Is this normal?

Water park or waterboarding?

We went to Galveston on Memorial Day weekend for our friends' engagment party. We decided to spend the weekend at Moody Gardens there.

Despite our recent shark sightings in Houston...

We all decided to check out the aquarium at Moody Garden too (ie, I dragged Ryan there because I heard they have a million gallon shark tank).

Avi quietly posed for pictures...

under minor protest only,



Withstood imprisonment,



watched penguins dive,




And survived being fed to the sharks.

He even liked the boat cruise around Galveston and dancing to Hindi music.

But, he had no idea what was in store for him Sunday morning...

Strapped in a bulky red life vest, out in the blaring sun, he was forced to ride every single scary water slide torture device in the whole park!

I guess things haven't changed.

Laughing with mom.

My mom comes to visit once a month for a week or so. After every visit it seems like Avinash learns so much and starts doing so many new things. This time she bought him a red plastic ball to play with. A little video of his adorable laugh (sorry the lighting is so dark).

Not Me!

Another Not Me! post in imitation of my favorite blog, MyCharmingKids, by MckMama.

First of all, I am not super excited about NOT ME Monday being back again, because that means that little Stellan is getting better and finally gets to be home again.

I also did not work on scrap book pages over the last few days. I most certainly did not have better things to do with my evenings.

I am totally not presenting at grand rounds this week. It probably is not going to take me several all-nighters to finish my talk now. I would never procrastinate.

I did not gain a new sense of respect and appreciation for our pediatrician after he told us how to use the cry it out method. Avinash is such a good baby that his sleep cycle did not get disrupted by daylight savings time a month ago requiring us to retrain him. And, after being able to lie quietly by himself he did NOT figure out over the past few days that he does not have to just lie there in the dark. No! He does not just pull himself and stand along the edge of the crib, cooing and 'singing' to himself. I'm sure he does not have any escape plans cooked up. This of course, has not prompted me to sleep in the same room again out of fear.

I am also not the least bit worried about the fact that our little monkey is still afraid of the slide and will not say mama or dada. He seems to be doing so well with his motor skills why would I fret over a few consonants when he coos and 'sings' (aka screams) all the time? Not me! I guess we will just have to see what next week brings.

Boy, on the go.

Family-filled weekend.

We hadn't been back East since my maternity leave. So, when I had an unprecedented two weekends off in a row we decided to go to Allentown and New Jersey this past weekend.

Me and Avi playing peekaboo. It still gets a laugh every time.

Playing with Great-grandma Dorothy and trying to grab the camera.

More monkey business.

Avi with his aunts, Great Aunt Shelley, Great-Aunt Jill and Aunt Amanda, aka Amanda Bua. And Ryan of course (not one of the aunts, just hogging the baby).

The family shot! Could only get like 75% of the people in the picture at any one time though... Ok, let's see, Randi, Stacey, Uncle Mel, Grandma Dorothy, Sherry, my mom, Aunt Shelley, Aunt Jill, Uncle Steve, then last row is me, Ryan, Avi and Amanda.

Being babied.

I swear, Avinash was the cutest little boy last night. He has really been soaking up all the extra attention he has been getting from my Mom this past week. He was out all day with her too, running errands, going out to lunch with friends, getting the oil changed. Then we went out again after I got home to see Ryan up on stage at the Houston Tea Party.



You would think all of this activity would tire him out completely. But no! He was so playful and adorable all night. My mom and I just laid down a sheet on the carpet getting ready to massage him. He crawled and scooted all over, laughing the whole time.

Then of course we both got baby oil back massages from my Mom. I love being babied. It does tend to make me revert a bit, though she says she doesn't take it personally...

UPDATE:

Check out Ryan's interview about the Tea Party.

Birthday Surprise!

Ryan came home from work the other day carting this big messy package.

He couldn't exactly hide it from me.

And, the loving husband that he is, he told me it was a birthday present.

And because he knows how many long hours I've been working, he even let me open it (almost a week in advance).


................................



The most gorgeous present ever so far.

Half-year mark.

Avinash is six months already!! I really can't believe it. He is growing and learning so much every day. I feel like I am seeing the world through new eyes everytime he discovers something new.

He has been exploring his toes a lot lately, the shape, sight, feel and most of all taste!

His favorite food list keeps growing. We started out with banana and avocado. (Thanks in large part to my mom who will feed him practically anything), he is now also loving mango, which he sucks directly off of the seed, yellow dhal, rice, black beans, carrots. She also gave him a taste of subji masala, which he liked but I haven't fed him since. She also gave him chocolate cookies, sigh..

And the cutest thing of all is his laugh! He finds so many different things hilarious now
1. Flying
2. Bouncing on Daddy's knee
3. Mommy's sneezes
4. Snapping
5. Tossing hair
6. Sitting on me while I do crunches (poorly)
7. Raspberries on his tummy

We took him out to Barnes & Nobles for his six month birthday so we could get him some new books. We let him pick out which one he thought was tastiest, er, best.





Happy Six months Avinash!

Thumak Chalat Ram Chandra, bajat Payjaneea...

Avinash has been working out a lot. Tummy time, jumping up and down on Daddy's knee, flying through the air, rolling over, pulling on the light handle. And, all of his hard work is starting to pay some major dividends. He was starting to crawl -- but only backwards. And, the whole time he was going he would cry out of frustration it seemed. When I'm cooking dinner, I often put him down right outside fo the kitchen so that he can see me and we can talk. Today, he rolled himself over and somehow made his way over into the kitchen by himself. He finally started moving forward!

Now, what are we to do with our on the go baby? How can we keep tabs on him?

Why, put payal on him of course!

And kajal too.


That always helps!