Dinosaur Ridge

In an effort to do some last-minute tourism, we took Amma to Denver to see Dinosaur Ridge and the Hammond's Candy Factory tour. Dinosaur Ridge was really interesting as we were able to see and touch fossilized dinosaur bones in their natural environment. Sanjay and Priya are both fascinated with these creatures, so they were glued to the tour guide the whole time. They even had some facts to add to his story and he was a willing listener. It was a personal tour as the five of us were the only ones crazy enough to do this in the winter time. :)

Highlights of Amma's Trip

Amma will be leaving in just 2 weeks... the time has gone by too fast. She's been here with us since the end of August and we will miss her a lot when she goes home. There are so many friends and family back in India waiting for her return, so we must let her go. During her visit we have run the gamut from spending lazy days at home to shopping all the local thrift stores to sight-seeing out of state.

She visited New Mexico, Niagara Falls, Denver and the Rocky Mountains. She reached the summit of Pikes Peak by train and immensely enjoyed the view from 14,000 ft. She met and became close with several Indian families from our town. She engaged herself in a few heated, but fun political debate sessions with one of our close friends. She ensured that we celebrated all the Hindu festivals properly... which sadly we do not do when she is not around to help us. She entertained three groups of my friends by teaching them Indian cooking, making them laugh and quizzing them afterwards. She invited and has been invited to several dinners with a variety of friends, each time wowing them with her fabulous cooking. Although she had a lot of fun with all these activities, they are not among the top entries in her most memorable experiences.

On Monday night this week, my neighbor took her finally to a place which she'd been asking to see since her arrival. Unfortunately, I had something else going on so I could not join them, so imagine my disappointment when she came home talking about what a great time she had and how it was her favorite thing from the past 4 months. They went downtown to the local soup kitchen to feed the homeless. My mother-in-law, who really cannot stand the smell or even the sight of any meat, served pasta with beef in it to those in great need. She asked a lot of questions of my neighbor about the shelter and I can only imagine she was as curious as a child with her eyes wide open observing the whole night closely. She is in her element when she is helping people. It is her passion and it's very inspirational to me and everyone around her. Luckily, she traveled with her camera and we have a couple of pictures from the night. Thanks again Laura for helping make these memories for Amma!





Turns out that this morning I had the good fortune of being with her when she added another thing to her list of "most memorable moments". Together we worked out the details of a slideshow on Indian culture and she presented it to a classroom full of first graders. The kids called her Paatti and were thrilled to have a real visitor from India joining them. Amma talked for almost an hour and the kids were engaged the whole time... of course, she'd promised them a yummy Indian sweet after the lecture. :)



I really admire Amma for stepping out of her comfort zone and making these fun plans during her visit this time. She really knows how to keep herself busy... one thing for sure, Amma doesn't have a lazy bone in her body.

Happy Holidays

Still haven't put together a holiday card, but I did squeeze out this video last night. It's more fun than addressing and stamping all those envelopes. :)

First Weekend of December

Wow, it's been so long since I've posted that I actually had to log in this time. Geez, I gotta make more time for this. Anyway, there are some older things to post, but I'll get to that later.

Saturday was filled with all things Christmas. First, we went to a museum where the kids made far too many ornaments to add to our family tree. One of the stations with foam cut-outs was so irresistible, that I even had to make one myself. They spent a lot of time there working on several masterpieces. Some of them turned out fantastic and others, well, they fell apart before they even reached home. While the kids were busy writing letters to Santa and making ornaments, some adults were dressed up in silly costumes and putting on performances in the main lobby.



After the museum event, we headed over for the Festival of Lights parade. We should probably make this an annual family tradition, but there are some years where the weather just doesn't cooperate. It looked like it would be warm this year, but actually it was quite frigid and a bit windy. Amma managed well considering the circumstances. Because of street closures and the crowd, we had to walk about 2 blocks to get to our special viewing area, conveniently located just outside a nice Mexican restaurant downtown. Luckily, we grabbed a table inside that we used as "base" during the parade. Every once in a while, we peeked outside to see the various high school bands and lighted floats passing by.

