photos
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.
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.
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.
Happy 1.25th birthday, Adit!!!
Today, Adit is 15 months old.
Here is his monthly progress report. Although I have missed several months in between, I still call this a monthly report. I wish I was as punctual about these reports as I was with Ashwini.
Adit is still very smiley and loves to flash his teeth to anyone who talks with him. He has learnt to blow kisses and his daycare teachers just love that.
Adit likes to walk and run. I think, he learned to walk and run earlier than Ashwini. Sometimes, he doesn’t want to be carried. Especially at his daycare, he wants to walk between the car and his classroom. If he is walking without holding my hand, it is almost random brownian motion. He gets easily distracted by various things that are along the way and chance of him getting to his destination (actually, my intended destination for him) is close to nil.
He is more independent than Ashwini. While playing in the yard, Ashwini always stays around her parent, but Adit just walks away without any care. We’ll definitely need to keep a closer eye on him. He has started climbing stairs, too. He climbs into chairs and beds, but doesn’t know how to come down. He justs lunges down head first. Again, we need to keep a closer eye on him, if we want to avoid big bumps on his noggin.
Adit usually has no problem with eating food. Sometimes, we and his teachers have to stop him from eating too much. Another total opposite from Ashwini. He eats a variety of foods that include Gerber foods (vegetables), pasta, khichdi, cheese, yogurt, all kinds of fruits and yes, ice cream, too. These days, he likes things that he can chew on such as cookies, crackers, apple slices etc. He now has 7 teeth (4 on top and 3 on the bottom) and they came in a strange order that I had not seen before with any other kid.
Lately, Adit has taken a liking for books following his sister’s footsteps. He doesn’t want to put them in his mouth as he used to, but likes to turn pages and look at pictures. He likes to watch TV with Ashwini, too. It is funny to see him wave at the characters on TV when they say “hi” or “bye”. I think he likes to watch Thomas, Dora/Diego and Blue. Well, that is what he gets to watch, because his sister always chooses the shows. Adit also likes it when music is playing in the car. If he is cranky for some reason (mostly for locking him up in the carseat), turning the music on, makes him happy.
Adit can make some animal sounds. Sheep and snake are the only ones that make different sounds, but all the others say “boo” with different amount of emphasis on the “b” or different lenghts of the “oo” sound. He is very vocal when he wants to complain about something. Also, he throws things around or hits us when he gets upset. We should teach him some anger management tricks.
Some things that Adit has learnt at his daycare that he would have missed otherwise:
- Use of sign language to let us know if he wants more food or if he is all done.
- He picks up his cup or plate after he is done and takes it to the kitchen.
- When asked, he picks up books and toys to help clean-up.
Adit’s obsession with the trashcan still continues. These days, he doesn’t want to lick it anymore, but finds things to throw in it. We find all kinds of things such as pens, toys, milk bottles in the trashcan. If we can’t find something around the house, we just have to go to the trashcan to find it.
Adit is absolutely in love with Dora and his teacher, Megan. He doesn’t cry at drop-off time anymore. He just goes to Megan, gives her a hug and starts playing.
Happy 1.25th birthday, Adit!!!
Today, Adit is 15 months old.
Here is his monthly progress report. Although I have missed several months in between, I still call this a monthly report. I wish I was as punctual about these reports as I was with Ashwini.
Adit is still very smiley and loves to flash his teeth to anyone who talks with him. He has learnt to blow kisses and his daycare teachers just love that.
Adit likes to walk and run. I think, he learned to walk and run earlier than Ashwini. Sometimes, he doesn’t want to be carried. Especially at his daycare, he wants to walk between the car and his classroom. If he is walking without holding my hand, it is almost random brownian motion. He gets easily distracted by various things that are along the way and chance of him getting to his destination (actually, my intended destination for him) is close to nil.
He is more independent than Ashwini. While playing in the yard, Ashwini always stays around her parent, but Adit just walks away without any care. We’ll definitely need to keep a closer eye on him. He has started climbing stairs, too. He climbs into chairs and beds, but doesn’t know how to come down. He justs lunges down head first. Again, we need to keep a closer eye on him, if we want to avoid big bumps on his noggin.
