Statistics

Luis went to the doctor on his 11-month birthday for a stomach bug. So I have a new set of numbers for him: weight 9.55kg and height is 78cm. For those of you who are keeping track of such things, he has lost 0.05kg in the last month and grown 4cm. Common sense says that this just isn't right. But I'm not sure which part is off.

(By the way, after almost a week of fighting the stomach bug, Luis seems to be much, much better.)

Luis & Mom (that would be me, not Croom)

There are so few pictures of Luis with me, that I try to post them every time I get one. Here are a few of us on Friday morning. While I was very, very, very tired from Thanksgiving the night before, Luis was ready to go (he slept through the whole party).

Thanksgiving

Diego and I hosted Thanksgiving this year, here at our apartment. We ended up as a group of 21 people - from the US, India, Italy, Germany, Britain, and Puerto Rico. I prepared the basics: a turkey, stuffing, and gravy. I asked our guests to each bring their favorite thing. To that end, I also made garlic mashed potatoes (sorry Thomas, no rice), banana bread, sweet tea, and vegetable salad. The sweet tea didn't come out so good, and I decided not to even serve it. The banana bread was based on Grandma Smith's recipe. Except I used butter instead of shortening and baking powder instead of baking soda & cream of tartar (because I couldn't find the listed ingredients). Then, I cooked it in a convection microwave oven instead of a regular oven (because my gas cylinder was running very, very low, they wouldn't deliver a new one until Friday and I had to conserve enough gas to cook the turkey for 3+ hours). In the end, the banana bread turned out great. With so many substitutions though, I'm not sure I can call it Grandma Smith's anymore.

It was important to me to cook all of the things I was contributing (instead of having Shabina cook them on my behalf). For the most part, I was able to do that. At the last minute, I had Shabina come over to help me clean & chop the vegetables and keep me calm. And a good decision it was. Pauline was here, too, helping with Luis. Because of work schedules, people weren't coming over until 8p and we ate closer to 9:30. I definitely needed assistance getting Luis through his night-time routine.


Our feast was delicious. (Chef) Dave & Laura cooked the other turkey, tandoori style (Dave bought a tandoor oven), and they brought cranberry sauce and green bean casserole. Dave & Erika brought home-made challah bread. Bhavna & Sikander brought sweet potato and marshmallow casserole and a green bean dish. Jag brought two Indian-style vegetable dishes. Max brought homemade pasta (not by him) and pesto sauce as an Italian appetizer. The bachelors and hotel-dwellers brought a combination of beer, wine and the most decadent cakes I've seen.

Erika supplemented my six-plate collection with 18 of her own, giving us enough to feed everyone. Ditto on the silverware. Somehow, borrowing utensils and plates made it feel a bit more like Thanksgiving to me. People ate wherever they could find a spot - in the living room, at the small table (that is usually my desk in the small room, but looked more like a cafe table once put into the main room) or out on the balcony (it was cool & breezy outside).

Per tradition, almost everyone ate too much, holding their bellies and groaning when dessert was brought out. But I think almost everyone still managed to partake in dessert. It was great.

I had a great time hosting and meeting some new people. I loved the food (which, by the way, was all hot at the time we ate - except the challah bread). I liked having Thanksgiving in my house. But the best part of the evening was how much it felt like Thanksgiving at home - I guess that good food and a warm community goes a long way. Several other people made the same comment.

Victor & Alex stand next to the bar (with the "cafe table" in the background)








Erika & Dave, Nicholas & Michael in the living room








Max and John eat out on the balcony

Father & Son

Luis and Diego enjoyed a quiet Sunday morning playing on the guest bed. Diego found this cotton bag and tied it onto Luis's head. Luis found a book (that I had put aside b/c he'd torn a page out of it) and spent quite a bit of time flipping through the pages.

Look! No Hands

The other day, Luis decided that he didn't want to eat with his hands, but rather to put his face down to the tray and suck up his pasta pieces. The technique wasn't very successful (i.e., not so many past pieces made it into his mouth), but he had a great time trying!

Rolling Up the Carpet

Every day, Pavarti rolls up this carpet in the living room when she sweeps. A couple of weeks ago, she showed Luis how to roll it up and unroll it. This is now one of his very favorite activities.

Another new thing for him is prepositions: he's very interested in what is above, below, beside, next to, around, etc. On Friday, he was newly curious about what is inside the rug when it's rolled up.

A couple more ethnic dress pictures

My friend Erika sent me some of her pictures from our weekend in Goa. I particularly liked this one of me in the sari.















I bought Luis a Kurta to get a good snap of him for my mom's christmas card photos. Pauline helped me get him dressed up and then it was so much fun taking pictures of him. I ended up with about 50 of them. Here are some of my favorites.

