Fall to Winter

Yes, I know. I have been MIA on the blog, AGAIN. Time seems to go by to quickly -- first it was Halloween, then Paras' birthday, then Thanksgiving, and now we're already barreling towards Christmas. So let me go in that order, and see if I can get caught up.

October was a busy month for me, as I was traveling a lot for recruiting season for work. I did find time to get the kids' Halloween costumes in advance: I learned my lesson from two years ago, when I tried to make a no-sew skunk costume for Paras. For one thing, just getting all of the materials for the costume cost $30, and then all of his skunk fur (which had been glued on using fabric glue) started to peel off by the end of the night, leaving Paras just wearing a black sweatsuit with a hood and making him look like a burglar, rather than a skunk.

So this year I got smart and went to Old Navy and bought $18 costumes for the kids. Paras kept insisting that he wanted to be a pink butterfly. I suggested dragon. We compromised on yellow bumblebee -- and Sahana was the dragon. Here is a little clip of the two of them on Halloween night, with me very annoyed because I couldn't get a good still photo (and if the sound is unclear, Paras is running around yelling "I stinged you!" as he pushes his butt against everything in sight):



Andy also made a very nice pumpkin, Eastern style:



After Halloween things calmed down a bit both on the work front and at home. I had to travel again to DC, for a reason that I won't write on this blog since it is accessible to the public and right now I want to keep it under wraps. I celebrated my birthday down there, and the best present was when my friend Cristina emailed me to wish me a happy 36th birthday -- I was about to email her back and tell her I was 37, but then I did the math and discovered that actually, I was only 36! It was like getting a whole year back. So this year I need to live it up.

Paras' 4th birthday came on the heels of mine, and this year we threw him a soccer party at the Y. Paras isn't actually playing soccer at the moment: right now he is very into gymnastics and swimming (he can swim by himself now!). But we stuck with the soccer theme, and I am very proud of my craftiness in making these cupcakes. Like the skunk costume, they don't look quite like what was pictured in the magazine but I think they conveyed the general idea, which made it a success in my book:



Paras, as you can see, had a great time, and in fact has quite a knack for soccer -- he was great at dribbling the ball, and was a great goalie during the drills:





The day after Paras' birthday party we left for Dallas for Thanksgiving. The kids had a great time with their cousins. Paras and his older cousin Abhi (6 yearsold) had some very deep philosophical discussions about God. Excerpts include:

Paras: "How big is God?"

Abhi: "He is bigger than everything."

Paras: "Is He bigger than the Man with the Yellow Hat?"

Abhi: "Yes."

Paras: "Is He bigger than my house?"

Abhi: "Yes!"

Paras: "Is He bigger than Russia?"

Abhi: (exasperated) "He is bigger than the whole wide world, OK?"

We made a trip to Eufala, Oklahoma to visit Andy's family for Thanksgiving itself. It was a quiet weekend, and Paras and Sahana had to find fun without TV and toys, which was a good exercise for them. I had to come back to Dallas early to read files.

Now we are gearing up for the Christmas holiday. It looks like I'll be here, alone, because I have to read files again. Andy will be going with the au pair and the kids to Dallas. A little depressing -- will have to keep the house clear of sharp objects and alcohol. More to come, perhaps over the holidays.

Fall is Here

School is underway and the weather is getting cooler already. Sahana and Paras are doing great in school together. Paras is really enjoying his pre-K class, and is starting to learn how to read. He is already bringing home homework. I have to say that I think he's a little young for homework -- I don't remember even getting homework until I was in fourth or fifth grade. But I guess this is the new trend. He's also taking Spanish once a week and can count to five already. He's growing up so fast!

Paras also recently took his Tae Kwon Do test for a high yellow belt. I put a video of him breaking a board on Facebook, but here is a clip of him being awarded his new belt:



Sahana LOVES her class at her new school. She is only one of three (on some days, five) children in the class, and there are two teachers, so she gets tons of one-on-one attention and thrives on it. I get a little sheet with a report of her day each day, and they are really cute. Here is her report from last Thursday:

"Sahana had a great day! She was the first child to find one of the outdoor toys that still had water in it -- then she decided to sit in it.... She is really developing more social skills (sharing, taking turns, etc.) and is becoming more skilled at climbing things without getting afraid. Her adventurous side is starting to shine through."

