Two years later

As our dear friends said at last night's Gotcha Day gathering, it's hard to imagine a time when Niranjana wasn't here. These two years sure have flown by. With Andy's health finally back on track, it feels like we finally might be coming out of survival mode.

Andy says that Niranjana is cute 95 percent of the time. I give her only 90 percent, as I think she tests me more than she does her dad. That would be typical for a mother-daughter relationship, as I'm sure my mom would give me a 90 percent rating even today (sure hope it's not less than 90 percent!).

Being 5-1/2 years old and in pre-kindergarten, Niranjana is an All-American girl. She knows all the Disney princesses, the rules to soccer, how to start up the Wii and likes clothes that are pink and sparkly. She is not shy, and we've taught her how to tell people the correct pronunciation of her name (neh-RIN-jen-ah). If she does end up with a nickname, it's likely to be "Ranjana," as we tend to soften the "Ni."

We popped in to the doctor's office this week for a non-shot social visit. Height is 44 inches and weight is 44.2 pounds.

Niranjana does prefer the bookstore over clothes shopping — the favorite now is the Magic Tree House series of chapter books, which she usually lets me read to her. She has the alphabet down and is working on sounds — building blocks to reading.

The only health concern that has emerged is her vision. We've been going to the optometrist since she turned 4 — we really like Dr. Elizabeth Heaston, who has special training in pediatric and behavioral optometry. Dr. Liz, who played soccer in college and is the mom to two youngsters, has been watching Niranjana's eyes, having us back every six months. Just two weeks ago she diagnosed Niranjana as having "binocular vision dysfunction." Basically, her eyes aren't working together to focus and track, which results in mild double-vision especially on smaller objects, which then affects how well she learns to read and write. Niranjana's vision is actually fine and she doesn't need glasses, but she will be starting vision therapy this week — 32 sessions, two sessions a week, 20 minutes of homework each day, not covered by insurance (!). This will retrain her eyes to work together. Dr. Liz believes this is a result of being in an orphanage for 3-1/2 years, which isn't a surprise to us. If this is the only India-based health problem Niranjana has, then we truly are blessed!

We don't have many other issues beyond normal 5-year-old stuff. The occasional rebellion that tries my patience (to put it mildly), not wanting to sleep in her own room (we'll be working on that again this fall), and a preference for sweets.

Andy's mom, Ammaji, was here for the Gotcha Day casual event that was just slightly chaotic. It really was a small, casual gathering — but that entailed 11 adults, five children and one newborn. We kept the back door open and said the flies were part of the India-inspired ambiance. The girls, and some boys, wore bindis on their foreheads and ran around and around, inside, outside, upstairs, and down. Niranjana wore her Princess Jasmine outfit. Friends brought salads and we grilled flank steak — Indian food was just a little too complicated, even though we love it. Dessert was a Dairy Queen ice cream cake that Aunt Rain practically needed a hatchet to cut, and the kids ate every bite.

Ammaji commented that she couldn't imagine having this much chaos in her house. The days of dignified Wine Press parties with our DINK (double-income-no-kids) friends are long gone. I must confess, I don't miss them.