One Size does not fit all

Especially when it comes to raising kids. Prabu and I knew this when we decided to have kids, so this is not some sort of surprise for us but it's interesting to see how different every other day is with V. One day you think you got a nice routine going with him and for him but the next day you know he threw the routine out the window:). It's still all good:). He is teething and getting cranky in the evenings we thought.

Today we realized he is not very happy when Prabu and I go out leaving him with grandma and grandpa. From the first time we started going out leaving him at home we always told him that we were going out and that we would be back in such and such time. Whether, he understood it or not in those early days, we still made it a point to kinda talk to him about it. So even though we are still doing it and now I feel he understands us but he's just getting naughty now:).

I took bunch of his pictures today and the battery died. I will upload them tomorrow. Have to say though, he sooo knows the camera and how to pose:). Nighty night:).

House Hunting - Day 1

"I love that split level home we saw last."
"I like how the laundry room is in the second floor."
"Do you think we can maintain a 4000 Sq.Ft house?"
"You think V would enjoy this kind of pool?"
"I am loving that game room in this model."

aiyayayayaya. Too many choices, too many rooms, too much of everything:). House hunting day 1 was not so bad after all. We actually went to see 4 different builders and their models. They were all nice and unique in their own way and we liked some, disliked some, wanted some. Over all we kinda are getting an idea as to what it is we want and trying to figure out a balance of everything. There's always an in between.

V is teething and he was very cranky in the evening. My cold didn't go away and I have to sneeze in the bathroom because V gets scared every time I sneeze loud:). Poor thing.

We dropped by at Saritha and Somprav's place in the evening and met their cutie pie Siddhi. She wanted to hold V and she was pretending like she was putting moisturizer on him. She was such a doll. They will be done with the move tomorrow. Yayyy! We will have awesome neighbours:).

I heard it flooded again in NJ. How are you guys doing?

I made Spicy Shrimp Curry after we got home. It tasted good and we ate so much that I gotta go sleep before V gets up again. Ciao.

I will see your shirt and raise it by 61.

Yup, that's exactly how many dress shirts Prabu has collected over an year. For some of you it might seem lot less but when it looks like we own a store when you walk into that closet, you know it's too much. I was organizing the closet yesterday in our apartment and wanted to just quickly count and boy was I surprised. There are some unopened ones still in the suitcase. I guess he can not complain anymore about my clothes:)

Apart from counting things:), we also went to Indian grocery store yesterday which was a good 30 minute drive from our place. It's a decent sized store but they split it into video rental/groceries/Indian clothes/chaat place which makes it smaller. I was so psyched to see some fresh curry leaves. Picked up 4 packs because that's all they had. We even had chaat there and as Prabu thought it was "amateurish", to which I have to agree. May be I should tell them to hire me. Oh well!

Here's a picture I took of V yesterday. He loves the camera.



I will do another post about what we did today:).

"I am fineed"

That's what Monica says on Friends when she has a cold and pretends she is "fine" but that word fine never comes out right . She ends up saying, "I am fineeed" like a billion times:). Any who, I have a cold and that's just how I sound right now. I guess I am home sick a little:).

Nothing much going on in here. V doesn't want his bouncer anymore to sleep. He prefers sleeping on his tummy which makes life lot easier for us. I haven't taken many pictures after I came here. I promise to do it today.

Saritha and Somprav are moving to our neighborhood this weekend which is exciting. Now I have someone close by. Now V can play with their duaghter Siddhi. See he's got friends wherever he goes:).

I gotta go see what to make for lunch so I will say bye for now. I will probably come back up tonight with pictures of V. Ciao

Lessons learned while unpacking

- There IS such a thing as too much tape;)

- The brown packing tape is much better than the clear ones.

- Do not over estimate your strength.

- You shouldn't try to finish of everything in one day.

