Ka-li-four-nya...nya Nya NYA!

Deven continues his verbal explosions - today, when Daddy asked "Where is Seattle?" he replied "In Wash-ing-ton State!" (that's where they went over Memorial Day weekend. When Yogesh asked "Where's San Francisco?" Deven answered "Ka-li-four-nya...nya Nya NYA!" ...and proceeded to repeat "NYA NYA NYA" until we diverted his attention to save our sanity.


PRESCHOOL ANTICS
Tomorrow, we're taking the boys along, as we sign Deven up for preschool at Holy Family Day Home. We're really happy with the school, and we plan to have him start there this fall. It's the oldest childcare center in the city, with very sweet teachers & administrators, 2 meals & snacks served, convenient hours, a beautiful new building @ 16th & Dolores (8 long blocks away; but conveniently located along the BART line - good for me - and an easy drive for Yogesh); it's a larger school (100+ kids ages 2-5), with lots of socioeconomic diversity (>70% of the kids at any time are on some form of assistance), and the cherry-on-top: It's by far the least-expensive we've looked at. This doesn't mean it's *cheap* - but @ $1,295/month until he's potty trained, then $995/month, not nearly as bad as the $1,695+/month at other places we looked at.



Lest you think we could just call and sign him up...oh, no. When I was first pregnant, I spoke to very wise friends Tom & Kaya, who congratulated me in a high-happy pitch, then quickly lowered their voices and advised "Get yourself on preschool lists [for when he's 2]now." I thought they were kidding, but quickly realized they were dead serious. So, like any over-anxious neurotic San Francisco first-time mommy-to-be, I put Deven on 4 waitlists when I was 13 weeks pregnant:
- Holy Family Day Home (closest, lovely, no deposit)
- Marin Day Schools (4 locations, known as a top school, $50 deposit)
- Katherine Michiels School (closest to our home, high end but ick building, $75 deposit)
- Children's Village (tough location, sweet teachers, $50 deposit)

I reviewed countless other schools, visited another 8, considered hard whether to put Deven in Daycare or hire a nanny (we ended up with the Nanny, which was a good choice for us), and though we had no guarantees...I waited. Oh yes, and since then, I've also added us to
- Glen Park Montessori (out of our way, $50 deposit)...and I almost considered adding us to 3 other lists.

If you think that was enough to get him into our top choice, let me set you straight: We got him into the school by not only my efforts above, but also my dogged persistence. When Deven was ~ 15 months, I started calling. I added to my calendar, once a month, to call my top choices (HFDH & KMS), and sweetly remind them of how interested we are in their school and how much we wanted Deven to attend there. I found out that Deven's pre-birth application had been misplaced by HFDH in a computer-file upgrade, so I reminded them how interested I was in Deven's attending there, and begged them to let me reapply with the same October 2006 application date. After speaking with just about every assistant at HFDH, I finally got through to the Admissions Coordinator, and begged (I mean, literally, using a nice-voice and all the emotion I could muster on the cellphone while driving). I think she wanted me to stop calling her, so she said she'd found proof of my October 2006 application, and agreed that I could use that date on my application.
With the effort I put in, you'd think I was getting him into Wharton, not the wee-ones program at the nearby nursery school.
...but in the end, my persistence paid off: In March, we learned that Deven got the only open spot in the not-yet-potty-trained class, as they took mostly kids moving up from their infant program in another location, into their Dolores Street preschool. Phew!

And now, tomorrow, my first baby - my sweet little Deven Reid - will go with us to sign up for preschool. That nameless group "They" has told me many times "Kids grow up so fast" - and looking back on the past 2 years, I have to agree.

Happy Birthday to Mommy!

...and in honor of the event (5/21, actually), I thought I'd post my 4 most favorite photos, taken recently by Yogesh.



I can't figure out why Blogger has uploaded these sideways - but I think they're so cute that I don't really mind.



Which one do you like best?
:-)

Rohan's Favorite Food

...is not rice cereal (too binding...3 days of no-poop after trying that)...







...is not oatmeal cereal (also too binding...3.5 days of no-poop with that one! And yes, I know Rohan will someday be very embarrassed about my public pronouncements of the speed of his bowels)...







...is not breastmilk (sure he likes that...and still cries for it too much @ 3:30am, but that's just regular juice for him)





...is not even pears (though he really liked them, they didn't do a thing to move things along inside).






...it's his TOES!



Hear, hear for toes as the baby's favorite food. All hail baby toes as chew-toys, giggle-inducers, and general good fun!

:-)

LOOK AT ME when I'm talking to you!

How many times as a child did your parent say, as they were scolding you, "LOOK AT ME when I'm talking to you!"



I now know that this phrase is not only a parent's phrase meant to grate on the nerves of any teenage girl (yes, Mom & Dad - those memories are burned in my brain!), but a biologically-ingrained part of who we are. How do I know this? Because I have a toddler, and in his own toddler-way, he says the same thing.








