19 mths 4 wks: Things that I do

Hey Ppl,

This blog entry is dedicated mainly to share things that I do. Hope you all are doing fine. I am sure everyone of you has some or the other plans since its the July 4th long weekend! :) We are going for swimming today afternoon and am pumped up cuz its my first time. I love being in water a lot.

Now coming to things that I do often. I am very affectionate to Khushi, my younger cousin (Anshbhai's younger sister) and pat her, share toys with her and hug her often. I call her 'bunn' lovingly which means sister (ben). I have realized long back that when there's camera around or anybody says the word 'photo' I instantly give a very sweet and naughty smile...Its unique and whenever someone sees me smile, they are like 'who taught you to smile like this?'!! I name each and every food on the table that I eat, whether its crackers, cheese, milk, veggies, fruits, juices, rice, etc. I love eating cakes nowadays, and was the first one to eat Anshbhai's birthday cupcakes on his birthday. Had fun playing with and eating the colorful cupcake decorations :) I have started to enjoy my time at my day school and know the names of all my teachers. Miss Bertha is my primary care teacher and I keep speaking "teacher Bettha" the whole day there and at home. Teacher Tina is my 2nd favorite and I speak her name quite frequently too. I like eating the school lunch and eat it all by myself, love the songs n dance, the playground time (esp. the buggy cars and the sand time), the art work and other things that I do there. I help mumma with laundry and like pushing the laundry hamper from my room to the washer and say 'kugg-kugg' (chug chug) while doing that. I recognize which clothes are mine, daddizz' and mumma's. I am very fond of doing 'seva-puja' and help mumma every evening with that. We dress up je-je-bhagaan (God) and then do the 'divo' which is the main attraction :) Then we offer some 'pataad' (prasaad) to je-je-bhagaan and I eat it and share it with all at home. I have also learnt to say 'kunkoo' (thank you) to anyone when they give me something or do something for me. Mumma taught me just once and I learnt when to use it, isnt that amazing?? :) I also say 'more' when I want more of food or some activity that we are doing. I had gotten some rashes and mumma applies 'bump cream' (rash cream for healing the bumps) to those. Since then I have learnt that whenever anyone gets hurt, bump cream can heal it and I rush to get it for them. Smart boy, aint I??? :) The other day, when mumma came to pick me up along with dada at my school, I said "Mumma back" and she was surprised as to how do I know when to speak back and all. I am a fast learner mumma, so...

There is a lot more that I do, but mumma needs to recall more and jot it down here. So a break for now untill next time. See you all soon, with more updates on that and about how we spent the long weekend.

Love,
Anay :)

19 Months 2 weeks: recent pics

Hi Everyone,

Hope you are enjoying the weekend as much as I am. No school yaaay!!! I still remember my teacher, but it is fun to have off days :)

As promised below are my recent pics. Hope you like them.

- pics taken in last 2 months

- pics from take your kids to work day at oracle

- pics from our family vacation (part1) (part2)

- pics from my n anshbhai's CDM visit

Love u n miss u all.

"Ba bye",

Anay

19 Month 1 week: Going to day care

Hi All,

Sorry for writing after such a long time. I have been a bit busy, but mainly lazy. The big news as of 1 week ago is that I have started to go to day care. First, 3-4 days were a bit rough, but I am doing much better now. I cried a lot the second and the third day, but from 4th day onwards, I cry for less than 5 mins. Pretty impressive for a small kid, don't you think? I am also eating pretty well there, by myself and also by my teacher, Teacher Bertha. She takes good care of me and I have quickly learned to say her name. Anytime anyone mentions my school, I say "teacha betha" :). I also sleep there very well. So all in all I have adjusted well.

Of course I miss my mumma when I go there, so then I shower a lot of love for her when I get back, in the form of hugs n kisses. I also want to do everything with mumma (poor dadda :) ). I think slowly I will get used to the idea and won't cry at all, since mumma and dada will come an pick me up in the afternoon.