Waiting for a table in the restaurant, Amma is keeping all the winter gear on because people are continuously coming and going through the front doors letting all the cold air inside. It doesn't look like she's having fun, but that's because she is still thawing out from the long walk to get here.



Most of my parade pictures turned out like this:



But I did manage to get a fun video of one of my favorite entries, the Transportation Department of one of the local school districts:

Birthday Morning

While delivering the kids to school this morning we avoided a couple of times ending up in a fender bender. The roads here are treacherous before the sun has a chance to start melting it. I'm convinced that the only thing that can effectively melt snow is salt and it makes up such a small percentage of what they dump on the roads here. Therefore, we get a lot of practice driving on ice, and let me tell you... the minivan doesn't do well on that stuff.

After dropping Priya, this conversation ensued:

Sanjay: Mom, how many years are you today?
Me: Thirty-nine
Sanjay: Well, we can just put 5 candles on your cake then.
Me: Why 5?
Sanjay: Because thirteen is way too much.

To an almost five year old, I guess thirteen does seem like a big number. However, I draw another conclusion from this and that is that Sanjay has the listening skills of his Daddy. Poor fellow.

Star Performers

This year Sanjay was old enough to join Priya on stage for the annual Diwali Show put on by the Indian Community here. It's always a spectacular event with grand costumes, fantastic music and a nice peek into Indian culture. We spend many weekends leading up to it practicing at a local church. A lot of volunteer time goes into the show from the participants and the many people who organize it each year. What I find amazing is that no one takes any money for their efforts... 100% of the ticket price gets donated directly to that year's chosen charity. It is the policy of the man in charge that each participant buy a ticket as well. He wants to make sure that A LOT of money is donated and each year he manages to give more than the last. If you are a local, I would highly recommend coming out to see the show next year.

For a slideshow of some of the pictures, click here or view the embedded Flickr slideshow below.



I also have uploaded a video of Priya's group dance, which was recorded by an amateur videographer, as you will clearly see. It took him a while to figure out where his daughter was on the stage. :)

Welcome Home Paatti

Last night Paatti returned from a trip to Canada to visit friends and to see the famous Niagara Falls. Thank goodness she's back in the house with us. After 8 days of taking care of Bartee, I'd had enough and my sympathy for him had dried up. Besides, his Mom is much better at it than I am. Last night, it was homemade cough syrup and this afternoon, hot tea delivered directly to his office desk. He's eating it up. In fact, tonight he already started with the subtle hints on which meals she should prepare. I suspect within the next day or two we will be feasting on Bisi Bele Bhaath.

Besides myself, there were a couple of other little faces excited to have Paatti back home.

Sick Days and Snow Days

A few weeks ago, someone I knew came down with the swine flu and subsequently the rest of her family also fell sick. Shortly after that, I noticed a new sign at Sanjay's preschool that read "We have a confirmed case of the H1N1 flu". A week later, the sign read "We have confirmed cases of the H1N1 flu". Three days later, Sanjay had a fever of 103 degrees before noon. That fever hung around for at least 2 days before it dropped down to 101ish for three more days.

That's when Priya came home from school crying, achy and cold. She'd been like that for nearly the whole day and didn't bother letting her teacher know. Poor girl. Thus far in my parenting, it was probably the most guilt I've ever felt. That morning she had a bad cough and a headache. I should have known, but she insisted on going... it was "Fun Friday" after all. Every Friday they get to "spend" their behavior-earned money in the teacher's shop. Anyway, as I'm sure you have guessed by now, she had a high fever.

Two days later, it was Bartee's turn. He is still suffering from the effects, especially in the evenings. I have become an expert in making an Indian home-remedy cough medicine, the ingredients of which include turmeric, cumin and pepper. Thankfully Amma shared the recipe with me before heading off to Canada on Friday. The timing for her trip couldn't have been better, as it's best to keep an uninsured 64 year old lady away from the sickies this week.

So, the kids are basically fully recovered and we get dumped on with an Autumn snowfall that results in school closures... for two days! Does the superintendent not realize that we are going stir crazy in this house? We were anxious to get back to school, but it looks like that might not happen until next week. Let's see... I'm expecting at least a 2 hour delay in the morning.

