A Great Day at the Park

This afternoon, I took Luis to Lincoln Park, near our house. He loves it there - it has a sand box, swings, two climbing things, both with slides. Today, there were a bunch of other kids there that had Luis mesmerized. One of them taught him how to hang from a bar and lift his feet off the ground. He thought it was a hoot; giggled and giggled as he did it again and again.

At one point, I walked over to Luis. He was standing on one of the climbing gyms, so that we were face to face. I asked him if he'd give me a kiss. He said, "noooooooo" and started to walk away. Three steps later, he turned around, came back to me and kissed my forehead. Then, he gave me a regular kiss. My heart melted.

A Few Blog Updates

I've added a few more blog links - including Randolph & Lauren's new blog. I've also added a picture of Luis from this week. I hope to update this picture weekly.

Great Dad Day

Today was a spectacular day with the family. We did indoor and outdoor play in the morning. Luis played with pay-oh (playdoh), pin-pin (pen), bahh (ball) and bwoom (broom). Outside, Luis explored the back yard, walking along the low brick wall as if it were a balance beam, investigating different size leaves and branches, throwing the stick for Ashley and just running around. We also took Ashley for a long walk.

After lunch (and a nap), Luis and I helped Diego assemble some furniture for our new bar. Diego was so patient with Luis and found many ways to let Luis actually help.

Reading the directions

Luis was great with the socket wrench:

Luis is a Dewalt man -like his father and his grandfather (and his mom is a Dewalt woman):

Finished project (though not final placement):

After we finished construction, we went out to our FAVORITE sushi place for dinner. Luis chowed down - as did his parents. It seems like he eats more food at the Sushi Place than he's eaten the previous 3 days combined. The Sushi Lady rigged up a pair of chopsticks that Luis could use them to pick up the marinated soy beans (that he loves loves loves). A few times, he actually got a bean into his mouth using the chop sticks. It's hard to say who was more delighted - Luis, Diego and I, or Sushi Lady. Luis is proving braver than me - he ate some raw tuna from Diego's sushi. He also enjoyed the ginger salad, the miso soup, and the little plate of picked vegetables that come as an appetizer. Not surprising was how much he loved the bowl of vanilla ice cream that Sushi Lady brings him every time.

When we got home, it was bedtime. Luis had a quick bath and then snuggled up on the couch with Diego to watch a few minutes of foo-bah (football). What a wonderful day for Diego and Luis!

Luis's New Favorite Toy

At one of our visits to Dodie's house, Diego saw Luis playing with this toy and decided we had to have one. Now, we do. And Luis LOVES it. Love, love, loves it.

Monkey Boy!

About two weeks ago, we cut out the morning nap. In general, it's going well (though some days it's a big push to make it to nap time). However, on Thursday, Luis clearly needed a morning nap. So he got one. When it was time for afternoon nap, Luis was willing to rest, but not to sleep. Mom (who was over visiting) and I had fun listening to him play and chat and giggle through the monitor. After about an hour, he went quiet. Ahhhh, I thought. Sleep. About 20 minutes later, the monitor started to make the noise indicating that the receiver is either out of battery or out of range. It hadn't moved and it was plugged in. I went up and gave a listen at Luis's room. Silence. I wasn't sure what happened, but it seemed Luis was sleeping.

Ten minutes later, I heard some unusual noises in Luis's room. I went up to see what was going on. Luis was standing in the corner of his room, holding the monitor!!

I'm not entirely surprised that Luis figured out how to get out of his crib. But I'm not pleased he figured it out so soon; he's only 20 months. I don't want to transition him to a bed just yet, but haven't quite figured out how to keep him in the crib. He uses the built in book shelves to help him descend. Our first plan is turn the crib 90-degrees, so that if he wants to go over the side, he has to commit to dropping all the way down. If that doesn't work, I'm not sure what we'll do.

Stay tuned to find out...

Cooling Off

After a hot day helping Diego do yardwork, Luis took one quick run through the spinkler.

Happiness

This appears to be a picture of Ashley waiting for the next frisbee throw. Which, is a picture of "happiness".

But look closer. To the left of the front door, you can see Luis spraying the hose. Happiness. And unfortunately, you can't really see it, but Diego is in the garage, playing with power tools. More happiness. And what is implied, is that I am the one taking the picutre. Definite Happiness!

Who Needs Enemies...?

In all fairness, Luis instigated the scuffle that resulted in eight little teeth marks in his cheek.

