Astrophotos
Goddess Durga
Ashwini knows some of the Hindu deities: Ganesh, Ram-Laxman-Sita, Hanuman, Shiva, etc.
On our last trip to the local temple, she came across a statue of Goddess Durga.
A: “Who is that?” Me: “That is Durga.” A: “Why does she have so many hands?” Me: “To hold all the things that she has.” A: “Why is she holding so many things? I don’t want her to hold so many things. What is she sitting on?” Me: “She always sits on a lion. Just like Ganesh sits on a mouse.” A: “I don’t want her to sit on a lion. Can she sit on a giraffe? I want her to sit on a giraffe.”
At this point, I steered her away from Durga and towards a more familiar Ganesh.
QOTD
“The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts.”–Bertrand Russell
Monthly progress report for Adit
Laughing out loud.
Here is Adit’s monthly progress report:
- Adit ...
- continues to be a smiley, happy baby.
- is very vocal and much louder than Ashwini. Shouts and screams when he gets excited.
- is much more physically active than Ashwini. His legs are kicking and his hands are grabing for something all the while he is awake except when he is gazing intently at his sister.
- pulls his head up while lying down on his back as if he is doing crunches. If he keeps up with this, he'll probably have washboard abs by the time he turns 1.
- likes to be on his tummy.
- likes to look at books and to watch TV with his sister. All the colors and flashing lights are very interesting.
- tried sleeping through the night for a few weeks and decided that it was not fun at all. He wakes up at least once every night to drink milk and many times, he thinks that it is play-time after drinking milk.
- puts everything that he can find, into his mouth. When I hold him, he even tried to get his jaws around my cheek or chin or even shoulder. Once he starts crawling, our whole house will be covered with his saliva.
- starts to feel hot when temps go above 70-72 F. We either will have to pay big electricity bills or keep him just in a diaper all the time through the summer.
Another picture of the Laughing Buddha.
Hot hot summer
It has been so darn hot over the weekend and it was 81F (28C) at 8am this morning. When I dropped Ashwini off, all the kids were changing into swimming suits, getting ready to go out. The teachers were getting the sprinklers ready for children to soak in. It was a hard decision to leave for work. It would have been so nice to play with the kids.
Angry maavashi
Ashwini chanced upon an issue of Filmfare, that V’s mom brought from India last year. She looked at the photo on the cover and asked, “Who is this maavashi (aunt)? And why is she angry?”
V replied, “That is a kaka (uncle), Ashwini, not maavashi”.
Ashwini: “No. That is angry maavashi”.
We used lollipops as bribes to get Ashwini do things like sleep in her own bed, go to the potty, etc. A couple of mornings ago, Ashwini woke up in our bed …
Me: Come on, Ashwini, let’s get up. Time to get ready. A: NOOOOOO Me: Come on, come on. Wake up. A: Can I have a lollipop in the car? Me: Nope. You didn’t sleep in your own bed all night long. Why should I give you a lollipop? A: (pondering my question for a moment) But you can give me a lollipop, just because you love me.
Does anyone want to guess if Ashwini got her lollipop?
It is a typical arranged-marriage scenario in a Maharashtrian household and the guy and the girl are given some time and space to chat up alone.
The guy clears his throat and asks, tula chaha yeto?
The girl blushes and coyly replies, ishsha mala tar ajun dhoodh pan yet nahee.
via Patrix
Ghalib was found urinating outside his lover’s house. When asked to explain for his behaviour, he replied:
PYAR ME IS KADAR GHAYAL HUE KI AANSUO NE BHI APNA RASTA BADAL DIYA
via Pseudofreud
Potty training
Finally, it has been accomplished! After us fretting about it for a long time, Ashwini on one fine day decided that she wanted to start using potty and rest is history. This miracle happened sometime in the end of April and she has been regularly going to the potty without even a single accident for a whole month. I haven’t changed a poopy diaper on Ashwini in more than a month. Hallelujah!
She is very excited about her “creations” in the potty and everyone in the house has to witness and admire it before she flushes it down. Hopefully, her excitement will simmer down over time. She is also excited about different kinds of underwear she has and likes to choose which one to wear every day.
I just didn’t want to talk about it before because I didn’t want to jinx the good thing.
Wump of Mr. Gump
I made a post about Dr. Suess' One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish sometime last year. It is still one of the most read books in the house. Here is another one of my favorite passages (poems) from the book:
Bump! Bump! Bump! Did you ever ride a Wump? We have a Wump with just one hump.
But we know a man called Mr. Gump. Mr. Gump has a seven hump Wump. So… if you like to go Bump! Bump! just jump on the hump of the Wump of Mr. Gump.
Concerts '06
Roger Waters: “The Dark Side of The Moon” at The Palace at Auburn Hills, MI on Sep 18th, 7:30pm.
How do you answer a five-year old, whose mother is in prison, asks, “Is my mommy a bad guy?”
And then goes on to say, “Maybe, I should do something bad, so, they’ll put me in prison with her.”
Heard on This American Life.
Adit fell asleep in my arms and I was putting him in his crib. Didn’t realize that he was holding my t-shirt while he fell asleep. As I put him down, his tiny fist held on to my shirt and wouldn’t let go. I had to gently open his fingers to free myself.
Just a small little thing….. and I had this big lump in my throat. Damn! These kids are turning this emotionless rock of a man into a mushy father.
Biting nails, no more.
Don’t know when I picked up this habit, but as far as I can remember, I bit my fingernails all my life till about 3 months ago. There must have been periods of a few days or 1-2 weeks when I tried to stop it unsuccessfully. Three months ago, I finally did it.
Sometime in Jan-Feb, I noticed Ashwini putting her finger in her mouth trying to bite off a nail. I was just horrified. If I was going to ask her to stop, I had to make sure that I didn’t do the same thing myself. So, here I am 3 months later… I have stopped biting my nails completely. These days, I look forward to the weekly ritual of clipping my nails off.
The things your children make you do….
Half way through...
Thanks to Prem and Aish11 for birthday wishes.
Today, I completed 36 revolutions around the Sun. According to the CIA - The World Factbook, life expectancy of an Indian is 64.71 years. For an American, it is 77.85 years. Considering that I was born and raised in India and then having spent all my adult life in USA, I give myself the midpoint of that range: 71.28 years. That is almost 72 years, give or take a few months. So, I am half way through my life. It has been a great first half and I hope it continues in the second half, too. I am sure Adit and Ashwini will keep it interesting.
If given a choice, I would like to live to 91 years and see Halley’s comet come back in the summer of 2061. It is expected to make a great showing. It would be nice to have seen that comet twice in my lifetime. But, the odds are probably against that happening.
Spring flowers
White Dogwood, my favorite this year.
Redbud
Yellow Tulips and Daffodils
Pink Tulip
Last but not least, the mighty Dandelion