Christmas, New Years, and Birthday in India
Days 21-29
We were actually somewhat excited to be in India for the holidays, having our first Christmas as a family together just the three of us (though we did think we'd be moving on to Delhi right after Christmas and that didn't happen). Of course, we couldn't let the holidays pass without spending plenty of time at our home away from home- the mall. On Christmas Eve we went to the mall, though really it was only because we couldn't get the online ticket sales for the movie theater to work. We bought our tickets and then for the sake of doing something else after driving there, we got ice cream. While eating we heard a lot of commotion on the floor below, and looked down and saw some sort of Christmas activity happening with a bunch of kids- jackpot! We took V down and she loved it. I have never met a child more obsessed with Christmas- and it doesn't seem to be about presents. She just loves Christmas. Since Ernest's Christmas party she had been asking every day if today was Christmas, and when we would say no she'd ask if tomorrow was Christmas. We finally made a paper chain to count down the days, though I'm not sure she fully grasped it. She enjoyed coloring a Christmas picture and looking at all the decorations.
We were actually somewhat excited to be in India for the holidays, having our first Christmas as a family together just the three of us (though we did think we'd be moving on to Delhi right after Christmas and that didn't happen). Of course, we couldn't let the holidays pass without spending plenty of time at our home away from home- the mall. On Christmas Eve we went to the mall, though really it was only because we couldn't get the online ticket sales for the movie theater to work. We bought our tickets and then for the sake of doing something else after driving there, we got ice cream. While eating we heard a lot of commotion on the floor below, and looked down and saw some sort of Christmas activity happening with a bunch of kids- jackpot! We took V down and she loved it. I have never met a child more obsessed with Christmas- and it doesn't seem to be about presents. She just loves Christmas. Since Ernest's Christmas party she had been asking every day if today was Christmas, and when we would say no she'd ask if tomorrow was Christmas. We finally made a paper chain to count down the days, though I'm not sure she fully grasped it. She enjoyed coloring a Christmas picture and looking at all the decorations.
That night at the flat Geoff and I watched It's a Wonderful Life after Vennela fell asleep. It's one of Geoff's favorite movies ever, and before I met Geoff I had never seen it. Now we watch it every year, and every year we both cry at the end.
The next day was finally CHRISTMAS! Vennela was so excited she couldn't even answer when we asked her what day it was. We showed her that she had two presents underneath our $5 miniature Christmas wreath. She thought her single yellow balloon and Star Wars coloring book were just the best ever.
After that we had breakfast, got dressed and walked to a nearby church for Christmas service, as Ernest was out of town so his home church wasn't meeting for Christmas. It was so nice to sing carols in a group and listen to the Christmas story, and Vennela mostly stayed quiet and still, about as much as we'd expect of a four year old. After that we had lunch and then went to the mall for our first movie as a family! We went to see Coco, which was so cute, and Vennela was semi-entertained by it. She did NOT like wearing the 3D glasses (3D was the only option), and took a nap at one point (which we expected and welcomed). We were sitting in the front row, but that worked out nicely as it let her wander around when she got bored, but she sat and watched a lot of it!
We spent the days between Christmas and New Years hanging out with our new friends, Jay and Heather who were in Hyderabad adopting their son S, DJ and Amy who were adopting their son P, and Nellya who was there adopting her daughter M- S and P lived in another flat at V's foster home so she knew them a little bit already, and she just loved having other kids to play with! They were so fun to watch. We would go to the park with the kids and play, and would also all go to the child welfare office and continue to beg them to move our paperwork along (all of us were having various challenges).
Since the paperwork was delayed we had to move out of our flat- but it was because Heather, Jay, DJ and Amy were moving in! They had all arrived after us and planned to move into the flat after we moved on to Delhi (hahaha). Luckily, a new hotel opened up right next door to the flat right before we had to move out, so we just hauled our stuff right next door and got to be neighbors with them, which was such a blessing.
We had a very low key New Year's at the hotel watching our favorite Bollywood movie, Happy New Year (you can find it on Netflix!). Then New Year's Day was Vennela's birthday! We woke her up to a bed full of balloons, which she thought was hilarious.
We celebrated in the park down the street with the other adoptive families and a cake from the nearby bakery. Vennela still loves to watch the video of everyone singing happy birthday. Even though we were frustrated with all the delays, we were just so glad to all be together as a family for her birthday.
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