Tales from the potty...

Yipee!!! Huge progress...i think Rhea is finally getting it...yesterday after we got home she wanted to go poo poo and we went to the bathroom and she sat on the potty like a big girl...she was so proud of herself. She also went pee later in the potty. Today she did not have any accidents at school and after she came home again went pee in the potty. Mind you in all these cases, i didnt have to prod her with 'Rhea, do you want to pee or poo?'. It was all her. She was in the drivers seat!!!

We will continue to use the diapers in the night esp since it is getting cold now. But I'm surprised at how soon Rhea caught on to the whole potty training idea!! I really have to capture the 70 mm smile on her face when she hears the thud of poo hitting the potty :) It is absolutely priceless! and then she yells 'I did it!, I did it!' Yes baby you did it and we're mighty proud!!!

Goodbye Ms Rashida!

Today was Rhea's teacher Ms Rashida's last day. She was the one that helped Rhea get used to her new class and the routine. She would always be with Ms Rashida. When we drop her off in the morning she would run to her all smiles. Ms Rashida was so good with Rhea...always had a sunny disposition. She was the one who agreed with us when I asked her if Rhea could start potty training. She is doing her teaching course and now has to do her observations and cannot do it with Winwood. She will have to do it with a Loudoun County Public School. I was so bummed last week when she said that she is leaving. The good part is that Rhea is very comfortable in her class and the teachers themselves are surprised at how much she has warmed up after the first week. She is very happy there and as soon as we drop her off she has this routine where she wants to push you out the class. Thats how she says good bye to her :) I do always spend a couple of minutes peeking through the glass doors after i drop her off and i can see her walking around and saying Hi to some of her friends. Of course she really does not still get the concept of 'Friend' because if you ask her the anme of her friends she will give you a big wry smile and say 'friends?' But since i've seen her interact with other kids...I'm not concerned.



So yesterday we gave Ms Rashida a thank you card and a visa gift card as a token of appreciation. Adn today when i dropped Rhea off, we took a picture with Ms Rashida. Rhea of course did not understand why we were taking pictures and was not in a mood for cheesy grins...but we got a pretty good picture...

So Thank You Ms Rashida for all you did for Rhea and us in the last 2 months!! Good Bye and Good Luck! Hope our paths meet again (she might teach in Liberty elementary..thats where Sean will go for first grade)!

Potty Training - The adventure begins..

We were not sure if it was time to potty train Rhea. She seemed more aware than her brother at this age. She would tell us when she had pooped and had a soiled diaper. It seemed like she was ready for it but we didn't want to push her partly because i guess we were not ready for the extra effor from our side for the task at hand. However in her class, there are kids getting potty trained and some days she would come home and want to sit on the potty. So i spoke to her teacher and she said that Rhea is ready and that she was going to the potty like the other kids in training. I felt like i wasnt doing justice to her by holding her back so last weekend we went underwear shopping. I got her underwear in size 2T/3T but they seem too big on her. We have to fold the bands to stop it from falling off her hips :) So she has been wearing underwear to school. She seems to be having 1 accident per day on average and i think thats ok. She hates when that happens and is so upset. So i guess that is a good sign and that will help her to be more alert about getting the timing for potty breaks right. Today evening for the first time she wanted to go poo poo and i took her to the bathroom. She doesnt like sitting in the potty for long. 3 secs is the max she will sit and then she is ready to leave. So i sat with her and we read books, sang songs and when i checked her in between she had done Poo poo. YAHOO!!! Congrats Rhea!!! this, a big milestone...of course we have ways to go because half hour later we had a pee accident but this is definitely a step in the right direction. Needless to say i made a big deal out of our success tonight and Rhea was mighty proud of herself!

A close encounter with nature..

Today evening I was watering the yard with the kids and I spotted a grasshopper on one of the bushes in the front yard. Knowing how excited the kids would be I called them both. They were very excited...Rhea was almost at its face studying it..I'm surprised it didnt get into her mouth..the way she kept looking at it with her open mouth grin. Sean was super excited too. I told them that maybe we could take a picture of it. I suggested that Sean could take the picture to his class. His teacher Ms Jackson gets very excited whenever Sean wears his bug t-shirts to school, so this would be a great topic for their class to discuss.

So I went in to get the camera and as we were coming to take the picture Sean says, Mom do you think the grass hopper likes the light? Maybe when you take the picture it will shake its booty. I for one had no idea he even knew what booty was, so i asked him, what's booty and he pats his rear end and says...Booty is butt with a silly laugh...my little man!!!



So here's a picture of the hansome grasshopper who lives in our yard...and check out the booty action. You can see it if you look closely :)

Yummy cake!

Sean has been asking me to make him his favorite choclate cake for the past few days. In fact one morning this week he woke up from his sleep asking for chocolate cake. I promised to make it for him on a weekend day. I had decided to make it for him today morning. But yesterday night I realized that we are completely out of sugar. Now that's a first. Today morning we had a few errands after which i did the grocery and decided to make the cake in the afternoon. After a short nap which I so rarely get to do but realized that i needed to do more of, I started working on tha cake. Aji took Sean to the tennis courts for practice and Rhea also tagged along.

