Niranjana, Melissa and Andy

Niranjana's preschool class went to Dairy Queen for lunch today. They "earned" the money from a lemonade stand they did last week. Parent chaperones were not requested, which at one time would have completely freaked me out. Now, I'm OK with it (although I won't be putting her on the bus by herself any time soon).

This is what the 20 kids and five teachers did:

• Preordered their lunch from the menu.

• Boarded the Ben Franklin Transit bus at the stop near preschool.

• Rode the bus to Dairy Queen.

Psych!

We're on baby watch for some of our best friends. Aunt V. is due later this month with a girl, but things are moving along and I now have an extra child seat in my car in case I'm the one taking the big sister to preschool with Niranjana. I even have "I'm the Big Sister" and "I'm the Big Cousin" shirts ready to go for the girls.

Niranjana hasn't asked the obvious questions about Aunt V.'s delicate condition, however, Niranjana continues to claim that she has babies in HER tummy. Oh my! Here is tonight's dinner conversation.

If you work for the government, please don't read this. Just move on.

When we received Niranjana's green card back in late 2007, her name was listed as "No Name Given Niranjana." Thus, her last name was Niranjana and her first name, well, wasn't given.

We thought this was pretty funny. I could imagine some government drone typing in names all day, earning more than I do and not worrying one bit about accuracy.

Now we move on to the subject of her "Certificate of Live Birth" as recorded by the State of Washington. It came in the mail Saturday.

Tonight, we are having fish sticks for dinner. A recent must-watch movie has been Finding Nemo.

So I picked up a fish stick, put it in front of my face and said, "Hi, I'm Nemo!"

Niranjana picked up hers and replied, "Hi, I'm Dory!" - and took a big bite.

So much for sentimentality.

During my battle with cancer, Melissa and I were straight with Niranjana. Melissa did a good job of explaining that "Daddy has germs in his body called cancer" and that she needed to make sure she washed her hands and didn't cough on me.

We weren't necessarily sure how much she understood - in fact, I didn't think she got most of it because except for a day or two after each chemo, I didn't seem all that ill. Even my hair falling out was more amusing than frightening to Niranjana.

Today, I was driving Niranjana home when she asked: "Daddy, do you have cancer?"

Niranjana's classroom had a poster up with each child's response to the question: What do I want to be when I grow up? There was a ballerina, a scientist, an Indiana Jones, etc. Niranjana's answer was: A Reader!

I was so pleased that she wants to be a reader. We love books at our house! So I asked her about it. "That's not right," she said. "I want to be a fairy."

So we went to Fred's and bought a Tinkerbell T-shirt.

Just a quick note to those who follow our little domestic dramas: My doctor declared me free of cancer this morning after six excruciating chemotherapy treatments between Dec. 12 and March 31.

We are thrilled, and I am so thankful to everybody who kept me in your thoughts and prayers.

Most of all, I am grateful that I will get to watch Niranjana grow up.

Special Agent Oso is the spy-in-training in a new Playhouse Disney cartoon that's a big hit at our house (think James Bond for preschoolers). Oso, a bear, helps little kids learn things like making a salad, saving energy, packing for the beach, or getting dressed by themselves.

On Friday, we finalized Niranjana's adoption in Benton County Superior Court. Thanks to family, friends and a really cool judge, it was a great day.

All the grandparents were able to make it to town, and we got everybody to the courthouse early (a bit of a miracle in our families). Aunt Rain and Uncle Alan were there for us, as were the Bailey-Rods. As a special treat, a strong contingent from WSU Tri-Cities was in attendance (including Melissa's boss and her boss's boss, the chancellor), as was my boss, the publisher of the Tri-City Herald.

Niranjana has been working on spelling and letter recognition pretty hard in recent weeks and is making strong progress.

For example, when I take her to Dairy Queen for a Dilly Bar, she quickly picks up on the letters "D" and "Q" from a couple of blocks away.