Rohan's First Car

...is a 1969 Jaguar XKE OTS (open two seater), series 2, in pale primrose with black leather seats.

It's Granddad Doug's first grandson to sit in one of his 'babies' - interesting that it wasn't Deven to sit in the car, first. I think the car suits Rohan quite well, don't you?

You know you're the mother of a preschooler and a toddler when...

In the spirit of David Letterman, I thought I'd share my personal Top 10 List: You know you're the mother of 3 and 1 year old boys when... 10. Your preschooler gives you a card he made for mother's day, and you react with a mixture of joy and horror. Joy, because it's so SWEET and you're truly happy and love it and know this is one that will be displayed proudly at the office and then treasured forever; and horror because it reminds you that today is the Friday before Mother's Day and you haven't yet mailed the Mother's Day card you bought for your mother 2 weeks ago and that's been sitting in your work bag since then (sorry, Mom). 9. You step on a piece of cooked carrot after dinner, it smooshes under your foot, and to clean it up you look at it, assess the cleanliness of the floor around, and pop it in your mouth and swallow. 8. Your Pediatrician says "I think we'll leave the stitches in his hand for a few more days" and you sigh with relief - because that means he'll only have 1.5 hands with which to grab and bother his big brother (potentially landing himself or big brother back in the hospital again). 7. You go to a friend's new house who doesn't have kids for an afternoon party and bring your boys, and you're relieved to see the outdoor space has neither dangerous items such as long sticks for the boys to impale themselves upon, nor highly-maintained gardens & shrubbery for the boys to mess up. As you leave the party (somewhat early), you congratulate yourself for having survived 2 hours in polite company when the boys a. ate well, b. weren't horribly rude (though they weren't super-polite, something you must still work on with them, especially the older one), c. went potty when asked, d. didn't have a massive meltdown tantrum, and e. didn't break anything of value. 6. You know your Pediatrician's telephone # by heart (415-641-1019). 5. Your husband asks you to find your younger son's blankie at bedtime, and you panic, because you're terrified it's soaking wet in the washing machine and that means everyone will have to deal with his screaming until it was dry enough to sleep with. You realize you need a second blankie (because of course, he chose a unique, handmade blankie for his security blanket), but you haven't yet figured out how to do it. 4. Your love, love, LOVE your sons' bellies. Every time you see your younger son's round, soft, Pillsbury-dough-boy pot-belly sticking out at bathtime, you want to hug and kiss and cuddle him (and you do, and he giggles, and so you do it some more). 3. You can recite all the words to The Very Hungry Caterpillar; Go Dog Go; Goodnight Moon; Wet Pet, Dry Pet, Your Pet, My Pet; and at least 3 other children's books by heart

"These yellow pets are called the Zeds. They have one hair upon their heads. Their hair grows so fast, so fast they say, They need a haircut every day..."

2. When a friend from work asks for a restaurant recommendation, you can give many - but you remark to yourself that you and your husband haven't actually *visited* any of the restaurants you're recommending in the past 3 years. And the #1 way you know you're the mother of 3 and 1 year old boys is... 1. When you take a brief mental vacation (because really, "brief" is all the time you have these days) and reflect on things, you a. feel tired, b. wonder when the tantrums will stop (please, soon), c. wonder when your husband will get fed up with you; and d. overall, you feel pretty darned lucky just to be you, as you are, and as they are. Happy Mother's Day!

Genesis of the Sharma Rock Band

Not looking to have the next Hansons here, but The SherwoodSharmas has a tongue-twisting ring, doesn't it?

:)

Russian Hill Sunshine - and Drumsticks!

Auntie Christie invited us over to her new home in Russian Hill for an impromptu backyard barbecue on Sunday afternoon. Glorious sunshine, good parking karma, a safe/small enclosed backyard, lacrosse sticks, and good post-nap moods set the stage for the fun.

The main event was put on by Auntie Christie & Uncle Ben; who (aside from the gourmet side dishes) cooked the first drumsticks Rohan had ever eaten. The way he held his drumsticks (note the plural - yes he ate > 1!), we thought he knew who Fred Flintstone was! Deven was his usual uninterested-in-food self; but actually smiled for Auntie Christie's camera (yay! Cute shot, huh?); and thanks to our hostess-with-the-mostess, a good time was had by all.



Next weekend there's a NCAA playoff game in our backyard; and I'm hoping the weather is nice so we can bring the gang, with their sticks, to cheer on the 3rd team on the field (I'm hoping to be one of the Umpires on-field at the game though that's quite an honor, and by no means guaranteed).

