ashwini
Today, my daughter presented her research from last year’s Summer fellowship at Connecticut Land Conservation Conference at Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT.
The trails of Lyme Land Trust preserves are enjoyed by many, including some of the most ecologically damaging invasive plant species in our region. Ashwini Sahasrabudhe will describe the trail-side patterns of infestation for several focal species based on two months of fieldwork using a simple custom-designed smartphone app, and Jim will address how LLT will use this information to inform management options. The workshop promises to be eye-opening for those who enjoy CT trails, and will be useful for anyone wishing to address invasive plant issues on land they own or manage.
Happy 6th birthday, Ashwini!!!
Ashwini turned 6 years old last Saturday. Now that she will start 1st grade this fall, she officially is a “big girl”. Recently, we had a parent-teacher meeting with her kindergarten teacher to go over her progress at school and were happy to hear what her teacher had to say:
- “If I had 20 Ashwinis in this class, my life would be so much easier."
- “Ashwini can read, write, count and draw well beyond what is recommended for Kindergarten. She is ready to go into 2nd grade and not 1st."
- “Even though she can read books well, she was a little shy about reading in front of the class last year but, now she does it all the time."
- “She is very eager to help other kids who need a little assistance with their alphabets and numbers."
At home, it is very delightful to see how she has grown into this role of the big sister. No doubt that there are a lot of fights, but it is amazing to see how patient she is with Adit many times and how she helps him while playing together. There are a lot of arguments about who is "the boss" of whom and who is in charge or in control but, we have worked out the organizational chart of our household. Adit is at the bottom and he is the boss of no one. Ashwini is Adit's boss only when parents are not around. I am the boss of kids and V is the ultimate boss of everyone.
Other than Kindergarten, Ashwini has been juggling many other activities such as ballet, swimming and Kumon class to get an early start in learning math. I wrote about her ballet some time ago and she is doing very well with swimming too. Now, she can swim properly even in deep water without any help of floating devices. She really likes swimming and wants to continue when she starts going to 1st grade.
For Ashwini's birthday, we had a hard time deciding where to arrange the party. Finally, we (actually, Ashwini) chose the dinosaur place. It is an activity center that is built around dinosaurs, fossils, and gemstone mining. Ashwini wanted to go learn about dinosaurs & fossils and we had a fun time as you can see from the photos below.
In the beginning, the kids were introduced to dinosaurs and what fossils are. Then, they went into a big room called "The Bone Zone". It was basically a big sand box with concrete models of dino bones buried under the sand. The kids dig into the sand and uncover the skeleton.
The party coordinator was very cheerful and animated. She told the kids a story about how the dinosaurs got buried in mud and how their bones turned into fossils. Kids were just mesmerized by her storytelling.
Cake and pizza was on the menu for the hungry junior paleontologists.
The birthday cake had this flying tinker bell thingy...
At home, Adit gave Ashwini her birthday presents and he had one for himself, too.
As a baby, Ashwini used to love this series of pop-up books about bugs
by David Carter. Some of his newer pop-up books are very artistic and are appropriate for older kids who can handle delicate pop-up sculptures. I bought 3 of these books for Ashwini and she liked them very much:One Red Dot
;Blue 2
;600 Black Spots
.I'd highly recommend these books for kids of all ages and even for adults. They are just beautiful. Here is Ashwini showing a page from 600 black spots.
Riverdance
Ashwini was very impressed with irish dance done by a troupe of schoolgirls at her daycare on St. Patrick’s day. She tries to imitate what she saw, and it looks quite good. Unfortunately, I didn’t have any music playing when I recorded this. Should record it again with some irish music.
I be princess
Ashwini: When I grow up, I am going to be doctor and teacher. Adit: I grow up be princess. Ashwini: You can’t be a princess, Adit. Princesses are girls. Adit: I be princess. Ashwini: You can’t be a princess. You can be a prince. You are not a girl. Adit: Adit girl… Adit girl… I be princess.
Dang!!! The things I miss when I am away from home.
Kids' activities
As the schools started this month, a lot of out-of-school kids' activities have taken off as well. Our kids don’t even go to school yet, but that hasn’t stopped them from participating in these other activities. Last Saturday, Ashwini started going to a ballet class. After two sessions, she is happy with the things that she is learning there. I think part of the excitement has to do with the ‘required attire’ for the class.
Both of them go to swimming classes: Ashwini on Wednesday evening and Adit on Saturday morning. For Adit, it is “parent-child water exploration” class. I went in the water with him to just splash around and to sing some songs, etc to get used to being in water. He didn’t get scared like some other kids and had a blast even though the water was cold. I used to take Ashwini to a similar class, two years ago, and she had liked it as well. Now, she is in a class where parents don’t go in the pool with kids. Teachers teach them swimming while parents watch from the benches.
I can’t imagine how our lives are going to change and revolve even more around the kids as they grow up and start participating in even more activities outside of school, taking up evening and weekend hours. Joys of parenthood, eh?! It will be fun, I guess. We’ll see.
The beach
It is quite nice that we are about 2 miles from the beach and the ocean (actually, long island sound). Took the kids to the beach last week to just check out the place. Ashwini had been to a beach before, but it was the first time for Adit and he loved it. Initially, he was skeptical and didn’t want to even walk in the sand, but after a while it was hard to make him get out of the water. His most favorite activity was to pick up sand and throw it in the water. He was so wet and full of sand that I almost wanted to hose him in the yard before going inside the house. I can see us going there very often.