In case you wonder why I've slipped under the radar this past week or so, it's because I've been busy sanitizing the house and taking care of the crew. The only one in the house, besides me, that seems to have escaped the flu is scheduling playdates in the backyard and has decided that it's suddenly ok to pee on the deck.

Happy Deepavali

In India, you can hear Deepavali (the most popular Hindu festival) coming a week before its arrival. It starts with nightly bursting of firecrackers making it nearly impossible to sleep. In all hours of darkness you will hear cracking and see the lights of people celebrating. The regularly crowded markets will be even more crowded with shoppers looking for the best deal on new clothes for each member of the family.

I had the privilege of experiencing Deepavali in India back in 2003. Celebrating it here doesn't even compare, but with Amma in town we give it our best shot. This is the second time she has been with us for Deepavali and this time was even more grand than the first. We spent most of the week making snacks and sweets. In India, these would be traditionally shared with neighbors and other guests that visit on the holiday. Here, we are just enjoying them all to ourselves... but we did send a small batch to Bartee's sister in Atlanta. Sorry Anna, if you had a postal address we would have sent some to you in Kuwait as well. :) Also, if we had been in India we would have enjoyed a large lunch with friends and family. Here we just cooked a grand lunch and enjoyed it ourselves. We enjoyed so much that it's very possible we will be skipping dinner! Amma brought new clothes for us from India and although the kid's outfits were a little big for them, Sanjay wore his anyway. He's practically swimming in it. In a few years, it'll fit him perfectly. Priya refused to wear the big one and instead chose something in her closet that we brought home the last time we visited India. If you drive by our house and know a little bit about the festival, you would recognize all the kolum drawings that Amma made in our driveway and on the walkway. In India, they would be full of color, very intricate and much larger. However, we are perfectly happy with how Amma's turned out. She drew them with rice flour soaked in water and as long as we can keep the rain away we will be enjoying these for days to come. Thanks Amma for reminding us again how much fun it is to celebrate Deepavali.

For all the pictures of our festivities, see the pictures on Flickr.

From 14,110 feet

Today I took Amma to the top of Pikes Peak via the Cog Railway. Pikes Peak is the eastern-most of the more than 50 14ers (mountain peaks higher than 14,000 ft) in Colorado. Although the weather was chilly but pleasant down in Colorado Springs, it was a different story at the top of the mountain. When we reached the summit, the temperature was 17 degrees and after factoring in the wind chill, it felt like -3 degrees. As this is not the first time I've taken visitors to that altitude, we were prepared with our winter jackets, hats, gloves and scarves. Amma has only a few times in her life worn socks and shoes, usually she's in sandals, so donning all this winter wear was sure to be an adventure.

While sitting in the "holding room" before boarding the train, I look over at Amma and she looks particularly uncomfortable with the fuzzy gloves on her hands. Upon closer inspection, I find that she has the right glove on the left hand and vice versa. Not only that, but in a couple of instances, she had more than one finger sharing a sleeve. It was really hilarious and we both had a good laugh. When using something for the first time in 64 years, there's bound to be a learning curve. :)

We did finally make it to the top and we have photos to prove it.



Here's a short video clip from the mountaintop. The sound in this clip is coming solely from the wind, and any noticeable camera shake was from the wind as well. I had a tough time holding the camera still.

Devi Navaratri

Last time Amma visited she introduced me to this 9 day Hindu festival which she translates to the "doll festival". We set up a display of toys that we snatched from the kids. Here is the display from 2005 (Amma's last visit):



This year the kids had a lot to do with the setup. Amma, Priya and Sanjay planned it out and had a fun evening putting it all together. Sanjay created what you see on the left side, complete with his toy airplane flying over the entire scene and Priya set up the "jungle" of animals on the right side. They did a great job and we have been enjoying turning the lights on and seeing it every evening. Click on the photos for a larger view.