Muffles

I got an email from Nick, Muffle's new keeper. He says that she's doing well and seems to be happy in her more-rural new home. But as a bit of disappoint to us both, she seems to have converted herself from an indoor/outdoor hunting cat to a lazy indoor cat who occasionally sits on the porch to survey the world.

If I'd known she'd be happy as an indoor cat, she'd be here with us in Mumbai.

New (Big Boy) PJs

Jeanette sent Luis a new pair of PJ's. Instead of the all-one-piece type he's always had, these are pants & a top. Seeing him in the new PJ's, well, he looks like such a big kid. The fact that he stands on his own so much and cruises all around the room and so moves confidently in so many ways, I'm sure, only fuels the "big boy" look for me.

A big thanks to Jeanette for the pajamas AND for sending a package!

Teething Biscuits

Luis is more and more interested in feeding himself. I find that if there isn't at least one thing at each meal that he can shovel into his mouth all by himself, then he gets pretty irritated. With pasta or green beans or cooked carrots, it's easy. But at other meals (mashed potatoes or mashed chick peas or mashed red beans), it's a little more difficult. So I've started giving him a teething biscuit. Certainly this fact is not exciting enough to merit so many pictures here. But I really liked the pics I took this day (11/11) and decided to post a bunch.

Shabina has REAL Mehndi

In my Goa posts, I had some pictures of my mehndi on my hands. Two weeks ago, Shabina had Mehndi done to her hands and feet. It was much more intricate that mine - and was also two-toned. I thought it was beautiful!

Luis Gets Another Haircut

It's been almost two weeks now - I'm way behind on posting - but Luis got another haircut. This time, to make clean up easier, we took him out onto the porch. However, Luis wasn't really in the mood for a haircut and Diego didn't get to finish it up properly (i.e. there were some funny hairs sticking out places and the back was kinda long).

Afterwards, we pulled out Luis's pool to let him have a dip. And, to make cleaning up the hairs a bit easier. But again, he wasn't really in the pool mood either. Diego ended up getting in the pool to try to make it more appealing to Luis.

Ashley, dozed in the sun while all of this was going on.

These Days

I have LOADS of pictures on my camera, but am temporarily without the cable to connect my camera to my computer. So for today, you are stuck with just words.

We are well here. Diego is almost over the cold/sinus infection he picked up in Goa. I'm completely better. Luis still has a bit of a runny nose, but I think it's now caused by teething; that he's not actually sick. Luis who normally sleeps about 15 hours a day, was up to close to 18 hours/day when he was sick. I'm glad that he's feeling better, but was really enjoying Luis sleeping in until 8:30 in the mornings...

In a letter to my grandfather today, I said that the temperatures have cooled off quite a bit, making it more pleasant to be outside. But I'd guess they are still in the 80's by day. With it this warm, it's hard to believe that Thanksgiving is in less than a week. Since I'm used to the McDow-style Thanksgiving where the entire McDow family, many McDow in-laws, McDow college roommates, McDow college roommates' families, McDow in-laws' in-laws, and a few good friends come, I decide that instead of going to a catered T-giving at a local five-star hotel, I'd rather host my own. We have a friend who takes classes at a local culinary school. He got a good hook up for ordering a turkey, and ordered us two. (There is a local import store who was ordering actual BUTTERBALL turkeys from the US, but they cost ~ $300. That price is definitely not right.) I used the same guidelines that I used last year when I hosted my immediate family in Falls Church: I'll provide turkey, gravy, and stuffing. Everything else is potluck. And, I encouraged people to bring their favorite dish from their family's T-giving. It should be very interesting. We're looking at about 20 +/- people. Since Thanksgiving is not one of the recognized 1085 festivals in Incredible India, not only do the ex-pats not get the day off, Diego has a senior management meeting from 10-6 that day!

Luis continues to sprout teeth. In the last 36 hours, his second middle upper tooth poked through. He seems to make less and less of a fuss with each tooth. I'm pretty happy about this. I am surprised, however, at how slow the teeth are to really come in. It's been a couple of weeks since the other upper poked through, and you can still barely see it.