That's enough lessons for now:). V is being good and starting to eat rice cereal. There is this thing that he keeps doing. First we thought he was being silly but now we are wondering what's going on. he keeps smacking his head with his hand. Not sure what's going on.

Here are some things I made last night and today.

Loving this job of

being a stay at home mom/house wife/domestic goddess/home maker blah blah and blah, as of today. I have to say "As of today" because you never know. Prabu might tick me off or V might get cranky tomorrow and I can be thinking damn I wish I could work. However, enjoying every minute that I stay at home now. My days are usually busy with still some stuff to unpack and organizing the rooms and all. Making fresh lunches and dinners which my hubby dear is thoroughly enjoying:).

Prabu and I went to a small Indian grocery store yesterday because I needed me some curry leaves. They didn't have any vegetables what so ever except some sad looking green chillies. Another Indian store is 30 minutes away and since we took V with us, we didn't want to drive too far yesterday. So we stopped at this farmers market to pick up some vegetables. Boy it was good. Their caption says, "fresh produce...silly prices" and they really mean it. I got tomatoes by the vine for $0.77 a pound and I couldn't be happier. V got cranky towards the end so we had quickly rush out before man made a scene in the store:). I might go back again just to enjoy looking at those fresh fruits and veggies:). I am still missing the curry leaves though.

I do not have any latest pictures of V yet but here's one that mom took the day after we landed here.

Organizing - Start young:)

I just wanted to share some thoughts this morning. I was into the toy kitchen and utensils when I was a kid . I would play for hours with those things. The toy fridge, the mixer and what not. I would also spend time trying to fix everything in it's place. I was almost anal about where everything would go:).

So when I am sorting and organizing the kitchen yesterday, I realized I was doing it the way I did as a kid. May be that's where I got my cooking inspiration from too. Why am I telling you all this? It's not so bad to let our kids play with these things . Start them young;). Leela already plays with these things. She calls it "Pretend food". "Would you like some pretend tea with pretend dosas pinni", she asks every time I would go there. You never know how it can help/mold:).

I know what you are thinking. Can you get off the wagon now? I am. Before I sign off here's a quick recipe I made for lunch today.

We are here

We reached late last night to Phoenix. Many of you wondered how V was and how did with him on the flight. He was SO SO SO SO good. How good you may ask? Here is an example: I was waiting with him near baggage claim while mom, dad and Prabu were looking for the suitcases. A lady walks by me and says, "Were you on this plane with this baby?" I said yes thinking, did I forget something. She says, "You have such a good kid. I didn't hear a peep from him. Didn't even realize he was on the plane". I smiled and said thanks:). He really was that good. No crying, no fussing. Mom and I had his ears covered with the infant plugs, made sure he was sucking onto something while take off and landing and he just slept all the way down till we reached home. We came home and he gave Prabu a smile and went back to sleep:)(I had to brag). Saritha sent us awesome food which I ate because it was too good to resist.

Mom and I spent the day getting the kitchen stuff out of the boxes and setting it up. We the took V out for a nice walk. Weather is not bad today. Heard it's going to start getting worse. I still feel like I am here on a vacation and I am leaving for Jersey pretty soon. I keep forgetting that I am here to settle down and I came on a one-way ticket:). We are planning to go house hunting this weekend. Wish us luck:)

I also made quick dinner just because we didn't feel like eating out. V didn't geta hang of the 3 hour time difference yet. Forget the baby, mom, dad and I still didn't get used to it. We had lunch at 10am because we were starving:). I think it will take a day or two.

Now that I am here, I am slowly starting to feel home sick. How do I know? Like this:
"So there are no Wegmans around huh Prabs", " So I have to pay $4 for a pound of lentils. In Jersey we can get it for $2 at the Indian store". "No Halal meat stores around." If I continue like this for couple more days, I have a feeling Prabu is gonna pack me up and send me back. lol.

Before I say goodnight, here is my boy on his first plane ride.

