Christmas 2010

We had a super Christmas and we got to share it with appapa and ammama and over the internets with gampa, gama, ajujus and Tan-Tan.
(embedded slideshow)

"Play with me, Appapa"

The constant refrain in our house for the last five weeks has been that one line. Thankfully, Appapa has lots of patience and has taken a keen, personal interest in the cast of "Cars".

Today the grandparents left for CA and will be headed to India in couple of weeks.

We're all going to miss them. A lot. Mika thinks that any trick she performs or kiss she dispenses has to be shared with a minimum of four adults. Ranjit is going to miss full-fledged Indian meals. Susan is going to miss acting irresponsibly and having the laundry, cooking and babysitting taken care of. Boo hoo :( :(

The last ten days or so have choc-a-block with Christmasy fun. We went to an amazing Radio City Rockettes show on Christmas Eve, followed by the evening service at church where Ranjit played drums. A yum Prime Rib dinner with the Bhaskers, the lights at PIR, Christmas play at church, frenzied malls and Santa sightings... that was essentially what the rest of our Christmas season looked like. And, oh, thanks to the parents, the huberoo and I got to go on several dates.

(embedded slideshows)

Christmas Party

Last weekend we had our "annual" Christmas Party at home.  The last couple years we've been in India and haven't had it, so this was the first one since the munchkins arrived on the scene.  Santa made his customary appearance, and while there was much anticipation in the air prior to his arrival, not all kids ran to his open arms when he actually showed up.  Mika was generally ambivalent about him, quite content to watch the proceedings from a distance.  Yo, on the other hand, clung tight to the nearest adult, and even did not want to go receive the gift he had been asking for for months.

(embedded slideshow and video)

When he finally opened his gift (Cars DVD), he was just thrilled to bits. He sat down and watched the entire movie that evening; didn't care that there was a party going on.

Mount Hood Vacation

Couple weeks ago, we met up with the Rasams (Ramya and Sam) and the Sidhus (Sid and Ritu) and the kids for a mini vacation at Mount Hood.

An unbelievable amount of prep work (we're talking hats, gloves, snow shoes, winter coats, thermals, snowsuits) went into getting the munchkins, their parents and the grandparents all set for their winter adventure. But it was worth it.

True to our Indian roots, the vacation revolved around food. Every meal was a gigantic spread. The girls gabbed, the kids played and threw tantrums, the guys played pool and all of us ate. A lot.

(embedded slideshow and video)

Christmas tree decor

One evening during the week of Thanksgiving we put up the Christmas tree, with everyone (including the munchkins) participating and adding their special touch.

(embedded slideshow)

Mika around the house

Mom's having much better luck with getting her to help around the house than with big bro.  She's also pretty good at picking up bro's numerous cars and putting them back; he, not so much.

And as of this afternoon, her first magic show!

Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving at Bhasker mama and Shanda aunty's place.  Prakash and Sandhya were home from college, and as I was just looking through our pics I found these two -  FCORs exactly 18 17 years apart.

 

Quite cool :)  (Update: I was just informed that these pics did not happen by co-incidence; Susan "arranged" for it).

The turkey was heavier than Mika for the second year in a row; hopefully next year she'll have it beat. Shanda aunty made quite the sumptuous dinner, and we were all stuffed (no pun intended) at the end of the evening.

  

CA Photo shoot

With the grandparents and cousins in CA.

Cars!

The boy has such fascination with McQueen and gang, without even watching the movie. McQueen and Mac need to "watch" him by the side of his bed every night. We even have back-up McQueens stashed in case of emergency.

Mika on demand

Malaika's vocabulary has been growing rather rapidly over the last month or so, and she's able to understand a whole lot more now.  Whatever older brother does needs to be repeated, and older brother loves to repeat what she does too. It's quite the circus.

(embedded videos)

Dance Dance Revolution

Who needs a Wii?

(embedded video)

Snow!

The first snow of the season, from earlier this week.  Was also the first time appa and amma experienced snow falling.

 

Fall

From around the neighborhood...