Last week was Diwali - the big Hindu festival of lights. It was, however, bad experience for me. We were told when we moved into the apartment that Diwali is when staff get their annual bonus (like a Christmas bonus), regardless of the religious affiliation. It's customary to give a bonus equal to one month's salary. I was happy to do this. So on November 1, I gave each of our staff their October salary and the Diwali bonus, and told each of them which things I most appreciate about them and wished them a Happy Diwali Season. Our landlord, Abbas, told us that it was customary to give a small tip to the guards, and told us how much. On Diwali (Nov. 9), we did that too. Happily. Well for the next 5 days, it was a constant stream of people knocking on my door and asking me for a Diwali tip with their hand out. The mailman came, with another mailman I'd never seen before. The gardener who's worked for us for 2 weeks asked. The lady who sweeps the floors and the guy who collects the trash and the second mailman (again) asked for Diwali tips. Two guys who claimed to be mailmen but were wearing different clothes and no mailman identification knocked on Monday to ask for Diwali tips. Yesterday, I hope, was the last of the Diwali tip asking. And to make it worse, many of the people that we tipped then complained that it wasn't enough. One guy went so far as to bring it back. All-in-all, it was not a good experience.

In other Luis news, he is closer and closer to walking. He has been "cruising" along the furniture for quite some time. Now, he will cruise the length of one couch, make the 90-degree turn to the next couch and keep going. He will walk along the sliding glass doors in the office (~12 feet). He can stand for long periods without holding on, and can also stand alone and shake a toy with a lot of energy. Well yesterday, he took a teeny, tiny, itsy-bitsy step. He hasn't done anything like it since, but I'm sure it won't be long. He learned to crawl about 2 weeks before we got on the plane to fly to Mumbai. It would make sense that he'll learn to walk ~ 2 weeks before we get on the plane to fly back to the States.

Which leads into our next news: Luis and I are coming back to the East Coast for a short visit. We land on 26 December and leave on 13 January. Our departure coincides with Mom's flight out - she's coming for a 3 week visit! Luis and I will be visiting Rock Hill and Atlanta. Otherwise, we'll be in the greater DC area while we're home. It doesn't look like Diego will be able to join us. Ashley will be very glad that he'll be here to keep her company.

My friend Jeanette sent a care package that arrived on Monday. It had some really marvelous things in it, including granola bars for me, various seasonings/sauce packets (for making things like chili), and a new set of PJ's for Luis. Getting mail is a real treat for me! Once I can download my pictures, I'll post some of Luis in his new PJ's.

Luis is just waking up from his afternoon nap, so I'm going to wrap this up. Check back soon for loads and loads of pictures - Luis in new PJ's. Luis rolling & unrolling the rug (one of his favorite new activities), Luis & Pavarti, and a few more of Luis!

A Few Pictures of Luis

Luis & Shabina on the balcony.

Luis has discovered that the curtains are great for Peek-A-Boo.

Luis loves, loves to watch the washing machine. If the door is left open, he will try to climb into the washing machine..

Recovering from Goa

I mentioned that Diego was getting a bad cold while we were in Goa. Well, it got him. Then it got Luis. Yesterday, it started in on me. We've all been a little sluggish and a little achy and a lot nose-runny and cough-y. Poor Luis, who already sleeps a lot has upped his sleeping by a couple of hours each day. Sunday, when we got home, he went to bed at 6:30 (a little earlier than normal) and then slept until 8:30a (about 2 hours longer than normal). I think it is his new sleeping PR (personal record). All week he's stretched out his naps, gone to bed a bit early and slept a bit later.

Hopefully tomorrow, everyone will be feeling a bit better...

Our Weekend in Goa - More about the Wedding

Friday mid-day was Mahindi (maybe Mehindi) where the ladies have henna applied to their hands (and feet, if they wish). I had done this in Tanzania years ago, so I had some idea what to expect. Basically, the woman painted this design on my hand with henna, the consistency of mud. I sat very, very still for about an hour while it dried, and then scraped off the caked-on part. Drinks were being served during this event ... but we all had henna drying on our hands, so not much was imbibed.

On Friday evening there was a cocktail hour(s)/musical variety show/buffet dinner for everyone. I'm not kidding. The brother and sis-in-law of the groom did a choreographed dance number that was more than 10 minutes long and included about 15 different song clips. A family sung a capella, a woman played a guitar and sang, a friend of the bride did an interpretive dance, friends of the groom narrated a slide show about their motorcycle trip to Turkey (from Holland), two uncles red poetry in Hindi, and the brother of the bride was the Emcee for the event. It was ... interesting. With the exception of the first number (the brother & sis-in-law), no one should really quit their day job. But each act was a touching tribute to the couple - which made it lovely in it's own right.

Saturday mid-day was a ceremony where the bride's mother's brother gives her bangles (bracelets) to wear for the wedding. They are traditionally made of ivory. But since ivory is now illegal in India, they are made of plastic. This event started at 11a. At two minutes before eleven, Erika and I bumped into the bride at breakfast. She had just sat down to order breakfast and didn't seem to be in a hurry. We went to where the ceremony was being held and waited about 35 minutes. Still no bride. Luis was soon to need nursing, so we snuck back out.

