Mamma's little helper!

Sean has been insisting on claening the table after dinner these days. Appacha does this everyday and he decided it is his job to do it. He is pretty good at it and even puts the mats away after he wipes it. We didnt show him how to do it, i guess he was watching appacha everyday.


Cleaning the placemats..


Putting the placemats away..

The only downfall to it is that after the first couple of days he has been running out of patience to wait till we finish dinner and slowly sneaks in one mat after the ohter while we're still having dinner. We tell him he doesnt have to do it (well, not for another couple of years) but he is adamant about it so we let him have his way

Fall already...

Well the weather certainly feels like that...it was quite chilly this weekend and I had to give in and take out their fall clothes...

This is right before we left for church..


Aren't we cute!


Looking pretty!

piano maestro..

Yesterday I took both the kids to the basement and we played a lot. It was a lot of fun...Rhea looked like a prodigy on the keyboard. Of course she got a lot of help from her big brother too...Here are the pictures...









Clowning around...

Sean had a lot of fun wearing his clown hat and being silly...he also played in the tunnel and Rhea had fun playing all of cheta's toys...it was her first trip down to play and she had a blast..

Treading unknown territories...

Rhea is a busy bee these days...she is cautiously exploring unknown territories as she tries to teach herself how to crawl and it is very interesting to watch her at it relentlessly and with so much patience and perseverance. It is hard to imagine that as babies we all have so much patience and really don’t need someone to keep us going without giving up. She is definitely giving me a lesson on persistence and patience (I could use it the next time I’m struggling with something and about to give up).

From yesterday she figured how to stand on all fours, her butt up in the air – it is such a cute sight. She will then gently rock herself for a few seconds as if to gain some momentum to make the next step.




In between she will take a break and do something that she has already mastered like chomping on her toes...maybe she is thinking about the next move...



She managed a tiny step yesterday and I'm sure before long she will be crawling all over the place. She will also somehow scoot and reach for the ball or other toys that are just out of her reach.



Most of all though she loves to play with Sean's toys. If cheta is playing with his globe, she wants it too and will scoot and hold onto it and try to put the joy stick in her mouth. I guess that’s her way of 'figuring out' things. Sean will then launch into the innumerable 'Mamma, baby is not letting me play! She is putting it in her mouth etc etc..'



I hope this little one will not be bossing around her ever loving gentle cheta...I'm sure he will toughen up eventually. I can already picture all the fights these two will get into soon ...definitely brings back memories of me and pavi fighting...it was a lot of fun now when I look back. Priyachechi was the gentle older sister always staying out of trouble and was always there for us with advice and guidance.Hopefully Sean and Rhea will also share a wonderful bond like I have with Priyachechi and Pavi or what Aji shares with Anishchayan.

Sean is a playful little guy, full of mischief at times but also very loving and passionate and a very caring big brother to Rhea...Hopefully she will imbibe all these same qualities and reciprocate..

Who did it ?? - The case of the mysterious boo boo

Yesterday I was giving Sean a bath and like always I let him play in the water for a few minutes before the actual 'bath' itself. After several minutes he still didn't seem ready so I had to finally tell him, Sean, Mamma has a boo boo in my hand. So lets take a quick bath.

And that started it all. The next few minutes were interesting to say the least.

Sean: You got a boo boo?
Me: Yeah Sean, see in my hand (it was my tendinitis flaring up again in my right hand and it was painful)
Sean : How did it happen?
Me: I dont know sean (usually i know but this time i couldn't remember what triggered the flare up)

At this point he really thought that some one hurt me and thats how I got the boo boo. So he said,

Sean: Who did it?
Me: I dont know Sean.
Sean: Appacha did it?
Me: No Sean, Appacha didnt do it.
Sean: Ammachi did it?
Me: No Seany
Sean: Baby did it?
Me: No
Sean: Sean did it?
Me: No
Sean: Daddy did it?
Me: No...
Sean: Jogging did it?

At this point he had a look of concern on his face as he was trying to narrow down the problem and I just had to give him a big hug and kiss his forehead and assure him that everything is fine. He seemed so determined to get to the bottom of this. I dont think in his mind he thinks that Appacha, Ammachi, baby, he or dada would hurt me but i guess those are the people he's close to and come to his mind first..

Hmm...I'm beginning to think that I have a budding Sherlock Holmes at hand...

'Feel Good' days..

You know the kind of days I'm referring to - the ones that you accomplish almost everything you set out to do at the start of the day and still have some left in your tank to really pat yourself in the back and bask in your self glory a little bit before you hit the bed. What I have discovered is that over the years you add more and more to your juggling act (esp. after having kids) and you do get better at it with time and experience. I have to admit that my definition of a 'feel good' day has evolved over the years.

Yesterday was one of my 'feel good' days and I really wish I had more of them. The day didnt start off too well since I started a little late for work but I managed to feed Rhea before I left, wash her bottles from the night and pack both mine and Aji's lunches. Our fruit basket was almost empty from the weekend and I was dreading the magnetic pull to the vending machine at work but i managed to distract myself with a jolly rancher (hard candy) and steer myself away from the evil vending machine (which in itself is a huge accomplishment) the entire day. I got off work at my usual time and even made a quick trip to the mall to pick Rhea's baptism portraits (luv the light traffic days ...wish everyday was like that!!!). Picked up sean who was in great spirits and he was doubly happy when I gave him a candy and we proceeded home. No last minute grocery shopping to do YAY!!! Got home and Sean was good and drank his milk which some days I have to coax him to drink and Rhea as usual was her chirpy self. Watched some new movie songs on Surya TV and sent Daddy and Mummy for a walk. Sean was a happy camper watching 'Snow Whitea nd the seven dwarfs'. I played with Rhea for a while...lots of giggles and squeals. After Daddy and Mummy got back I sneaked out for my jog (Sean is not very happy when i go out jogging as he want s to come with me). Felt so good to be out there...it was pleasant and perfect running weather. Got back and by then mummy fed Rhea her cereal. I gave Sean a quick bath and dinner (Appam and Stew) which he ate well(he was starving). Aji was working late which was a bummer. I showered, inhaled dinner (since it was Rhea's bedtime and she was beginning to get cranky) and got both the kids to bed by the time he got home. I think anyday I can get my workout in is 'sweet bliss' for me...wish everyday was like this or better....one can always strive right!

Sean and Rhea meet more family!

Friday night we had Ammama (Mummy's aunt) her daughter Meena and family visit us. Ammama is here for 6 months and is leaving next month. Meena and Will have 2 cute girls - Ammu who is 3 and is the same age as Sean and Vidhya who was born just 3 weeks earlier than Rhea and is 6 months old. It was a fun weekend and the kids got to have so much fun with their cousins. Sarah, Sean and Ammu played well.



They pretend read some books, watched tv, rode the tricycle and scooter and also played on the playset pretending to be astronauts on a space ship.




Vidhya and Rhea were totally unaware of each other even though we tried to get them to play together. The closest they came to having any interaction was to grab the rattle from the each other. It was a cute sight! I'm sure next time it'll be a different story!



Ammama had a great time catching up with mummy. She seemed very happy to have made the long trip to visit us. Will was a good sport. We were all worried if he will find the food spicy but he totally enjoyed all the Indian food, from mummy's spicy rajma curry to the Biriyani that chechi made. Meena was just happy to see Ammama happy. She enjoyed the Masala Dosa that she was craving for and Ammu loved the Idlis and chutney they got for her from Minerva (Indian restaurant).

Sean was very sad when ammu had to leave Sunday morning. Even though they had a small fight 2 minutes earlier he still didnt want them to leave and kept saying 'I dont want ammu to go'. He is already talking about having them visit us again. I told him all about the chicken house and the fish pond ammu has at her place and sean is excited to make a trip. We should plan on making a visit.

Daddy's 70th birthday!

Daddy turned 70 years on Sep 22nd. We had a surprise birthday party for him. Here's the celebration in pictures....the detailed narrative to follow soon..

Everyday Good byes and night nights…

When I pick Sean from school there are still about 5-6 of his class mates in the after care with him and they will all break into a song when he leaves. The first time I heard it I couldn’t catch all the words but since its daily ritual I quickly got the hang of it and this is how it goes…

Good Bye Sean
Good Bye Sean
We’re sad to see you go..