Adit usually has no problem with eating food. Sometimes, we and his teachers have to stop him from eating too much. Another total opposite from Ashwini. He eats a variety of foods that include Gerber foods (vegetables), pasta, khichdi, cheese, yogurt, all kinds of fruits and yes, ice cream, too. These days, he likes things that he can chew on such as cookies, crackers, apple slices etc. He now has 7 teeth (4 on top and 3 on the bottom) and they came in a strange order that I had not seen before with any other kid.
Lately, Adit has taken a liking for books following his sister’s footsteps. He doesn’t want to put them in his mouth as he used to, but likes to turn pages and look at pictures. He likes to watch TV with Ashwini, too. It is funny to see him wave at the characters on TV when they say “hi” or “bye”. I think he likes to watch Thomas, Dora/Diego and Blue. Well, that is what he gets to watch, because his sister always chooses the shows. Adit also likes it when music is playing in the car. If he is cranky for some reason (mostly for locking him up in the carseat), turning the music on, makes him happy.
Adit can make some animal sounds. Sheep and snake are the only ones that make different sounds, but all the others say “boo” with different amount of emphasis on the “b” or different lenghts of the “oo” sound. He is very vocal when he wants to complain about something. Also, he throws things around or hits us when he gets upset. We should teach him some anger management tricks.
Some things that Adit has learnt at his daycare that he would have missed otherwise:
- Use of sign language to let us know if he wants more food or if he is all done.
- He picks up his cup or plate after he is done and takes it to the kitchen.
- When asked, he picks up books and toys to help clean-up.
Adit’s obsession with the trashcan still continues. These days, he doesn’t want to lick it anymore, but finds things to throw in it. We find all kinds of things such as pens, toys, milk bottles in the trashcan. If we can’t find something around the house, we just have to go to the trashcan to find it.
Adit is absolutely in love with Dora and his teacher, Megan. He doesn’t cry at drop-off time anymore. He just goes to Megan, gives her a hug and starts playing.
Spring is here
Spring is in the air. It is starting to get warm outside. That means it is time to blow bubbles again.
Ashwini: cold box
This post is very very overdue. Should have wrote about this last summer. We had noticed Ashwini calling the appliance that keeps our food cold, ‘frigerator’. We thought that it had to do with her difficulty with pronouncing certain “R” words. Her teacher (~25 yrs age) was at our house for babysitting and she asked about keeping food in the ‘frigerator’. That solved the mystery about Ashwini’s pronunciation. Ashwini and her best friend Sydney have picked up so many little behaviors and speaking styles from their teacher that sometimes it is hard to figure out if we are listening to Ashwini or Sara. Sydney’s mom made the same observation.
I had an intern (~20 yrs age) in my lab last Summer and she used to say ‘frigerator’, too. Must be a newer slang.
Ashwini will be four years old in another week. When I see her photos like these, it is hard not to think about leaving my job to become a house-husband.
Letter to Dad
Ashwini has gotten much better with her writing skills. She can write most of the letters pretty well. I think “S” is the only problematic one. But, when she is writing anything, she doesn’t follow the rule of writing from left to right. She just keeps writing whereever she finds space on the paper. This is surprising as she reads properly and knows to follow the sequence of letters from left to right while reading. I really like how her teachers teach reading at school. At her age, the brain is just like a sponge sucking in all the information. It is easy to memorize the spelling and read out the words. That is how I learned to read english and I now realize that it was so wrong. When Ashwini reads a word, she makes the sounds for the letters and then mixes them up to read the word.
Well… this post is about her writing skills. So, back to what we got from her school. Ashwini made some art by drawing and putting stickers. Then, it was put in an envelope to send to us as a letter. There was one for me and one for V. Here are photos of the envelope that I received.
Ice ice baby
After a winter storm that dumped freezing rain instead of snow, everything was encased in a layer of ice. It was a lovely sight to see Sun rising from behind the trees that were completely covered in ice. The tree limbs shimmered and sparkled as if they were made of cut-glass.
