A Grand Vacation...

We had a fun filled 2 weeks off. We did a lot of fun things as a family...Pictures coming soon..


The kids by the X'mas tree

Family Portrait taken at home



Visit to Museum of Natural History

We also went to china town for some authentic chinese fare. Sean wwanted to have crabs and they had fresh ones in a tank that they picked when we ordered, brought it to our table to show us the 'chosen one' and brought it 10 minutes later fried in a spiced up batter. Sean devoured it.

Aji ventured into the litchen and made some really good chinese soup one night.

We went snow tubing with Sanjiv and family. Rhea could only go to the baby slopes, so Aji and I took turns and Purvi and Sanjiv watched the kids so wwe could some together also. It was great fun and Sean was getting more and more adventurous as the day passed. Parth and Prashant also joined us and it was fun to watch these kids from ages 12 - 2 interacting and playing and having a great time.

The weekend that whizzed by..

Last weekend went by so quickly. Let me try to remember and recap what we did..

First off, Sean scored another 100% on his spell test and an 'Excellent' note from his teacher. Way to go Seany! By doing so he earned his 'Happy Meal' from Mc Donalds for dinner on Friday. We did a drive through since Aji's flight was landing at 6:30 and we had just about an hour to get started. So we went home and after the kids had dinner, we left around 6:20pm. Aji's flight landed on time and we picked him up around 6:50 and headed home. The look on both the kids faces when they saw aji was priceless! They were all over daddy that night.

Day 5 - Daddy is coming today.

It's friday - Yipee!!! Aji is coming back today. I spoke to him yesterday and he said that he is planning to catch an earlier flight that will bring him here at 6:3o pm instead of 10:00pm. I luv it, we can have dinner together :) The kids are so excited Sean woke up saying - Daddy is coming today YAY!

Today we were extremely late. But I managed to give Sean one final mock test and he did well. Hopefully it will all come together. Breakfast was scrambled eggs and oatmeal. Sean was not very excited about the eggs and I told him they are going to help him remember all his words rigt for the test. He wiped his plate clean. I just love him...he is so willing to go that extra mile and is motivated that he gets to have a happy meal is he scores 100% on his test. He also got his report card yesterday. He is doing pretty well, I do need to talk to Ms Jackson on the rating she has given him for performing simple addition. All of his appers I have seen has him getting 100% and yet he has a rating of 3 out of 4. Maybe she can help me understand the reason.

Can't wait for evening..

Day 4

Late entry for Thursday. Wednesday night we had frozen pizza for dinner. It was a good change and the kids loved it. They were the individual sized ones and I had one vegetable and one meat ball pizza in the freezer. Rhea and Sean each had half of the meatball one and I had the vegetable pizza. I also baked the store bought apple pie. We were short on ice cream. We had like 2 scoops of the chocolate icecream that the kids ate and I helped myself to the apple pie.Mmmm it was delicious.I'm developing a sweet tooth and its scaring the heck out of me.

Thursday morning we woke up only by 7:45, I made egg and sausage sandwiches for the kids. Sean enjoyed it. Rhea did not eat the egg but to just have her eat one full sausage sandwich itself was a huge accomplishment. I got to work by 9:20 - a little late. The day went by quickly. We have been practicing Sean's words for the test and he has been getting them all correct. Hopefully it will all stick when he takes the test in class. Yesterday for dinner I told them I'll make a quick fried rice but sean wanted to eat mashed potatoes. We had some left overs from tuesday so we had a repeat of the same dinner - popcorn chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy.

I started working on the holiday cookies. Yesterday night after the kids went to bed I made the first one, its almost doone just needs a drizzle of white choclate on top which I'll do later. I also baked the cakes for my class. I have to prepare the icing. We did not do any video recordings yesterday. I did 2 mock tests for Sean and he got 100% on both so then I excused him from math and he watched some TV before hitting the bed.

Christmas Carols

Today instead of recording a video message for dad, I did the recording of them singing X'mas carols. They have been singing them in the van for a couple of days and i thought it would be neat idea to capture it on tape. Ofcourse I will do an official recording with them all dressed up but consider this as a warm up round..

Rhea is singing 'I want to wish you a Merry X'mas' and Sean is singing 'Jingle Bells'. Of course they dont know all the lyrics and we hope to brush up on it in the coming days..


Rhea and Sean singing X'mas Carols from PreethsJ on Vimeo.

