My children ....updated

Neev is almost 18 months old now and Avi will be 4 years old in couple of months. I can't help myself gushing over the moments when they are playing together. There are times when I hide behind the door to catch them pouring affection on each other . These are the moments when I usually have my hands on my lips and my heart going.....o....o......h ! Its adorable how Avi is willing to share his lovies (his blanket and little lamb) with Neev first thing in the morning. He would come to my bed and we would sing our good morning song. He would attempt to snuggle with Neev which usually would result in Neev resisting and at some point end in banging his head with some body part of Avi. Yep, its not always hunky dory but nonetheless, its precious in its own way. Sometimes they would fight for the same toy and for my attention at the same time but it is still fun to see the dynamics. If I try to discipline Neev, Avi would be like 'Mommy please don't talk to him in that tone, he is just a baby'. And the next moment I would overhear from kitchen that Avi is totally bossing Neev and saying the same things to him that he requested me not to say to his brother. 

Neev is this adorable toddler who has a mind of his own . When we go out for walks, you can't make this little man go your way unless you want to pick him up. He wants to play 'follow the leader' with his never ending turn of being the leader. We have tried saying 'bye bye' to him thinking he would turn and follow us. We have tried hiding (and still be able to see him from a spot) and waiting if he turns back . Oh yes....he does turn back, scans and fearlessly marches on his way - without caring if we are there or not. If he spots us, he would make this gesture with his hands which says 'come on you guys'. He also loves to listen to songs and excitedly joins us by saying 'pop' in 'pop goes the weasel' and 'down' in 'the grand old duke of york'.  His favorite place in the house is the bathroom. Nobody can use the bathroom without having to hear  his 'knock knock' on the door. I have figured out that if you hand him a sheet of toilet paper in the beginning, he would let you go in there for 2 minutes which he spends walking in the rest of the house and tearing it before coming back to the bathroom door to say 'knock knock'again. Its an absolute delight to watch him run, bending over, pulling the magnets off the fridge, dumping the boxes out of my kitchen drawer and to be with his 'bhai'. That's right, he calls Avi "bhai' and its his favorite word. He gets so excited to see Avi when we pick him up from the preschool. Yes, he blows him kisses but also smacks him on his head sometimes (we are working on the 'gentle touch').

Avi is 46 inches tall and Anurag thinks he would be reaching my height VERY SOON. He is enjoying his preschool and last week in parent-teacher meeting we were told that he is doing great. He can count up to 23 objects correctly and loves to talk. His favorite time is when Michael (guitarist) comes and plays for them. His favorite song currently is 'the grand old duke of york'. Its hilarious how he sings it without missing a beat or a word. Last week we were told by Avi's teacher what he said to her, 'Barack Obama is our president now and when I am 100 years old , I am going to write him a letter and invite him over to my house'.  She thought it was really funny. It is, and no surprise to me because when we go grocery shopping, he is always pointing to magazines on the checkout counter saying, 'look Mom, there is Barack Obama - our president. I want to call him and meet him". Sure dude, even I do !

His love for reading continues and his imagination can take him anywhere from caves of Oklahoma with bats and spiders and to outer space in his rocket ship where 'he' is an alien. Sometimes he is a superhero and rescuing people and sometimes a robot. His favorite color to draw is black and his interpretation of abstract art is usually airplanes, rockets, storms and caves. 

I've been missing our family in India a lot and I know they miss us too. This piece is specially for them to get an idea of what Avi and Neev are doing right now. Love to everyone !

San Diego Zoo

Its November but no sign of winter here.  We visited San Diego Zoo last weekend. We all enjoyed it, specially riding the zoo fary and the bus tour. They had the largest reptile collection that I have seen so far and believe me , I've been to a lot of zoo (s). I've always been very afraid of snakes but at the same time they have not ceased to fascinate me. The setting of looking at them up close behind the glass window is perfect for someone like me. We saw some rare species of rattlesnakes of which a white one was just unbelievably captivating. It was about 4 feet long, pretty thick and had white beaded skin. I am not the one to call snakes 'pretty' but this one actually came close. It stood totally different from others - graceful. Anurag and Avi had witnessed a very active King Cobra who according to them put a show in tandem with his reputation of being ferocious and deadly. Quite apparently this guy was not very happy either being caged or having too many pairs of eyes prying and was moving a lot, standing up and showing off his fangs and tongue. 

We also enjoyed watching Koalas tugged to the trees. We learnt that not many zoos have them and San Diego has a climate for growing the only food they eat - eucalyptus. Its a huge zoo and there is no way a family with kids can cover it in one day so we'll go there again........soon.

Pop goes the weasel

We call Neev our little parrot since he loves to mimic all sounds and words he hears from us. He calls Avi 'Bhai' or 'dada' , calls me 'Mimi' and Anurag 'Da...ddy'. For a last couple of days when we sing 'all aorund the cobbler's bench.........', he gets excited when the word 'pop' is about to come and joins us to shout 'pop'. It just cracks us all up.

Nicknames given to Neev by his big brother are 'Neevo', 'Neevi', 'googli eyes' and 'bottomi' (during diaper changes and after shower moments). It's hard to explain the joy seeing them interact. Avi lets Neev pull his hair but does not like getting disturbed during his TV time.  Neev loves to have Avi put his head in lap and tickle him. 

This is just so I don't forget all these little things....

October action summed up...

I posted so little in October it may give an idea that nothing much happened. Actually it was a month full of crazy, busy , action . Trips between theater, playground, preschool, playball , not to mention costumes and  Halloween parties. Avi decided to be Pirate this year . Neev dressed as Pumpkin for one party and as lion for another. He looked so cute in the lion costume , friends joked that this lion wanted to be eaten . Last week we went to Boo Bash to University Park where Avi loved to throw the spiders in their webs and catching fish in the net. 

Week before that visits to Strawberry farm and pumpkin patch were very enjoyable . Avi got to ride the pony and Neev loved to roll in hay. Day before Halloween we carved a pumpkin and I was pretty happy with the outcome, this being my first carving project and all. It made a cute and pleasant looking jack-o-lantern.  Finally Halloween, trick or treat and a great 'After Halloween Party' at my friend Tina's haunted house. She did some serious decorations in her house and Avi was not one bit scared or overwhelmed with all grown ups in costumes. He in fact loved trailing the pretend cockroaches and mice Tina had put everywhere against the walls. Her jell-o dessert was yummy , only in shape of a skeleton hand and smashed brain, yep .....brain. It did not stop the guests hacking into them or enjoying the 'pusballs' she named her cream puffs. 

We celebrated Diwali at home and I was very proud of myself for arranging 'all' the items necessary to perform 'pooja', including holy water from Ganges. Avi loves doing 'aarti' and can sing along a lil bit. Later that week we celebrated again with a bunch of friends and potluck dinner. 'Bhagwan Ji' brought Avi a remote control car and 'Batman with missile launcher' for being a 'good boy' this year and he was thrilled. Now he wants Diwali everyday :)

Last week we also went to 'Wild Animal Park' in San Diego and loved it. This was our first long day trip in a long time and we learnt that single stroller would not do for any trip requiring to be out for more than 3 hrs. 

For November I hope to record my life more frequently as it happens.