Anyway, here is a video of Sahana doing her usual thing:



We already have costumes ready for Paras and Sahana for Halloween, but I won't ruin the surpise -- you'll just have to tune in! Until next time, I'll sign off with a picture of Paras in his train tent, which he outfitted with a master controlboard:

Fall Weekend

The weather has started getting cool, just in time for the new school year. Paras is going to be in for a new routine, now that Sahana will be going to school with him and coming home at the same time (she was in full time until now, so he got all of the au pair's attention in the afternoon).

Paras' roster of activities is still full, though. He's continuing with Tae-kwon-do and swimming, and we are checking out gymnastics this week. He seems to be into jumping and tumbling, so maybe it'll be a good outlet. To be honest, Andy and I think he might be more on the artistic end of the spectrum, rather than the athletic one; here's a sample of his coloring, which is pretty good, in my opinion, for a kid who's not even four:



Sahana had a very tough last week at St. Rita's. She got sent home on Tuesday for a fever, which continued on Wednesday. Then, she sent everyone into panic Wednesday afternoon when she had a febrile seizure in the middle of Barnes and Noble. I wasn't there, but Andy and the au pair were and said it was terrifying. She had recovered by the time we got the urgent care, and we were told that this was not a long-term condition, but that she may be susceptible to more seizures during childhood. It's kind of scary, but we're glad that Sahana is now back to her old self, being very fussy and fighting with Paras.

We don't have big plans for this weekend, just getting stuff done at home. On a side note, please don't watch the movie The Lovely Bones. It's totally creepy (especially if you have kids), and it makes no sense. Just saying.

Starting a New (School) Year

We're back form Phoenix, and we had a great time there. While it was hot as @$%&#, we all loved being in the desert, especially our au pair (who's from Canada). We generally relaxed and hung out with Andy's sister, Mary Ann, and her husband Mick. Paras encountered new wildlife, including horses, toads, and jackrabbits and also got to play with his cousin Emily. Sahana didn't really know what was going on, but had a good time. Here's a short video of Andy riding Dan:



Now we're gearing up for the new school year. Paras will be alternating between the 4's and the pre-K class, and Sahana will be in the 1's. Paras is extremely excited to have his little sister at his school (we'll see how long that lasts).

Oh, Paras is now wearing a size 11 (yes, ELEVEN) shoe. In case you don't know, that's like the average shoe size for a 6 year old. Paras is 3 1/2. I just thought that was newsworthy.

Sorry for the lame update, will write more when there's more happening!

End of Summer

It's hard to believe that we're approaching the end of summer already. This week we will be going to Phoenix, AZ to visit Andy's sister and to go to a law school friend's wedding. When we get back it will be already be the end of August, and the new school year will be starting.

Paras has been in summer camp all summer, and though he's had fun, he is growing tired of it. He keeps asking when he's going to go back to his old school. We're glad we enrolled him in the summer camp, though, since they got him in the pool every day and he's really gotten better with his water skills. Here's a video of his swimming lesson before summer camp, when he had just graduated into to "Pike" class (able to be in the water without a parent). This fall he'll be in the "Eel" class, which means he can swim by himself for 10 ft. wearing a flotation device.



Will report more when we get back from AZ!

Back on the Wagon

OK, so my resolution to write once a week on the blog lasted for about...two weeks. It wasn't entirely my fault: the end of the academic year gets really hectic, then we had a bunch of family visits and vacations, and then I lost the cable to my camera so couldn't upload photos, which made me significantly less inclines to write on the blog. But anyway, that leaves me with a lot to catch up on.

First, Sahana turned 1 in June. We had a party at our house, and my sister's family came frrom Texas, and my parents and local family and friends attended as well. As of her birthday, Sahana still had no teeth so we were starting to get concerned. When I took her for her one year checkup, I asked the pediatrician about it, expecting him just to tell me that it's impossible for a child never to get teeth. Instead, he said, "Well, it's very rare that a child doesn't get teeth at all." Which translates to a parent as, "It's entirely possible that your child may never get teeth." This freaked me out, so I grilled him on what might cause Sahana to never get teeth, and he had to back down and convince me that only rare and acute growth problems affect dental growth, and given that Sahana is on target in all other areas, it was almost impossible (he wouldn't give me absolutes) that she wouldn't get teeth.

