Flurries In The Forecast Today

Our sleepy Sonalika - a frame captured from recent video

Flurries of excitement have come this week.

First, we received the video taken of Sonalika in May, during our reps visit to SOFOSH. As you remember, the visit took place right before her nap time so her demeanor is rather somber. You can hear the ayahs describe her, in their very distinct Indian accented English, as being normally very smiley and lively, but that she is "not comfortable now because it is nap". At one point, they let her pick something from a tray of treats. Into view, comes a purple wrapped granola looking bar that the ayah announces is chocolate covered. As the three of us watched our baby girl on the computer screen, the two Ross women present took notice. Devi's comment, with her nose nearly touching the screen, was that her baby sister likes the color purple just like her and my heart flutters that another in our expanding family appears to like chocolate! All too noticeable is the flattened "swoop" comb over of her hair that we have come to recognize in the few photos we have. It is just screaming for a little mousse, a bit of scrunching, and a girlie bow. I just know there are oodles of curls there that are just dying to be set free!

Our second flurry came today....at 3:21 am, to be exact. Our Article 5 letter arrived from the US Embassy in Delhi! It states that the US Central Authority is pleased to confirm that US competent authorities have determined that Pat and I are eligible and suited to adopt; have ensured that we have been counseled as necessary; and have determined that Sonalika will be authorized to enter and reside permanently in the US following the grant of legal custody to Pat and I. Furthermore, they feel the the grant of legal custody may proceed. Hooray! we are now able to enter the court process. Next step, wait for NOC from CARA.

Now behind the scenes, we've been scouring calendars, taking notes from other families, consulting forums, and calculating averages all in an attempt to make an attempted guess at when we may travel to India to meet our daughter. Today, I feel like being optimistic and therefore have mentally made a forecast of no more inclimate weather —smooth sailing....leaving in mid-October. Sound good? Any later and we run into the convergence zone—Diwali, India's festival of Lights, falls on November 5th this year. To those in the adoption world, this means a couple weeks of court closures to observe the holidays. Our storm watch begins :)