combinations. In the end she chose Butter for Treya’s and Syrup for her own. When asked , “Why?” she said, “Because Butter and Syrup go together!”