Ashwini happily splashed water on Adit to drive him out of there.
An afternoon at the zoo
Last weekend, we went to the Toledo Zoo. Thankfully, this is a small zoo as our kids last for about 2 hours before getting tired and cranky. We had enough time to view the seals and polar bears exhibit followed by a train ride through Africa and a couple of times on the merry-go-round. It is good to go to the zoo in the afternoon, about 2 hours before closing time. All the people are on their way home. So, the zoo is not crowded and also, great parking spots close to the entrance are available.
It was hard to pan properly with Adit hanging off one arm or pulling on my shirt or just trying to run around uncontrollably.
What story was that?
radio: … they had no food, no milk, no bread. All the markets in Gaza …. me: quickly turn off the radio Ashwini: Why did you turn it off? I want to listen to that “Jack and the beanstalk” story.
These days, I have to be very careful about listening to radio in the car when Ashwini is with me. I usually listen to NPR (when the kids' CDs are not playing) and censor what Ashwini can listen to. Anything that is war-related or about middle-east or in general bad news is not allowed. She will have plenty of time later in her life to get acquainted with the grim realities of the world.
Ashwini, the shutterbug
Ashwini wanted to take photos while we were playing outside. I showed her the classic left-hand-under-the-lens camera hold and she was shooting like a pro in no time. Below are a couple of photos of Adit and me that she took. I was really impressed with her sense of framing the pictures properly.
Sunday afternoon bake
The cat is away again and the mice are enjoying their freedom.
While Adit was taking a nap, Ashwini decided to make brownies and I was eager to help out.
Getting the mix ready
Ashwini had to taste it to make sure it was ready
After 45 minutes….. Yummm!
Ooey-gooey brownies made her teeth all brown.
Ashwini wrote it all by herself, and look at that pretty flower she drew.
I hope to receive many many more such cards in the future. :)
Thanks to all of you who sent your wishes yesterday.
Playing in the backyard...
Don’t just stand there taking photos, put me in this swing!!!
By the way, Happy Birthday to V!!!
After a busy playday...
After running around in the yard all afternoon and getting wet while washing the cars, on a warm sunny spring day, everyone was just wiped out. Adit was busy gobbling up some snacks and Ashwini fell asleep in the couch while reading a book.
Adit was happy to see Ashwini asleep and got busy with those special books that she doesn’t let him touch.
Finally, he was overcome by fatigue too and wanted to nap next to his sister.
After a busy playday...
After running around in the yard all afternoon and getting wet while washing the cars, on a warm sunny spring day, everyone was just wiped out. Adit was busy gobbling up some snacks and Ashwini fell asleep in the couch while reading a book.
Adit was happy to see Ashwini asleep and got busy with those special books that she doesn’t let him touch.
Finally, he was overcome by fatigue too and wanted to nap next to his sister.
Saagar kinaare
- V's brother made a CD of assorted Hindi songs for her and it is being played in the car for some days. Ashwini listens and remembers these songs without understanding most of the words. It is funny how we catch her humming "saagar kinaare... dil ye pukaare... tu jo nahi to mera koi nahi hai" or "gore gore... o baake chhore... kabhi mere gali aaya karo" while coloring or solving jigsaw puzzles.
- We haven't seen any Hindi movies in a long long time. Lately, the rented movies come to our house, sit on the shelf for 2 weeks and go back to the store unwatched. Currently, Dhoom2 is gathering dust and awaiting its turn for a ride back to the store. It is just so hard to find time. We never ever watch any Hollywood or Bollywood movies with the kids around. They don't even get to watch SpongeBob or Tom&Jerry. Don't want them to be exposed to all the sex, violence and general bad behavior as long as possible. They'll have a lot of time to do that later on in life.
- Ashwini also hears and has learnt our marathi bovine words of endearment for Adit such as mhasoba, bail, mhasaroo, redkoo etc. It is funny to hear those come out of her mouth.
BTW, who is the male singer in “Saagar” songs? I thought it was Kishore Kumar, but that doesn’t sounds like him.
Spring is here
Spring is in the air. It is starting to get warm outside. That means it is time to blow bubbles again.
Happy 4th Birthday, Ashwini!!!
Tangled up in blue and white on her birthday.
Although it is hard for us to believe, a couple of days ago, Ashwini turned 4 years old. She is growing up too fast, learning everything too fast, and talking a lot. I start to hyperventilate when I start thinking about when she turns 14-15 and wants to go on dates or when she turns 18 and leaves us to go for college. Thankfully, those days are still farther away in the future.
As our first child, she helped us learn how to be parents. I still remember being worried about small little things and rushing to the emergency room at the hospital just because we didn’t know what to expect and how to deal with whatever that was happening. After a couple of such trips that ended in us being embarassed because we worried for no reason, we started to get a little more confident in handling Ashwini by reading books and talking with friends. Even after all our experiments with parenthood, Ashwini seems to be turning out alright. Her love of books is keeping her ahead of her class in terms of reading skills. She looks to be ready to go into Kindergarten next year.
It has been an awesome experience to be a parent. Ashwini made it easy for us. Given the troublemaker nature of Adit, if he was born first, I doubt that we’d have thought about having another child.