Most of the time some of them will be busy with some activity and when he leaves their teacher will say ‘Everybody, say good bye to Sean’ and they’ll immediately start singing ...I find it amusing..its like a game for them and some of them will go on and on and we can hear them even as we leave the building...

So yesterday night Aji was working late and so me, Sean and Rhea were going to go upstairs to go to bed and Sean calls out Ammachi, Ammachi!! and starts singing,

Good Bye Ammachi
Good Bye Ammachi
We’re sad to go..

And then,

Good Bye Appacha
Good Bye Appacha
We’re sad to go..

I was impressed by how he improvised the same song and used it fittingly to say his good nights to Appacha and Ammachi. It reminded me so much of the ‘So long, farewell’ song from my all time favorite movie ‘The Sound of Music’ (Where the kids say good night to all the guests).

Sean seems to have an inclination to music, we hope to nurture his interest and send him for some music lessons…I’d love for him to be in the school and church choir. Now, I don’t know if it’s a cool thing for boys to be in choir but I hope he will follow his heart and just be himself and not succumb to peer pressure (I know that’s a difficult battle).

We’ll be behind him encouraging him all the way and helping him make all his dreams come true!

Sweet Dreams...

Today morning after Sean woke up he told aji that he saw Appacha (Achachan) in his dreams. I'm not sure what his dream was and I cant wait to pick him up from school to get the entire story...

Here's my update. I picked sean from school and our conversation went like this,

Me: Sean, how was your day?
Sean: Good
Me: Did you have fun?
Sean: yes
Me: What did you have for lunch?
Sean: Rice and Chicken
Me: Did you sleep well yesterday night?
Sean: yeah
Me: Did you see any dreams?
Sean: yeah!! I saw Appacha!
Me: Really! Wow..what did appacha say?
Sean: Appacha said he's coming
Me: What about ammachi? Did you see her?
Sean: Yeah. She said she's coming. Where's her bags?
Me: They got their bags sean
Sean: What happened to the big plane?
Me: Nothing sean they reached their home in India

Appacha, Ammachi both the kids still miss you and think about you often. Sean still talks about both of you when he sees a plane landing or take off and yesterday when I was giving him a bath out of the blue he said 'I want Appacha and Ammachi to come back'. I really wish we could come down for Onam, Diwali and Christmas vacations, but I'm really happy that atleast they got to spend the summer with both of them.

I too like the kids are waiting patiently for next time...

APPACHA,AMMACHI WE LOVE YOU
COME BACK SOON!!!

6 Month Stats

Rhea had her 6 month Dr appt today. If you count in months from her birthday (March 13) to today she is 1 day shy of 6 months but if you count the weeks, she is 26 weeks todate which is about 6 months - That is, if you are like me and like to think there are exactly 4 weeks in a month. Anyways enough said about that…



I as usual could not get off from work so Aji, Mummy and Daddy took her for her appt. They dropped off Sean at school and then proceeded to the Drs office. Dr Suzanne (our favorite Dr in the practice) was very happy with Rhea’s progress and assured us that she is right on target with her developmental skills. She advised that Rhea doesn’t really need her night feeds. She wakes up at 1am and 5:30 am now. She suggested we can start fruits – avoid the citrus ones and mangoes etc (they tend to cause allergies) and stick with the basic apple, banana, pear etc. She also said that we give her a fruit and cereal for breakfast and veggie and cereal for dinner and that should be enough to get her through the night. I think she’s gotten into a habit of getting the mid night feeds. Its going to be difficult to break her out of it. We’ll have to wait and see how she does with the extra solids. Maybe that'll do the trick. i can always keep my fingers crossed and hope right? Its difficult for me to ignore her cries in the middle of the night. I’ll have to figure out a way to teach her to soothe herself back to sleep. Easier said than done…

Here are her 6 month stats,

Height: 26 inches
Weight: 17 lb 15.6oz
Head Circumference: 16 ¾ inches

She also got 3 shots today. Mummy was saying how she was smiling so much at the Dr...poor thing little did she know that its all going to end with her getting the shots. We gave her Tylenol before the appt so hopefully that will help keep the fever at bay. She seems to be her usual self but hasn't napped after the appt(3 hours ago). I'm sure she must be feeling the sting at the shot site. Hopefully the pain will subside soon.

I also have to mention that from the past 2 weeks Rhea has started to extend her arms as if to say ‘Carry me, mamma’ and after she comes to me will squeal in delight. It is soo cute, it warms my heart. Yesterday when I got back from work I extended my arms and called her and she literally jumped into my arms from mummy. She rolls all around the place so we have to keep a constant watch on her these days.

I will post some pictures soon. Hopefully we’ll buy the camera lenses this week. Well, its broken (have no idea when/how it happened) and that explains the ‘Camera fiasco’ at the time of Rhea’s baptism.

Sean's tales from school.

Everyday when I pick Sean from school I ask him how his day was, what his teacher did in class that day and then quiz him about what he had for snack and lunch and if he took a nap. On the days that he doesn’t remember what was for lunch he'll say ' Rice and Chicken'. The first couple of times I believed him and then I started checking their lunch menu and most of time when its 'Taquitos' for lunch I think he doesn’t know what its called and rather than explaining he'll just say 'Rice & Chicken'. Yesterday when I picked him up he was playing with his friend Joseph. On our way home I asked him,

Seany, what did you do today?

Sean: I talk with Jophes (aka Joseph)
Me: What did you talk sean?
Sean: We talk a lot
Me: What did you talk?
Sean : Jophes said 'Choo Choo Train, Choo choo train'
Me: So what did you tell him?
Sean: I said 'Steam Engine, Steam Engine!'

I'm pretty sure their conversation was much more than that and instead of giving me all the details he just edited and gave me the 'Mommy rated' version. Anyways I thought the way he narrated it was hilarious and I almost burst out laughing but had it under control lest he thinks I'm making fun of him. I'm pretty sure all they talk about is fire trucks and choo trains and ambulances etc and maybe some times about their siblings (Joseph had a baby brother this summer and sean used to tell me that joseph's baby brother came to pick him from school. Sean used to get upset that his baby sister was not coming to pick him up) I still remember when we bought our van this summer, Sean wanted to go to school the next day to show it to his friends.

I guess, Boys will always be boys and i should enjoy his love for trucks and fire engines and all the other boy stuff. I'm sure I will appreciate it more when i get dragged into all the girly girl stuff that’s out there. Now, that SCARES me and Rhea is not even a year old..

Tell Me WHY?

The most frequently asked question by Sean is WHY. Anything we talk to him about, his immediate question is ‘Why Mamma/Dada?’ He seems to have a very curious mind and sometimes I have to really scratch my mind to explain something in his terms. It’s a fact that he has gotten both me and aji to be very careful about what/how we speak because most often he will reuse them in his conversations. This also means that we’ve been scrambling online to read up on a lot of topics, the one that jumps out is a lot of space related stuff due to his immense interest now regarding Astronauts and the Space shuttle. The other day we were in the car and it was about 7pm. The skies were clear and the moon was out. As soon as we pulled out of our drive way he saw the moon through his window and said ‘I see the moon’. We drove further down and made couple of lefts and rights and this time he spotted the moon from Rhea’s window and he said ‘There’s another moon. There are lots of moons!’ We explained to him that there is only one moon but since its up in the sky we can see it from anywhere. Its moments like those that I try to think if I’ve given him enough information or should I have told him more, like for instance how the moon revolves around the earth and so on and so forth? What I’ve realized by now though is that its always better keep things simple and appropriate for his age and save the details for later.

Sean is such a caring and passionate kid and I’m not saying it because he’s my lil one. However i do admit, i'm a little bit biased. Often at times he will hug me and give me a kiss on my cheeks and say ‘I love you’. He does the same with Aji and Rhea and with Achachan and Mummy when they were here. It is such an awesome feeling and I just want to hug him and not let go. The other day Daddy and Mummy stepped out to go for a walk and Sean said to them, ‘Appacha, Ammachi be careful. Don’t fall’. Also, occasionally when Rhea cries while I’m fixing her milk he’ll get very upset and he’ll say to me, ‘Mamma, baby is crying. I think so she needs milk’ and then he’ll go to Rhea and say ‘Baby, don’t cry baby, mamma is getting your milk Ok’.