By the time they got back I had just completed the last bit of icing on the cake. The look on Sean's face when he saw the cake walking into the kitchen was PRICELESS. Both Rhea and Sean were so excited. Rhea kept singing 'Happy to you!'. They both wanted to eat it rightaway. My first response was 'After Dinner' but I caved in. Both of them devoured 2 pieces. Rhea kept telling - Mommy, Yummy Cake! She was upset when i tried to steal a bite from her :) It was so heart warming to see them enjoy it...it was well worth the effort!

G-O-A-L

Sean is doing really well in soccer. This season he has the practice sessions on thursdays and games on Saturdays. Sean did pretty well the first season in spring but his coach could not complete the season as he had to be out of town for work and the season was abruptly cut short. Talk about disappointment. We are so glad that the group of kids he is with this season and the coach are so much better.

This thursday at the practice session, sean dis really well. Coach Juan divided them into 2 teams and they played a game. Sean scored quite a few goals. Today was game day and Dad and Rhea went along. He scored 2 goals for his team! Way to go Seany!! His coach was mighty impressed and told Aji that he is a very good player.

Today for the first time the entire team wore the loudoun county soccer jersies. Sean looked very much like a professional in the complete soccer get up.



The trip to pick up his soccer was quite a saga. yesterday i picked up the kids in the evening and set out to Leesburg to one of the only 2 stores that carry the jerseys. I called them ahaed t make sure they had enough stock since one of the parents had told me how they were back ordered when she tried to get them couple of weeks ago. Any ways we're like 0 minutes from the store and i hear a big bang from behind...yes we got rear ended. Slightly older lady taking her kids to some show. her first reaction was I'll take care of it for you and I told her, I'm sorry i have to call the isuarance. She was polite, the damage was minimal and no one was hurt. 5 mins into the incident while I was frantically trying to get in touch with insuarance her husband and another guy pulls up..the husband mentions that they were on their way to a show and they have purchased tickets. yeah sure buddy, so i'm going to just let you go like that. I told him I have 2 small kids with me..both of them tired..Rhea was already having a melt down. We had a previous paint scratch (thanks to the person who did that at the walmart parking lot and fled away before we got to our car)from earlier. So he says - now she's going to say that we did that one too. I was so furious.I told him, no I'm not going to say that. Come on how disrespectful can you get...they bum into my car and then talk that way. they had cameras so they took pictures, so I dont 'misquote' which was my faer all along only the other way aroud. Any ways I called up her insuarance and made her talk to them and filed a claim. So now we'll have to wait for the appraiser to take a look at the damage. Oh the hassle. As if all this drama was not enough we managed to lose our way, had to backtrack..thanks to the nice store guy who put me on the speaker phone as i called out various land marks as i drove so he could direct me in the right direction. He said that he will keep the store open for me past the closing time. God bless his soul...we managed to get there 4 mins before closing time. got the jerseys..he gave the kids free lollipops...that made them happy and came back home 45 mins later. All of us were beat...but seeing sean today morning in his new jersey looking so much like a true soccer player ..PRICELESS!!!

Rhea's 2.5 year Appointment

Rhea had her 2.5 year appointment today morning. She was very excited that she was coming with Mommy today morning. Our little peanut has gained 1 pound since the last visit. I'm pretty sure I can attribute that pound to the jeans and full sleeve shirt she wore today. She has grown 2.5 inches and she is following the path in her growth chart. She is also doing very well in the verbal and physical skills development. She was happy to let Dr Kruz check out her belly and ack and breathed hard to blow her hair so she could hear her lungs. She also gladly stuck her tongue out for the Dr to check her mouth. She did have a little bit of a runny nose but her ears were clear..hopefully they will stay that way. We were offred the flu shots today but I had signed both of them for Oct 4th so i stuck with that dates. Atleast they can keep each other company when getting poked :(



Here are her stats,

Height - 35.5" (44th percentile)
Weight - 25 lbs (10th prcentile)

So no shots today..she was happy leaving the Dr's office and picked up a Dora sticker as a treat. Her next well child check up will bet at 3 years.

I'm back..

OMG its been more than a year since my last entry...I'm mad at myself to some extent because i could have taken some extra effort to get back here sooner...the thought of all the memories that could have been captured here as they happened...absolutely priceless. Hopefully this rude awakening will keep me on the guard and ensure that i dont fall of the blogging wagon again...

i was just going through the last few entries and Sean and Rhea have grown up so much since ahem! last year...they look like babies in the pictures here...i have to get cracking with some updates soon...text and visual..

Here's our Onam 2008 pictures..
The Sadya Spread..


Time to enjoy the Sadya..


Sean started kindergarten this month also. Can't beleive that our lil boy is strating school ...i was all teary eyed...Rhea also moved to the big day care center from the home daycare..she's been going there since last month and has adjusted really well...



I got him new clothes but he wanted to wear his 'comfortable' t-shirt and i let him. Since it was his first day I thought that its better for him to atleast feel comfortable as he gets used to his new environment.



So NAMASKAARAM to one and all...i'll report back soon..