(And that takes us up to the the part where the groom and his peeps gather, sing and dance with the band and march to the site - which I've already written about.)

Our Weekend in Goa - Postcard Views

This was the view up the beach from in front of our hotel. It looked like a hundred postcards I've seen - beautiful. Goa was a great get-a-way in the sense that it was quiet and peaceful and beautiful and relaxing, with lots of ways to enjoy being outside. Mumbai is lots of things, but it is none of these things.

But this weekend was a bit challenging on other fronts. Luis, who had a great time - while he was awake - had a TERRIBLE time sleeping. Two nights, we ended up bringing him in to bed with us after he'd been crying for more than an hour in the night (this was the first two times we've brought Luis in to bed with us in the night). Naps weren't any better. I think it was a combination of being in a new place, teething, and the onset of a cold. Whatever it was exactly, it meant that we were all overtired most of the time.

Then, Diego got pretty sick with a nasty head/chest cold. He was coughing and sneezing and aching and sweating out fevers. The lack of sleep that Luis imposed on us only exacerbated Diego's feeling bad.

One thing that was exciting (at least for me) was that Luis ate almost exclusively off the restaurant menu and buffet, instead of the pureed foods that he normally eats. I definitely broke the rule of thumb of waiting 3-4 days after introducing a new food before introducing another new food (in case there is an allergic reaction). Luis was introduced to tomato sauce, chicken patty (kind of like ground chicken & onion on a hamburger roll), kiwi, cantaloupe, hummus, pita bread, chicken noodle soup and french fries. All of them were a hit! And while his poop was a bit more, er, colorful than normal, he didn't seem to have an adverse reaction to anything!

Oh, and this hotel had actual baby sitters - not just a watch man. We had a very nice lady come and stay with Luis three of the nights we were there (including the wedding). She kept referring to Luis as "she" and "her". I sort of thought it was a language thing, as I referred to Luis as "him" and "his". The last night she was there, she had to change his diaper. When I got back to the room, she said, "I thought she was a girl. But I changed the diaper tonight and was surprised. I guess he's a boy?"

Our Weekend in Goa - The Wedding

Frans, rode this elephant to the ceremony (really, just on the hotel grounds). He was surrounded by all of his friends and family and a very loud, 10-person, mostly-percussion band who danced around him. This procession was not very long - less than 1/2 a mile - but took approximately one hour. By the time we got to the beach, everyone was so hot and sweat-soaked that there wasn't much dancing going on anymore.

Then, Surbhi and her girl-peeps arrived - Surbhi under this flower-covered awning that was supported by her peeps. They stood together on a small stage and ... I don't know what happened next. I had to head back to our hotel room to feed and nurse Luis (he sometimes won't eat for new people, which turned out to be the case that night). By the time I got back, the ceremony was over and people had adjourned to the tables for dinner.

The (reception) band opened up with "Take Me Home, Country Road" - a bit of a shock to me. I didn't imagine that being a real sing-a-long song in India. But Bhavna assured me it was quite popular The band played for another 2 hours, the bar was open and appetizers were passed. The bride & groom were off changing out of their "formal wedding" clothes, into their "get down and boogie" clothes. But by 9:15, I was too tired and too hot and too sweaty to last any longer. And to be honest, the idea of another Indian food buffet didn't do much to keep me there. I went back up to our hotel room to relieve the babysitter. Diego stayed until almost 1a, when the band stopped, the bar closed and the party moved to the hotel night club. Rumor has it that the drinking and dancing continued until about 3a.

Our Weekend in Goa - Bhavna, Me & Erika

Bhavna, who grew up in India, was kind enough to help Erika and I get dressed. Good thing - I would have never figured out the tucking and wrapping and pleating and tucking and more wrapping and more tucking and then a bit more pleating required to get everything to stay in the right place.

Our Weekend in Goa - Wedding Attire

It was the wedding of Diego's co-workers Frans (of Holland) and Surbhi (of Mumbai) that took us to Goa. Almost everyone at the wedding was decked out in Indian attire - and almost 50% of attendees were not Indian. Diego and I donned our best Kurta and Sari for the occassion.
The day was HOT HOT HOT. In fact, it was the hottest I've been since I've been in India. I could feel sweat dripping from my head to my ankles.

Our Weekend in Goa - Luis's First Trip to the Beach

Diego took Luis down to the beach a couple of times to play in the sand and wade in the ocean.

Our Weekend in Goa - Luis Enjoys Being Outside

Luis LOVED LOVED LOVED having so much grass to crawl around on - and in general, being able to be outside most of the day. He also enjoyed the baby pool. He could crawl in and out on his own. It was hot this weekend, so having the pool to dip in several times a day was nice.