As part of the celebration in India, women will invite their friends over for some singing and dancing as well as dinner. So, in keeping with tradition, Amma had me ask some friends to stop by in the evening for dinner. They all decided to raid my closet for a salwar kameez and they even obliged when Amma asked us to sing and dance. In keeping with the theme of 2005 we chose to sing another John Denver song. Once again, Tisha was struggling to follow along since she is lyrically challenged when it comes to John Denver favorites. We all had a blast and very much enjoyed the stories and great food from Amma. Thanks for sharing this tradition with us all.

Amma's Birthday

For Amma's birthday, I made an egg-free cake so that she could enjoy it. Until you make a cake without eggs, it's hard to realize the necessity for this ingredient. The cake was really a bunch of crumbs. The flavor was the same, but this birthday cake was best eaten with a spoon. In the evening we ventured out to one of the 3 Indian restaurants in town and enjoyed the dinner. Even though the birthday girl didn't crack a smile, I think she still had a good time. Bartee was trying to get her to show some teeth, but with the waiter looking on, this was the best we could get. Happy Birthday Amma!!





And this family frame is her birthday gift. It is a family tree of photos containing the wedding day pictures of her and Appa as well as those of each of her children. Also, the four grandchildren each have a place in the frame.

First Day of Preschool

Today was Sanjay's first day of the last year of preschool. He'll be going Mon/Wed/Fri mornings and this year he'll have the opportunity to eat lunch at school with his friends. He is really looking forward to it. He met some new friends with some of his old friend's names, like Matthew and Alex. And, he told me about the 2 kids that are "a little bit chubby". He came home singing the school welcome song and informed us of all the day's activities. It seems the school playground even has bikes, which he was particularly excited about. It should be a fun school year.

First Day of School - 2nd Grade

Today was Priya's first day of school. With the new puppy at home and her usual case of the this-is-something-new-jitters, when I was tucking her in last night she admitted that she didn't want to go to school. However, this morning she awoke on her own and got ready quickly and with a great attitude. She was happy about it after all. While driving to school, she started to get nervous about not remembering all the rules from last year. She said there were too many and she was afraid she would mess up and disobey a rule without knowing it, landing her in trouble. Caboose went with us to school and I think that helped ease the transition this morning as her mind was focused elsewhere.

When I picked her up from school she told me that she missed me a lot today and wanted to come home during lunch. Tonight when I tucked her in she told me she was worried about tomorrow and if the same thing would happen to her. She asked me what she should do. These are the tough times as a Mom, because what I wanted to say was... "Well, honey, how about tomorrow you just stay home with us?", but that's not possible. So I encouraged her to be strong and promised that I wouldn't pack her a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The rules don't seem clear on the peanuts in school. It seems as though some teachers allow it and others don't... I need to do some research. Anyway, she wasn't permitted to eat her peanut butter sandwich today so she was hungry which contributed to her stomach ache; the one that started because she missed me. So, those things, plus the reminder that this was only a 3 day week of school alleviated her concerns, at least for tonight. I suspect that within days, she'll be excited about waking up and going to spend more time with her new friends.

As usual, I snapped lots of photos this morning however in many of the pictures Priya's smile was forced and uneasy. This one was by far the best and from what she's holding in her arms, you can probably see why her smile is so natural.

Our New Baby

We went yesterday morning to pick out Caboose, a fitting name for his position in the family as the "last one". I think we probably over-analyzed this picking-a-puppy thing and we were possibly too prepared for the decision we were about to make. We had a list of tests to perform, characteristics to look for, things to avoid and yet it still took us more than an hour to decide which puppy to make part of our family. By the end, we had narrowed it down to 2 and from there it was really like flipping a coin. We ended up leaving this guy behind which oddly enough is making me more sad now that I've downloaded the pictures from my camera than it did that morning. If only we had the room and the patience for two puppies... we would have surely ended up with him as well.



But, alas, our Caboose is the one with the not-so-perfect markings, the curly hair, and the "gay" tail. All of which make this little puppy less of a Berner according to the breed standards. But, for us, he was a perfect match for a family pet. Here he is on the car ride home, taking very well all the oohing and aahing from the kids in the back seat. They can't get enough of him.



This is one of the first pictures of him at home. He got a little homesick by the time the sun went down last night. We could tell by his occasional whining and his inability to get relaxed. It was as if he was conveying these thoughts: "Ok, this has been fun but can you take me home now?".