On to my toys, I have gotten very fond of remote control cars. I started playing with one that my mama had got one for me. Then, dadda-n-mumma got a nice one for me recently and am having a lot of fun with them. I could play with them for hours together. I am going to be a car guy like my dadda and mama.

I have also started playing a lot with Anshbhai. I have started to say his name as "Ann Bhai". We play together and also fight for toys. In general, we love having each other around, but sometimes still we fight for toys. We are too small to understand that we should share, u c :D.

Of late I have also gotten lot better about eating. I have started to eat and enjoy all kinds of foods. Makes my mom's life so much easier. I am sooooo goood ;). I have also started to understand the concept of camera, so moment I see a camera I start smiling. Dadda n mumma have lots of pictures of me smiling. Hopefully we will upload them soon.

That's all for now. Thanks for reading my blog, I will try to update again soon with pictures.

Take care,
Anay

16 months 4 weeks: Fun should never end!

Hey Everybody....

How did u like all the pictures that I ve been posting lately??? I hope u like 'em. U may not be surprised to know that my motto of life is 'Fun should never end' :) I not only love to do dhamaal masti (free play n pranks) but also never want it to end. When am playing peekaboo with daddy, or mumma says something funny and I laugh over it or when they do some actions that amuse me or stuff that excites me, I want it to go on and on and on...and god forbid if it ends, then I scream, yell or drag them along to do it again and again :0) Fun should never end, u see! :) So to add to the fun, here are some pictures of the Holi celebration at Stanford Univ. that we went to, last weekend.

Holi 2010

Mumma and daddy are really happy and excited that I speak a lot of words, babble a lot and try to closely follow what they are speaking, so I can speak some of that too some day. As my mumma said in one of the previous posts, I speak more than 20 words already. Some of the new ones are appam (open), aamaa (in this), aapa for aapo (give), aaga for aagal (in front of, forward), tuttle (turtle), paap for taap (sunlight), bom (bomb), pappah (paper), dot-dot (when I see dots or circles or want to scribble using colors), pahpah (potty seat), paa paa (walk), kuck (truck), kukker (tractor), dugh (duck), bap-bap (dip-dip), bhamm (it fell down), bub (bib) and probably some more...its hard for mumma to jot down all of 'em cuz she hears variety of words sometimes mixed together too...like ba ba, ka ka becomes baka baka! :p

I can also feed myself with spoon now. Two days back, I fed myself about 10 spoonfuls of homemade yogurt. It was a scene to be captured, my bib n food tray were all sploshed with the yogurt n mumma still loved it, although she forgot to record it :( Since then she has been encouraging me every meal to feed some by myself with a spoon. Am also learning to drink by myself from the sippy cup by holding it high up. I am already doing great sipping from the straw, and love it too. I drink water, orange juice n sometimes milk too, in my new straw cup.

I guess that's all I have at the moment, but more coming more often. So stay tuned!

Love,
Anay :)

16 Months and 3 Weeks: more pics

Hi All,

I finally uploaded more pics. Below are the links.

My Mundan pics from March 7th 2010
Professional Pics taken at PictureMe Portraits

I also went for Holi festival at Stanford today. It was amazing. I was really surprised to see so many people covered in so much color. Crazy.... if you ask me :) But it was still fun putting color on mumma-daddy and saying "dot dot dot ...". Fun stuff. I have some pictures from the festival as well. Will be uploading them soon.

That's all for now. Bye, or as I would say it "ba ba ..." :)
Anay

16 and half months: News n Pics

Hi All,

Sorry it has been a long time since I blogged. I was sick in the middle for a few days and then recuperating. I had to be hospitalized for a day, but am back to normal now, i.e., doing all the masti in the world :D

First some news to share, two weeks back my kaki gave birth to a little baby girl, Khushi. So I have a little cousin sister now :) I have lots of fun playing with her. And I am not the youngest in the family :( :).

