Astrophotos
Ashwini - growing up
A couple of notes from Ashwini’s teacher:
Jul. 21, 06: I feel as though Ashwini has matured this week. Some of the things she says sound like they should be coming out of a thirteen year old. Yesterday, she told me that, “Someone should move that toy so we won’t trip over it.” She’s really growing up in front of my eyes!
Current favorite activity: Twirl and make the hem of her dress fly.
Jul. 27, 06: Ashwini had a lot of fun today going for a walk. We went to the park and ate snack. Ashwini enjoyed being really quiet and listening for nature. We heard bull frogs, crickets, birds and leaves on trees. We also played “I spy” and used descriptive words like gritty, smooth, spikey, fuzzy and smelly. Ashwini did very well.
Happy 0.5833rd Birthday, Adit!
Adit getting ready to go to the waterpark.
Adit turned 7 month old today. This last month will be remembered as the month of big changes. He started going to daycare, started eating solid food and starting to enjoy the vertical dimension. He has been sitting up a lot longer without falling down and is more interested in sitting and playing with toys. He knows what toys he wants to play with and gets upset when that toy is taken away from him. This happens a lot as Ashwini tries to control what toys Adit gets to play with and he doesn’t like her intervention at all.
One of Adit’s most favorite toys right now is the ‘taggies’ blanket. Many of you must have noticed that kids like to play with the labels on toys, especially stuffed toys. This smart person came up with an idea of making a little blanket with different kinds of labels all over its edges. Adit just loves to put this unlimited supply of labels in his mouth. He also likes to play with balls.
It was easy to get Adit to start with solids. He liked the idea of eating from a spoon after making a mess a few times. He started off with rice cereal and he loved it. He is just opposite of Ashwini in terms of speed of eating. He is finished in just a few minutes while Ashwini needs to read books, listen to stories to eat her food. Adit’s stomach handled carrots very well too. The next thing we tried was sweet potatoes and they just wreaked havoc on his tummy. All those diaper changes has left him with a bright red diaper-rashed butt. Hopefully, it will get resolved soon.
Adit is learning to make different sounds and is getting very good at complaining when things don’t go his way. He still doesn’t make any baba-dada sounds, but is getting close. Screaming (learnt from his sister) is his sound of choice. Many times he carries on conversations with lights, ceiling fans or trees that he sees outside the window.
Adit is getting acquinted with “Dora the explorer” and “Blue’s Clues” at an early age because of his sister. Ashwini hardly watched any TV until she was 2 years old.
We had a fun half day at the waterpark. Adit couldn’t play in water as much as his sister did, but I took him for a tube-ride down a canal. He had a blast with all the water splashing onto him from fountains, jets etc.
Adit still doesn’t sleep all through the night and wakes up at least once to drink a bottle. If we listen to his pediatrician, we will just close the door, put a pillow over our heads and let him cry to sleep by himself, but I don’t think that is going to happen very soon. He still seems very small and delicate to us to be treated that way. One day will come when he sleeps through the night and we’ll share our celebration with you all. A couple more photos of the big guy…
Sir Adit John
How many times must a man look up before he can see the sky? . . . How many times can a man turn his head, pretending he just doesn't see?
- Bob Dylan; Blowin' in the wind
Big change
Goodbye, dear old friend! I shall miss you after our 10 years together.
Hello there, stranger! Hope you’ll stick around for at least next 10 years.
details
How is your vision?
Thanks to good genes inherited from my parents, even at 36, I have perfect 20/20 vision. I don’t need to wear any glasses. After looking around, I realized that I was in the minority. Most of the people whom I know and work with wear some kind of corrective lenses. How about people who read my LJ? Here is an unscientific survey. Please fill out your answers below. I’ll gather up the results and make a post after a few days. Thanks for your participation.
Just four of us...
After about 8-9 months of having parents from India visiting us, the whole of last week, it was just four of us. It is both good and bad.
- It is bad because all of us miss our respective parents and grandparents. They were very helpful with the kids and around the house. Kids loved having more people around.
- It is good because it is just us four at home now. V and I don't have to think about things like disciplining Ashwini or when we eat, what we eat or be comfortable wearing anything or nothing (it is good to have all the options open, even if we don't use them ;) ).
Ashwini refers to Adit as ‘my baby’.
Ashwini takes care of Adit while we eat dinner by entertaining him with a song and a dance or by reading books to him.
Adit just laps up all the attention from his sister. It is so much fun to watch their interaction.
Julia Sweeney
Julia used to be on Saturday Night live in early 90’s. Her popular skit was “It’s Pat”, which was about a person named Pat, with ambiguous gender. After a long break, I heard her on “This American Life” a couple of times. She appeared on the show a few weeks ago, which was titled, Julia Sweeney. She talks about her brother getting cancer and then she herself getting cancer. These recordings are made at a comedy club called “Un-Cabaret”. Although she laughs about the whole ordeal, one can hear the pain and strain in her voice. She survived the cancer, but her brother didn’t. It is an hour long program, but worth listening to.
Bathtime
Bathtime is so full of fun in our home. Both the kids just love being in water. I think it is one of the most enjoyable activities that I participate in with them.
Adit's first week at daycare
Notes from Adit’s teacher during the first week.
July, 5, 2006: Adit had a fantastic first day! He loved sitting by the mirror and playing with the toys that hung from above. I am so excited to have him here in the Little Traverse room. We are going to have so much fun.
July 6, 2006: Adit had another wonderful day! He was so happy. I sat with him under fan on the blanket and he just stared at the hanging mirror laughing and “talking” to us. It was adorable! He is adjusting just fine. Would you please bring a hat for Adit when we go outside?
July 7, 2006: Adit had a lot of fun with his new friend, Lincoln today. They played on the rug together and by the mirrors. We sang some songs together and he enjoyed that. Have a great weekend!
Adit's daycare
Today is Adit’s first day at the daycare. He gladly went to his teacher with a big smile. Hopefully, all the new things (to put in his mouth) around him will keep him busy and happy on this first day. Ashwini has promised to visit him a couple of times through the day.
Adit's daycare
Today is Adit’s first day at the daycare. He gladly went to his teacher with a big smile. Hopefully, all the new things (to put in his mouth) around him will keep him busy and happy on this first day. Ashwini has promised to visit him a couple of times through the day.
4th of July
We had some backyard fireworks last night. Mostly, it was fun. Kids (even Ashwini) didn’t like the ones that made noise. They liked the colorful lights, but noise was not acceptable. We probably need to reconsider our plan to visit India for Diwali.
Eating solid food
Over the last couple of days, Adit started eating solid food. He started out with rice cereal mixed up in formula. He seemed to like it very much and gobbles it up. I think he just likes that we put a spoon in his mouth on our own. He doesn’t care much about the cereal as long as the spoon goes in his mouth.
Pet peeve
There is a world of difference between alone and lonely. This hasn’t happened to me in a long time, but I hate it when people assume that one is lonely when that person is just alone.
For the first time in my life, I have eaten fish every day for the last 5 days.
| Monday: | Seared Big Eye Tuna |
| Tuesday: | Grilled Chilean Sea Bass |
| Wednesday: | Sushi with Tuna, Salamon and Eel |
| Thursday: | Fisherman's grilled cheese sandwich with Tuna |
| Friday: | Sushi with Tuna, Salmon, Eel, Shrimp, Whitefish and Octopus |
I am not a big meat-eater. I only eat seafood, even that probably once every other week. This week was a big change from that routine, hence this post.