However, today... relaxation was not a problem at all. Here he is enjoying the cool tile on the kitchen floor; his favorite spot for an afternoon nap.

On 2 Wheels

Sanjay's training wheels back home are broken, so I decided that he would learn to ride a 2-wheeler while we were in Maryland. I worked with him a bit in the grass the other day and he got the hang of it, but would only pedal like 2 revolutions after I let go of the seat. Although he figured out quickly how to put his feet down to stop from falling when the bike started tipping, he lacked confidence for some reason and was ready to stop soon after we began.

Today we went back out to show Pappy and this time things just clicked. We went to the pavement which he found easier than the grass. He mastered going down the driveway and coming back in a straight line with me giving him a push start. Then, he threw me to the curb and wanted to start by himself. It took about 3 tries and he mastered that. So, then he added turning to his repertoire. It was like every new trick was coming easily to him. He tried riding on the narrow sidewalk and he even started doing "wheelies". No kidding... they were tiny, but he was indeed getting the front wheel off the ground.

Here's a small video of the action:


Sanjay is a great learner for many reasons... and I love being his teacher. He almost always has a fantastic attitude. He isn't shy about trying new things and doesn't give up easily. Once he picks up a skill he will challenge himself to something a bit harder, to do it a little faster, to be a tad stronger. Whatever it is, he tries to do it better. I'm looking forward to seeing how this plays out as he grows up.

Family Reunion

We try to hook up with the family on our annual trip home. This year I left my camera inside. Can you believe it? I have personally taken no pictures of the event. Fortunately, my cousin Dana had her digital camera and she was snapping shots like crazy because after two years of ownership, she finally learned that the camera has a zoom function. :) Before she left, I snagged all of her pictures and here are the highlights...

She got a really cute picture of Sanjay and Sam (my youngest cousin, starting 9th grade this year). It's rare that you get either one of these boys looking at the camera, much less with a smile on their face.



You're more likely to end up with a photo like this when these two are your subjects.



She also got this lovely one of Priya... can you tell she just loves having her picture taken?



Among all the photos, I found a LOT of blurry ones and some great candids where no one is looking at the camera and some people are even picking their noses. Just kidding, but Dana is kind of known for walking around with the camera and just snapping away. You have to be careful. This has to be the best one from today... I cracked up when I saw it. What the heck is my Dad doing with that bungee cord? :)



Actually, I did have my camera out when our first guests arrived. Here they are: Cuteness Squared.



Let's do it all over again next year!

Deep Creek Lake

We spent a couple of days this week with my Aunt Weezie and her family on the lake in Western Maryland. Great weather, great company and great fun. We took the boat out every day and although the anchor didn't do a great job of holding us in place, after cruising around a bit on the lake, we'd look for a cove to go swimming and just cut the engine and enjoy being out there. Neither Sanjay nor Priya much enjoyed their tubing rides at a snail's pace (you can see the fear on Sanjay's face), but they did have a fun time overall. Here are the promised pictures of the tubing, my cousin water skiing and the extremely hot firepit where we roasted marshmallows at night. :)

Four Days...

at Nana and Pappy's house will do this to a little boy in the late afternoon.



We've been picnicing with old friends, biking, swinging, pony-riding and swimming in between all that. Tomorrow we're heading to western Maryland with Aunt Weezie and family to bask in the sun some more and maybe do some tubing behind her motorboat. Come back for photos of those adventures.

The Girls Who Knew Me As Sandee

Way back in elementary school we were on the same bus route, we were neighbors, we had slumber parties at each other's houses in the small town that was Frederick in the late 1970's. Everyone knew each other. The "thanks for letting me pass" wave on the one-lane bridge off Shookstown was often received by someone you knew. A lot has changed around here since then with the suburbs of DC sprawling to accommodate all the people that live and work down there trying to escape the dreadful traffic that has made the I-495 beltway famous.