Seany, you are such a sweet heart!! I love you kutta!

The Inseparables

Sean and Rhea are already so close. They absolutely love each other and I couldn’t be happier. Sean is always behind her calling ‘Babykutty’ and she in turn is so wonder struck at whatever he does.



When I pick up Sean from school, the first thing he asks is ‘Where is baby?’ I’m sure he knows she is at home with appacha and ammachi but he asks me the same question everyday anyhow. Its fun to watch the two of them after we get home. Both of them are so happy to see each other. Rhea will get all excited and be swinging her arms and stomping her feet and smiling from ear to ear at cheta and Sean on his part will do his little dance numbers that get her into a laugh riot. Its great to see them so happy together. I hope they nurture this special bond that they share now as the years pass and be there for each other through life’s ups and downs.

Oatmeal, Mmm Mmm Good!

Yesterday I introduced Rhea to oatmeal and if she were to talk I’m pretty sure she’d say 'Mamma, its Mmm Mmm Good!' She absolutely loves it. Cant blame her, rice cereal is soo bland. So far we have tried the following listed in the order of her preference,

Oatmeal – Fave
Carrots – Love it
Sweet Potatoes – Don’t mind
Rice Cereal – Blech

She does however eat the rice cereal if its every other day instead of everyday. If you give it to her 2 days in a row she will not even open her mouth. It sounds funny but its true…there is no way you can sneak in a few spoonfuls. I bought some squash the other day that we’ll try this weekend and then slowly we can start introducing fruits.

First day of School

Today was Sean’s first day of school. I had to leave home around 5:30am since my schedule has changed to 7am-3:30pm. That way I can pick him from school.

Aji called around 7:30am and Sean was still watching TV. He had some puttu and milk for breakfast. I wished him good luck for his first day and he seemed pretty happy. It has been pouring rain from last night and is supposed to continue till tonight. Needless to say it reminded of my first day back at school in India which used to be in the Monsoon season. Sean had a similar experience today.

I called aji later and he was telling me that Sean was very happy when he dropped him off today. He met his teacher Ms Poncho. Aji gave all his extra clothes for his cubby and Sean seemed comfortable in his new class and was happy to be back. He immediately spotted a small airplane in his class and told aji 'Why can’t Appacha and Ammachi come back? I want to talk to Ammachi. We should pick Appacha and Ammachi from the airport.' Paavam kuttan. He sure is missing them terribly. I guess he will feel better in a few days as he gets busy with school and activities and new friends. I’m hoping he won’t have trouble telling his teachers if he has to use the potty. I’m sure he’ll do just fine but I just cant quit worrying. I guess that’s just part of being a Mom. Aji said that Sean’s class looked and smelled new since they installed new hardwood floors and newcarpets for the stairs leading to his class.

Here’s a toast to Sean for a wonderful and fun filled school year !!

Paging Appacha and Ammachi....

Appacha, Ammachi we're still missing you terribly. Yesterday we were in the car and sean again spotted a plane landing and asked me,

'Is Ammachi in that plane?'

I replied,
'Seany, Appacha and Ammachi have reached India'.

He immediately said 'I want Appacha and Ammachi to come back !'

Needless to say that was enough to get me all teary eyed...so Appacha and Ammachi, when you get this message, please start planning your next trip as soon as possible!!

Rhea's Baptism Portraits.

Today we got some baptism portraits of Rhea

Appacha,Ammachi we miss you...

Achachan and Mummy left for India on Saturday. We all miss them terribly. Sean and Rhea miss them tremendously both in their own way.

Rhea would not drink milk at all..i guess it is her way of showing how she misses them both. I would sing her ammachi's favorite song 'Kannum Pootti Uranguga Neeyen' and she doses off in no time. Saturday and Sunday she hardly drank any milk during the day...just about an ounce or two every feed till afternoon. She did eat the carrots i fed her. She woke up 2-3 times in the night. I guess she was catching up on her calorie deficit from morning. Usually she wakes up only once. Hopefully she will soon settle into a routine soon since Dada's Appacha and Ammachi are here to take care of her. Paavam smiley/chirikudukka..I'm sure she is wondering whats going on. She is letting us know in her own unique way that she is missing all the love and attention of Appacha and Ammachi!!! I'm sure she would love to share her sly smile that she used to have only for them and thinks about them quite often in her thoughts...I caught her with that smile as soon as I laid her in her bassinett for her nap today afternoon.

Sean on the other hand has been very vocal about expressing how much he is missing them both. Since there was lot of plane trouble for Achachan and Mummy about which we spoke to Sean, he kept saying 'The big plane has some problem. Dada, Mamma, we have to go to the airport to pick Appacha and Ammachi!' Also whenever we see an airplane landing or take off he'll say 'Is Ammachi/Appacha in that plane?' We told him today that Appacha and Ammachi have reached India and his response was 'They are far away mamma'. He has been a little more clingy to me than usual. He starts school so that is a good distraction for him. He is also beginning to have fun with Daddy and Mummy.

I cant wait for our next trip back home so that all of us can be together again. It was such a wonderful six months and I really wish we were closer to home!

Appacha, Ammachi we miss you!!! Come back and visit us soon!!!

The funny one in the family

Sean cracks us up so much these days with his wit and humor. He definitely looks like he is making a serious conversation but sometimes it is so funny its difficult to keep a straight face and continue the conversation.

Achachan and Mummy have quite a few of these tales to tell us everyday when we get back from work and I thought I should record some of them for future references 

One of the days Achachan cut Sean’s nails and when he was done Sean said,
Good job Appacha! I’m very proud of you!!

He will give the same above compliment to Rhea sometimes when she finishes her milk or cereal by saying,
Good job Baby!

Another day Achachan and Mummy were chatting with Achachan’s brother Jojichachan in cochin during lunch time here. It was night time for them but Sean didn’t know that. So after a few minutes it seemed like everyone was having a good time and Sean said something on the lines of,
My Dada and Mamma have gone to work. Do you have to go to work?

Joji chachan had to explain to him that he just got back from work.

Back to school orientation..

Today morning was Sean’s back to school orientation day. I almost missed it thinking it was in the evening from 3-6pm. Luckily on my way to work I thought of reading what the letter from the school said and that’s when I realized it was from 8-10am. So I turned around and got back home around 7:15 and Sean was still soundly asleep. I didn’t want to wake him up but finally around 7:30 I just had to, since I had a 10:30am meeting at work and couldn’t run late. He was pretty good about it and I got him to drink milk and got him ready and we were out of the door by 7:45. Mummy took some pictures of him before we left since they wouldn’t be here for his first official day back at school. It was pouring rain but we managed to get to the car without getting drenched.

We got there right on time at 8am. He was a bit shy when he saw his principal Mrs Amiri but managed a quick Hi. We then proceeded to his class which is ‘Class C’. There was one other kid – Emily, with her mom and we met his teachers – Ms Poncho, Ms Jain and Ms Kristen. There will be 29 children from ages 3-6 in his class and almost 11 of them are his age group. We checked out his cubby. His number is 5 and also signed up for Snack day for Sep 6. It will be Sean’s turn to get snack for the class which will be Bagels and cream cheese. We learnt that in this class Sean will have to help himself during snack time. Hopefully he will eat something and not be too engrossed in some activity and forget. I also showed him around the class and he got a quick glance of all the activities they have there. He was happy that they have lots of books and was also interested in the globe and miniature animals along with the Barn and Farm set. He was reminded of the tour of Kreider farms we made this summer. He also checked out the bathroom they have in class. He is returning to class for the first time after getting potty trained this summer. Sean seemed happy and eager to get back to his school routine and that was a big relief for me. I know it might take him a few days to get used to all his new class mates and teachers but he has 4-5 of his friends from the toddler class here with him, that always helps.

We said our good byes to his teachers and when we got near his toddler class he saw his teacher from the toddler class, Ms Young. I asked him if he wanted to say hi to her and he wanted me to go with him. As soon as he saw her he ran to her and jumped into her arms. She carried him and gave him a kiss and was so happy to see him. He was delighted too. He was delighted too. Ms Young has been a huge influence on him the past year and I thanked her for all her help. He was in her good books from the time he joined and he was genuinely happy to see her. When I asked him which class he will be going back on Tuesday he pointed the toddler class to me. I showed him his new class once again and explained to him and he was fine with that.