 

 

(embedded video)

Chatting with the local repair-man

A few weeks ago some folks came to do a little maintenance on our roof.  Of course Yo had to inquire as to why people had to go up on our roof, and what they were doing.  Fast-forward to a few weeks later; Handy Manny makes an appearance, peers up at the ceiling, and describes what he's up to.

Boys and their toys

Why yes, they are arranged by category.  Why do you ask?

Recent Yohan-isms

Ammama to Yohan: Dada plays drums, what does mamma play?
Yohan, without missing a beat and completely poker faced: "The saxophone"

===

At church, during the service Yohan is playing with spider man in the pews. To the world at large he asks the profound question: "Where's his bum?"

===

"Mika can talk now, mamma. She have teeth."

===

At pre-school, Teacher Martha asks him what his favorite Thanksgiving dish is. His response? "Oranges."

===

The young man goes to wash his hands in the bathroom. He closes the door behind him and we hear him say: "I want some privacy"

===

Circus tricks

I have a feeling the grandparents are not going to be too amused with this; Mika seems to enjoy it though :)

Kids and Chaos in California

It's been a week since our trip to CA to see our new baby cousin Jonathan and generally chill with family. Ummm... did I say chill?? What was I thinking? It's taken me a week to recover from the week of three hyper boys and their toys, one sweet newborn who screamed bloody murder at times and one wobbler girl who wanted to participate in the chaos while clinging to mama the whole time.

At the end of the day the kids had an awesome time and were spoiled with all the attention from appapa and ammama. Yohan was a high of being on a 24x7 playdate and Malaika, the only girl, basked in the limelight and love from her aunt, uncle, grandparents and cousins.

This was my first time alone with the kids on a flight, albeit a 1.5 hour trip. We had a few tears and threats and some pleading but overall things were okay and no one threw up.

Mamma had people-withdawal symtoms on her return but the handsome husband and the beautiful Fall colours have cheered her up considerably.

(embedded slideshow and video)

Cousins

The kids just got back from spending a week with the cousins' in CA, and they seem to have grown up even in that one week.  Mika is strutting around saying 'no' and then grinning widely. And Yo has replaced his 'no's with a care-free 'uh-uh'.

When we finished praying before bed-time, Yo suddenly said "now it's my turn", and quickly started praying for:
- my cousins,
- the birds
- the toucan, and
- the people working in the store.
The 'cousins' part we get, but the significance of the others is yet to be determined.

Pumpkin Picking

'Tis the season of pumpkins, and the kids got to visit a couple pumpkin patches so far.  The first one was to a nearby farm with friends from church.  The second one was Yo's first field trip from his pre-school!  He also decorated a couple pumpkins with mamma, which are now sitting on our front steps.

(embedded slideshow and videos)

Kruger Farms:

Plumper Pumpkin Patch (pre-school field trip):

Photo-shoot

A couple weeks ago we did a short photo shoot at a local restaurant to see if we could get some nice pics of the kiddos.  Getting two kids to sit still for a second - at the same time - is no small feat.

(embedded slideshow)

Sidewalk artists

Mamma took the kids out one sunny afternoon to add some color to our sidewalk.

 

(embedded video)

Of handbags and dining habits

(embedded videos)

Our little lady somehow intuitively knew what to do with a "handbag", putting it over her shoulder and toddling around!

On a totally different subject, turns out Mika is a rather selective diner, to put it mildly.  Most food is only nibbled at, and mamma goes to all sorts of lengths to cook up items that our connoisseur might accept.  Here is one such episode.

Best friends

Some of the time, anyway :)

 

Cycling down the waterfront

About a month ago we rented a "cycle-like" vehicle down by the waterfront, and went for a spin.  Was quite a nice day out, and we even got to see a street band during our tour-de-river.

 

 

Miss Bugs Bunny

Kid Speak

Both kids have been taking giant leaps in the talking department.

Malaika has been surpising us with how much she understands and is saying the first syllable of many words.

So far:

Dada = dada
Mama = Mama
Nana = Anna
Nana = Banana
Baw = Ball
Boo = Book
Ha = Hat
Ish = Fish
Ush = Brush

And many more... Most mornings, when we're getting ready for the day, she is quite insistent that we "ush th" (Brush teeth) and she has her very own pink toothbrush for her three teeth!