A typical conversation, until I realized this biologically-ingrained trait, would go something like this:

Mommy. (Deven, wanting to tell me something)

Yes, Deven. (me, continuing to do what I was doing)

Mommy. (Deven, again)

Yes, Deven. (me, still doing what I was doing)

MOMMY. (Deven, again, a little louder)

Yes, Deven. (me, still doing what I was doing)

MOMMY. (Deven, again, a little louder still)

Yes, Deven. (me, still doing what I was doing)

MOMMY MOMMY MOMMY MOMMY. (Deven, again, now really loud)

YES, Deven. (me, finally looking up at Deven)

Mommy, Dao (that's Idea the cat) kissed Deven. (Deven, so proud of himself, grinning ear to ear)

The other Mom in the photo is my old 4-H friend Dana, with her son Grady - they came to visit us from Vermont when she had a few conferences in northern Cali, and stayed over between them near Monterey. Other photos are just random ones I thought were cute.
Enjoy!

Zzz...

Zzz...

This is what I'd like to be doing, but our dear baby boy Rohan has decided that nighttime is not only for sleep, but also for shrieks and howls...sometimes once an hour.

Rohan is, I've decided, the 5-month old cherubic equivalent of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde.

Daytimes: Sweet-as-pie; giggles and coos and eats his toes and rolls over; whines just a little bit when he's hungry or tired but generally eats, sleeps, & poops well - and giggles and smiles and gurgles charmingly in between.

Nights: Goes down easy with Daddy. Problem is, he doesn't STAY down! Every 1 - 2 hours, he awakens with a blood-curdling scream, and won't stop until we've picked him up. Just leave him there, you say? Well, we've tried the CIO [that's Cry It Out] method, and despite being a heartless boorish awful mother, I finally picked him up ...or, more properly, had Yogesh pick him up, just so we could sleep. This kid is LOUD! He used to sleep in our bed, but he started kicking me so much that we kicked him out of bed ~ 1 month ago.

I know it's a phase. I know "every kid is different" and we just have to deal with it. And, I know that we're incredibly lucky that this is what I have to complain about, and Rohan (and big brother Deven) and everyone else here are basically healthy. I know, I know, I know!

...but is it so wrong that I'm really looking forward to a 1-night business trip in 2 weeks, so I can go to bed early and get a full 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep?

Zzz...

Huntin' for Fun

Daadi is at the center of our household. As an elderly grandma, she doesn't consider leaving the home to be much fun (and if you know our loooong stairs, you can understand why). This is why Yogesh and I have a few tricks to get her out. These include (in no particular order):
- Discussing how many wonderful HOUSES there are to go hunt for (we're not really in the market, but we tell her we are)...househunting for a home with a nice deck and warm garden, with one bedroom & bathroom on the main floor, is a favorite pasttime of hers & ours.
- Talking about Rainbow Grocery, our new favorite hippie-commune-green-uber PC- grocery store.
- Having Deven say "Daadi, CHAAALO!" (essentially, "Daadi, let's GO!")...over, and over, and over..., and
- Giving her Rohan when he's smiling and giggly, and telling her that he's that way because he wants her to go outside and breathe in the fresh air and feel the sunshine.


Our tricks work, at least 1/2 the time. We have a better hit-rate if it's clearly a warmer / less windy day, and don't even try if it's grey and cold outside.

...If any of you talk with Daadi, don't you dare tell her about our tricks! :)

Oh, the photos here were taken in Houston at the Butterfly Garden inside the History Museum - I love this one of Heather & Ante (who, as you may recall, is just 3 weeks older than Rohan, and also just rolled over for the first time recently!) I love that he's older, bigger, and much balder than Rohan (and Deven). If Heather as a baby is any guide, he'll be bald until he's 2. :)

Growin' up

Today we had the boys checked by their doctor.

ROHAN is:
- Rolling over on hard surfaces
- Smiling and giggling when you play Peek-a-Boo with him (still the best game EVER invented)
- Is capable of sleeping through the night - but that doesn't mean he IS doing so yet...
- In the 50th Percentile for weight, height, and head circumference

DEVEN
- Is back up into the 50th Percentile for most things, except weight
- Still doesn't trust the doctor...he'd had a traumatic earwax cleaning a while back, and doesn't think anyone at the doctor's office is to be trusted now
- Is going off to preschool this fall @ Holy Family Day Home - and we forgot the forms for the doctor to sign for that, of course.

Otherwise, things are going well here. Yogesh and I are both working too many hours, but we have old friends Kathleen and Christie coming in this weekend...and hopefully the work will let up soon.

Almost 2

Tonight, on the eve of Deven's second birthday, I'm feeling pretty thankful for what we have:

Deven
- Talks to Naani every morning. Has learned to say "I love you Naani. Talk to you later Naani. See you soon... Goodbye Naani" before he hits the red button to hang the phone up (well, most of the time, anyway).
- Runs, jumps, knows how to count to 20 and say the days of the week, months of the year, and 2 languages in toddler-speak, at least.
- Is a sweet, gentle big brother. He's a reticent, shy child who will hang back in new situations and sometimes gets overzealous in his love for Rohan, but generally listens to us...unless he's having a toddler moment.