On our way out, we passed the receptionist Ms Mariam and she was also happy to see Sean back after 2 months, she said,

Sean, you’ve become a big boy!!!

To which Sean’s reply was,

Yeah, I pee in the potty and I’m going to be an astronaut!

It was so funny esp the fact that he equates ‘big boy’ to ‘being potty trained’ and ‘becoming an astronaut’ because we tell him that he has to be older to become an astronaut. It definitely was a revelation that he does pay attention to all the nitty gritty details of our conversations with him.

Rolling her way around…

Rhea discovered that she does not have to wait till she figures how to crawl or walk to be mobile and discover the world around her. Starting yesterday she has mastered the art of rolling. She has been rolling her way around the family room and squealing in delight at her newly acquired skill. According to Ammachi, she would roll around till she reaches the hard wood floors. She figured out early that the hard wood floors are definitely not a very comfortable surface to roll. So as soon as she reached the hard wood floor in the kitchen, she will roll back and go to Ammachi and try to snatch Ammachi’s glasses and play with it. She had a great time and kept doing it the entire short mat time she got yesterday afternoon when cheta went with Appacha to nap.

We will have to be on our toes all the time since she has become mobile and will soon try to get her hands on everything she can get a hold off….our busy days are going to get busier…Oh well….it was bound to happen sooner or later…hopefully we can be one step ahead of her and handle all the curve balls she has for us. Its going to be interesting to watch the two of them play together more.

Yesterday during dinner I put Rhea on her high chair with her rattle and Sean was playing with his toys since he was too full with cookies and milk to have dinner (which by the way was meat loaf and mashed potatoes followed by crème brulee. It was Mmm….Mmm good). Ok getting back to my story, Rhea managed to throw her rattle down and soon Sean donned the ‘helper’ role and got it back for her every single time she . Finally he decided to give her something else and brought her the Snow white booklet which was part of the DVD and as soon as Rhea got her hands on it she put it in her mouth and Sean exclaimed ‘No baby, you cannot eat the book, you have to read it !!!’ That totally cracked us up!

Rhea’s Baptism and the action packed week leading to it..

It felt like we’ve been planning rhea’s baptism forever. The big day was on Saturday(Aug 26) and Thank God everything worked out perfectly well, except for the camera glitch..i’ll get to that shortly.

I got all the cards out and even got confirmation from everyone regarding their attendance 2 weeks in advance, we placed the order for food and also got everything else covered before the end of last week. I’m usually a procrastinator so this was a huge accomplishment. We were thinking of having Naadan kerala food initially but we would have to pick it from Germantown, which is a good 1 hour drive each way from home. I’m so glad we finally decided to drop that idea (we figured we would end up spending half the day Saturday driving up and down for the food) and decided to order food from Minerva which is just 10 mins from home. The whole of last week was extremely busy too, Achachan and Mummy came back from Florida on Monday (they had a fantastic trip), Anishchayan, Chechi and kids got back from India on Tuesday and Daddy & Mummy came on Friday. Thursday was Daddy & Mummy’s wedding anniversary so we had everyone over for dinner on Friday and also cut the cake. Mummy had made a huge spread – Fried Rice, Caramel Chicken, Shrimp Olathu, Raitha, Rice, Kaachu Moru, Beans Thoran, Fish Vaatipattichathu and pickle. Daddy and Mummy were tired and jet lagged but were happy to celebrate their anniversary with the whole family.

Saturday rolled around fast and all of us were very excited. Sean kept saying ‘Are we having baby’s birthday party?’ and we had to keep reminding him that it was her ‘Baptism’ not birthday. He was confused but happy that a lot of kids were coming over and kept saying, ‘Lot of kids are coming.You have to share your toys. No fighting’. I just hoped that he’d remember at least some of that when the time came and he did (More about that down).

Aji and Achachan got all the last minute errands (like getting ice for the drinks) done in the morning and around 3pm went to Minerva and got the food. It was good to have the van. Everything fit in the trunk and we didn’t have any big spills…except for a little bit of the sugar syrup from the gulab jamun but the lawn bag liners caught all of that. Daddy, Mummy, Anishchayan and the kids came around quarter after 4. Sean was still napping. I got Rhea all dressed. We decided to carry her baptism dress and change her into that after the mass. Mass was at 5pm and we had to leave at least by 4:40pm to be able to make it on time. I was beginning to wonder if we will make it in time, so I woke sean up and got him ready, Aji, Mummy and Achachan also were all set and we were out the door by 4:45pm. Well, just before we left for church is when we thought of taking some quick pictures and realized that there was some problem with our digital camera, it wasnt working at all...it was such a HUGE disappointment. Hopefully we have some good ones on Anishchayans and Achachans camera and some on our video. Achachan had brought a suit from India but it didn’t seem to go well with his shirt so Anishchayan lent his sports jacket (Thanks Anishchayan!!) to achachan. He looked great and reminded me of Oommer (yesteryear mallu actor). We managed to reach church as the first reading commenced. Ittirachen and family were already there. Mass got over around 5:40pm and Aji and I changed Rhea into her Baptism dress. She looked so cute all dressed in white with a tiny white bow on her hair to complete the look.

The Baptism itself started around 6pm. There was another family with 3 kids. The priest had both the families on the pews on either side of the altar. Achachan and Mummy were Rhea’s God parents. Mummy held Rhea and achachan lit the candle. She didn’t cry when the priest poured the water over her head. She loves bath time so I guess she was thinking it was bath time again. We took some pictures in the church and we got Rhea’s baptism certificate. Our lil girl was officially christened - Rhea Elizabeth Joseph.




We got home around 6:45pm. Sean wanted to wear his new kurta pyjama for the party. He was sooo cute in it. Sarah and Suzanna looked gorgeous in their chanya choli.Everyone started arriving by 7:30pm and soon we had a house full of people, kids running around and playing in the basement. It was a lot of fun. Rhea was a happy camper but she was pretty worn out by 9pm (her bed time) and both the ammachi’s took turns to put her to bed. Sean played really well with Sarah, Kavya, Arnav, Arunima and Meherbaan. He shared all his toys even his Thomas the tank engine. We are so proud of him. We had Chicken Pakodas and Vegetable cutlets with dates and coriander chutney as appetizers. Dinner was served around 9 and included Naan, Vegetable Biriyani, Navaratan Kurma, malai Kofta, Butter Chicken, Chicken 65, Raitha and Salad. Dessert was Gulab jamun and Ice cream. For drinks there was wine, sparkling cider, beer for the guys, margaritas for the women and soft drinks for the kids. We also had Red Label but every one preferred to have beer and wine. There was quite a lot of food left and we packed some for everyone. By the time everyone left it was around 11:30pm. It was a fun filled night and everyone had a fantastic time. Rhea slept like a champ till morning after waking up briefly before midnight for her post dinner snack. It was the perfect ending to very special day.

Babykutty, I love you !

Those are sean’s words. He calls rhea, babykutty these days. Its so cute to hear him almost singing –

Baby kutty

Baby kutty

I love you



And he’ll plant a big kiss on her face. She gets all excited when he is around her. She will get all giggly and will babble as if talking to him. I love watching them together and its amazing to see how they communicate with each other. I’ll post some pictures soon.

Rhea loves her veggies

I gave her ‘sweet potatoes’ on 19th as her first veggie. She wasn’t quite sure of the taste initially but started to like it soon after. She has been having that for a meal and rice cereal for dinner. She is not enjoying the rice cereal as much as earlier I guess it tastes pretty bland compared to the sweet potatoes. Maybe I can get her to eat it by mixing the rice cereal with the sweet potatoes. We’ll start carrots today. Hope she’ll like them.

Hi, I'm Rhea!

Starting friday we realized that Rhea has started to actually respond to her name. I say this with a lot of confidence because I did a lot of data collection in this regard - like calling her zillion different pet names and then thrwoing in 'Rhea' occassionally and Yes! she would look at me only when I called her 'Rhea'. It was a fun excercise too because all the while i call her chikkoos and moluu etc she would not look at me at all and then when i call her 'Rhea' it was instant reaction!!

Well so there it is our lil girl knows her name now!!!