Yo, the man, is almost getting to the stage where he stumps mama with his questions. Couple days ago he asked me if peacocks can fly and if the sun (which is round) can bounce. I have to admit I was caught offguard by the peacock question, mumbled through an answer and made a mental note to further research the topic online.

Jammies + Pre-school

Yo was quite thrilled with the jammies that Ammama made for him.

This week Yo was featured quite prominently on his pre-school noticeboard: one in a collage from the 1st day of school, and the other was his first "homework".  Proud dada had to stop and take some pictures.

 

Tea Party

Mamma and the kids had a tea party at home the other day... one of many activities conjured up to keep the children entertained.

(embedded video)

Playing soon at a city near you

The boy seems to have picked up something very rock-star-like.  We're not sure at all where he "learnt" all this stuff - certainly not from his parents, and as far as we know he hasn't been flipping the channel to MTV instead of Barney.

Fifth Anniversary at Sunriver

Five years and counting. Lots to thank God for. We decided to celebrate with a little weekend getaway to Sunriver, four hours from home. Naiively, we believed that kids and getaway could be combined under one agenda. Yeah, right.

About twenty minutes into the trip, Yo threw up all over the place and there started the derailing of plans. About an hour later - post cleaning, purchase of disinfectant wipes and more cleaning - we were back on the road. Windy roads and whiny kids don't make for good travel. Mamma sat in the back and fed Mika tidbits to keep her happy. That worked till she threw up. Anyways, long story short, we arrived at Sunriver six hours later in the middle of what appeared to be a tropical thunder storm.

The rain didn't quite stop. But thanks to a super room with a gas fireplace, flat-screen TVs and a rustic setting, not to mention cute kids, we had a great vacation and an uneventful trip back home.

(embedded slideshow)

Another Yo-ism

We got the kids a play kitchen yesterday, which talks a little bit too.

Kitchen: "Hi! Let's get cooking!"
Yo, looking up anxiously when he heard that: "Dada, we not get cooked."

First Day Jitters

Yohan's in pre-school! Today was day 1. Mamma and son trooped off to a nearby preschool at 8:45 am, with diapers, sippy cup and a change of clothes. Both child and parent were having first day jitters. As soon as we drove into the parking lot, Yohan started whining and when we walked into the quiet classroom he burst into tears. Thankfully, Fiji the class fish distracted the little guy. Dada was holding fort at home with Mika, so mamma couldn't stay for too long and there was a quick farewell which involved more tears and the hand-off to Teacher Martha. Thankfully (totally a God thing) he calmed down in less than five seconds and I could hear him talking to his teacher quite happily while I eavesdropped in the corridor. It felt weird driving off - first time I wouldn't be in the same building while he was in a child-care situation.

Two hours later, I was second in a line of anxious parents of pre-schoolers peeking through the window, waiting for their offspring. He was grinning while they sang "Five Little Monkeys". Awesome!

It's only going to be one day a week for 2.5 hours, but our little chap is growing up. Time for mommy to whine!

(embedded slideshow)

Random kiddo stuff

(embedded videos)

Malaika's slowing starting to figure out things like 'nose', 'fingers', 'toes', etc - but only when she's in the mood.

From the mouth of babes

Mamma to dada, in the middle of a conversation:
    ... "You are the leader of the family"
Yo to mamma (regardless of whatever else he's doing, any other conversations are always being eavesdropped on):
    "He's not a leader, mamma.  He's a... coconut."

Cast:off

Yep, 'hooray' certainly captures it well :) Yo's cast was taken off yesterday, but it will be about 2 weeks before he will regain full functionality of that arm.  He still can't stretch it out fully, and even with the cast off is very careful about how he uses it.

Unfortunately when the cast was removed we found a severe case of rash on his arm all along the length of the cast.  The poor chap was not at all happy with that, and we've been trying to dose it with cream to help a bit.  To add to it he fell sick over the weekend with a cold/cough/fever that also resulted in a rash on the back of his neck/ears/cheeks.  Hoping and praying all this clears up soon and the little guy gets back to normal.