Anyway, he was right, and she started to sprout her first tooth, on the bottom, about a week later. She started to get her top two teeth in July, and now she has a little pumpkin smile, with two gap-teeth on top with a lone little Chiclet tooth on the bottom. Here is a picture of Sahana right after her one year birthday (can't see her teeth, though):



After Sahana's birthday, Andy and I prepared for our trip to Mexico. We went to Playa del Carmen, in the Mayan Riveiera. We had a blast. We spent most of the time driving around Yucatan looking at Mayan ruins -- luckily we had watched the movie Apocalypto, so we (or at least I) was kind of interested in what the Mayan culture was like (impressive but very violent). We didn't get as much beach time as I would have liked, but Andy plans to get SCUBA certified so we can go back. Here's a shot of one of the Mayan ruins:



Since then, we've just been enjoying the summer. I wrote an article for Slate magazine about Russian spies, Andy got settled into the White Plains office (where he got to go out and arrest Russian spies), and Paras started summer camp at the YMCA. He has totally overcome his fear of water, and is able to swim on his own using a flotation device and put his head underwater. We went to visit my sister and her family in Dallas two weeks ago, and Paras was a little fish, spending several hours a day in the pool (read my post of our visit last summer to see why this is such a big deal). Sahana sported her yellow polka dot bikini and got to go into a swimming pool for the first time.

I can't believe it's already August, and that school will be starting again soon. Paras will be starting pre-K (!) this fall, and Sahana will be joining him at his school. I He is very excited to have his sister at school with him and can't wait to start. I start the travel routine again in September, and Andy will continue to do things he can't talk about.

Now that I have my camera cable, I have an incentive to take more pictures and post, which I will do soon.

I Made It!

I made it for the second consecutive week! Sahana is napping and Paras is at Little League, so this is my time to fulfill my resolution to write at least once a week.

It's been a good week at the Dodd household. Paras completed his second swimming session, and has been promoted from the Seahorse class to the Pike class. In his progress report, he got 4-5 (out of 5) for "Confidence" and "Listening," and a solid 5 for "Caring, honesty, Respect, and Responsibility." His promotion means that starting next session, he'll be in the water with just the teacher, and without a parent (or in his case, Allyson, the au pair).

Paras also earned a trip to the zoo via his sticker chart, and went yesterday with Allyson. He loved the prairie dogs and the tigers, but was scared of the grizzly bear. Here are a few shots from his trip:





Sahana is growing huge. Her fine motor skills are improving and she can pick up Cheerios and slimy pieces of avocado. Her lack of teeth is not stopping her from chewing away, which is a relief: Paras never learned to chew when he was a baby (because I was too afraid to give him textured things) and so until he was about 18 months old he was like a reptile and would swallow his food whole. It was extremely stressful. So glad that Sahana has that skill under her belt. It looks like she's almost ready to walk, too. She's a pro at pulling herself up and can balance with one hand steadying her. I have to say though, that I think I'd prefer her to get teeth than to walk at this point. I mean, if she doesn't walk for a while, we can get her a skateboard or something to get around on. But with no teeth...? It's not like they make baby dentures...or do they?

Anyway, I've got a full week ahead, with Commencement and a faculty retreat, and auditions for the community theater play, "Annie." I have to come up with a song to sing for my audition. Not sure whether Annie can accommodate an 35 year-old Indian female, but the nice thing about theater is that you can get creative with casting, so we'll see. It would be nice to be on stage again.

OK, that's it until next week!

Summer Resolutions

OK, I really fell off the wagon with the blog. For me, things get really busy in the winter and spring, so it's hard to keep up. I've decided to make my New Year's resolutions, but I'm starting them in June since that's really when I regroup -- I'm on an academic calendar, after all. Anyway, one of my resolutions is to write this blog at least once a week.

So, I have to catch up from February. Sahana is almost one year old -- she's now crawling at full speed and pulling herself up. We have yet, however, to see any signs of a tooth. She's still all gums. It's kind of strange, but it's nice because I remember how much Paras' face changed when his teeth came in and as long as she's got her gummy smile, she's still a baby. Sahana is already starting to love fashion -- we have to keep her closet door closed because she loves to explore her wardrobe and take everything out one by one (usually to chew on it). I recently did a home photo shoot because I was going to enter her in a cover baby contest in some magazine, but then missed the deadline. Anyway, here's one of the good ones (I am planning to get some professional ones done soon, but that's around #6 on my resolutions list):