Other then that I have made a lot of progress in the linguistic department :) I speak many words, some of them half, but still. Here is a list of a few, mumma, papa, daddy, ba, dada, kaka, car, cat, ight (light), shoees (shoes), ball, puple (purple), bowww (brown), biib (bib), pat (pant), theeese (straw, don't ask how that is straw, it just is :) ), and many many more. I will attempt to repeat anything that you ask me to. Of course, understanding what I am saying is your job ;)

Also, mom and dad did my babri 2 weeks back. I have very little hair now. My hair were so beautiful :(. Mumma also made 2 chotis on my head and took a lot of pics. I was very cooperative during the whole thing. I wasn't even scared of the hair clipper. I was happily sitting in mom/dad's lap while they cut my hair. I am soooo goooood :D!!! Everyone says I look much more grown up now, but I still do lot of nakhras. When asked "where did my hair go", I place my hand on the head and make a face. I am getting used to it now though.

I also started peeing and pooping in the potty seat, yaaayyy!!! It is so amusing for me right now. But, I show the potty myself when I want to pee, about 4-5 times a day. Not bad, right?? :)

Also, wanted to say I miss India. Shauryabhaiya, ba, dada, Karanmama, Keshamasi and Mintimasi, who used to give me water all the time, all of them. I had such good fun with them. I miss them all. I recognize them easily in photos and and call them out to play with me :)

Finally, I have some pictures to share with you all from the India trip. Will upload pics from my babri soon.

India pics
more pics from india trip

Bye for now. Will try to write more often.
Anay

14 months: My exciting India trip...Miss u all there :(

Hi All,

It's been a really long time since I wrote to u all last. 2 months since my 1st Birthday. Wow!! Time flies real fast. Mom, dad and I were busy shopping and packing for India trip after my Birthday and soon it was time for me and mumma to leave for India on Dec 4th, 2009. My first trip to India, my first flight journey was different but exciting. Mumma says I was very well behaved and didnt harass her at all, I played well, ate well and entertained everyone in the flight by saying hi to almost every single person in our cabin :) The air hostesses were really impressed with me and my actions/expressions. I didn't sleep much though, unlike other babies on the plane who would cling to their moms and sleep most of the time. We had company of Neha masi and Nikhil masa and they were very helpful and fun to be with. I missed daddy though, and realized only after reaching India that he wasn't around.

Initially after reaching to my nana-nani's place in Baroda (Gujarat state), I would wake up at 5am and call it a nite at 6pm in the evening. It took almost 10 days to wear off the jetlag. Since I love meeting everyone, I would go to whosoever called me or even before someone would call me, which pleasantly surprised them. My nana and nani, Kesha masi and Karan mama, Minti masi and Shaurya bhaiyya all loved playing with me, pampering me, feeding me and taking me out and I too loved it all. I miss them soooo much, especially Shaurya bhaiyya: my buddy, my partner in crime (we would both climb up the stairs almost 5-6 times a day and compel others to follow us ;)) and my playmate. Minti masi would sing and help me and bhaiyya sleep on the swing in the noon everyday, make sure we were drinking water every hour and also play with us lovingly. Kesha masi would pamper us, feed us from her plate and we both would go crazy at the sight of her and jump up-and-down to be picked up by her. Karan mama would take us out in the car for rides and also we had lots of fun with the remote controlled car, the drum and few other toys he got us. Nanaji would take me out in the stroller (most of the times he would take us turn by turn and sometimes together) for a ride to the park or the society and also read books at home to us. I had lot of fun with Naniba doing 'peek-a-boo' from the window that was by the stairs. I would call out 'baa, baa' once I was by the window on my way up the stairs and wait for her response, and then crackle up laughing on seeing her there :) She also used to take me out to see the birds in the morning, chaanda mama at night, etc. I also saw Bhavesh masa couple times on the web cam and he talked to me over the phone too.