It had to happen...(Postscript)

Countless tears & shrieks, 6 stitches, 1 gauze pad, 1 roll of gauze, and an order to keep it dry & clean, & go get the stitches removed by Dr. Schwanke in 10-14 days later, we are home & everyone is sleeping soundly.

I did note, when Rohan had his mouth open & wailing, that he has 2 more teeth visible now, 1 on top & 1 on bottom (this fact, a likely contributor to him gnawing on big brother Deven earlier).

Here's hoping he sleeps thru the night.

Kate Sherwood
Mobile (650) 387-6767

It had to happen...

Sooner or later.

The boys had to fight until 1 went to the hospital.

Tonight the cause was big brother Deven, who accidentally cut Rohan on the hand with a broken pen-clip from the pen that they'd been fighting over. Rohan was far from innocent - he had been using his teeth, pushing & grabbing Deven.

I had been in the shower, and Yogesh was tired after having a long day outside & himself, a bad-belly the past few days. My planner, with the offending pen, was out of place on the floor, in perfect reach for the boys to fight over.

Now I sit with the poor little guy @ CPMC's pediatric urgent care, waiting for the doctor to come put 3-5 stitches to seal the 1" gash on his right palm. He's calm now, but I hear the lidocaine (sp?) will be painful for him.

This is actually Rohan's first time in a hospital, because he was born at home. I hope it's his last, but somehow I think that's unlikely.
Sigh.

Kate Sherwood
Mobile (650) 387-6767

Happy 60th Anniversary, Daadaji & Daadiji!

Tuesday 4/20/10 marked the 60th Anniversary of Daadaji & Daadiji. They were married when she was 15 and he was 18, after his younger brother, sister, and mother had met her and approved (this was normal at the time). There are no photos of them on their wedding day.

While they live apart now, they share regular telephone conversations a few times a week, and had a nice long, sweet-sounding chat that morning. Daadi is always happier after she speaks with Daada.
Her rascally grandsons danced around and congratulated her (while we tried to get them to stop throwing things for the occasion). We've had our cousins-cousins in town (that makes them just cousins, right?) - twin 3-year old boys from Atlanta and their lovely parents, so we celebrated the occasion with a pizza dinner and 4 under the age of 4 rioting in the living room - perfect.

Photos to come, soon.

Ring Around the Rosie on our Anniversary

...enjoy the dancing!

Happy!

We celebrated today.

Photo: Mommy, Deven, & Rohan reading this evening (following Mommy's facial).

Bad Mommy Blogger - and Happy 3rd Birthday, Deven!

The trouble with starting something (like blogging) that you like doing, and that other people have told you they like reading, is that you have to stick with it. Not just because other people care, but because you care. Or in my case, because I find myself playing with my sons, and actually thinking in short-blog-format.

That's scary, I know.


I try to be "present" with them - to not get sucked into the CrackBerry, the mail, the many, many interesting magazines and articles and Macy's One Day Sale catalogs. To simply enjoy Deven saying "Ro-HAN!" and Rohan whisper-talking "Wat!" (that's his word for water) or "Mik" (that's "milk").


And I'll try to not think in blog-post format.

UPDATE

Rohan's hearing was retested, and it is perfectly normal. Unfortunately, his speech is not yet; but he is making more noises which is good. We're still on the research-and-maybe-therapy track but I know Yogesh and I both breathed a big sigh of relief that at least he can hear.

Deven is now three. 3! We had a wonderful, successful birthday party weekend for him, complete with
- Naani.
- Nanni buying Deven a skuut bike, and Deven grinning wildly as he rode down the sidewalk after getting his birthday gift.
- Party for 20 children + their grownups, with fire-truck cake, nobody cried and most people sang along with Music Teacher Andrew (scroll down to see a photo of him - we think he's great).
- Rainy Sunday where Naani and Yogesh managed the kids while I umpired a lacrosse game (boy was it wet!)
- Good Monday - Deven's actual birthday.
- LOTS of gifts for Deven; he hasn't even opened them all as he hasn't quite figured out how much fun it is to open gifts - instead he just likes playing with the ones already opened. Unfortunately, we didn't have great systems to confirm who-gave-what; so we'll have to just say THANK YOU to everyone, here

Now that we take most photos with our camera phones, these snaps aren't the best, but they're what we've got for now.