Day 3

We're hanging in there. Actually i think we have a set routine now and the wheels are finally beginning to move smoothly. Yesterday by the time I picked them up, it was 6:00pm. I had a last minute meeting at work which ran over till 5:10. Both kids were happy and cheerful, which in itself was a huge mood stabilizer :)

We got home and while they snacked on Wheat thins, I made some mashed potatoes (from scratch). I heated up some pop corn chicken, thawed some corn from the freezer, warmed some out of the bottle turkey gravy and cooked rice. Sean loves mashed potatoes so he thoroughly enjoyed the chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy. He did not eat a single piece of corn. No surprises there. Rhea ate couple of pieces of chicken and had a tall cup of milk. We did the homework, Sean practicing his words for the test on Friday. He is still working on 'dock' and 'dash'. The blend words are still confusing him. Hopefully he will get it all by friday. Sean was in a mood for a bubble bath and demanded one so both of them were bathed, brushed and tucked into bed by 8:30. I then veged out in front of the idiot box, spoke to Aji couple of times and then hit the sack at 11:00 after having round 2 of dinner. I can't seem to control my food binges lately and it is showing. Today morning the weather was much warmer and I wore the skirt i bought 2 months ago. It was a little loose then and fit me at the hip - today it was snug at the waist. I'm so mad at mytself and can't wait to get back to my workout sessions from Monday..

Day 2 of Solo Parenting..

Yesterday evening was not too bad. I left work at 5:00 and had to make a quick stop at Giant to pick something for dinner. So by the time I picked them up it was almost 5:40 and really dark outside. Sean got new words for his test this Friday. There are two 4 letter words and we will need to practice them a lot. We got home and gave them dinner right away. They had sausage, eggs and tatertots. It was my first time trying tatertots and I loved them. Of course anything carb is golden in my food vocabulary 

Aji called and the kids spoke to him and of course Rhea had a big meltdown because she wanted to talk to him on the cell phone not the landline. After all that commotion and the quick chat Sean and I did home work – practiced the words and also did addition while Rhea watched TV. Sean got a ‘Star’ and ‘Super’ for his addition in school yesterday since he got all of them right. I’m glad the evening homework’s are paying off. It definitely makes the effort more meaningful and motivating.

I let Sean watch some more TV after his homework and it was almost 8:00pm at this point. Where did the time go? I had picked up Oreo cookies, so both of them had a couple of those before we went up to get ready for bed. Those are so difficult to get off the teeth, I had to literally strain my neck to brush them and get all of the Oreos out of their teeth. Not fun at all. Sean was really tired and slept in couple of minutes; Rhea on the other hand was just tossing and turning. Asking for daddy, water, her watch to be removed, and her dolly. After I gave her the dolly she said she doesn’t want it. So after 5-10 mins of that I walked out the door and then she launched into her big screaming cry…I waited for couple of mins went beck held her for a few mins and put her back. She went down like a lamb. I think she is really missing aji. Poor little darling. Of course in the middle of the night Sean starts his migration to our room and I guess lost his way and turned on lights woke up Rhea…total mayhem. By then I was beginning to lose it, I got both of them to the master bedroom and as soon as I lay down, Rhea wakes up asking for water. I dragged myself knowing she will not be quiet until she gets her water. I gave her a few mouthfuls from the bathroom. I was too lazy to go down. After that all of us conked out and woke up at 7:15am. They had oatmeal for breakfast, did a little recording for aji, got changed and were able to get out the door by 8:37. Few minutes later than yesterday but I got into work at the same time. Rhea cried at drop off today also, she did not want to go to school and kept saying that. I tried to distract her as much as I could. I think its also because I usually don’t do drop offs and it’s a difficult for her and also Aji not being around. She just doesn’t get it because we tell her to say hi to daddy on the camcorder and she does not understand when we say daddy will be back on Friday. Poor thing…I’m sure it is utter chaos in her little mind right now…I wish Friday would be here sooner.

Message to Daddy from today

Message to Daddy on Tuesday from PreethsJ on Vimeo.

Day 1 of Solo parenting...

Not sure how this week is going to be since Aji is away and I have to do morning and evening gig with the kids. Yesterday was fun, we just relaxed and played and watched some Tv. Spoke to aji couple of times. I put the kids to bed at their usual time. I must have been really tired because I didn't even know (until morning)that Sean came to my room at night. He had asked and made sure that I will be sleeping in the Master bedroom so he does not have to go searching for me in the middle of the night. Rhea woke up by 7:15 which gave me just enough time to freshen up and I went down with her to get my Java and get started on their breakfast. Sean woke up by 7:30.I decided to make some french toast in the hopes of feeding them a good breakfast. They ate reasonably well, over Higgly Town Heroes and Little Einsteins while I fork-fed(is that a word?) them. Miraculously they did not complain much when i called them up to get dressed. We even managed to do a quick video recording for Aji and were out the door by 8:30.

Sean was behaving so much like a grown up while Aji is away. As we were leaving he said 'Mom, let me check the doors to make sure its locked'. My little boy is growing up so fast. After he was done with his inspection I asked him 'So, are we good?' and he said 'Yes, everything is locked. We can go now!'

It was a perfect morning...hopefully the rest of the week will be somewhat close. I know that my patience might start to wear off as the days pass and by the time friday rolls in I might be pulling my hair out. But for now I would like to think that everyday will be like today..I will certainly strive for it. I'm so much more relaxed as I start my work day/week.

Here's the kids video to daddy from the morning..