Meet Bhagyalakshmi

In the movie Azhagiya Theeye, the hero who is an aspiring director drives a bicycle. He calls it Bhagyalakshmi:). Let me introduce you to my Bhagyalakshmi.



Bought this baby in 2002. It's been very loyal to me through out my college years and till date. Now I am leaving it here in NJ. Good thing is, I am selling this to one of my uncle. So I can always take it for a drive whenever I come down. I will still miss it though.

Anu and her mom stopped by. In the evening Sania and Her son Ayan ( Mom's neighbors) came to say good bye. Bala, Aunty and Meghana stopped in for a short visit.

Just in case you were wondering what the Scarlet Knights post is all about: Well, I drove around my old campus today and that post was the outcome:).

V started to sit in his bouncer instead of lying down to sleep. So we had to make him sleep on his tummy from today. I see that some one is going to be a handful.

Here are some pictures we took today.

Scarlet Knights.

Rutgers. Livigston. Tillett. Student Center. Cafeteria. Curly Fries. Study Hours. Busch. ARC. Core. Statistics. 'L' Bus. 'A' Bus. Projects. Late Nights. College Ave. Murray Hill. Numerical Analysis. Hinduism. Myladil. River Road. Metlars Lane. Prabu. Dunkin Donuts. Anamika. Stelton Road. DBMS. Jaydeep. Anthropology. Research paper. Botox. Friends. Easton Avenue. Usman. Cedar Lane. Johnsons Park. Grease Trucks. Stuff yer face. TA's. Breakups. Get togethers. Books. Library. New Car. Islam. Data Structure. Silence. Solitude.

See these keys....

They are not ours anymore:(. Dropped them off at the lawyers today . Ok, I am not going into any more details on the house because I already did that. Let's move on. Weather was nice today. Took V out for a drive and we didn't need a blanket today:).


Suitcases have been packed. Aki and Siva are coming down to drive us to the airport on Sunday along with Chaitu. Boy, I hope I can keep my cool on Sunday. If you are in the airport and see someone crying, come and say hi, that would be me probably:).

Met Awesta yesterday for lunch and Avik today for coffee. It was nice to catch up and say good bye.

That's it for tonight. Ciao:).

V and his girlfriends;)

When I told everyone I was expecting a boy, my friend Roy and his wife Mystique were psyched. Now they don't have to worry about whom Mylena ( she just turned 1 recently) is gonna date:). But now V's got too many girlfriends in line;). We met another one of his friend today, Meghana. He had such a great time at Bala and Venkat's house. We took bunch of pictures with the kids and the grandmas. Bala and Venkat made an awesome dinner and I was so full with all the food. Click here for all the pictures we took.
Here's a sneak peak;).


Since he rolled over couple of days ago, now all he wants to do when we put him down is to roll over and smile:).



And he's getting so naughty. When e put him in the bouncer, he starts sitting and leaning forward. This is the start of us constantly keeping an eye on him. Boy oh boy!

Alrighty then.....

I am leaving NJ in 3 days and I am having bouts of sadness, frustration, depression and what not. I sooo wanted to just take the car out and drive around my Livingston campus and college avenue and just go see Rutgers once. I might just do it before Sunday. Then one day when V is old enough, I will bring him down and show where his mommy went to school.

And my buddy Jay is threatening to not come back from his vacation in Germany cause I am moving away from NJ. Dude, come back, we can fly back and forth from AZ to NJ but I don't think we can fly back and forth from Germany to here easily:).

Not to make this post sound too depressing, here is something to look and laugh at. I assure you no one got hurt and everyone's eye vision is good;).

Ok blogger is acting weird and wouldn't let me add the picture directly here. But follow this and have a chuckle.

Leela-isms

Leela-isms are what Leela says. She is here today to take pictures with V in her Chinese outfit. While I was helping her to get into her dress and get her hair done, here's our conversation (before I forget).

Leela: This girl is so beautiful sowju pinni (Showing a girl on the coverpage of Newsweek magazine lying on the floor)

Me: Yeah!