Our Portraits

Last saturday we got our portraits at sears. Here are some of the pictures. We haven't gotten the prints yet, so these are from their website. Here they are,

We're a team!

Brotha & Sistah!

Rhea, Cheta loves you!

Be Gentle Cheta!

This is fun!

The four of us.

All in the family.

It’s the lil things that make you teary eyed!

Today morning Aji was planning to go for a jog and as he was getting out of bed, Sean half sleepily asked - Dad, where are you going?

Aji: I’m going for a jog
Sean: Be careful while jogging.

It was soo cute…he being so concerned about Aji’s safety. I guess he has heard aji telling me ‘Drive Carefully’ everyday when I leave early morning and was repeating the same concern for aji. Sometimes its these moments that make your heart swell and get you all teary eyed!!!

I love our lil Seany boy!!!

5 Months Old !!!

HAPPY FIVE MONTH BIRTHDAY RHEA!!

Rhea turned 5 months old on Sunday! She has changed so much in the last month. She will now hold onto pretty much everything. If you hold her close to your face she will hold onto your cheeks, ear or hair...whatever she can get a hold of and pull it with all her might! She seems to have a lot of fun doing it but Ouch is all I can say! She has also learned to play by herself with her toys for short stretches - she will hold onto her rattle tightly and shake it vigorously. She is however happiest when Sean entertains her with his trains and trucks. Mostly though he just needs to be there beside her, doing what to us may sometimes seem very mundane like throwing a washcloth up and down and that’s enough to start her on a laugh riot. She will continue her giggles and squeals for the longest time and we have to ask Sean to stop just so that she can catch a breath and settle down. Sean always has a few of these class acts up his sleeve and its hilarious to watch them together!! It'll be fun to watch how well they play together when she gets older. She now enjoys her rice cereal and i think she looks forward to her dinner everyday. She gets very excited when she sees me or mummy preparing her cereal and is pretty good at cleaning up the plate. We will introduce her to veggies this week and slowly progress to fruits. She is also now trying to hold onto the spoon when i feed her the cereal or onto the bottle with both hands as if she wants to feed herself. The cutest though is when she holds onto my fingers tight when she nurses in the night and falls asleep. Its a very special feeling and i treasure those few moments every night.

Sunday evening we went to our friends, Sunita & Ittirachen's place since it was their son Alex's 5th birthday. Sean had a great time playing with Alex. Of course he was beyond thrilled that he got to play with all of Alex's trains and trucks too. Rhea had a fantastic time. There were almost 30 people but she was her happy self. She is such a charmer (she gets that from her dad!) and was enjoying being the center of attention. Everybody wanted to hold her and play with her and she was such a diplomat, happily obliging and giving everyone her fair share of attention. Melissa (Alex’s 9 yr old sister) was getting a whole bunch of stuffed toys for her to play. By the time we started our drive back she was completely exhausted and fell asleep right away !

Drum Rolls please !!!!

Yesterday after I got back from work, achachan logged onto Deepika online to read the news. In 2 mins time he came out very excited. The Kerala State Karshika awards were announced and guess who won the Skhoni award (Soil conservation and water management) – LEELAMMA TOMY!!!!

Congratulations to Achachan…its is a true testimony to your relentless hard work and vision. And good job Mummy, for being the pillar of support and encouragement to Achachan!!! This is a huge recognition and the award is Rs 25,000 and a citation!! The best part is that achachan’s sister Elsy ammai is the winner of the Karshakothama award. The karshaka officer called from Kerala to give Achachan the good news. The award ceremony is in Trivandrum on Aug 17th and will be presented by the Chief Minister. I feel really bad that Achachan and Mummy will not be there in person to receive the award. That weekend they’re going to Florida and they’ll be back in Kerala on September 3rd. I’m secretly praying that the awards ceremony gets postponed to September so they can be there!!!

Sean was very excited too even though he didn’t fully understand what was going on. We celebrated with Cognac and had Kappa and Duck Roast for dinner, pretty close to the staple Karshaka Aaharam, the kappa atleast.

So 2 awards for the Mooleplackal family. Appachan, Ammachi and Kunjukunju Perappan must be smiling from above.

Something Special

These days Sean asks mummy to make him something special everyday. Day before yesterday he wanted Payasam and yesterday he wanted ‘Puttu’ for breakfast. Yesterday Mummy made diamond cuts and duck roast. He was snacking on the diamond cuts the whole time. Who can blame him….it is sooo good, I was munching on them non stop after I got home too. Today morning mummy made ‘Puttu’ for breakfast and I’m told Sean really enjoyed it. It seems everyday after he and Achachan return after their hour long play time from the basement, he is really hungry and will raid the fridge. It reminds me of my childhood days when I too would sneak into the kitchen to do some ‘Kattu Thinnal’. Somehow everything tasted 10 times better that way. Of course now we have to get him whatever he has his eyes set on but soon I’m sure the story will change and he will become a kattu thinnal expert in no time.

Craving Real food!!

Rhea loves her cereal these days and is very curious about what everybody is eating. I was holding her while popping some diamond cuts in my mouth yesterday and you should have been there to watch Rhea - she was staring at me for the longest time and the expression on her face seemed to say – I want some too mommy. Poor thing I felt really bad for her. Starting next week we’ll try vegetables and slowly fruits and other cereals. Hopefully she will like ‘em all and not have any allergies like her brother.

On another note, I realized that I got too carried away about Rhea sleeping through the night. Next time I will wait for her to do it for at least a week before I start proclaiming to the world. Yesterday she woke up once. I think its partly because she took a nap right before bed time. I should remember to keep her awake after her bath until bed time. Maybe that’ll work.

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Workout Related : Ran the same distance as Tuesday 10 mins faster. YAY!! Today is rest day…maybe I can fit in a walk today. There is live band that comes to play outside the community hall near our house every Friday during summer. Tomorrow I will do some cross training on the elliptical at the fitness center.

Feet Nibbling, Grunting and a Good Nights Sleep

Starting this week, Rhea has figured out that she could do more than just reach out and hold onto her toes. She thinks it is so much more fun when she gets the aforementioned toe in her mouth and nibbles on it. I have to agree with her. It is so cute to watch her do that with so much ease. When she realizes that she is being watched she will let go of her toe and give a sly smile.

She has now started ‘Grunting’ to get our attention. The first couple of times we thought that she wasn’t feeling well (gas maybe?) but soon we figured that its her secret weapon to get us to drop whatever we were doing and give her all our attention. She esp. doesn’t like to sit on the bouncy seat during dinner time. She will continue her grunt fest until one of us gets her from there and seats her on our lap. Then she is very happy and will try and hold onto whatever she can get her hands on, like the placemats or the spoon if I’m helping myself to something. Maybe she’s trying to help me. I can only hope that she will be as excited about her ‘duty’ of clearing the table after dinner few years down the line. Yep, I already have it all planned out. Lets be optimistic for now that my plan will work.

The other big thing that has happened this week – the last 2 nights to be precise is that my little princess has started sleeping through the night! YIPEE! I had forgotten how wonderful it feels to have 7 hours of uninterrupted sleep and I think she likes it too. Hopefully the trend will continue and I can start my day well rested and refreshed. This sound cliché but even though I’m so relieved that she started sleeping through the night I feel a tug at my heart when I think that its a big step towards her out growing her baby phase. I guess I'm just trying to freeze this moment in time.

God's Own Country

Sean has grown so attached to Appacha and Ammachi that he frequently asks them ‘Can I come to Indeea?’. He has gotten mightily curious about India as well in the process. I think he already has a birds eye perspective of Appacha and Ammachi’s life back there since we have told him about the vanilla plantation, the big pond full of fish (he is very excited about the prospect of catching fish), the fishing boats, the mango farm, seeing elephants on the roads and all the yummy food. He has started enjoying ‘Naadan’ food so much that he asks mummy to make something special for him everyday. Yesterday it was ‘Payasam’ So when I got back from work he told me ‘Mom, I had lots of Payasam!!! It was good!!’ After dinner we sat on the deck and chatted for sometime. The weather was beautiful and it was a full moon night. Sean was enjoying another round of payasam when we had this conversation,

Sean: Mommy, can I go to Indeea?
Me: What is in India?
Sean: Mangoes and Payasam
Me: how will you go to India?
Sean: Its very far away.
Me: You have to go on a plane.
Sean: Yes, we have to go on a big plane.