Message to Daddy in Chicago on Monday from PreethsJ on Vimeo.

Spoke to aji in the morning on my way to work. He was on his way to class. I asked him what he had for breakfast since I had just had my coffee and decided to have a banana muffin(yummy!) on my drive to work. Aji's breakfast - Waffles, Hashbrowns and Eggs. Not sure if that was all or he just stopped at that so as to not make feel bad about his fantastic start to the day. Anyways, it sure beats my breakfast by a long margin. Someone is enjoying his stay and FOOD in the windy city!

Messages for Appachan and Ammachi

We've been working on some video messages for Appachan and Ammachi. They came out pretty hilarious. Here they are, Rhea's message from morning and Sean's which we did in the afternoon. They are pretty funny...esp the endings..

Rhea's Message

Rhea's Message to Appacha and Ammachi from PreethsJ on Vimeo.

Sean's message - Take 1

Sean's Message To Appachan and Ammachi - Take1 from PreethsJ on Vimeo.
Sean's message - Take 2


Sean's Message to Appachan and Ammachi - Take 2 from PreethsJ on Vimeo.

Weekend Update!

Good Bye Daddy

Today (Sunday was busy). Aji was leaving for Chicago in the afternoon and Rhea had her friends birthday party to go to. Aji had also not done any of his packing. So I got up, got the kids ready, fed them breakfast (pancakes)and warpped up the birthday gift. Aji and Sean left to run some errands. Rhea and I took some video and then left for her friend Christine's birthday party which was at the Little Gym. She had fun playing with her friends. It was the first time she was going to her friends' birthday and she had fun. She ate a bit of the cake and had juice and we left by 11:00AM. we got home and the boys were home also so we decided to have a quick lunch at Panera on our way to drop off Aji at the airport. This pic was taken right before we left home..



After droppig off aji, we went to church and then got back home. Lazed around a little and the I put Rhea down for her nap. She was not too happy and kept fighting it but once in her crib she conked out in 5 mins. So Sean and I had some time on our hands and I'm usually very restless when there is a loved one on a flight so I knew I had to do something to keep my mind distracted and busy. Luckily I had all the ingredients for the banana muffin and Sean and I baked a dozen and half of these. The best moment was the look on Sean's face as he licked down the spatula with the muffin batter...Pure Sugar joy!




While the muffins were cooking I got Sean to record some video message for Aji,


Hello Daddy! from PreethsJ on Vimeo.

Aji called later in the eveining after his flight touched down. It was a relief to hear his voice after he reached his destination! Aji called later in the night after his dinner. He had Chinese for dinner and was talking about the buffet....made me hungry but I had to settle for the Naan in the fridge :(

Visual Time!!!

This is my first test video that I uploaded online. It was taken at night (couple of weeks ago) hence the poor light quality. This is Rhea singing her ABC's. She has been singing it for the past couple of months but i think this was the first time it was captured on tape. ENJOY!


Rhea singing ABC from PreethsJ on Vimeo.

I also took one of Sean's with his new toy - the Light Saber. He's into Star wars now, so we watched 'The Phantom Menace' - the first movie in the Star Wars series and then Aji got Sean his Light Saber. He was so excited about it.

Check out the video..ENJOY!!

Sean with his Light Saber from PreethsJ on Vimeo.

A Happy Dental Appt

Yesterday both the kids had their semi-annual dental appt. Rhea has been home since Monday with a nasty cold and a wicked cough. She was much better and I was plnning to send her to school yesterday. The dental appt was at 8:00Am and I was wondering what made me to take an 8:00Am appt in Dec. its so cold and the kids wake up a little late and need more warming up time before they get into the routine. But it worked out pretty well, it was one of those days that they decided to cooperate. Aji left early so I had to get them both ready and luckily we managed to get out of the house by 7:30. We got to the Dr. office at 8:03 not too bad. They both had a great appt..NO CAVITIES!!! which is great news.

Sparkly Teeth
Rhea had some calcification on some of her teeth at the last appt and the Dr. had given me a 'staright' tak about stopping her sleeping with her milk sippy and brushing her teeth at night at the last visit. I stopped the milk routine rightaway and even if she wanted milk most of the time i got her to rinse her mouth before she went to bed. We havent been perfect with the night time brushing but we try and do it most days which i think is pretty good. So both of them were super uber happy since they got 2 big STICKERS and a goody bag with a new brush, paste and dental floss. They each also got a balloon and a toy - Sean picked up a plastic bat and was excited to take it to school since they were talking about hibernation habits of the wild and Rhea got a watch.

Checkout my watch!
Funny Story - In the evening she wanted to wear it and i asked her - So what time is it Rhea and after checking the dial she confidently told me its ten tharty. She then took a second look and said, its Ten A Clack. She definitely has a southern accent going on...wonder where she gets that from...