L: I was thinking about Princess Diana last night.

M: yeah. What were you thinking sweetie? ( at this point I was so conerned she's gonna ask me something and I wouldn't know how to answer her)

L: She is the only princess with short hair. I don't know any other princesses with short hair. A girl in my class has short hair.

M: Oh ok.

L: But she is not a princess.

I had to change the topic at this point because I was totally at loss for words and had no clue as to if I should tell her if every girl is a princess in their own way or just say "yeah ok".

Anywhoo, I am just gonna upload couple of shots here that I just took.

I am sad

I know most of you heard about the Virginia Tech shootings. I am just sad. I cannot even imagine how the families are coping up with this. When dad and I first heard this on CNN and they said 1 reported dead, we were hoping that was it. Didn't realize so many lives were taken and so many more affected because of this. Just stinks.

Rollin' Over

V rolled over yesterday. For real this time;). He is been doing it since, as soon as we lay him flat. He is able to get both his hands out and try to swim as well but gets frustrated in that position very soon.



In Telugu tradition we make this sweet called bobbatlu when kids roll over for the first time. Can't wait to make them when we get to Arizona. No point in doing it here without Prabu and Chaitu around:). Tradition reminds me I just realized we didn't have a naming ceremony, barasala or cradle ceremony for V. I am not sure why I didn't think of it(This is what happens when you have to name that kid in the hospital grrrrrr). Well, going forward I will make sure he gets the annaprasana and aksharabhyasam done:).

I couldn't update the blog yesterday as we had issues with the phone and internet because of the bad weather. Now everything is back to normal and all the roads are opened up too.

Prabu left for AZ on Sunday. As I type this, movers reached our apartment in Phoenix and are setting the stuff up. less work for me when I land:).

Here's a picture I took on Sunday before Prabu left.

Me and My Food Channel

They had food tv awards on today. Hour and half show and it was just fluff. They tried tdo it the Oscar awards style I think and I just wasn't feeling anything. Emeril Lagasse was the host and he called on other food network chefs to announce the nominees and the awards. The award was given by . And if you think the awards were for the best chefs and all you are wrong. It was all very weird and silly. One of the categories was "Hot Chocolate". Presented by none other than Rachael Ray and Giada De Laurentiis. 3 different chocolate companies nominated for making the best chocolate. ok...then. Also, the fact that I cannot stand Giada and her 3 mile stretching smile didn't help either. The one good thing about the whole show: Wegmans, my favorite store won the "Supermarket" award:)

Anywho, I forgot to mention something in my last post. On tamil new years day last year, Prabu and I told my in-laws that we were expecting V. I just remembered it and had to share it with y'all;).

Tamil New Year

Yesterday was Tamil New Year's Day.
We had lunch at Nicholas Court with the family and dinner at Aki and Siva's place. We ate too much:)(as usual).

V is now 5 months old and also started on solid foods yesterday. It will take him some more time to get used to the taste I think. Here's me and my man in traditional outfits:).



Click here to see the pictures.

It's been raining hard since last night. Prabu's flight tonight is already delayed by 2 hours.

A visit to the Doctor's

V got second set of shots today. It went fine. Dr. Misra said he is doing good regarding his weight and height. We got pictures of V with Mary and Dr. Manju Misra.




V was screaming his head off when put on the weighing station. It was so funny. He kept on rambling:). We are starting V on solids tomorrow. Nothing grand. Just rice cereal:). Tomorrow is also Tamil New Year and V turns 5 months.

This is V on the weighing scale:)



We stopped by in the evening to say our good byes to Bala, Venkat, Meghana and Swarupa, Rahul and Anika. It's nice to visit friends and talk but hard when it comes to the "bye" part. I know, I know, we are not moving to the other side of the earth but still.......

Let me just say good night with a phunny phicture;). Here is my man going, "Can you please not take one more picture?"