All dressed up

Raji aunty and Chetan uncle brought back a very cute outfit for Mika from the motherland, and mamma couldn't wait to try it out on her doll.

And of course, our inquisitive friend had to be added to the mix as well.  Btw, he apparently wants to be a clown when he grows up, and it seems he's headed in the right direction.

Susan also picked up another outfit from the last trip back home, and since we were in dress-up mode, that was tried on as well.  Mika certainly didn't seem to mind all this attention.

 

Dessert

Mamma made some nutella brownies this evening, and the boy ended up with a treat for dessert - licking off the mixing spoon.

First steps!

The little lady started taking her first steps over the last couple days!

Who likes chocolate cake?

We found out this past weekend that Mika certainly does. Both during the mini-cake-cutting on her birthday as well as during her party she thulped in no uncertain terms mamma's chocolate cake, and has been making it quite clear that more of the same is highly desired.

Also putting up a video of some of her antics in August.

(embedded videos)

Mika turns one!

Our little ladybug crossed the one-year milestone this past weekend - time sure does fly! She started out on this journey as a mellow, mostly peaceful and content baby, and we couldn't believe how lucky we were.  Somewhere along the way, though, she found her lung-power; and just maybe that transition had something to do with bro Yo and his incessant need to see just how much poking she'd take :)

All jokes aside, she's turning out to be quite the sweetheart - her smile has the ability to completely melt away the cares of the day.  She's slowly figuring out the walking thing, and can just about take one step now before she topples over.  Won't be long before we'll be running after two munchkins now.  A couple teeth are about ready to pop from both the top and the bottom, and they won't be a moment too soon - she's about had it with non-solids.  And it's very cool to see things clicking for her - from the way she's starting to pick up on cues from mamma/dada to the evasive action that is quickly employed when bro is about to pursue the aforementioned poke-prod strategy.

 

(embedded slideshow and video)

Cast: on

We took Yo to see a pediatric orthopedist yesterday, and at the end of the 3 hour visit, he walked out sporting a bright green cast on his left arm, from shoulder to fingers.  Turns out he had broken his upper arm just above the elbow, and needs to be in a cast for about 4 weeks.  He was rather cheerful through the cast process, thankfully.  So far he hasn't complained about it, and has been really good about the whole thing.

 

First Family Vacation!

Last week (before the acrobatic stunt by Yohan from the next post), the Narjalas trooped off to Newport for our first family vacation. Ranjit took half day off work and we headed on what was to be a 2.5 hour car ride down to the coast. Several traffic jams and a few hours later, we arrived at the parking lot of Elizabeth Inn, our home for the weekend. Although we are smack in the middle of summer, it was chilly, windy and we thought, "Oh no!" But we had a fun weekend of chilling on the beach, eating lots of good seafood (one of the pleasures that dada passes on), an aquarium visit, a trip to the avaiation museum, all while fitting in naps and feeds and diaper changes for two.

(embedded slideshow and videos)

It's begun

Yo's averaging a once-per-year visit to Urgent Care already - and both incidents were staircase-related.   We had figured it would take awhile for broken bones and Urgent Care visits to make an appearance, but he's apparently getting started early.  He took a tumble down a flight of stairs on Thu, while trying to combine descending with holding on to his ride-along car.  The poor fellow has fractured his elbow, and has a splint on now.  We'll need to go to the pediatric orthopedist on Mon to get the actual cast.  He seems ok for the most part, except that he doesn't want the sling on at all, and wants the splint removed. He's certainly been a trooper through it all so far, and we hope and pray he'll heal really soon.

Almost one!

In a little more than 2 weeks Malaika turns one!  This year has really flown by.  Malaika's slowly learning how to walk, and can stand by herself for a few seconds as long as she doesn't think about it.  She certainly knows how to complain (loudly) when her bro isn't quite behaving in a gentlemanly fashion, but other than that generally seems to be the quiet, contemplative sort.  When both are in a good mood, they play together pretty well.  A good 8 hour stretch at night still eludes her, but for that matter it still eludes her brother too.  One of these days Susan and I hope to partake of the mythical 8 hour stretch as well.

 

 

(embedded videos)