First Test

Today Sean has his first spelling test. The words for the test were sent home on Monday. He knew all of them already but we we have been doing practice tests every evening. I have been stressing him to recheck everything before he turns his paper in, but it is not something he follows through. I have also been telling him that if he is not sure of a word he can raise his hand and ask Ms Jackson to repeat it again. I know if he pays attention he will get them all correct but will he be able to do that is the big question. I really hope so because he gets so so excited when he gets a 'Super' and 'Great Job' remark from the teacher for his work. I have to post pictures of those. Shall do that after i get home today. Definitely gives him a confidence boost so i hope he had it all together today..I'll find out soon. The spelling bee is going to be a weekly thing so I have to diligently work with him on his homework from now on. No more channel browsing for me until the kids go to bed.Oh well, i think its a good thing because its easier to get him also to sit down to do the work since there is a consequence now to not being adequately prepared. i only hope he has not inherited my exam 'jitters', I used to be super paranoid and I certainly dont want him to go down that path!

Also today is the day I get his first report ever from school...such a big day...he has been dreading it a bit and has been pretty unenthusiastic about it so i had to tell him that he's doing a good job and its a good way to find out his progress and what we need to work on harder..

UPDATE...

Picked Sean from school and guess what my little boy scored a perfect score for his first ever written test!!! I'm so proud of him. When i went to pick him he had this big smile on his face and he said 'Mommy, I scored 100 points' So cute..I gave him a big high five.
He said that he wants Mc Donalds for dinner as a treat. So off we went after picking Rhea up. He enjoyed his chicken nuggets and for a change he asked for french fries instead of his favorite apple dippers. Rhea of course had only the french fries. We came home and I took pictures of Sean with his test results...here they are,

Perfect Score!
If you notice closely he has written all his words in upper case.

His after care teacher said that they were not checking for upper case vs lower case just that they spell the word right. But the teacher had marked the words again in lower case. I'm so mad, if they were not checking for it, why mark it up. So this week we'll be working on doing our words in lower case. As a bonus, Sean was excused from homework today He is pretty good with doing his homework most days.

Here's a picture of him doing his homework yesterday..

Sean doing his homework

Thanksgiving w/e

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend this year. It was the first time that we all were at home all 4 days. Last year this time we were getting ready for our trip to India so I was busy with packing...

The festivities began with the kids Thanksgiving Pow Wow party at school on Tuesday. Thankfully both of us were able to make it. I went to Rhea's class and Aji went to Sean's first and then we did a class swap so that way we were part of both their parties.


Rhea's class made a pilgrim hat and a costume out of a t-shirt.





Sean has face painting in addition to the bead kits for making necklaces.



Aji had taken wednesday off so te kids stayed home and had a relaxing time.

Just Chillin
Thursday and Friday were equally relaxing. Thursday I made Kappa and Fish vevichathu and Puttu w/Banana for breakfast. The kids had Puttu and we had Kappa. Rhea tried the kappa and seemed to like it. Thanksgiving dinner was at Anishchayans place. I made stuffing and Mac'N Cheese for the dinner. Sean and Rhea had a great time playing with their cousins and kids from chechi's extended family who were visiting. Sean was very excited to have turkey since they talked about Thanksgiving food at school. We came home around 11:30 and the kids were so tired they slept on the way home. Black Friday was again spent at home. I didnt have the courage to brave the crowds in the stores in the name of a good bargain. I would have lost my mind so I stayed at home and slowly started putting the christmas decorations. Saturday we decided to go to the movies. It would be Sean and Rhea's first English movie in the Theatre. We decided on the Disney movie 'Bolt'.

So after having lunch at Sean's favorite sandwich place - Potbelly's (he loves their italian sandwich and their big choc chip cookie). I also tried their root beer float - fisrt time ever I had a float not too bad but not a fave either. So after all the calorie load, we headed over to the multiplex. We chose to watch the 3D version of the movie. I was a little skepical if Rhea would find it difficult to wear the 3D glasses. I wish I had a camera with me. She just went with the flow and wanted to wear the glasses just like the 3 of us. She definitely has a 'la Jackie Kennedy' look with the big glasses covering up her entire tiny face :) She seemed quite interested the first half hour after which she kept herself busy with the pop corn, candy and would put her glasses on in between to watch snippets of the movie..it was almost like for her the show was the pop corn and the candy and the movie was just a passing distraction which really didnt warrant her complete attention..the candy and the pop corn on the other hand...well, they are like toddler crack anyways so no surprises :) Sean enjoyed the movie and I loved it too. I had zero expectations and was surprised at how much I laughed. Sunday again was low key so all in all a very relaxing Thanksgiving weekend.

And I'm back...

yes...after another month long break..here Iam again...its not that I didn't have anything going on...there is never a dull moment with a toddler and a kindergartner...its just that I just haven't been pushing myself to get on here lately...I know lame excuse, Any ways,I hope to be here more often going forward...I just went back and read a few of my entries from when Rhea was a baby and I'm so glad I have documented all of those little things.Ok, I'll stop now and start to mop up the big puddle around my laptop (all those tears from reading past posts and reminiscing)

Ok, few quotes from the last couple of weeks...

