Beach Pictures - Part 1

(having problems posting - more pictures to come)

A Few Pics from Florida

1. Luis in the pool

2. Ashley, just out of the pool, kissing Luis

3. Our house
4. & 5. Luis enjoys the sunrise

Great Grand-daddy

On Sunday, Randolph & Lauren, Luis and I went to visit Grandfather in the afternoon. He was having a good day and it was fun to see him. But what I loved most was him seeing Luis. Luis is great-grandchild #13 for Grandfather. Lauren is expecting GGC #14. It's exciting to know Luis will have another cousin soon - and one that will (eventually) be close in age (less than 2 years apart).

So Many Things to Love

Luis loved the slide at Emily's house best. He also enjoyed bath time.

Luis LOVED Thomas's Jag a lot. I suggested that Thomas buy one for Luis. Thomas said he'd figure out how many master points Luis would have to win first...

Luis LOVED the dogs at Lucy's house. Oliver Boliver Mutt is the Chocolate Lab and Maddie is the Black Lab.

I loved seeing the horses. Short Stop (pictured here with Luis) was a big hit. Luis "hugged the horse" and "kissed the horse" about 10 times each. He has a lot of affection for animals.

On The Road (Again)

After a whirlwind Wednesday morning, Luis, Ashley, the new car and I started south - though, the first day we only went the 50 miles to Northern Virginia. It was a bad sign that Luis cried almost the whole way; I wasn't looking forward to the next 950 miles...

We planned to stay with Sarah, but it turned out that Matthew had some viral infection that included high fever and vomiting (Sarah found out today that he has Strep!). We quickly changed our plans and stayed with Emily Poulin instead! It was great to spend time with her, her daughter Maggie (21 months) and their dogs. (Emily is due with baby #2 in ~ 10 days.) Luis loved all of Maggie's toys, loved Maggie, loved the dogs, and loved having a friend to bathe with. But when it was time to sleep, he wasn't so much loving his setup. So he tossed and turned with me in the guest bed. I don't think either of us slept well OR long (Luis was up by 5:15a).

After breakfast at the Pancake Place with Sarah & Will, we headed south. Turns out that Heather couldn't meet us for lunch as planned, but I thought we'd stop in Richmond anyway. However, Luis was sound asleep when we hit Richmond, so we kept going. Instead, we had a nice lunch at the NC Rest Stop just over the border. We ate next to a family from Atlanta with 5 kids between 2 and 8 years old. The older kids threw the Frisbee for Ashley until she couldn't stand up any more and the 2 year old (twins) provided Luis with all the entertainment & fascination he could take. I enjoyed talking to the parents - he owns his own residential construction firm.

We pressed on to Carrboro to visit Abby, Piers, Charlotte (3) & Cyrus (10 mo). Again, Luis LOVED having other kids to play with and LOVED all the toys and LOVED the group bath. It was a great stop and just what I needed to push on to Rock Hill. Well that and the super-big, very sugary iced coffee I picked up at the drive-thru Starbucks (my new favorite thing in the south - beating out Sweet Tea).

So far, it's been a quiet and relaxing day. Luis slept great last night and during naps today. At lunch with Thomas & Lucy, Luis got his first stranger-compliment on his behavior: As we were leaving, a man at the restaurant told me what a "well-behaved son" I have.

This evening, we'll go out for Pizza (Luis's favorite - seriously). Thomas will then head out for bridge and Luis, Lucy and I will go out to the barn to see her horses. I promise to post pictures (probably when I get to Atlanta). Tomorrow, we head out about mid-day for Atlanta, where we'll spend two nights before heading on to Florida.

Busy Week!!

I didn't mean to let a whole week go by without a post. But, well, it did. And it was a busy week! Luis had a combined 15-mo/18-mo check up. His stats were: height 33 3/4" (85%), weight 25lbs (35%) and head circumference 18 1/2" (15%). I don't think of him as a tall skinny kid with a little head - but I guess that's what the numbers suggest. The more important part of the visit was that Luis seems to be really healthy and doing great. I suspected as much, but I always appreciate the validation from the pediatrician...

I finished our taxes. I actually enjoy doing our taxes. But this year it was really hard. I could get into the details of why and how, but I am certain that I'm the only one who cares...

I finally put together the rocking horse from Ikea. Still a big hit!

Diego took Luis out to play with this super cool bubble-wand-thingy. It's hard to say who liked it more - Diego or Luis. "Bubbas" or bubble is one of Luis's words.

We went over to Erika & Dave's for lunch on Saturday. (This is "Peruvian Erika" and her (new) husband Dave - not to be confused with Erika & Dave our friends in Mumbai.) They have two chiuauas and a whippet. Luis was fascinate. But he may have liked their hose more. It's hard to say. Erika - one of the best cooks we know - made us ceviche for lunch. It was A-W-E-S-O-M-E!

Sarah, Matthew & Will Rimicci came over for a play today. We had a nice lunch and then a fun swim in the neighbor's pool. It was a short - but very nice visit.

This evening, Diego dropped Luis and me off at Carmax on his way to BWI. He was flying down to Melbourne Florida where we've rented a house until 19 July. He moves in to it tomorrow morning. Luis and I bought a 2005 Toyota Camry. We'll be taking on a Southern Road Tour starting Thursday, hitting Richmond, Durham, Rock Hill, Atlanta and at least one town with a play ground between Atlanta and Melbourne. At the moment, I don't have pictures of either the house or the car, but will have plenty over the next couple of weeks.