After high school, I lost touch with these girls. Again, it was Facebook that brought us back together and sparked this mini-reunion at my parent's place. They all remember our house before the renovations (in 1997) so it was a lot of fun to show them around and watch their reactions to the extra square footage. While sipping on Mojitos and Gin and Tonics, we talked about the good old days. We reminisced about the kindergarten big-wheel trek that landed me grounded for the first time in my life at age 5. We talked about playing fast food drive-thru by circling on our bikes around the trailer parked in my parent's driveway. We discussed our childhood phone numbers and how they are still ingrained in our brains. These were the days before cell phones when you had to memorize phone numbers or - egads - actually grab a phone book to look them up. We remembered the time we had our first taste of beer by sharing one can of Coors between several of us and those days at Prospect Hall dances where we hid drinks in our trench coats to sip on between singing along to "Blister In The Sun" and "Dancing With Myself". Then, we followed up with how we hope our children make better choices about certain things than we did. It was fun to see the personalities of "the next generation" and how, for example, Kristen's oldest is not-at-all like her. She may look like her Mommy but is so much more outgoing and talkative.

It was so much fun that we're already planning what we'll do different next year, and we are hoping to see some more of the girls and their kids before we head back to Colorado. Here's a shot of us on the deck. Unfortunately, I don't have one where everyone's eyes are open. :(



Besides swimming and eating, we threw in some pony rides. Karen still lives within walking distance of my parent's place so she brought over Cassie (who was not thrilled with the plan) to take the kids for a ride.



For more photos of the day, check out the album on Facebook.

Hiking Lily Pad Trail

We like to take the Lily Pad trail from Wildernest into Frisco, then bus back. The hike takes us about 2 hours with kids in tow, but it's mostly downhill so that keeps the complaining to a minimum. If the weather is warm enough, reaching Frisco promises a paddle boat ride on Lake Dillon.

Here's a brief four minutes of our two hour hike in the mountains. Enjoy!

Silverthorne, Colorado

It's like every other American city... only with better backdrops.

Mommies Don't Get Sick

Until now, I think I've left my kids with the impression that Mommies just don't get sick. I've been able to just suck it up and push through with the daily grind of cooking, cleaning and getting the kids off to school, without them even suspecting that I might not be feeling well. Not this time. The laundry which I started on Saturday still sits half-finished on the hall floor (3 days have passed). Some of you would say that has absolutely nothing to do with my illness, but I assure you this time it does. On Sunday I got the early stages of a cold... the dreaded sore throat. The sore throat always lasts longer in Colorado; I suspect because of the drier air. So on Monday morning I woke up as usual and went to work out knowing that the sore throat would eventually pass. Probably was one of the poorest decisions I made that day.

Afterwards, I spent the remainder of the morning on the couch with a blanket and heating pad trying to stay warm. By 2pm it finally struck me that I should really see a doctor. Having waited so long, all the appointments were taken so I'd have to wait until 8am this morning to be seen. The sore throat grew worse overnight and by 8am my voice was weak and I was looking forward to getting to the doctor's office. Throat swab results: positive for strep. As a youngster I was a seasoned pro at strep. I contracted it ALL the time. I remember specifically the doctor telling me (perhaps I was in 5th or 6th grade) that if I got strep one more time, they were going to have to remove my tonsils. This is indeed the first time since my doctor revealed that tidbit that I've had strep. Mind over matter? Perhaps, but either way... having strep is way more miserable than I remember. I spent the majority of yesterday and today in a fog, barely able to swallow and napping as often as possible. Thank goodness for great neighbors and friends who delivered me tea and took my kids for hours at a time. And, Bartee took over the cooking and nighttime routine with the kids. Besides the fact that I felt absolutely miserable, it was a nice mini vacation from Mommyville.

Bye-Bye First Grade

Today was the last day of school for the 7 year old. We're going to miss this wonderful teacher, but at the same time we're looking forward to the unscheduled days of summer.

Overheard in the Playroom

Spent the morning folding laundry and other household chores while the kids played with a neighbor friend. From upstairs, I heard these snippets of conversation...

"Yeah, but I was the most powerful-est".
"Ok, I'll pause the game."
"And then you saw one of the good soldiers disguised as a cat".
"And I disappeared into my world of soldiers".
"We must destroy the good guys".
"Try to, my son".
"And you thought you saw a red mark under my bangs". (Harry Potter reference)
"So, that is your secret".
"Sanjay, we cannot talk to you 'cause we're up in heaven, but we're not dead".