Rhea loves to have her stuffed friends with her in bed. She used to not care about them when she was little but now she has an entrouge and has just enough space for herself and has to squeeze in between all of them. So the other day after the daily bed time routine (changing into PJ's , brushing teeth, saying prayers, wishing Seany good night), I got her in her crib. After she squeezed in the middle she announced to me the sleeping order in her crib - Baby (her baby doll), Taddy (thats teddy in toddler speak), Rhea, Doggie, Taddy (yes, she has 2 Taddy's - she calls pooh Taddy too). It was soo cute...I felt like picking her up and squeezing her...I restrained myself - thinking about how much longer it might take to return her into her comfortable spot in her crib.

Rhea is such a parrot these days..she repeats everything Sean says and does while sometimes trying not to sound the same. The other day Sean was complaining of a tummy pain. Almost Immediately she says,

Rhea: Mommy, my leg is PAININ (for her the g in paining is silent)
Me: Where Rhea?
Rhea: Here (pointing to her knee). Its PAININ mommy.
Me: (Gently Massaging her knee). Its ok Rhea
Rhea : Where's seany?

Huh? Whatever happened to the excruciating knee pain?

Happy Halloween!

Rhea was a lady bug and sean a soldier. They had a halloween parade at school and it was fun! It was the first year that Rhea went trick or traeting and boy did she have fun. She got the hang of it really quick and couldnt shake it off the entire night...so much that when we had other kids come over to our house she would beat them to saying 'Trick or Treat' and hand out the candy..those kids were lucky...they didnt have to do any work to earn all those candy :)

Happy to you Daddy!

We celebrated Aji's birthday yesterday! Rhea skips 'Birthday' and sings 'Happy to you!' hence the same on the cake..

Backyard Picnic

The week that was..

I just realized that i dont have any entries for last week. Nothing major...just the same old same old...busy at work with Requirement sessions. Kids are good, happy at school, aji is busy at work. Last week was navaratri and we had 2 invites for haldi-kum kum from our friends. the first one was last saturday and I got Rhea to wear her ghaghra choli...the ghaghra is still alille too long so we didnt even wear the dupatta..it'd have been way too many things to worry about. I even put off wearing a sari just to have Rhea in traditional wear. She was very excited esp. since she wore jewellery (bangle and chain). here is a picture..



Fot the haldi kum kum at Bhavani's place, I went by myself after work since it was a week day and it would have been too much to go pick the kids and come back all the way...

Week of Sickies

This week has been just that. It started off with the kids being sick. Rhea was sick from last week and Aji took her to the Dr’s on Saturday since her cough sounded like she may have a chest infection and an ear infection. Her ears were clear (Thank God!) but her chest was infected and the Dr prescribed inhalers. Ha! Try getting a toddler to take inhalers. We’re supposed to do it every 4 hours. She hates the inhaler contraption and cries hysterically arms and legs flailing. So Aji and I have to hold her down …it is just a painful exercise. We have not been able to get her to take it every 4 hours. Its been more like twice a day – once in the morning and once at night and hence the wicked cough continues. I could feel the remnants of whatever Rhea had right from Saturday. I was popping Sudafed and Motrin like I was addicted to them. I had my client meetings starting this week and could not afford any day off. I barely made it through the last meetings on Wednesday feeling like crap. I took a few hours off on Wednesday and finally went to the Dr’s on Thursday. Took the day off on Thursday and am on antibiotics. I don’t think the antibiotics are doing all that much since I still have a constant sore throat. I’m trying to ignore but it is a pain in the well, throat that is becoming more than irritating. I will give the meds this weekend to do their job and if I dont see any progress I may have to visit my Dr. again. Aji started complaining of sore throat from yesterday night and I handed him the rest of the Sudafed box. He felt a little better today morning so hopefully he’s already on the mend. Sean still has a runny nose. He missed soccer practice yesterday because I just didnt have the energy for it. He was disappointed and I felt bad but when I told him that the coach wouldn't be there he stopped complaining.

Both kids are signed up for flu shots tomorrow but we’ll see if they get it..keeping fingers crossed. I signed up for my flu shots on Oct 13th so hopefully this winter will be a little tolerable in terms of dealing with the sickies.

Wish us Luck…

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..

Rekindling my passion for baking..

My secret sous chef who does all the hardwork!


Chocolate goodness...Yum Yum Yum!


My dream com true - My first self baked white bread !


Going the healthy way with wheat bread!

Happy Onam!