"V is cute but dang, it's a lot of work raising kids"

See that title of this post. My sweet cousin said that to me when I met her couple of weeks ago( Hi Swethu;)). I gotta agree with her 100%. V is a cutie and he does make all of us smile but boy is he on a roll now a days. He is refusing to be fed by bottle. What did we learn in the last 2 weeks?

- You do not have to buy 6 different bottles to see if it's the bottle he is not liking.

- It has nothing to do with the nipple color of the bottle because brown nipples aren't his favorite either.

- You do not have to try 3 different formulas wondering if it's the formula that's the issue.

-He was born with a personality of his own.

Tomorrow is his doctor's appointment. Hopefully I will get some answers from her as to what else we can do.

Dad landed on the 10th. He had a great time in India meeting all his sisters and brothers and cousins. V was all smiles when he saw him.


See that's the thing. Raising kids is a lot of work and consists of re-arranging your priorities and sacrifices and blah and blah but it just seems worth it at the end. Rambling over. You can all move with your regularly scheduled programs:).

Relaxing

That's what I did today. Cleaners came in in the morning and got the house cleaned and ready for the walk through this saturday. We just hung out today at mom's and didn't do much and had an awesome dinner at Rajesh and Priya's place.

We are trying to get V used to a pacifier. I did not want to use a pacifier. However, he started sucking his thumb and we decided if he uses the paci because then we can get rid of the habit fast (you know with those stories, "oops we lost it" and "oops the dog ate it" kinds). Also, It might be helpful in the 5 hour flight journey to Arizona. We started it last week but he didn't know how to keep it in. he kept spitting it out. Finally he figured it a little yesterday.



V also started getting cranky in the middle of the night. He gets up at 2am crying which lasts like 2 minutes and immediately goes back to sleep. I guess till now we have had good nights sleep with him so he's trying to prove otherwise:). He still is a good boy overall but he does act out once in a while:).

Empty House Full of Memories

All the things have been moved today. Movers came in at 9am and they were gone by 1pm. Very efficient and very fast and great service. There were 5 of them: Joleen, Josh, Mat, Abdul and Will. Joleen took the inventory while the rest of the guys got stuff out of the house and into the truck. Joleen gave us a peek into the front of the truck which had a queen size bed, kitchen, sink and a shower. It was cool:)

After they left, mom, Prabu, V and I came to Chaitu's house and relaxed for a while. Prabu and I went back to do final clean up. It was kinda bitter sweet for us to stand in the master bedroom and look around. 3 years ago we stood in the same room after we got the keys to the house and were so giddy with excitement. That house was a gift to ourselves for our one year anniversary. Well, we are off to make new memories in a new place.

Here are some fun pictures I took today.

Birthday Dinner

We went to Mie Thai near our house for a birthday dinner for both Attayya and Gautham. Attayya's was on the 6th and Gautham's on the 4th.

It was great. Had too much fun:) and food was good. I am going to post few pictures and run as we have to get some sleep before the movers show up tomorrow.

Packing - Part Four

Chaitu and Prabu came in this morning, talked out loud about packing, did some stuff here and there and finally this is what they have to say:
"Men are wiser. Men get things done better than women. Men are smart. .....", you get the point.Prabu claims he didn't say any of this and it's all Chaitu who said it and Chaitu says he is not afraid to tell the truth. Blah:). I knew these 2 were going to say/do these things:). They did finishing touches in the garage, basement and all the miscellaneous stuff. Right now they are out to get more boxes, so figured I will use this opportunity to biyaach about them:).

V was so excited to see his Appa and Mama. He showed them how he eats a banana( not the whole thing silly). We haven't started him on solids yet but mom gives him a tiny softened piece in the evening when he gets up from his nap. In the beginning he would spit it out but today he took it in and actually wanted to just lick the whole thing:).