By the way I forgot to mention my biggest achievement off late, I STARTED TO WALK within a week of reaching India!! It was so exciting that I wouldn't stop walking untill I would call it a nite. Mom and everyone else would get tired and go ballistic running after me in every nook n corner of the home. My fav. spots were the stairs and the puja room. I would run to jai-jai bhagaan's mandir and keep meddling with the idols and stuff. I learnt a lot new things in India. I knew how to climb up the stairs, but learnt walking down 'em with Shaurya bhaiyya. Also learnt climbing up and down from the sofa after seeing him do that. We would both push our strollers from one end of the compound (similar to backyard) to the other and have fun everyday. I also learnt speaking 'kite', 'bye-bye', 'baah-baah' (which means I want to go outside), 'done', 'mumma', 'mama' (Karan mama), 'tent' and few other words. I started to drink water regularly there (thanks to Minti masi). I started to eat more rice, khichadi and greens too. I loved the saakar (crystal sugar) that nanaji gave as prasaad every morning.

Things that surprised/excited/pumped me up were the sight of a cow/sheep/goat/buffalo, chacha rickshaw, kites in the sky and my choo-choo shoes (shoes that make a typical sound when squeezed at the sole). Also, going for shopping and to people's places was fun. I would walk down through the entire house and inspect every room of theirs, eat different things and get lots of gifts too. Daddy joined me and mumma on 2nd Jan 2010 in India and he was super excited and emotional to see me and mumma after almost a month. I was asleep when he got out of the airport, but on the way back home, I woke up in his arms and I was so sleepy/surprised/confused and blank all at the same time that I had no reaction. Daddy was hoping that I hadn't forgotten him and to his pleasant surprise, I gradually recognized him and cuddled him and wouldn't leave him till 2 days. He was my teddy bear for 2-3 days whom I would go and cuddle every so often and wouldn't let him be out of my sight :)

Everyone that we met later when daddy came, would go like 'oh wow, Anay is so cute, he looks like mumma/daddy, he is so obedient and quiet, he goes to anyone who calls him, is so active' and the list goes on. I had some health problems like viral infection and throat infection after getting there and before getting here, and the medicines were a very unpleasant episode. But I am fine now and getting better at eating too. Mumma had a gum infection by her wisdom tooth and had to get it extracted while in India, and she too is doing fine now. Daddy and my family members there had some hard time taking care of us then.

And last for now but not the least, we enjoyed Uttarayan (a festival of flying kites) a lot in India. It was my first Indian festival in India and I saw kites too the first time there. We saw numerous kites in the sky everyday even 20 days ahead of Uttarayan but the day of Uttarayan was overwhelmingly exciting. I was so busy looking at the colorful kites in the sky the whole afternoon that I didn't mind being held by mumma and others all the time, instead of walking independently :)Daddy was so pumped up that he went early to the old home (we flew kites on the terrace there) with Karan mama early morning. He also got me some kites that I am gonna share with Anshbhai here.

Will write lot more next time and also hopefully share the pics and videos then. Till then, bye-bye and take care.

Miss u all in India, veryyyyyyy much :(
Love,
Anay :)

My Birthday Pictures n Videos

Hey All,

Here are some pics and videos from my 1st Birthday celebration at home. Enjoy!

1st Birthday

Catch ya all later,
Anay :)

1 year old: Wooo..hoooo!!

Hi Folks,

Thank you all who came to my Birthday party last weekend, and also got me nice presents. I had a blast with everyone and was amazed by the love and attention showered on me :)

To those who couldn't make it, there were about 35 people including my family, mom-dad's friends, our family friends, dad's work colleagues and some of our neighbors. Everyone was so nice, they would not only wish me but also my mom-dad, especially mom! I got lots of balloons, nice gifts, lots of pictures with everyone, yummy cake and food, and all in all a great evening. I had worn a formal black n white 3piece outfit gifted by ba-dada. My shoes were new to me so I started playing with them once I had them on :) The cake was very attractive, it had tigger (one of my fav. characters) and pooh bear toy n decoration on it. We had paneer crispy sizzler, kachori, dahi paapri chaat, mathiya, pizzas and soda in the food menu, which everyone liked a lot.