Scarf-Walla

Today, Diego, Luis and I went to World Market to look at some bar furniture for a renovation project we're working on. There were many things there that reminded me of Bombay (except about 5-10x more expensive). But when I turned the corner and saw some scarves on display, I caught my breath, and was taken back to a hot, steamy day in early May.
Liz & Shirley were visiting us in Bombay. They were interested in getting some nice scarves/shawls both for personal souvenirs and for gifts. I was also interested in some. I knew there was a guy who sold scarves (Scarf-Walla) on Linking Rd (a popular shopping district in Bandra, our neighborhood). He didn't even have a stall. He had basically an over-sized tie rack on a pole that he walked around with, covering about 2 square blocks. I'd bought scarves from him before - I knew what he had and that his prices were pretty good.
The first time we went out, he wasn't there. We looked and we looked, but no Scarf-Walla. On a lark, just before they left, we went out for one last look. Success! He was there.
The Scarf-Walla had about 2 dozen different styles, each style with a handful of different colors. There were solids and patterns, wovens and printed, silks and cottons, more soft and less soft - all kinds of scarves. The three of us buzzed around him feeling different scarves, pulling them out for a better look. Some we tried on, some we passed to another, and some we shoved back onto the rack.
After a few minutes, I told Liz & Shirley not to ask about the prices. "We will pay Rs. 100 each." That's about $2.50. Really, they asked. Really.
We ended up with twelve scarves between us - 6 for me and 3 each for the girls. The Scarf-Walla started to call out prices - Rs. 350 for this one, Rs. 225 for that one... I cut him off, telling him that we would pay Rs. 100 each, or Rs 1,200 for all of them. Oh no, madam, this scarf too nice. For all scarf, Rs. 3,700. No, I told him, Rs. 1,200 for all. Oh no, madam, in a store this scarf cost Rs. 500. But, I point out - as if my sweating brow and reddened cheeks did not make it obvious, we are not IN a store. We are standing in the middle of Linking Road. We'll pay Rs. 1,200 for all of them.
No, no madam. Rs. 2,500. No. Rs. 1,200.
Oh madam, Rs. 2,400. No, I repeat, Rs. 1,200. He shakes his head. So I hand him back the TWELVE scarves. He asks what my best price is. I tell him Rs. 1,200. No, no madam.
OK, I sigh and smile. Rs. 1,800 for all. BEST PRICE. This is of little consolation to him.
Madam, Rs. 2,300. No. Rs. 1,800
Rs. 2,200. I hand him back the scarves again. Rs. 1,800.
Rs. 2,000. No, Rs. 1,800.
Rs. 1,900. Rs. 1,800
Rs. 1,850. Rs. 1,800.

At this point, we went round and round and round and round. He kept asking for Rs. 50 more. I stood my ground. He asked. I offered to give the scarves back and walk away. He asked me for my Best Price. I told him that it was still Rs. 1,800. He asked for Rs. 1,850. I point out that I am purchasing TWELVE scarves. TWELVE. I'm thinking that a sale like this would make him the Scarf-Walla equivalent of Employee of the Week.
We go a few more rounds. He asks for Rs. 1,850. I sweat, but hold my ground. When it's starting to look hopeless for us both (he wants the sale and I want the scarves), I ask him, "How many scarves have you sold today?"

He pauses, he smiles. And he says, OK madam, Rs. 1,800.

We pay our money and take our scarves. And I feel like I am starting to get the hang of life in Bombay.

Water Fun

Luis has seen Ashley drinking water from the hose. This is his attempt to do the same. He tried and tried and tried and tried. Never did quite succeed. Got SOAKED in the process.

A New Version of an Old Friend

Luis has discovered this mini hand-held broom. Much easier to use and walk around with than the full-handled counterpart. He is thrilled with this new toy.

Look Who's Talking!

Yesterday was his 20-month “birthday”. The biggest new thing for Luis is talking. His vocabulary is growing every day. About 2 weeks ago, he started using two-word phrases. I remember it clearly, his first was “cold banana” referring to the snack he was eating (I had, in fact, had the banana in the fridge). Now he talks about Mama-Phone, Dada ‘puter (computer) and Adda Bone (Ashley’s bone). He knows lots of food words from pasta to hummus to rainga (raisins) to ce-ya bahhh (cereal bar).
The other morning, I was down in the kitchen and heard through the monitor: Mama. Mama. Ce-ya bah. Up. Ce-ya bah. Mama. Clearly, he was awake and he wanted a cereal bar for breakfast. Though over the last couple of days, it seems like cereal bar is the bar itself, but also his way of saying that he’d like something to eat.
He also knows the names of things like his shoes, sox, broom, bucket, chalk, golf ball, and bicycle (though I couldn’t begin to do the phonetic pronunciation that he uses). It’s been close to a month since the first time he said “wees” – his version of Luis. Before that, he referred to himself as Baby. Now, he almost always calls himself Wees. (Though, I like Solomon’s pronunciation better – Lu-Lees.)
Luis still loves sound words – like vroom, woosh, zing, bam, bonk, pssss, etc. (Maybe he’ll like the old Batman show?) When he’s feeling fussy, you can often distract him with a good sound word; the current favorite being Woosh. And yesterday at the playground, he was holding a spray bottle of sunscreen. He wafted the bottle around himself and said “shhhhhhhhh” imitating the noise the bottle makes.
Luis is learning more and more names – and remembering people from one visit to the next. It helps that we see several people with the same name (Matthew, Mark, and Maggie for example). Luis often points across the street and says Awww Awww, remembering that Diane has birds. My favorite is how he says “Ohm” when we pull into the driveway after being out and about.
Today he did something new. I was sitting in the office and he wanted me to go downstairs with him. He took my hand and said, “Come”. It’s the first time I’ve heard him use that word. I was a bit shocked and didn’t respond at first. He turned back at me, looked at my face and then said Peas?
Some words are difficult to understand – like bacca (pacifier), man-ya (Matthew), rain-ga (raisins), but as long as it comes in context, we all do pretty well.