I’m already looking forward to our next visit to India. Till then we will nurture his interest in his motherland so aptly referred to as ‘Gods Own Country’.

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Workout Related – Got out for a nice 45 min jog outside on Tuesday. The weather was fantastic. Yesterday was rest day (not if you count shopping as a means of cross training) and I’m hoping to go for a run today evening.

Picture (Im)perfect

We went to get the portraits done on Saturday at Sears. Long story short – we got a couple of great ones of the kids. We weren’t very thrilled with the guy who took our pictures because…he wasn’t very creative in suggesting different poses for the family picture. Granted there is not a lot you can do when you have more people but we were just 6 not 60. We spent most of the time on the family picture with all of us...he came up with 2 poses one worse than the other. The first one had Aji almost like ‘the leaning tower of pisa’ trying to fit into the frame and in the second he had aji kneel next to me and had me standing.We were so frustrated because even though we pointed out that the poses he suggested were not working he wasn’t able to come up with anything different. At the end Sean was beginning to get fidgety and Rhea was sleepy and hungry and we were told that our 1 hour was up. We didn’t even get time to do one of the four of us and one of both the kids. We ordered Sean and rheas individual portraits and re-scheduled at another location for next Saturday to get the family one. We’re waiting for the prints to be ready. Shall post them here when I get them next week. Hopefully we will have a better experience next week.

Perfect end to a not so perfect morning

In the evening we redeemed ourselves from the hugely disappointing morning photo shoot and we went to Tysons Corner mall. Skimmed through the stores hoping to find Rheas’ baptism dress. No such luck so we postponed the hunt to next week and headed for dinner to The Cheesecake Factory. We were told the wait was 1.5-2 hrs but decided to stick it out and luckily got called 20 mins later. It was almost 9:30pm and we were all starving. We almost inhaled the food (esp. the bread basket) as it came to the table For the main course we had Chicken Madeira , Hungarian Beef Ghoulash and Jambalaya Pasta and dessert was a heavenly slice of White Chocolate Caramel Latte Cheesecake and huge helping of Tiramisu both topped with tons of fresh whipped cream. Need I say, Yum Yum Yum!!! Sean enjoyed the buttered egg noodles that came with the Ghoulash and whipped cream topping on the dessert. Rhea slept through the whole thing.

Workout Related news – Nothing since Friday as I think I injured my knees pushing myself too hard on the treadmill. I will get back today though.

Princess (of Sausageland???)

Tomorrow we have an appt to take some portraits at the studio. So yesterday after I got back from work I thought of trying out my salwars to decide on which one to wear for the pictures. I opened my ‘Salwar’ suitcase and was trying to find one that fit me. I must have tried on at least 4-5 of them and was getting frustrated since everything was still snug in all the wrong places and I looked like a sausage waiting to explode. I was in front of the mirror wearing a lavender kameez which had lots of bead work and staring disapprovingly at my image in the mirror when Sean walked in and with a big grin on his face said ‘Mom, You’re a Princess!!!!’. That definitely brought a smile on my face - momentarily though. I couldn’t fathom how the first thing that came to his mind was the ‘Princess’ image of 'someone' looking nice and pretty when all I could see was all the imperfections that were staring back at me in the mirror. I hope he continues to always see the good in other people and comment on that and not become so judgemental as we often find people these days. That is my big wish for him as he grows into a young lad.

Sean’s vocabulary has expanded by leaps and bounds since the past year and he is getting so darn good at verbalizing all his thoughts. And I’m not saying that because he called me a princess. I know better that he relates all the ‘dressy’ outfits to princesses based on what he has seen of his cousin Sarah’s princess dress up collection. The other day Aji was working late and he asked me ‘Is dada working hard?’ and I said ‘Yes’. These days when I get home the first question he asks me is ‘Did you get stuck in traffic?’. The other thing that he does quite often these days is break into a song while he plays or is in the car. The one I have heard him sing a lot is ‘Doe a deer, a female deer’ from The Sound of Music – my all time favorite movie. He knows only the first few lines but he sings it pretty well. I should remember to record it next time.

Get Movin.

I am so disappointed in myself for being so sporadic with my workouts. I managed to find something to wear for the photo shoot but I changed into my workout clothes right after to go out for a quick jog outside. I had barely gone 100 yards when it started to drizzle so I turned around and went straight to the basement and did 45 minutes on the treadmill. I was way slower than I used to be but I think I just need to find the time and be consistent and slowly get back. Hopefully this is a new beginning and soon I will be able to fit into all my pre-preggo clothes.

I’m going to start posting a one liner about my workouts in with my journal entries from now on so you who are reading can ask me if I don’t mention anything and hold me accountable.

Picture time...

Some new some not as new..


I'm ready to sit...


Joining the boy brigade...



We're a team!


Appachas darling..

More fruits please..

Sean loves fruits!! Right from his baby days he used to love banana.Now he enjoys almost all the fruits. Banana and grapes are his favorites but he enjoys Strawberries, Papaya, Guava, Pears, Apples, Grapes, Pineapple, Watermelon to name a few.

The weather has been brutal the past couple of weeks here as we are in the midst of a heat wave and I think he keeps himself hydrated by eating lots of fruits.

Last week by Thursday our fruit basket was empty. I didn’t get a chance to stop by the grocery store and so when I got back home from work on Friday we had the following conversation,

Me: Sean, did you eat any fruits today?
Sean: We don’t have any fruits. Its over (with a shrug of his shoulder as if in disbelief).
Me: So what do we do now?
Sean: You need to buy fruits. I want lots of fruits.
Me: What fruits do you want me to buy?
Sean: I want banana, pina (meaning pineapple), pear and grapes.
After a pause,
Sean : and I want watermela (for watermelon)
Me: Ok
Sean: I want lots of fruits!!
Me: Ok, I’ll get them.

By this time I could barely hide my smile because he seemed so genuinely concerned that we were out of fruits in the house. I told him that he could eat some dried cranberries for the day and we’ll buy fresh fruit on saturday. He feasted on fruits for lunch yesterday. His lunch consisted of a small helping of pasta followed by a pear, some grapes and few pieces of watermelon. I’m so glad he’s a fruit lover, he is definitely setting a good example for the rest of us.

I just remembered that until very recently he used to say ‘Bananaana’ for banana and ‘Lellow’ for yellow. I used to have so much fun asking him ‘What color is Banana ?’ and he would say ‘Lellow Bananaana’.

Road Trip

Saturday we made our maiden road trip in our new van. We went to Kreider Farms in Pennsylvania for a dairy farm tour and then to Hershey’s Chocolate World. If I could summarize the whole trip in 2 words, I’d say – ‘Huge Success!’ I’m the kind of person who likes to plan every single detail for a trip and then worry every minute thereafter till the start, about all of the things that can possibly go wrong. None of my hypothetical problem scenarios came to life this time but I’m glad I planned for every kind of emergency because I was very relaxed by the time we started, knowing well that we were prepared to handle most everything that came our way. I did all the packing Friday night (with 2 kids under four, even a day trip required me to pack like we would be gone for a month. Most of them were the ‘Just in Case’ stuff) . I made some Idlis also Friday night, knowing well that there would be no time to prepare a hearty breakfast Sat morning. Everyone including Rhea hit the bed at 11pm Friday night but the kids were up and about at their regular time Sat morning. This made things easier as everything went as planned. Sean was super excited and kept asking ‘Are we going to the chocolate factory???’ about a zillion times.

We started almost on time around 8:45 (just 15 mins late) and made our first stop near Harpers ferry at a road side store selling home made brittles and freshly popped pop corn. We bought a huge bag of the sweet (with a hint of salty) pop corn. It was still warm from the kettle and all of us devoured it in 15 minutes. Sean had fun snacking on the pop corn and singing along the ‘Piya Bole’ song from Parineeta. He was thoroughly enjoying the drive. I thought he’d get really bored and jittery in the van for the long 3 hour ride but he clearly was having a great time. The drive was very scenic with apple orchards, vineyards and corn fields on both sides. Our tour of the farm was at 1:30pm and we got there at about 12:45pm with enough time to have lunch. Rhea was glad to get out of the car seat and stretch and we all had a quick lunch at the farm’s restaurant.