Rohan
- Continues to talk, squeal, and coo adorably. Still not rolling over all the way or showing any signs of interest in food, but no rush on that.
- His fussiness has subsided for the most part, and in general, he continues to be a sensitive, hot-and-cold child.
- Still isn't sleeping through the night, but we've started to be able to put him down alone and he's actually doing pretty well.



Daddy
- Has grown into being the best Daddy I could have hoped for. He calms Rohan down better than I, he even had the foresight to bring his mom (Daadi) here to live with us. A very, very wise decision.



Daadi
- Has grown older physically, but younger mentally. Listening to her coo to Rohan & Deven makes my heart expand.
- Now is a U.S. green card holder!

Mommy
- Just had my first (and hopefully last) root canal this week. I was told there, that my tooth was "very old" - making me feel, well, very old!
- Still has 20 lbs to go, to get back to pre-baby weight. I know I can do it (encouragement welcome).



Naani & Grandpa & Family
- Still live too far away. As do Aunt Heather & family. Deven misses them, and I know Rohan will too once he gets to know them.
- Aunt Heather has been really sick lately; we all hope she feels better soon!
- Cousin Ante is a big kid - only 3 weeks older than Rohan and noticeably larger (and balder!) than his slightly-younger cousin. The jury is still out on who's cuter...Naani & Grandpa know better than to choose sides in that debate. :)
- We still miss Uncle Helly and are thinking good thoughts for Aunt Carolyn, Rea, Mike, & family.

Friends
- Many close friends; some who will help us celebrate tomorrow - and some who will be too far away, but in our thoughts.





Despite the tears, frustration, sleelessness, sicknesses, and screaming, it's been a very, very good 2 years. I'm glad we started this journey of parenthood with you, Deven Reid Sharma. Happy Birthday, my son.

The Life They Leave Behind

[Do you see the birthmark Rohan has on his chest, right side, below his nipple and arm? Just thought I'd point that out in this adorable photo (and yes, I'm biased!)]



Rohan and I attended my Uncle Helly's funeral on Saturday. We also lost Yogesh's Aunt Manju recently, leaving our boys without the benefit of two wonderful relatives who they will never have the pleasure to know. As my Aunt Carolyn and Rea and Michael and all of us grieve for Uncle Helly, I thought about those of us left behind, and how I might change our lives to allow our boys the same benefits of family that I enjoyed.

Yogesh and I plan to give the boys as many chances as possible to know the relatives they still do have. For us, this will mean more time on an airplane than other families may face, but I hope that it will give my boys fond memories of their relatives, friends, and others we love. In no particular order (and not a complete list), I hope the boys learn things from relatives such as:

- Aunt Heather, a passion for all things that grown in dirt.
- Uncle Tommy, how to do basic electrical work, and the safety precautions you must take to do so safely.




- Great Aunt Sigi, how she knows everything about what little boys like, and speaks with her soft Austrian accent.
- Uncle Bill & Aunt Tina, how to hunt and cook and laugh and enjoy big, rambunctious dogs.
- Great Aunt Ushi, how to get a great bargain on an expensive thing.


- Great Uncle Joergi, how to tell a good joke and be silly and fun.
- Great Aunt Anne, how to make a proper bed (they're sure not gonna learn from their dad!)
- Aunt Bernie & Uncle Troy, how to be nice and learn everywhere you go.
- Great Uncle Art, how to take care of their eyes.
- Aunt (Cousin) Rea & Uncle Jeff & new cousin Eva, how to hike and camp and be resourceful and generally live a mountain life far different from the city these boys call home.



- Aunt Carolyn, how to cook and play the piano and listen and feed the quail.
- Uncle Sanjay, just how much he knows about the financial market (it's scary, really!)
- Uncle Rahul, how to spin records, and maybe even how to sing 'Oh Canada'!
- Aunt Noopur, how to be nice to women & girls (& if she doesn't teach them, her daughters Nishaa & Deeya have my permission to beat it into our boys. :)
- Daada, how to paint and appreciate art.
- Grandpa, a love of cars. And how to throw and catch a ball, and whistle a tune, and fix just about anything mechanical that breaks. And maybe even how to laugh at an off-color joke. Or maybe not.




- Naani and Daadi, how to cook and sew and play and sing...and just how deeply their grandmothers both love them.

Uncle Helly

Yesterday my Uncle Helly passed away. He's the one wearing the tuxedo with black bowtie, father of the bride - my cousin Rea - in the photo. It was sudden and unexpected. As you may expect, there's a lot of sadness in the family right now, so I'll simply paraphrase my Aunt Carolyn:

He was a great man, a great teacher, a great father, and a great husband.

To that I'd add

And a great Uncle.