Lata, Uday, Anant, Aman along with their aunt stopped by in the evening. It was very nice to see them after a long time. We are going to miss so many good friends. I know it's not like I am moving to the other end of the planet but still feels like it. V got goodies from them which he really appreciates:).

I took pictures today but didn't get a chance to upload them yet. Once done I will post new pictures. Till then enjoy this one:)

Early Morning Musings

Well not really early. It's quarter to 10 in the morning and Chaitu went to the airport to pick up Prabu. V is taking his morning nap so thought I would write before we get busy with all the packing. Cannot believe the house is going to be empty in 48 hours. I already took some pictures of the packing and planning to take more pictures of the house and the movers and the moving truck and all on monday. I already decided I will be making a mini album which will be in th shape of a house.

I am sitting here looking at V smile and laugh in his sleep. I am guessing he is having good dreams. Sometimes, I just cannot believe he is my baby and he is growing so fast:). I don't want the time to stop though, I am very excited about what's yet in store for me and Prabu. It's going to be a fun ride with teenage tantrums, adult conversations and some funky "shtuff" in the between years.

I got couple of emails asking what the heck orkut is all about. Simply put, it's a myspace for desi people. It's a platform for friends to leave each other scraps and find your old friends. I just received an email today from an old friend whom I used to fight with a lot in school. Fun days:).

If you don't hear from me this weekend on the blog, come back on Monday. I will probably be updating that night. Weekend is going to be spent packing rest of the stuff, moving to Chaitu's place and hopefully tomorrow dinner outside. Which reminds me, I have to go call Attayya and ask her to pick a place:). Ciao.

Boys are coming home

Chaitu is landing tonight and Prabu is coming tomorrow morning. Will get them to start working as soon as they come:). Gotta take revenge now. Come on:)

Today is Lakshmi Attayya's Birthday:). We are all planning to go out for dinner this sunday to celebrate her's and G's birthdays.

I prepared Vegetable Biriyani and Kheema Khichdi. Figured, we would be busy cleaning, packing, sorting stuff tomorrow and day after befor ethe movers arrive on monday, better to keep some food ready. Also, my boys love home cooked food. Chaitu comes home wanting vegetarian dishes because all he eats is meat when he is on his business trips and Prabu loves some food cooked by his lovely wifey ( A.K.A me, just in case you are wondering).

Before I sign off, here's a picture of V I took this morning when he was sleeping in his crib.

I Cry Over Spilt Milk.

Madhu bought this shirt for V.

Farewell lunch

I met colleagues from my last job for lunch today. It was me, Awesta, Amy, Arooj, Domenick, Jane, Joel, Lisa, Rita, Sherryl and Sue. Great farewell lunch:).

As soon as we were heading out, Jane got a call from her husband giving her a heads up about a robbery attempt that happened in a bank we were close to and that an FBI agent was shot. As soon as I came home, the news was confirmed. The officer is dead. Makes me really sad to hear this news. How horrible for his family:((.

At the exciting news front, I met one more of my classmates from my high school in India through orkut.com. That website introduced me so far to 6 of my classmates. We lost touch after high school with everyone going on to different colleges and me flying to NJ:). It's nice to see most of them in US. Hopefully, I get to meet some of them in person soon:).

We had guests visit us today.Lakshmi and her husband along with their daughters Akhila, Amala and Amulya stopped by to see Vikram. She was our neighbor when we were living in Easton Avenue apartment. Mom's good friend:).

V was a very good baby smiling at them, talking to them in his language and all. He hasn't rolled over yet but wants to just get up from his bouncer when we put him down for a nap. Mom says may be he will just start sitting and walking first before rolling over. haha! Good one mom:).

Oh! gotta share this with you all. I came back from lunch and wanted a coffee reallll bad. Had the coffee ready and just had to add milk and sugar, which I did. Took a big sip of this hot steaming coffee and....yuck...yuck, I mixed salt instead of sugar. Do not ask me how I managed to do that. I just did.