Marunaadan Mannil Oru Onaakhosham
This onam was almost a big washout but creativity and some luck saved the day. By the time we got home from our hectic sunday (see my post below) it was past 4:00pm. We had 2 very over tired kids and mom. Aji was still determined to go for his workout in a hour. Somewhere between flipping Tv channels & having a strong coffee i found a new burst of energy (must have been the caffeine) and felt really horrible that I wasn't doing anything for Onam. Thiru Onam was on Monday and since Aji comes home really late I deceided to make atleast a Daal and Avial and call it the 'Sadya'. I went through the fridge and freezer and found a packet of frozen chena, 2 pieces of frozen pacha managa, drumsticks and some french cut beans. I added some carrots and tomatoes and voila i had enough ingredients to make Avial. I made the rice and a quick daal and the Avial. By then Aji left for his workout. I asked him to get some chips and pappadam to round off our 'Instant Sadya'. I wanted to make some payasam but then was too wiped out so managed to give a bath to the kids and put Rhea to bed. Sean as usual wasn't ready to hit the sack yet. I wore my settu sari to get into the spirit of Onam. Sean was surprised. I changed back to my casual clothes after an hour since I didn't want to accidentally spill anything on it. Aji got home around 8:30pm. I made the pappadam and as luck would have it I found some more curries in the fridge - cabbage thoran, brinjal mezhukkuperatti, black eyed peas curry and vellarikka charu - PERFECT! The number of items on my menu suddenly went up and I was happy. I laid the fake banana leaves and served dinner. So here is what we had finally, Rice, Daal, Avial, Cabbage Thoran, Brinjal mezhukkuperatti, Black eyed peas curry, Vellarikka charu, Pappadam, Banana Chips, Lemon pickle. Pretty impressive huh!

After dinner I told Aji that he could have Gulab Jamun for dessert since I didn't make any payasam. Surprise Surprise...Aji remembered the Kheer I brought from the party on saturday and had it on the banana leaf, Naadan Style. The Sadya was complete.Ellavarkum thripthi aayi!!

Sean and Me did the athapoo on monday after Rhea went to bed. Sean was very excited and cut the stems of the flowers so I could arrange it. He had a great time and had dinner again on the banana leaf tonight.

A weekend to remember!

This past weekend was such a busy one. The kids seemed to have a lot of fun though so it made for a happy and fun filled action packed 2 days that will be remembered fondly for all the sweet memories.

Saturday, Aji woke up around 5 and went for his workout. He got back by 7 so I can get going. Gloria was scheduled to come in the morning too and aji had to go to work for a couple of hours. So i hustled out to the fitness center around 7:45 and got back by 10:00. Gloria was already here.Aji had fed the kids breakfast and he left for work by 10:30. After making calls home and doing some cooking for the potluck party that evening, I put Rhea down for a nap. I chatted with priest for some time and by then it was close to 2:00pm. Aji got back shortly and Sean hadn't taken a nap. Both Dad and son got ready and left for the Redskins game around 4:00pm. Aji had got accenture sky box tickets.I's havce loved to join him but rhea is juat way too young to be left with a baby sitter late in the night. So Sean and dad went for their first game together and Rhea and me decided to go to church and then to the get together at Manish's place. I had to wake Rhea up around 4:30 from her nap so we could get to church on time. she woke up well rested and after church we headed back home to pick up the 'Black eyed peas curry' and left for the potluck. My plan was to stay there for couple of hours and head home before it got too late. Well one thing led to another and Rhea was having a great time playing with all the other kids - 4 girls. They were playing hindi movie songs on TV and Rhea was dancing.She didnt have any qualms and had a fantastic time. It was 10:45pm before we got home. I put her to bed immdiately and then settled down to watch the movie 'LION'. Halfway through the movie, dad and son got back.Sean was fast asleep. Aji mentioned that he had such a great time.He was very excited about it all and had a few of Sean's quotable quotes from the evening,

As soon as the teams got into the field, everyone started clapping, so Sean said - Dad, so who won the trophy? He thought that it was all over esp since they were there a few hours before the game started.

The cheer leaders did their dance moves during the breaks and Sean seeing them said,

Sean: Dad, why are they not wearing clothes?
Aji: They are wearing clothes Sean.
Sean: No they're not. They're wearing underwear!

Aji was also mentioneing how he well he behaved. Just after they got there, sean wanted pop corn and coke and in the excitement of it all managed to spill both on 2 separate occassions. After the second incident, he told aji,

Dad, I'm not doing this right. I need to be careful. Can you hold this (the pop corn and drink) for me and I'll take it from you!

Aji mentioned that Sean did miss me & Rhea during the game and said 'Dad, next time we should get Mom and baby too'.

Sunday morning Sean woke up and when I asked him about the game he was grinning from ear to ear when he said 'It was fantastic, I had a great time Mom!'
We didnt have too much time to talk as we had to get to the zoo for Alex's birthday. On our way Sean would tid bits about his adventures from the previous night at the game.

Our first trip to the Zoo...