Paras has also made huge strides in the last few months. He's started to do Hooked on Phonics, and understands rhyming sounds (it seems weird to me but that's what the program starts off with). He's continued his soccer and swimming classes and can now be in the pool by himself (and the teacher). He's also gotten started in Little Dragons tae-kwon-do, during which he gets kind of spaced out and doesn't really know what's going on but he seems to have fun. And, two weeks ago he started playing in the Hamden Bam-Bam Baseball League. (NOTE: Mothers and More is a local group which is sponsoring his team. Not clear of the meaning of "Mother's and More" -- like, the kid wearing the t-shirt belongs to the mother, and more?) Here he is on his first day:







One of the biggest changes in our household has been the establishment of a family dinner time. I, Andy, and the au pair were about to fling ourselves out a window at Paras' refusal to eat anything besides Sponge Bob mac n' cheese, pasta and tomato sauce, or pizza. My friend Lauren gave me a tip to try to eat together. So I changed the routine around a bit to have Paras and Sahana take a bath together, and have him join us for dinner. It has been nothing short of a miracle. In the last three weeks, he has eaten three-bean chili, polenta with zucchini and spinach, swiss chard tacos, broccoli-tofu stir fry, (veggie) meatball pizza, spinach and goat cheese pizza, gnocchi with zucchini ribbons, etc. etc. And he loves it all! It's been a huge relief for us, both in terms of being able to avoid cooking separate meals for him and making sure that he's getting some balanced nutrition.

Sahana, meanwhile, will only eat avocados.

We're gearing up for the summer, where we have some exciting plans. My parents, my sister, and her family are coming in a few weeks to celebrate Sahana's first birthday here at the house. I hope that we'll take some days to do some fun things around CT like go to the beach and the aquarium, and also visit NYC. After that Andy and I will go to Mexico for a week. This is a reprise of our honeymoon trip, which was canceled the day before we left because Hurricane Emily hit our hotel. (If another hurricane spoils this trip, we're going to just assume that the Universe is trying to tell us something.) At the end of August we're heading to Dallas to visit my sister. And Paras will be spending the summer in the YMCA summer camp, so he'll have a change of pace from his regular routine.

OK, I'm going to sign off -- more to come within the next week! I'll close with a video Andy made of Paras' Daddy Date to the beach (which he earned via his sticker chart):

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy Valentine's Day

I can't believe it's already February. It was much easier to keep this blog up-to-date when I was on maternity leave. Now, everytime I turn around another major holiday has flown by, or is fast aproaching.

Which is why it's almost Valentine's Day and we have only now gotten around to completing our Thanksgiving video. I took a lot of clips when we went to visit Andy's family in Eufala, Oklahoma, and Andy put them together into the following masterpiece:



A lot has happened since my last post in November. First, Paras is potty trained!!! We thought it would never happen, as we tried once or twice but he would either refuse to sit on the potty or just go in his pants. Then finally one day Andy just told him that he couldn't wear diapers anymore. So we put him in underwear, and he had several accidents in a row for a couple of days, then figured out it was easier and more pleasant to sit on the potty than be wet all the time. And voila! It was done.

Sahana has also had some major milestones. She's now crawling, though it's more like a cross between an under-fire army crawl and and and inchworm, where she lifts her butt up and then drags herself forward using her elbows. It's kind of sad-looking, actually, but she seems to get around just fine. She's been eating solids for a couple of months now, and has progressed through a number of different vegetables and fruits. I decided to try out a line of "world gourmet baby foods," which is baby food infused with the flavorings of different types of cuisine, like Indian, Thai, Japanese, and Mexican, in an effort to expand her palate. I made a major mistake with Paras by not doing this, and now his dinner repertoire consists of Sponge Bob mac n' cheese, pasta and tomato sauce, and pizza. Anyway, yesterday I tried giving Sahana the Indian "Baby Dahl," which has a lot of cumin in it. She gagged a couple of times, then barfed. So it's not looking too promising at the moment, but I'll have to keep trying, I guess.

Andy and I are trying to get through the winter. We took a little trip to San Antonio when we were in Dallas for Christmas, and plan to go down to DC in a few weeks so that we can see some family while I attend a conference. And, we currently have a trip planned to Mexico in June -- it's a reprise of our never-was honeymoon trip, which was canceled due to Hurricane Emily. So we're giving it another shot, though if another hurricane comes through we're going to take it as a sign that we are not meant to go to Mexico. Ever.





Hopefully more to come within a few weeks...