I didn't get a chance to upload the pictures we took today so I will just post a favorite of mine and say good night to y'all;)

Lunch at Karras:)

Mom and me took V to Madhu and Rajan's today for lunch. Leela akka had a welcome banner for V.

Dodda made an awesome lunch and we watched Madhu and Rajan's wedding video. I cannot believe it's been 9 years since they got married. V had a good time playing with his Leela akka.

I sit down thinking, I want to share so much today but by the time I start writing everything escapes me. Before I forget, I want to wish G a very Happy Birthday:).

Here are some of the pictures from today.

$5 to whoever comes up with a decent title;)

V is getting big and naughty by the day:). He new responds when you call him by his name. He loves sucking his fingers and putting his toes in the mouth. Last night I woke up to some weird noise. I turned the light on in the room to find out that V was happily sucking his fingers in sleep and making slurpy noises. It was too darn cute and funny. He also learned to throw the mittens far way. Before you would find them in his bouncer but now you have to search for it. Sneaky brat I tell ya:).

Except stuff in the kitchen packing is complete. We packed 29 boxes so far:). Go team Yinti:). Tomorrow, we are going to visit L&L(Lakshmi dodda and Leela)for lunch. Iam slowly getting the "I-can't-believe-I-am-leaving-NJ" blues:)

Packing - Part Three

We are done packing all the rooms except kitchen and storage unit of the basement. Go US:). What did I learn from this whole thing? I need to do spring cleaning every year and also do the Deepavali clean up which means going through the stuff once in a while and throw the unnecessary and unwanted things. If I haven't used something in 6 months, then I won't be using it in the next 6 months. Lovely to read and listen to but hard to follow.

And.... It's a girl for Partha and Mou. They found out today. Can't wait to meet the little one in August. V's getting too many girlfriends in line;)

Jay stopped by today to see us. V was very excited to see Jay mama. He is recognizing people and smiles at everyone. He is also starting to play with the gift he got from Show-may. Here's a picture of him with the play and learn.



He is also sucking his fingers and grinding his teeth er.... gums:). And if you try to pet him by touching his cheek, he grabs it and tries to eat it:). Want proof?

Another Weekend:)

Partha and Mou stopped by last night to see Vikram and us, since Mou is also leaving for India next week to finish her PG. She will be back in May as Dr. Mou Sarkar. Cool eh! They will find out tomorrow if they are having a boy or girl. Very exciting.

Garage and second floor packing is done. Mom and I are treating ourselves for dinner. Any ideas as to what we should takeout?

V helped us pack. Here is how he did it. He loved playing in that clothes mound:).


While we were packing I heard my door bell ring and guess who it was. Members of the township council asking to sign apetetion to Recall Ms. Ritchie, a member who is not doing her job right. After I spoke to them and all they left saying "Namaste". I thought it was hilarious. They reminded me of the politicians in India who would come to our house asking for votes and say all nice things to impress us. Oh well he tried!

Mom and I also watched SeethaRama Kalyanam which was made in 1961. It was really fun to watch because mom kept questioning the epic Ramayana. I will give you a snippet. Gauthama Muni's wife is Ahalya. Lord Indra, king of heaven disguises himself as Gautama Muni and sleeps with Ahalya. Mr. G Muni finds out and curses both Indra and Ahalya. He curses Ahalya saying, "You will become a stone form today on". She is relived from her curse when Lord Rama touches that stone. There are different versions but that's the gist. As soon as mom saw that she goes, "Lovely. Indra is the one who came disguised as her husband. How is she supposed to find out? Why is she being cursed?". Go Mom:). It's not like she didn't know this story before. She did but I guess now she started questioning it.

V is getting very good at removing his mittens and hiding them under his arms or under his legs. He doesn't like socks or blankets either. He started laughing really loud which made Amma ( Prabu's mom) very happy because she could hear him now on the phone. We cannot now cover V with ablanket without us being around or tucking it real tight under his hands. Wanna know why?