This was our first trip to the zoo so we were as excited as the kids. The party was to begin at 10:00am and had a 1 hour tour so we wanted to be on time so as to not miss it. We got there just in time. All the kids got safari hats and they did a quick 10 minute quiz on mammals before we started the tour while they snacked on goldfish and OJ. Rhea was sooo excited when we stepped out for the tour. We saw Sea lions, Lemurs, Alligators, Turtles, Lions, Tigers, Oranguttan and Gorillas. The most interesting of all were the Oranguttans. They were all in their glass enclosed homes doing their tricks to get all the kids amused. Rhea was very excited at first but seeing them a little too close got her a little upset but she quickly got over it. The most interesting part was we saw this oranguttan who was doing some game on a touch screen monitor. It was unbeleivable how easily it was playing the game. We were told that its a game to match identical objects and everytime it got it right, it would get a treat. This was one smart cookie because it seemed to be getting almost an entire meal worth of treats :) We saw a baby Gorilla and I told Rhea it was a 'baby gorilla'. next thing you know, every animal in the zoo is 'Bae beeee'. She was shouting 'bae bee' at all the exhibits..we would say Rhea did you see the Tiger and she would point at the Tiger and shriek in excitement 'Bae beee'. It was soo funny. In think she did recognize a few of them from her animal book.

After the tour and the rest of the birthday festivities, the kids wanted to still see more and so we went to the Amazonia exhibits.It was really cool..there were some really giant fish - I forget all the names and also some water snakes, toads and other small creatures. Sean asked a lot of questions and Rhea was wide eyed absorbing all of it. She did not want to come back and had a huge meltdown. Finally she dozed off on our way back. We will defnitely want to go back since Sean wants to see the Pandas, Elephants, Penguins and Sharks. For the latter we'll make a trip to the Acquarium at baltimore...but our short trip to the animal kingdom was fun fun fun all the way...

This and That..

Random notes..

Sean loves to carry Rhea around.She doesn't mind it sometimes, esp. if she is stuck somewhere and is waiting for dada or mama to come help her. A little help from cheta during those times is warmly appreciated but other times- she starts screaming and shouting 'NA' (for No) for Sean to put her down.


Sean has started picking some big words from school and tries to use it at any given opportunity. An example is the word 'terrible'. Couple of weeks ago Aji was working late and so after I put Rhea to bed, Sean and I were sitting at the porch waiting for Aji. It was beginning to get dark and Sean was pacing up and down the walk way. Finally he paused and said to me 'Mom,this is terrible. My dad is not home yet!'.

Rhea does not like her pictures taken and will not look into the camera and smile. It is getting very difficult to get any good pictures of her. And if both of them are in the frame - I dont even try. Below is one of the more successful pictures...but then i had to do it so fast,Sean is not fully in the frame.Oh well..I'll keep trying.



These days if i make something special Sean will have a bite of it and tell me 'Mom, this is delicious. Thank you for making this for me!!!' Ofcourse it melts my heart to hear him say that. He did that yesterday when he had the Gulab Jamuns I made. He absolutely loved them and had 4 of them after dinner.

Sean was very excited to see the purple flowers today in the garden and I got a good picture of him next to them.


This summer I got some gardening done (compared to last year). I put some petunias in the front yard and they look beautiful now as they are in full bloom.

The truth about 'Pork'

This happened Tuesday. I was rummaging through the fridge trying to decide dinner for the kids and came across the grilled pork chops from the weekend. I decided its a good choice and asked for Sean's approval. He said yes so I warmed up two-one to go over my salad and one cut in thin slices for him. Rhea was having fish sticks since she would chew and spit up the pork. Week days Aji works late so the kids and I have an early dinner soon after we get home.

So all of us are on the table, I’m enjoying my pork salad. I have been craving for a steak salad for a few days and this seemed to be a healthier option and seemed to satisfy my cravings. Sean seems to like it too since the marinade was sweet and reminded him of the Chinese (teriyaki or General Tso’s) chicken that he loves. I’m enjoying the relative quietness amidst all of the chomping but I can see the thoughtful look on Sean’s face and knew something was coming…

Sean: Mom, what are we eating?
Me: Its pork. Do you like it?
Sean: Yeah
He paused for a minute and then continued,
Sean: Mom, is pork an animal?

My head started racing - what do I say, what do I say.I could picture where this conversation was going and wanted to put a quick stop to it before it got ugly. But with a very calm look on my face, I continued

Me: Yeah, it is.
Sean: Which animal?

My immediate thought was to get up to fetch a glass of water and derail his train of thought…but I decided to be more adventurous and see where this was going.

Me: It’s a pig (no better way to put it I guess)
Sean: So you cut it?
Me: ahem…
Sean: But that’s not right, right?
Me: What is not right?
Sean: To cut the pork?

At this point I really wanted to run out of there. I felt so gross and felt like I had a piglet in my mouth struggling to free from the tight grasp of my teeth…Eww…I could just toss my salad and taken a vow of vegan diet then and there.But I tried to distract myself in my mind saying - Protein, Protein is good for your body.

Me: What do you think Sean?

I was trying to turn the table on him and see what he had in mind. But thank god,he seemed to be quiet for some more time, lost in his thoughts and I grabbed the moment and distracted him with other talk.