Mumma had made sheero (a sweet) especially for me and all of us (family) n few of daddy's friends did 2 prayers and offered sheero to je je bhagaan (God) in the afternoon. I love the divo/aarti and cant wait to get my hands there, so immediately after the prayers, mumma gave me the aarti. It was nice, the aarti n sheero both :)

But the best of all was when everyone in the home went to sleep, I was up and excited about my birthday presents. I was banging all the big ones, tearing off the present decorations and curious to open them. Daddy helped me open them initially and I tore the wrapping later. There are couple pictures of me doing all this, that you may like to see :) I also got a cute hand made card from Anshbhai and Kaka-Kaki that night. Dada-ba gave me a card too, and the presents next afternoon. They gave me what I play the most time, soccer ball with a goal post :) and a pair of outfit too. My Naani-Naana called twice to wish me that day, Masa-Masi and Shauryabhai, Mauna masi and family, Daddy's Mama-Mami, Dipti aunty and family and few other relatives and mom's friends called too.

I loved every bit of it and enjoyed too! Never knew birthdays could be so much fun, wish they would come 12 times a year :) Alrite then, adios time for now. See ya all later. Mumma Daddy will post some pics n videos soon.

Love,
Anay :)

Almost 12mths: Gearing up 4 my 1st Budday! :)

Hi Everyone!

How have u all been?? I know its been reallllly long. I ve been doin sooooo many new things u c :) Let's start from my new tricks/nakhras: I have learnt to bounce the ball and also like to kick it. I shake my head sideways to indicate NO or sometimes just for fun. The most striking new thing that I ve learnt is to point towards things and people and let others know of my preferences or what I want then. Its sooooo good, I can express myself even better now. I also can do the "All Done" action with both my fists closed, when am done eating or when I dont want to eat a particular food. I also use that action once my diaper is changed! Mumma says I am grasping things very swiftly nowadays :) I also understand lot of things that mumma says to me like: besi jaao, ubha thaao, pa pa pagli karo, run,run,run, paachha aavo, etc. I can identify the plants/trees in my backyard with names since about 3-4 months now. For eg. mumma asks me where Tulsiji is while watering 'em and I can point towards it. I switch off the TV especially when dada or daddy are watching it ;p Gadgets are my fav. target these days, I gun for wires anywhere, for the laptop, music system, dvd player, cell phone, etc. whenever its in my view. I make lots of faces too, mostly funny ones! And yeah, I cannot forget to mention one expression of mine that everybody loves and wants me to repeat again and again: whenever I get really excited or happy or like some food, I close my fists in both hands and bring my hands really close to my face and smile wide (something close to "I did it!!" expression). Daddy has captured a video of that, u can check it out here. I also cruise almost everywhere around the house and can independently stand till a minute or more sometimes. I like to run with my push-along walker independently and enjoy it a lot.

Apart from all this, I am also gonna turn 1yr old on 7th next month, so mumma and daddy are busy preparing for the celebration. They are really excited and have been shopping in bits n pieces for the party. It is my first Birthday and u are all invited :)

We had daddy's mama-mami with us for 10 days at our home during Diwali. It was fun having them. Since it was my first Diwali, daddy and mumma wanted me to see the fire crackers and we lit 'tara-mandal' and pop-its in our backyard. I was so amazed at the sight of 'tara-mandal' that I wanted to hold a lit one myself, but I guess I'll get to when am a bit grown-up.

My fav. foods nowadays are the cocoa-puffs in milk, tomato soup, flavored yogurt, water melon (its juice too), orange juice, peach, seasoned mumra, cheese crackers and strawberries. I have started to show strong preferences in what I will eat at the table, and point out things that I want.

That's all for now I guess. Will write more after my Birthday :) I am so looking forward to all the fun: cake, bubbles, party cap, blowers, meeting everyone and having a blast!

C ya all soon,
Anay :)