What a Weekend!

The "weekend" got off to an early start when Dodie, Alison, Maggie, Franklin, Solomon and Thomas were here Thursday night for dinner. Luis is mesmerized by his cousins and works very hard to keep up with them.

Friday morning, the boys from Dodie's house joined Luis, Thomas and I at Frying Pan Farm Park. There were lots of animals to see (and lots of fences to climb).

Luis seems to love animals as much as his mom and his cousin Franklin. Luis got to actually pet (and kiss) a calf and a sheep. There were also horses, pigs, piglets, cows, goats and peacocks to be seen. We all went on a tractor ride and finished the morning with a picnic lunch.

After a not-quite-long-enough afternoon nap, we all went over to Dodie's house for dinner. Maggie Gumbinner and her girls came too. With kids aged 8, 5, 3, 3, 2, and 1.5, there was a lot of activity. But there was a lot of fun, too!

Saturday afternoon, we met up with our friends Mark & Natalie. Natalie's sister and her two children were visiting. Sarah is 5 and Nicky is one day older than Luis. Mark's sister & partner also came with their son who is 5. The kids ended up being very nicely matched in age. Unfortunately, no one had a camera with them. So I don't have the super sweet moments between Nicky and Luis on camera. Like when Nicky waited for Luis at the bottom of the slide to give him his water. Or when Luis gently stuffed some of his raisins in her mouth when she asked for more. This was clearly Luis's very best interaction with any other kid.

Although, a little later in the evening when Luis (improperly supervised by his mother) broke FOUR wine glasses, I didn't mind not having a camera. What's the saying? It's not a party until something breaks. Besides being very embarrassed that "we" broke anything at Mark's house, it was an even worse feeling knowing that there were 3 other kids and 4 adults who were all barefoot and a mere 5' away.

Today we had a nice, quiet family day including breakfast at the pancake place, an hour play at the park, a l-o-n-g nap, a long walk with Ashley, water play, and on-time bedtime (after being out past 8 two nights in a row).

(No Subject)

In response to Luis's New Trick, we've been dressing him in romper/onesie kind of outfits. As for keeping the diaper on during sleep periods, we are having moderate success. (Side Note: When Diego saw this outfit, he asked if Luis was going to Oktoberfest!)

Luis wearing Franklin's glasses. Diego thought he looked like Elton John; I voted Bono.

Luis chilling in the basement, playing with toys.

Diego made Luis a Box Fort. They both love it.

Learning New Tricks

This morning, when I went in to get Luis, I found him naked from the waist down. He seemed to have figured out how to take off both his pants AND his diaper over night. Luckily, there was no accompanying mess to this adventure. When he got up from his morning nap, he was again without pants OR diaper. But this time he'd peed in his bed. Bummer.

So, for the next week or so, Luis will only be wearing onsies and other outfits that are all one piece (i.e. not shorts or pants which he can take off). Hopefully, he'll outgrow this quickly (and before he takes off a poopy diaper!).

Happy Guy

(this was taken today at lunch)

Visitors!!

Cara and her son Grant (14 weeks) were in town this weekend and stopped by for a visit on Saturday (Jason and Evan stayed in Peachtree City). It's been a treat to see them so often - in Florida (in June) and in Peachtree City (in July). Luis was happy to show off his new play room (the basement). I was happy that our first visitor was such a good friend that I didn't have to apologize for the chaos in the house!

(Note: We'll have our first overnight guest later in the week - Thomas is coming up to play bridge with Dodie this weekend.)

Not His Mother's Son

It is one of Mom's favorite stories to tell about me - how I hated to brush my teeth when I was little. She would sit on the toilet and sit me on her lap. Then she would cross one leg over my legs/torso and use one arm to pin my arms down. With her "free" hand, she would brush my teeth. For my part, I would wriggle and squirm and cry. I'm guessing it was not her favorite part of the day. (For the record, I'm MUCH better about teeth brushing as a grown up.)