The tour was 1.5 hours and the farm is nestled in almost 4000 acres. There is a huge expanse of corn fields on either side of the roads as far as the eyes could see. We’re so used to just picking corn from the grocery store, it was a welcome sight to see it actually growing in the fields and ready to be harvested. There were 6 cars and we went as a convoy, the lead car had the lady from the farm who gave a running commentary over the local FM station. We got to see the cows ‘boarding house’ where they live and then the ‘vacation home’ where they spend the last month before their delivery, the nursery which housed all the calves, they also have a hospital for the ‘sick’ cows. We spent a lot of time at the carousal where the cows come to get milked 3 times a day. It was amazing to see how well they are trained to come in an orderly manner to get their job done. Sean had quite a few interesting questions like ‘Does the cow give ice cream?’. I had to explain that it gives milk and the ice cream is made from the milk. I think we will do more trips like this so the kids get to actually see and experience the simple facts of life which are so often and easily missed in the hustle and bustle of the ‘cocooned’ city life. We got back to the farm restaurant and were given a free sample of their ice cream which was such a welcome treat considering the sweltering heat. I wish Rhea could eat some too but she seemed happy and refreshed when I wiped her face with a wet wash towel.

A van full of chocoholics



Our next stop was at the Hershey’s Chocolate World – the one place our resident chief chocoholic Sean couldn’t wait to get to. The rest of us could barely hide our excitement either. Sean was a tad disappointed though when I told him they don’t sell ‘Starbursts’. That’s his favorite candy. As soon as we got in, we made a beeline for the chocolate factory tour and were promptly told that we couldn’t take our strollers in. So Aji and Achachan went and parked the strollers back in the stroller parking area. We got back in line and it took us about 10 mins to actually get into the lil moving cars that took us through a fun and wonderful tour of a simulated chocolate factory. At the end of it we were handed a free sample which we all gobbled up immediately. We then did our rounds through the big chocolate store where all the Hershey chocolates were displayed. It was a treat to the eyes and I felt like I gained a pound or 2 just seeing them all. We did some shopping and then ventured into the dining area. We couldn’t pass up the 'oh-so-fully-loaded' milk shakes and the ice creams. They were so yummy and so not figure friendly, but we decided we’ll worry about the bulge later. By the time we got out of there we were all on a chocolate and sugar high except for Rhea :)




We started our journey back and got home around 9pm. All of us tired but with huge grins on our faces – testimony to the memorable and fun filled day we enjoyed!

I have to add that Sean did not have any accidents this entire trip including a trip to the pool yesterday - We are all very impressed!!

Three well deserved cheers to our Seany boy,

HIP HIP HOORAY !!
HIP HIP HOORAY !!
HIP HIP HOORAY !!

Marching right along...

Rhea has been busy conquering new milestones this past week. No she hasn't started marching let alone walking yet, in case you took the title literally. But she has been tackling milestone after milestone this past week thus making huge strides in her developmental acheivements...

Karate Kid

Beginning this week she has been showing off some neat karate moves - real cool chopping moves with both her arms.You would be fooled into thinking that they wont hurt you because she is smiling all the time she's at it but if you happen to get too close to her you'd go OUCH!!! coz they are painful!! Sean learnt it the hard way and is now very cautious around her esp. when he tries to play with her hair while drinking milk. I think she's just excited now that she has discovered both her hands and legs and can now hold onto both her toes with her hands. She does it with so much ease I cant help but wonder and wish if I could borrow some of her flexibility.

Real Food = Yummo!!!



We gave Rhea her solids for the first time yesterday. We gave her a spoon of organic rice cereal mixed with formula. Her initial reaction was hilarious. She had this funny expression where she knew that she was fed something other than milk like always but she couldnt quite figure out what. She was trying to suck on the spoon like she does her bottle and was a little frustrated in between that there was a break between getting food in her mouth unlike the bottle here she has a steady stream of milk flowing from start to finish. But overall she loved it and she seemed to keep wanting more but we wanted to take it slow and make sure since it was the first time that she doesnt have any allergies. She did fine yesterday so today maybe she can have lil more than yesterday.

I shall post pictures soon..

I’m a big kid now!

Sean has been doing such a fantastic job getting potty trained. I thought it deserved a separate entry in my journal! So this is sort of a brag fest about how much he has surprised us the past one week and how proud all of us (and that includes Apapcha, Ammachi, Dada, Mamma and baby) are about how far he has come. Whenever I saw the Huggies commercial where the kid gets potty trained and shouts ‘I’m a big kid now’ – I’ve pictured Sean doing the same and I’m glad he has reached that milestone. GOOD JOB SEANY !!!

Its been hardly a week since I stacked away all his ‘Pull Ups’ and gave him an ultimatum that its time for him to switch to wearing underwear full time. He has been a good sport. We’ve had a few close calls and some minor accidents but on the whole he is doing great. He has stayed dry every night from the get go and has gotten very good with timing. Now, we don’t have to be behind him as much reminding him that it maybe time to use the potty again.

He is very happy that he is wearing an underwear and will pull down his shorts and show off his favorite Thomas underwear. Its so cute. He has been asking me ‘Where’s my Gift ?’ when I get back from work – the one that we promised to get him for this achievement. I should get him that this weekend.

Little Miss Socialite

Rhea is almost 4.5 months old. Wow! How fast time flies…One can see how the different aspects of her personality are evolving everyday. The one thing that hasn’t changed is her cheerful disposition at all times. She started this smile fest when she was 3 days old and continues to delight us to this day. Her smiles are what gets me thru the night feeds after a long day at work. Ammachi calls her ‘chirikudukka’ and Appachan calls her ‘Smiley’.



She has also become quite the socialite. Sunday mass is when she does all her socializing. Mostly me or aji will be holding her unless she is asleep in her car seat (this is becoming more of a rarity these days). She just goes on and on babbling to the folks in the pews behind us. If there are kids behind then she will be at it non-stop. There has been couple of occasions esp. during sermon time that I had to hold her facing forward so that the people behind can pay attention to the sermon.

One of Sean’s buddy who lives down the street had a baby brother last week and his dad brought the baby out when they were playing in our yard. We took Rhea to meet her new friend. I was very curious to see her reaction. Well, she barely even noticed the baby. I don’t think she is old enough to recognize another baby and be curious about him/her or maybe because it was dinner time for her and she was beginning to let us know that she was starving!!! It’s the only time she will fuss or get mildly cranky so I made our conversation short and headed to make her ‘Dinner’.

Yesterday we had Anishchayan for dinner and I made Roast beef with boiled baby potatoes and roasted carrots. We had some grilled chicken also. Sean enjoyed the biscuits and had some of the chicken. He is doing really well with potty training. We have been out and about quite a lot this weekend and he has done well. Hopefully we will be liberated from the ‘Pull Up’ world pretty soon.

I made this draft entry on Monday. Got around to posting it only today (Friday).So in some sense you are reading some ‘Old’ news. I’m trying to make my entries more regular.

Special Bond!

I’ve always wished for Sean and Rhea to share the special bond with Appacha and Ammachi like their cousins Joe and Tom. Of course Joe and Tom have spent all their baby and toddler years with Appacha and Ammachi and all their summer vacations thereafter. I wasn’t sure if Sean will develop that same relationship or something even close since he has hardly spent any time with achachan and mummy. The last month has been a blessing. He has been staying at home and enjoying their company. He is so close to both of them now, if he doesn’t see them for couple of minutes he’ll ask ‘Where is my Appacha?’ or ‘Where is my Ammachi?’. He couldn’t pronounce ‘Appacha’ very well initially and used to say ‘Aacha’. Now he says Appacha clearly. His eating habits have improved vastly thanks to their prodding. He now has a proper breakfast and lunch. He plays with them and also hugs them when he takes his afternoon nap. I’m hoping he will learn to understand some Malayalam while they are here. Achachan and Mummy brought so many yummy ‘Naadan’ goodies this time like Jackfruit halwa, Jackfruit cheese, Dry banana, fruit cake etc to name a few and I was hoping that Sean would enjoy them since those are things you do not get here. It seems today they had the dried banana and he loved it. I’m told that he has been downing them like they are candy and in between all the chewing he asked them '(Can) I come to your house?'. Mummy said 'You’re welcome'. He also occasionally will go and say 'I love you Appacha/Ammachi'. Mummy told me this when I called home and my heart just melted. That’s just what I wanted for him. Am just so glad that he got to spend all this quality time with them and Thank God he got close to them so fast to enjoy their love and affection and reciprocate it. I can’t wait to get home these days to listen to him animatedly go on and on about the days activities. Rhea also seems to smile away in agreement and I know she couldn’t be any more happier. I feel so happy and blessed!

