"I'm happy now!"

Baby Priya is now 3.  I will never forget waiting for you by the Christmas tree with the snow falling outside and then working so hard for hours into the night to birth such a healthy, 9.5lb, baby girl.

I will never forget shortly after the bliss of your birth and early newborn moments, the devastation we went through losing what we thought we had all along...your hearing.  

I will never forget your first birthday in the audiologists' office with cameras primed waiting to see your response to sound.  Your first implant was being activated.  We were anticipating something magical and  miraculous when we said your name and realizing right then and there that the magic and miracles come over time with lots of hard work and patience.

I will never forget your snowy 2nd birthday.  The way you looked in your tutu, blond, innocent,  and smiling, surrounded by Nama, Papa and LaLa, singing a long with us to happy birthday and waiting to blow out the number 2 on your cupcake.  You were just beginning to speak.

And now you are 3.  Other than the countless times we have to put your fallen implants back on your head each day, we sometimes have to remind ourselves of all that we have gone through in the first 3 years of your life.  You have captured our hearts and worked with persistence and stamina to learn to communicate with us.  You do it well.  You do it with articulation, humor and character.  I often say that I cannot wait to see what God has in store for you.  Already you have a life story that is so captivating and involves overcoming obstacles.  What is in store for the years to come?

For now...you can just keep being you.  Charming all those around you, flirting with daddy, giving hugs, making us laugh, warmly welcoming your little girl friends, tenderly caring for your brothers, playing kitchen and talking away!  

Your 3rd birthday party was a lovely celebration.  You had prayed about it almost every night for a few months prior to December 10th.  "Dear God...help Priya's birthday...and cake with 3 candles on it."

Your new famous quote would encompass the day..."I'm happy now".     

Trotting in Hindustan.

It appears that we only do leisure, tourist activities here in India based on my posts the past few months.  I promise we DO work here!

In November, we went to Delhi and had some meetings. Priya had an appointment with Mani, a speech therapist/audiologist and we ran the Delhi half marathon.  Our friends Dave and Cindy graciously offered to watch the kids while we ran.  The race was a blast.  It was pretty disorganized at points and involved lots of waiting, pushing and shoving, but for the most part it reminded us a lot of a race in the States with chip timing and all.  We are thankful to be able to preserve the things that we love to do and find ways to do them here.  It seems like running is something that is catching on in the big cities.  The course went by some Delhi landmarks and was flat compared to the crazy climbs we have to do on a long run in Mussoorie.  We finished together.  I won't disclose who actually crossed the finish line first.

Thanksgiving was different and new for us.  It was pretty much the first times we had to help cook food rather than enjoy our mothers cooking.  Let me just say I have a greater appreciation for canned pumpkin.

0600 Delhi arrival after overnight train.

Race expo poster child.

Graham's commentary on our battle to the finish.

I am going to miss Deb and Katie(eMi interns/morning running partners).

That is a chicken, not a turkey!

Post meal lethargy.

Still wondering if pumpkin pie from scratch is worth the hassle?

Harkidun

Tommy and Sarah came in October, it was such a meaningful time and valuable to have them truly experience what our life is like here in India. We spent a lot of our time preparing for and completing a trek to Harkidun.  Harkidun is a high valley area about 8 hours and two days hike from Mussoorie, sitting beneath peaks and glaciers. 

Excerpt from my  journal...This trek had it's own beauty very different from it's counterparts.  It felt more remote and removed than other pilgrimage sights.  It possessed an untouched, unchanged mystery.  It was enlightening to witness a valley and people frozen in time, not influenced by western civilization, living lives in the shadow of the peaks, glaciers and valleys.  It was powerful to experience the views through their weathered faces.  To hear their squeals of joy as they would catch a smile from our fair kids who will never know the true meaning of working the land to live like those village youth.  They carry loads seemingly three times the size of them tied with a rope to their backs.  They wear battered rubber flip flops and I complain about blisters from my boots and how uncomfortable the infant carrier is on my back and shoulders.  It was humbling and there was something enchanting about this trek that left me moved.

Half a decade down.

Half a decade down...

22.October.2005

Then...Hudson turned 5.  Half a decade ago we were in our twenties fresh back from India in culture shock without insurance trying to buy a house and living with my parents.  Then Hudson came 6 weeks early.  Insanely, our insurance started the day before my water broke and so his birth and 2 weeks in the NICU were covered.  Now 5 years later, we are back in India with our little 4lb premie.  

Hudson you are now a dynamic, blond, observant, active, sensitive, driven, verbal, social boy who is learning how to live cross culturally, experiencing new things and deep issues beyond your years.  Your favorite things are your blankie, sticks, rocks, imagining things, engineering new lego designs, Indian sweets, socializing with staff and interns that we work with,  reading new books, playing with Priya and planning attacks on the monkeys with daddy.

Your 5th birthday was a great day even after getting back the night before from our big Harkidun trek. We managed to pull off a party and at the end of it you said that you were happy and I held you in my arms, all 37 pounds of you.

Birthday waffle breakfast.

Birthday boots from LaLa.

Birthday Transformer from Grandma.

Birthday dump truck cake requested for the past 3 years.

Birthday treasure hunters.

my get away.

Thursday morning I helped Graham and the kids get on the train at the bustling Old Delhi station.  They were headed home without me.  I kissed him and snuck away without making a scene, fully realizing that this was the first time that I have been away since starting our family 5 years ago.  I lightheartedly walked off the train feeling free with just my pack on my back and plane ticket in hand.  Like most mothers, my life is full of attending to incessant requests, demands, tears, diapers, messes, emotions, details and needs.  As I rode in the taxi to the airport, I noticed that I could actually look out the window and observe, think about and process India without having to answer a question, make a plan, get someone a drink of water, or hold a squirming baby on my lap.


A friend invited me to attend a conference at a resort in Goa(a southern state on the coast of India).  It was designed for North American women working in India and other surrounding countries.  The focus was on bringing rest, refreshment and support.  I did benefit from laughing and networking with other women who share the same experiences and challenges, but what I most enjoyed was the solitude.  


I did a lot of beach running, swimming in the ocean, eating, journaling, and gaining perspective after 9 months of very intense cultural adjustment and transition.  I fell more deeply in love with Graham and the kids as I was away, but also realized that in whatever shape or form, rest and solitude is essential.


Graham did an impressive job with the kids while I was away.  For the first 2 hours after I returned to Mussoorie, Everett was upset with me and would not let me hold him and kept trying to hit me.  He must have been confused and wondering why I had abandoned him.  I had intended on bringing the kids some of the chocolates from the conference, but instead decided to eat them up myself before arriving back.  I figured while on vacation it is okay to be a little selfish.  I did bring them some sea shells that I had carefully hunted for one morning and for them they were just as good as chocolate.  

These shells are now in Hudson's treasure box.

The dichotomy of India.

I feel almost guilty posting this one.

Tea break on the train back home.

October was an eventful month.  More to come...