And, then Bartee came home from golfing and I heard this...

"You were. That was your tent. You'd better put that up or I'll tell Mommy".

He's just one of them, only in a grown-up body that occasionally drinks beer. :)

So You Think You Can Dance

In the spirit of my favorite summer TV show returning for the season premiere tonight, I dug up some old video of the little guy. Well, the truth is I was importing all my videos and came across a really funny one of Sanjay at the lunch table that I wanted to share with you all which also happens to showcase my incredible singing voice.

The boy has always loved music. Even confined in his car seat at 8 months old, he'd find a way to squirm around to the beat of his favorite Indian song. We used to queue it up whenever he started fussing on long drives. Today if I dare try to drive around town running errands without the radio turned on, he'll call me on it. He once asked Katy while riding in her car, "Do you ever play music when you drive?" or something to that effect. If he starts to doze off on a long drive, I'll turn down the volume so he can sleep peacefully and he'll pop up and say "turn up the music".

One day when he's famous for something musical you can proudly say "I knew him when...". Now sit back and enjoy this video montage of his early years in music.

Proof That Our Son Is Hard-Headed

On Saturday, the kids were playing in the car (don't ask... Daddy was in charge). Sanjay was in a particularly rambunctious mood. He was literally jumping up and down, bouncing all over the place and generally full of energy. So Bartee is busy removing the ski rack from the roof of the car and hears a loud thump followed by Sanjay's cries. He bumped his head so Bartee is comforting him and from the back seat he hears Priya say, "No Daddy he broke something". Bartee looks up to find this:



Here's what it looks like from outside the car...



I remembered a rock chip that happened over the winter and came to the conclusion that surely he must have hit it there where the windshield was already structurally compromised. But, indeed I was wrong... Sanjay's head is really just that hard. It is solely responsible for the damage. You may be wondering how his noggin fared in this little accident? Yeah, he's totally fine.



(Click on the photo for a closer look)

Scraps of Paper

So many things are supposed to make the blog, but they end up instead on paper scraps in my purse or in the car or on my desk. Little notes to trigger my memory of something that happened days, weeks, even months ago. I am compiling a list of some I recently found which does not in any way imply that they happened recently. :)

This one happened a long time ago... possibly a year or more.
Sanjay: “Who's Aunt Jeanette?”
Mom: “You know... Aunt Jeanette and Uncle Chad.”
Sanjay: “oooh... it's our persons... and Nana... and Pappy”

Sanjay: “Just like gondolas, cars are... when we are in them we don't feel the wind.”

Sanjay climbed in bed with Daddy around 6am. Later that day, I got this explanation from him...
Sanjay: “There was a big rat and there was thunder and it got him.”
Mom: “It hit him?”
Sanjay: “uh-huh”
Mom: “What happened to him?”
Sanjay: “He was gone.”
Mom: “He disappeared?”
Sanjay: “uh-huh”
Mom: “And that scared you?”
Sanjay: “Yeah, and that's why I went to Daddy's room and had a sleepover.”

Still hasn't figured out the concept of time...
Sanjay: “Can I take a short nap, like 2 minutes (long)?”
Mom: “Well, more like an hour.”
Sanjay: “oh... an hour? Hehehehe, that's really short. Ok.”

While watching American Idol...
Sanjay: “Are you ever gonna be on Biggest Loser?”
Mom: “I don't think so. I hope not.”
Sanjay: (looks over at the TV then back at me trying to clear up any confusion) “No, not on American Idol. I know that you can't sing.”

Sanjay: “I love this book. It's my best.”

Idioms can be so confusing...
Daddy: “Sanjay just hit the nail on the head.”
Sanjay: “What nail?”

Trying to figure out adverbs...
Sanjay: “Daddy, you hit me too much hard.”
Sanjay: “I like this song more more more mucher than the other one.”

Sanjay: “Can I get a train farmer? One of those things that changes into a car? (He was, of course, talking about a Transformer.)

Sanjay: “I'm really feeling hot on my foreward head.”