New Discovery

Its seems like Rhea has discovered her toes. From Monday(Jul 17th), she’s been trying to reach for her left toe and hold on for couple of minutes. Very cute. I’m sure she’s going to be thrilled when she discovers her right toe. 2 new toys to play. That’s going to keep her busy!!! I still remember Sean holding onto both his toes and chomping on them. Can’t wait to see Rhea do the same.

I also forgot to mention in my earlier entries about Rhea’s 4 month appt last Friday(14th). My poor lil darling got 4 shots. Dada and Ammachi were the brave souls who had to watch her endure it. She did fine though and was only fussy for couple of hours after. Below are her 4 month stats (this is from my memory, so I’ll have to recheck),

Height – 26 inches (50th percentile)
Weight – 15 lb 2.2oz (50-75th percentile)

She has reached all of the developmental goals for her age and were told that she could start solids in a month. That is going to be fun..i cant wait to see her reaction when she gets her first taste of solids. Sean’s reaction was hilarious.

She is so active these days and giving her a bath these days is getting very tricky because she doesn’t want to lie still in her tub. She gets all wiggly and when we turn her around to wash her hair she tries to stand up the whole time. She looks pretty confident about giving walking a try already. Well, maybe I should have a talk with her and convince her to put that off for some time.

Catching up

It seems like its been ages since I had a new entry…in my defense, it has been a rather busy few days around here.

Sports Mania

Last weekend it was all about sports. Saturday, Achachan went golfing with Anishchayan. He had a fantastic time. Thanks Anishchayan!. He was mentioning that if he continues to hit the greens often he would give Tiger Woods a run for his money. Sunday was the Soccer World Cup and Wimbledon finals. Soccer mania won over tennis craze and Aji, Sean and achachan went to anishchayans place to watch it on the ‘Big’ screen. Sean and Sarah got to play together both days. Even though they fight over the same toy pretty much every couple of minutes they are together they still have a lot of fun the remaining time. They played on the playset and took turns on the tricycle, did some coloring and enjoyed a popsicle. It was funny to see how they were navigating their way around the popsicle to catch all the drips. In the end we had 2 very happy kids with brightly colored faces.




Soccer Dad

Aji decided to adorn himself with the proud ‘Soccer Dad’ tag . So on Tuesday we went and got the Honda Odyssey. Aji gets to take it to work since he has a shorter commute. Sean absolutely loves the van. Even if he wakes up from his nap cranky, a trip to anywhere in the van is all it takes to make him his usual happy self. Rhea falls asleep the minute we pull out of our drive way and the major decision these days is ‘Who gets to sit on the last seat in the van’. Its a very comfortable ride for the person back there…the only catch being that it takes a heck of a lot of maneuvering to get there esp. with 2 car seats eating up a lot of leg space in the middle row. But we are all very happy that we can all go together. It makes every journey so much more enjoyable.

Shopping spree..

Yesterday after mass we went to the Leesburg outlet malls and Achachan and Mummy went on a shopping rampage. We spent almost 6 hours there. Rhea was a trooper and even though the heat was unbearable at times she was all smiley. Sean managed to sneak in quite a few rides on the kiddie fire truck. Both of them were completely drained by the end of the day. The shopping spree didn’t end there…Aji wanted to get the 50 inch plasma he has been eyeing for the longest time. So he dropped us off at home and he and Achachan went and picked it up. Anishchayan came over and helped unload and set it up. We absolutely love it. Now everything appears 3 times larger than earlier. We had WETA channel on and they were showing a program on Gorillas and it felt like we had King Kong in our family room albeit in a good way.

One small step for man but a giant leap for mankind

The title seems fitting in so many ways for this entry since so much in the past few days revolved around Sean’s astronomical interest with the space shuttle Discovery launch and Rhea working hard and conquering new milestones.

Rhea has started to hold onto things with her hand from yesterday. Its so cute to watch…she will grab her monkey rattle and have it very close to her face and she will stare at it for the longest time…its like she is spending all her energy inspecting the toy to find any defects. She has also started sleeping in her crib. We moved the crib from Sean’s room to ours on Tuesday and she is doing pretty well so far with the transition. She is hardly getting any ‘mat time’ these days because the moment mummy puts her down, Sean cheta appears from nowhere in a flash and is all over her. He means no harm and is trying to play with her but she’s still so small that its safer to have her perched up in our arms than down on the floor.



Sean is enjoying his summer vacation. He followed the space shuttle Discovery launch with a lot of interest and enthusiasm. Aji explained to him in great detail about the astronauts and their trip to space and earlier expeditions to moon etc. Since the launch got postponed couple of times due to bad weather the first thing he would ask everyday after he woke up was ‘Have the astronauts gone? Is the weather good today?’. We had some very interesting conversations with him.

Me: Sean, where do you think the astronauts are going?
Sean : To the moon (I clarify that this trip is to space and not the moon)
Me: How are they going to go there?
Sean: Astronauts are going in the space shuttle. I want to be an astronaut.
Me: Are you going to go on the space shuttle?
Sean: Aacha (appacha) and Aamchi and Dada and Mama and baby and me will go on the space shuttle. [Maybe when he grows up taking a vacation to space will be a reality].
Sean: Baby, you want to be an astronaut?

He is a little disappointed that she isn’t sharing his enthusiasm about all this and we tell him that she is still a baby and does not understand. I have to also assure him that she would definitely be interested when she gets older. He continues,

Sean: Dad, you want to be an astronaut?
Aji : I would love to.

On the day of the actual launch Aji happened to wear an orange T-shirt. Sean said – ‘Dad, you wearing the astronaut clothes???’. He had seen the astronauts in their orange suits earlier on TV. We had to wake him from his nap to watch the launch when it finally happened but he wasn’t upset at all and perked up immediately.

It just amazes me how his little mind works and how he analyzes every bit of information we share with him. It is interesting how he applies that in his thinking process and his conversations thereafter.

We’re hoping we can continue to nurture and fuel Sean’s new found interest for the space and beyond. It seems like a small step in the right direction now and we hope that it will culminate in a giant leap towards what his future holds.Meanwhile, we are still in the dark about what milestone Rhea is planning to attempt in the next few days…shall keep you all posted.

A stellar stage debut marks the beginning of a much awaited summer vacation ..…

Friday was the last day of school for Sean and they had the graduation ceremonies the same evening for older kids who were leaving to join elementary school. Sean made his stage debut on this occasion. Their class performed a song about fishing complete with actions and Sean did a great job. He remembered all the actions and the song and was very excited about the whole thing. Aji recorded the entire recital but we don’t have any still pictures…next time we will be better organized. I was stuck at work and missed it (still feel so guilty and disappointed) because his teacher never mentioned to us about their recital until Friday when aji went to drop him off. Hopefully she won’t make the mistake again.

So this month Sean is going to be at home with Appacha, Ammachi and Rhea. He is very excited that he can be home with the baby. Now only if he will start eating something…he is sooo skinny. I took him to the pool on Saturday and Aji is planning to do the same all this week. He loves it and it is so difficult to get him out of there so we try to take him couple of hours before closing time. That way when the life guards are collecting all the toys and everyone starts to get out he doesn’t throw a tantrum…

Rhea is busy rolling over and is as smiley as ever. But her giggles are the best. She would go on and on if you keep chatting with her. She is such a joy to watch. The past 2 nights she slept with me on the big bed. She wasn’t sleeping well in her bassinet and I have her in our bed till we move the crib from Sean’s room to ours. Hopefully she will transition well to the crib because I’m getting used to the sound sleep she has been treating me with the past 2 nights.

I’m slowly settling into a good workout routine-touch wood. I ran for the first time in more than a year on Friday. Did some cross training on Saturday and took it easy on Sunday. Got a run in today before work. Hopefully I can manage to workout atleast 3-4 times a week and shed these stubborn extra pounds that are clinging to me.