Niranjana, Melissa and Andy

Thursday was the 60th anniversary of India Republic Day, the day India's constitution became law. This is one of India's biggest national holidays.

To celebrate, the India Association of the Tri-Cities held a cultural program Sunday at the Battelle Auditorium in Richland. Niranjana and several other children participated with one of many dances, piano solos and songs.

Here is Niranjana's performance (the soundtrack had some technical issues, but the kids worked through it).

This is our third Christmas with Niranjana, but it's the first one that feels like it should, like a real Christmas.

Two years ago, Niranjana had been home with us for three months. Frankly, she didn't really "get" Christmas and she and I were still having attachment issues.

Niranjana got her first bike today, earning it by doing so well with her visual therapy.

From Toys R Us, we headed straight to the park, so Niranjana could try out her new bike. Let's go straight to the video highlights and post-ride interview:

Throughout my life, my last name has been misspelled. All Perdues have come to expect it. The most common misspelling is "Purdue" (as in the university in Indiana). The worst I've experienced is "Purdew."

Anyone who spells my last name correctly on the first try typically is from the East Coast and is used to Perdue Chicken and its owner, Frank Perdue - who once admitted to seeking help from the Mafia.

Melissa, too, has enjoyed many variations on "O'Neil" including O'Neal and O'Neill.

Thursday was Niranjana's second YMCA soccer game, and she and her friend Leif scored all the goals for their team.

The games are a lot of fun to watch, and the kids are picking up the sport pretty quickly. At this level (4- and 5-year-olds), there are no goalies and the score is not kept.

Here is the video from two of Niranjana's three goals. Notice the little "airplane" move she makes after she scores? Yeah, she picked that up from watching Bend it Like Beckham.

On Memorial Day, Niranjana learned the simple joys of the Slip 'n Slide at her friend Leif's house. She really wanted one in our backyard, so she worked hard to meet several goals set up by Melissa.

About two weeks ago, Niranjana and I went to the store and purchased a Slip 'n Slide that had a blow-up shark and 3-D goggles (quite a contraption, actually). We got home and set it up, and Niranjana was having a blast, though she wasn't really sliding (or slipping) all the way through the shark's mouth.

Niranjana showed her stuff this evening at her first soccer game, as she scored the first goal for her team (The Blue Horsies). She was the second group into the game (the kids get rotate in every four minutes or so). Less than 30 seconds after they started playing, Niranjana dribbled the ball the length of the field for the goal.

Melissa caught it all on video:

If you work for the government, please don't read this. Just move on.

When we received Niranjana's green card back in late 2007, her name was listed as "No Name Given Niranjana." Thus, her last name was Niranjana and her first name, well, wasn't given.

We thought this was pretty funny. I could imagine some government drone typing in names all day, earning more than I do and not worrying one bit about accuracy.

Now we move on to the subject of her "Certificate of Live Birth" as recorded by the State of Washington. It came in the mail Saturday.

Tonight, we are having fish sticks for dinner. A recent must-watch movie has been Finding Nemo.

So I picked up a fish stick, put it in front of my face and said, "Hi, I'm Nemo!"

Niranjana picked up hers and replied, "Hi, I'm Dory!" - and took a big bite.

So much for sentimentality.

During my battle with cancer, Melissa and I were straight with Niranjana. Melissa did a good job of explaining that "Daddy has germs in his body called cancer" and that she needed to make sure she washed her hands and didn't cough on me.

We weren't necessarily sure how much she understood - in fact, I didn't think she got most of it because except for a day or two after each chemo, I didn't seem all that ill. Even my hair falling out was more amusing than frightening to Niranjana.

Today, I was driving Niranjana home when she asked: "Daddy, do you have cancer?"