I’m sure though that this is just the beginning of a lot of queries he will have on this topic and I’m sure he already knows that some people don’t eat meat and others do since he has mentioned to me before that his friend Rakesh is vegetarian. I will have to think about this a little more and come up with a better way to address his concerns. I guess, part of me does understand …one day we are in the farm Ooohing and aahhing at all the animals and couple of hours later we are enjoying the prime cut of one of them…I wonder if he realizes that the chicken nuggets are made from the same hens we spent so much time looking at the farm the other day.

Its tough being a kid at times..

Weekend Surprises and Time Savers

The ride (bike for Sean and Wagon for Rhea) to the park on saturday mornings has become somewhat of a Saturday morning routine for dad and kids. This past weekend was even more special. I got home from my workout and grocery starving but to my delight I openend the door to the sweet smell of pancakes. Yes, Aji was making pancakes...chop chip ones made in butter for the kids and for us without all the fat (butter and choc). They were so yummy! I'm sure all the calories i burnt hlaf hour ago got right back in my body...but i justified it as calories for the body to recover :) Well, just when i thought it was the best surprise ever...sean came and got me a snmall bouquet of wild flowers. he had picked them on their walk in the trails and told aji -'This is for mama because she loves flowers'..Aww...my sweet baby...he knows what brings a smile on mama's face and so does daddy with the breakfast :) I loved the bouquet..he even picked different color flowers- there was pink and purple and white and lellow (I mean yellow). He was disappointed that the white had wilted soon and promised me to get more next time :)

In other news, we got the kids enrolled in the fitness center on Sunday. We didn't do it until now since Rhea was still so small. Plus we didn't want to put them again in day care after all the time they spend at school/daycare during the week. But the time seemed right and what a great decision. We went as a family on Sunday and it was easier on them even though it was thir first day at the child center since they had each other for company. They promised to call us if the kids were crying or if Rhea had a dirty diaper. None of that happened and after 4.5 years Aji and me worked out together. The last time was when I was expecting Sean - we lived in the apartment then. Seems like ages ago. Aji went 10 minutes before me and picked up the kids. They spent some time in the basket ball court and when i came down Rhea was attempting to pick a ball to do some hoops.She was smiling ear to ear and seemed to have a lot of fun. This is going to be such a huge time saver for us since until now most of our weekend time was spent in both of us taking turns for our workouts...am so glad we went ahead and did this.

New biker in town.

We finally got Sean his bike - his birthday gift 2 months later. Better late tha never I guess. He absolutely loves it and took to it like a pro. It does have the trainer wheels on but he was very good at steering and maneuvering it. He has been riding on the deck making large circles around the furniture and figured out how to break after some initial hiccups.

Last weekend Aji took the kids to the park when I went for my workout and Sean rode the bike. He was mighty proud of himself and so are we. We have to slowly help him to balance without the trainer wheels. I'll post pictures of him on his mean machine soon :) rhea is very excited too about cheta's bike since she gets some time to figure out cheta's tricycle.

You should see the smile on her face when i sit her on it and push her around...PRICELESS

Weekend of Fun

I'm again late on my updates here...the last i was here was right before aji's New York trip ..

Quick Recap - Aji had a great weekend with the guys in New York.We(me and the kids) not to be left behind on fun and frolicking had our own share of adventures..

Saturday after daddy left we lazed around and played a bit, did some errands and after we got back from Target, I inflated the kiddie dinosaur pool we got last summer...Sean was reluctant to get wet but gave it a try after seeing Rhea having fun..


Rhea took to it like a fish...she had so much fun...


Both of them were very tired after the splash in the pool but we went to the park after a quick nap and both of them had fun. They were tired when we got back and after dinner, hit the bed at their usual time.I got comfy on the couch and watched the hindi movie...'Life in a Metro'. I love the songs from that movie - very 'albumy' tunes but it is stuck in my head.

Sunday we went for the 8:45am mass after breakfast and then went to the farm near Rhea's daycare. It was fun..we saw a lot of animals and birds..Horses, Pigs, Sheep,Cows,Hen,Turkeys,Ducks and a Peacock. We even petted the calves and kids (baby goat). I completely forgot to carry the camera with us. Sean was disappointed and made me take some on my cell phone to show daddy.

Funny conversation at the farm - There was a lady riding a horse and Sean saw that and wanted to ride a horse too.I told him that he'll have to take lessons before he can ride a horse on his own. Pat came his question - Can we ride a Cow?

I burst into laughter and he seemed a little offended by my reaction and asked - What's so funny mama?

Needless to say I felt really bad and quickly regained my composure and explained things in a grown up way. I was smiling about his question on the way home...Isn't it amazing how their little minds work?

Both of them took an afternoon nap and daddy came home around 3:00pm. Sean and Rhea had so much to tell. Rhea was babbling of course and sean wanted to make a trip to New York.I was amazed at Rhea's excitement when she saw Aji walk in the door...she ran to him and was stuck to his hip for the next hour or so :)

All in all a good weekend and fun was had by all..