Mom is definitely having a different experience with Luis. He LOVES to play with the tooth brush. So much so that she got him his own tooth brush to keep in her bathroom. Several times a day, he would wonder into her bathroom, point up at the counter and say "brh brh brh". The game included pretending to put tooth paste on the brush and having some water to rinse with at the end.

Still No Pics... And Still Loving the House

It's official - everything that we own is in our house! Nothing is left in storage, nothing with the movers and (almost) nothing left at Sarah's or Mom's house. I'd love to be able to say it's all put away in a neat and organized fashion, but that's just not true. We still have boxes to unpack and some boxes that will go straight into storage. I'm not interested in unpacking my china knowing that I might be packing it up again in the near future...

The movers came Tuesday to deliver our stuff from India. The crew was great. They arrived at 8a, had the truck empty by 9a, and everything unpacked and all the trash/boxes/packing materials out of the house by 11:30. Then, our storage pods were delivered on Thursday morning. Diego busted his tail and had them both empty by about 5:30p. I kinda wish the mover-crew would come back to unpack it all.

Diego and I worked several days getting the house organized before bringing Luis over (from Mom's house in Annapolis). We got the crib assembled and Luis's toys unpacked. We got most of the furniture arranged (though I'm sure lots of pieces will get rearranged). All of the work felt a bit like we were putting toys together to surprise Luis on Christmas morning. And it paid off. We brought Luis over on Wednesday evening. Though he clearly didn't remember the house, his eyes lit up at seeing all of our stuff from Mumbai - the couches, his bed, our divan, his toys, etc. Diego and I loved watching him take it all in.

Surprisingly, Ashley seems to be the most relieved to be home. We had an incident in Rock Hill where we left Ashley with Clarkson & MA for about an hour the day we left. We'd already packed the car up and I didn't want Ashley to freak out about being left behind. Well, she slipped out the back door and ran away. I started walking up and down the street calling her name. Thomas and Lucy got in the car and drove towards their house looking for her. And they found her - sitting on the porch at Thomas's house!! Granted, it's only about a mile, but I still found it remarkable that she knew how to get back there. I hadn't realized how tough all the travelling this summer had been on her until we got here and I saw how relaxed and playful she was. It's a relief to see.

Really, I think we're all pleased (and relieved) to be home. The weather is fabulous - today we have the windows open and are enjoying a cool breeze. As soon as Luis wakes up, I think we'll head outside to play in the grass...

Working on His Game

Diego bought Luis a small golf set - two clubs and a couple of balls that come in a "bag". Luis LOVES it. On Wednesday, he spent about an hour outside playing with it inspite of tremendous humidity. Luis is just about ready for the pro tour.

Lunch in Richmond

On the way to Annapolis (last Monday), we stopped in Richmond at a park for a play and lunch. We all needed the break from the car. After lunch, Luis took Ashley for a walk around the park. Ashley was (mostly) a good sport about it - only twice pulling the leash from his hands.Before leaving, we stopped at the fire house across the street. Diego snapped some great pictures of Luis on the fire engine. He posted one of them earlier this week.

Durham

From Rock Hill, we drove up to Durham to visit Will, Leslie, Laura Mish and Florence. I didn't take any pictures of our visit with them, but you can see one on Will & Leslie's blog. We had a great time catching up with them (hadn't seen them since last summer). On Monday morning, we stopped by to see Gigi before heading on to Maryland. Luis was not at the top of his game (a little tired and a little tired of travelling). He liked playing with Gigi's piano - but liked it more when she played for him.

Horses

While we were in Rock Hill, Lucy invited us out to the barn to visit with and ride her horses. Luis had a good time with the horses and asked them for "knuckles" a lot. He also didn't seem to realize the size and strength of the horses; it took lots of attention to keep him for walking under the Short Stop (the horse) and between her legs.

We got Luis up in the saddle and took him for a toddler-sized trail ride. Lucy had the stirrups up - in the not-riding-the-horse-now position. Turns out they were just the right length for Luis's little legs. We saw some chickens and a rooster. Luis delighted in hearing actual chickens make chicken noises (instead of Diego and me making chicken noises). It was a fun trip!

Luis fell in love with the brush that Lucy uses on the horses. She even let him take it home - but we all drew the line on letting him use it on us.

Home Sweet Home

I don't have any pictures (yet) to document this great day - but today Diego and I started moving stuff back into our house in Falls Church. The movers bring our stuff from India on Tuesday and our stuff that was in storage comes on Thursday. (We have a lot of stuff!)

It's great to have our house back. Our tenents took great care of the place and we were able to move our things immediately - no work to be done.

Pictures soon, I promise!