Loyet Family Odyssey

This morning when Tarini and Benjamin were finished eating breakfast, I took them out to the pool and courtyard area so Eric and Grandma could finish eating. Tarini could hardly contain her excitement, and her desire to get in the water was overwhelming. She crouched next to the pool and started by putting her hands in the water, then I rolled up her sleeves and she put her arms in further. Seeing that she was not satisfied, I removed her sweater and she smiled broadly. She proceeded to put her arms into the water until it was up to her forearms. She has incredible balance and is very agile and strong; balancing herself on the edge of the pool to get as far in the water as possible. She wanted to take her clothes off and go swimming but I convinced her we would get her suit on and come back. She did, however, convince me to roll up her pant legs so she could wade in the shallow area around the fountains. She enjoyed the water so much that I think we are going to have to get a membership to an indoor pool for the coming cold months in Kentucky.

We walked around the courtyard and watched the ducks in the lagoon. She was unsure of the statues of the alligators, but loved the dolphin, even saying "dolphin". As she is getting more and more comfortable, she is using more words. We have heard mommy, daddy, benjamin, balloon, toilet, water, flower, bird, butterfly, fish, stomp feet, good, up, please, love you, her doll name: April, color, juice, fruit, apple, airplane, ball, elephant, uncle, auntie, card, camera of course, and the alphabet and numbers at various times. And these are just the ones I can remember off the top of my head.

We had planned on taking a trip to Puri, on the coast, but decided to stay back at the hotel to spend time together and continue the bonding process. We found out later in the day it was the best decision we could have made. We made a quick trip to find some locally made items to have for our family and on the way there we were stopped by the police. They were stopping people from going down the road to Puri as the monsoon rains had flooded it and the road was closed. The way to Cuttack, where Tarini was at Basundhara, was dangerously close to being closed as well. Officials made the decision to release the dams and flood many areas in Orissa to protect the bridges from damage. We are very blessed that we have only encountered low flood waters and none that have deterred us from our mission here.