Last Day in India & Home (Well, almost)

The Lotus Temple was amazing to see in person and the gardens were just beautiful. It was very special to see the service inside (even if we were a bit distracted by the cuties in our arms who were happily babbling). As to be expected we garnered quite a bit of attention and a number of young guides talked to us for awhile. To keep from melting (it was VERY hot that day) we sought out an a/c shop. Somehow we ended up at a shop called Delhi Haat around the corner which is a fixed price store and the prices were quite good. It was much more pleasant to have another family to shop with!

After we returned to our hotel and packed up we hung out in the hotel lobby for an hour and a half (and Riyani napped on one of the couches there). Then we headed over to our travel guide's office to complete some paperwork. It was unexpectedly fun as we chatted with the office personnel and they took turns coming in to speak with us and play with Riyani. Then it was off to the airport and again we were incredibly lucky! They let us in to the airport over 3 hours ahead of time and we were one of the first in line for check-in. No problems at all with check-in, we had very smiley clerks and they went out of their way to get us the bassinet, which was a lifesaver! Greg and I both commented that the flight back was actually much better than the flight out with the extra leg room (even with the addition of a baby!) She slept in it on and off for about 6 hours (the bassinets are tiny so every time she went to roll over she woke up- but still soooo worth it).

We made it into Charlotte early and this was the lovely sight greeting us:

It was wonderful having both sets of grandparents there to meet us too!

We delayed returning home another day due to my illnesses- a return of the stomach sickness and a major sinus infection were unwelcome flight home gifts! So we're reaping the benefits of an additional day with extra help before making the hour and a half drive back tomorrow.

Lia Riyani is doing well- sleeping a lot and sometimes gets a bit overwhelmed by her crazy, loud brothers. But she took a few steps today (toward her big brother who is thrilled!) and is doing pretty well, although I do think all the changes and new people are at times a little much for her. Greg has been forced to do a lot of her parenting of late (she flip flops back and forth between which of us she prefers- but I'm trying not to make myself paranoid that we should encourage one or the other to foster attachment- trying not to constantly be thinking that if we don't do it perfectly we'll mess up her attachment forever!)