Niranjana, Melissa and Andy

After knowing our daughter for fewer than 48 hours, here is what I know:

Watching the orphanage superintendent, Vanaja, say goodbye Niranjana brought tears to my eyes. It happened again when we asked Pastor Mariasingarayar to give Niranjana a blessing. We did manage to get her to sing her "rejoice" song for the pastor and his wife, who was looking like she wished she'd never followed the rules and turned that cute baby over to the police.

I can't believe I just paid someone to dryclean my husband's boxer shorts. And I can't believe they charged me less than $1 (U.S.) to do it.

I thought I was prepared. I had diligently packed a suitcase for Niranjana following the checklist from our adoption agency and traveling advice from friends with toddlers. The checklist specifially said not to bring shoes, so I didn't. Strike one. It also said to bring baby lotion but did not say to bring baby soap/shampoo. Strike two.

Last night, we dined at the hotel buffet restaurant. The food was Southern Indian in style, though it also featured Sri Lankan and, of all things, Chinese (?). I stuck with the Indian dishes, and even those that were supposed to be spicy were not over the top. Instead, they were layered with amazing aromas, flavors and textures. I tried some kind of a rice noodle pudding infused with saffron that was stunning.

It's the end of a long, long day, and Niranjana is with us now. She's sleeping in our hotel room in Chennai. This is a little unexpected, but we're good with it.

This morning, we headed to the orphanage and got to visit Niranjana and her friends during their Montessori class. They sang us some songs, we sang them some songs, and we passed out the hand puppets Melissa brought. They were a huge hit with all the children. My mom got to meet her granddaughter, and it's all becoming quite real for her now.

My husband is in love with another girl ... but I'm not worried because I think I'm in love, too. But it's VERY obvious that Niranjana is going to be a Daddy's girl. "She's the sweetest girl I ever met," he says with a smitten look on his face.

This was a big day for us. The biggest and most important so far in this long journey we've taken.

Today, we met our daughter.