Sanjay: “How did they make this bowl? Maybe they found all the black pieces at the factory and put it together with the specialist glue ever.”

"No, Priya. Lambert is his next name." - Sanjay, while watching American Idol, talking about Adam Lambert.

Something I've been meaning to write down that's been etched in my memory since it happened is when Sanjay was just old enough to start playing with his cars. I cannot recall how old he was, but he was young... just beginning to talk. He was on the floor sliding a matchbox car around and from the kitchen I heard him say, "Come on, lady" with a hint of frustration in his voice. I had to totally crack up because I'm sure he'd heard me say it 100 times and made the association between that phrase and driving. The things we inadvertently teach our children. Oops.

Priya occasionally still says something that's worth noting down. I especially liked what she said the other week while we were watching Star Wars and she discovered the magic of science fiction movies.

Priya: "I like how there are things in this movie that aren't real cause it takes us to a whole different world."

And, let's not forget the big guy. He says a lot of things that make me laugh, but unfortunately I haven't written so many down. The most classic example which happened soon after we first met is still the best. He sometimes uses different English words and phrases just because that's how he was raised. They always make sense... but to me they may sound funny. In our early days together, he said, "The tips of my legs are cold" and I just won't let him live it down. To this day, that just cracks me up.

Not too long ago he was explaining Winter Solstice and how it affects the length of the day. He told the kids, "Winter Solstice is the smallest day of the year". The silence in the back seat of the car told me they were seriously trying to figure out what it means when you say that a day is small. Will it fit in a shoe box? In his defense, "shortest day of the year" doesn't make much more sense but it's just what we are used to hearing.

Before I colored my hair last time, he was at a very close distance staring at my roots. He drew this conclusion, "Honey you have a LOT of gray hair". I shot him a little evil eye and he quickly came up with this, “Not an old lady... what do they call them? Distinguished, you're distinguished.” It's too bad distinguished doesn't start with an "S" or I'd add it to my blog title.

Hat and Lunch Day

The preschool has a designated Hat and Lunch day each year where the kids pack their own lunch. It's such a treat for them to dine with their friends, and as a bonus, they get to wear and show off a special hat too. Last year, my pictures captured snow on the ground, but luckily this year it was warm enough that they enjoyed their lunch outside.

Here is Sanjay with his lunchbox and baseball cap ready to celebrate this fun day:

Priya's New Look...

will include glasses. She's been squinting for some time now and I finally got around to getting her eyes checked. Those darn school screenings have come back with normal results for 3 years now giving us a false sense that everything was alright. Unfortunately, as it turns out, reading an eye chart is not an accurate measure of vision according to our eye doctor. In fact, several states have banned the school screenings for the simple fact that it sometimes gives parents a comfort level that prevents them from getting their child's eyes checked by a professional.

Evidently, children's eyes should be checked before the age of 3... that's right, age three. The brain and the eyes are communicating and trying to work everything out from 18 months to 3 years, so that by age 3, the brain has already made adjustments to correct for poor vision, thereby sometimes causing irreversible damage. With each passing year, the development of the visual system is more complete and cannot be changed. I don't really know if this applies to your basic near sightedness and farsightedness but there are other vision problems that can certainly be repaired if caught early enough. Wow, this is maybe the first time that I'm actually educating my readers, all two of you that actually have children young enough to benefit from this fabulous advice. :)

It's hard to tell how Priya feels about being the only other person in her class to wear glasses. The other little girl is a friend of hers from Kindergarten, so today she went to her for advice. The girl shared with Priya that glasses can sometimes get caught in your hair when you put them on or take them off and also, she said, "They make you not look beautiful". I really hope that despite the fact that her two closest friends don't want her to get glasses that her new look will be accepted and even embraced by her peeps. She did go with their advice of staying away from frames that were too round. Let's see... I think overall she's excited about wearing them even though she's convinced the people in her class will no longer recognize her.



It was fun shopping for the new eye-wear with Priya, especially after we returned Sanjay back home because he just doesn't know how to behave well in public. The glasses have been ordered and will be ready in about a week, but here's a sneak preview and summary of our shopping: