Meeting Anirudha

Happy New Year!  Today in this region they are celebrating Gudi Oadwa which is the Marthi New Year.  The tradition I liked best was seeing many women wear new clothing.  Seriously why don't all countries have a holiday that promotes a new outfit.  I admired all the new and beautiful clothing on the way to the orphanage.  It was a ride of mixed emotions.  We were excited, but we were also concerned he would not like us.  Regardless of the possible outcomes, we smiled with our head high ready for anything.

We were walked into his room that he share with about 30 other kids while they were changing and getting ready for the day.  Anirudha was the last to get dressed, and we could see he was a little nervous.  The orphanage workers have been showing him our pictures so he recognized us.

He came over and took my hand.  I bent down to his level, and I was captured by his incredible eyes. His eyes have such depth to them. He then walked over to Ryan and climbed into his arms.  Moved by the awesome moment, I regret to say I missed a photo of that. Anirudha liked Ryan very much from the start. He called him Papa in that first hug.  My heart melted in such sweetness. Anirudha came back to me for a hug. He is so tiny.  I can't get over how light he is.

After introductions, we went to a play area. I brought some cars out to play with (thanks Ms. Tami), and he loved them.  Anirudha is fascinated with cars, and it really helped break the ice with bonding.

I brought a book with pictures of our family, home, and AJ.  He was amused with the pictures.  He knows who Brody is.  The funniest part was when showing him who his grandparents are he saw a picture from Disney World and screamed out "MICKEY MOUSE!"  The kid has great taste in cartoons.  During this time we also learned, AJ knows his colors and he can count to 10 in English.  Our next activity was cricket.  Little man loves hitting the ball and dragging around the bat.  I must find a toy cricket set this week to take home with us.

Today was also a special day at the orphanage in that another family was taking their baby home. There was a ceremony where all the children were dressed up, and they gave a blessing over the family.  We will have a ceremony like that later in the week. A bindi (red dot) was given to everyone as part as a blessing to the adopted family.

We watched Anirudha eat his lunch. I don't believe he has ever used a fork so that will be fun in the future. We are told he likes sweet things the best, and he is a picky eater (just like his mommy).

We left the orphanage while he napped, and we came back to visit at 3:00.  We played more cars, peek a boo with sunglasses, and spin around.  He likes for us to spin him around and around.  Anirudha learned quickly that the words "Again Mommy" are very effective.  He found a pair of my socks in my book bag.  After putting the socks on, he got a caregiver to find him shoes.  Then he went around telling everyone "bye bye."  We thought it was a good sign he was ready to leave with us, but it was also sad leaving him there.  We can't wait to go back to the orphanage tomorrow for more Anirudha James Brice fun!