Tomorrow we are going to Fairfax in the morning to see Dodie's new house. We're going to Washington DC late morning & (I hope) early lunch to see Maggie Gumbinner, her girls, Will's girls and Mary Ann (all at "Cousins Camp" at Maggie's house) and then receiving Sam & Mary Beth - my good friends from Bombay who are here in the States for a visit. In between all of that, I have to pack our stuff for Florida. Looks like it's another busy week ahead of us!

Crayons!

Luis has been into pens for a couple of weeks now. It's even one of the words he can say. But yesterday, for the first time, he enjoyed the crayons. Unfortunately, he thinks they are as fun to color with as they are to put in his mouth. So Color Time is usually short and often ends in tears as I remind Luis of the no-crayons-in-the-mouth rule. Still, it's fun to watch him discovering new things.

One of Luis's new toys

Yesterday, we went to Ikea and Luis had a BALL playing in the kids toy area. He found two things that he particularly enjoyed: this tent and small rocking horse. I bought him both. The rocking horse, however, requires assembly which I haven't quite gotten around to. Check back in a day or two for those pictures...

Luis's LAST Mumbai Picture (except for the one at the airport)

Stairs

I had almost forgotten how much Luis loves the stairs. If I turn my attention away from Luis, 9 times out of 10 he heads for the stairs. Here are a few pics of him from today.

Finally - Pictures

Our air freight arrived today, and in it I found a USB cable. So finally, I have some pictures (and, I was able to charge my phone).

Ashley & Luis nap on the air mattress at Sarah's

Luis enjoys breakfast (and the lush greenery in the background)

Anthony & Matthew have a morning snuggle

Matthew & Luis play together - that 11 week difference is already getting smaller

Aunt Jeanette came for a visit

Luis plays with the Fisher Price castle that Mom's had for about 35 years!

Luis's new favorite toy: Mom's cane

Checking In

I haven't found my USB cord yet, so I still don't have pictures... But thought I'd do a little update.

Since my last post, we all seem to be doing much better with jet lag. Luis is waking up at midnight and at 3a, but is going back to sleep on his own. I'm still going to bed at 9a, but I think that is just life exhaustion - not jet lag.

We've had a busy week since we landed. Jeanette came to visit us over the long weekend. Sarah & Anthony get "Greatest Friends EVER" award for not only letting Ashley, Luis and I descend on their house (for a week!), but for letting me invite Jeanette to stay with us as well. It was a mostly quiet weekend around the house. I get a Bad Hostess award because I was asleep by 9p the first night and by 7:30p the second night that Jeanette was there. I was tired. For the few hours I managed to keep my eyes open, it was GREAT to visit with J.

Monday afternoon, we met up with RC and Juan Fe. The four of us went to a park where Luis tried out his climbing and swinging skills. He also discovered the sandbox - much to my chagrin. I am not a big sandbox fan. That will be Daddy's venue. Afterwards, we went to Sushi Hut where I feasted on California Rolls and Tempura Shrimp rolls. Mmmmmmm - they were great. The woman who runs the place was thrilled to see us and pointed out the two pictures of Luis on their "wall of fame". It was super sweet.

Tuesday, Luis and I walked up to the shopping center near Sarah's house and tried to get haircuts - but the lady I liked wasn't in yet. So we walked a bit further to the Baja Fresh and had lunch. I was very pleased at how much Luis seemed to like the rice & beans & chicken. And when I dipped the chicken in sour cream first, Luis made the "I love you" sign to me. Later, Luis and I went back (by car) and got hair cuts. His is a bit shorter than I imagined it would be, but still looks cute.

Now we are out at Mom's house in Annapolis. For how long - I'm not sure. At least until middle of next week....

(I hope to have more pictures in the next couple of days)

Jet Lag

Check out the time/date stamp. Jet lag isn't going so well after all...

Home?

Our trip from Mumbai to DC was long - an 8 hour flight, a 2 hour layover and an 8.5 hour flight - but it was uneventful. Both Luis and I slept, though not always at the same time. Overall, he was a great travel companion. Mark & JF picked us up from the airport (see previous post that shows all of our luggage) and safely escorted us to Sarah's house. Last night, Luis was up once for a diaper change at 3a and then I brought him back in to bed with me (and Ashley). We all slept until almost 7a. Yeah!!

It is weird being here. My friend Mary Beth is back in the States for a visit for the first time since moving to Mumbai last fall. She did a funny post about some of the differences she encountered her first morning in Jersey. My strange things would include being cold, drinking tap water and wearing socks.

I'm finding it difficult to put into words how I feel. Sarah's house is one of the warmest and most love-filled places I've ever been. And she and her family have been amazingly welcoming and accommodating. But I can't help but feel lonely. A strange word, it seems. This morning, Ashley, Luis and I went for a walk - like we did in Mumbai. On a couple of occasions, I counted the number of people I saw walking the ~ 1 mile stretch along the promenade. Both times, the number of people we saw walking in the other direction (not the people sitting, or walking my same direction) was about 175. This morning, I saw ONE person. One. It was odd. And it's so quiet here. Even the birds here are quieter. And there are no people. No cars. No horns. No one has come to Sarah's house (no Parvati, no Pauline, no Shabina, no Babu, no Biscuit Walla, no Anwar). There is no guard standing outside the door to pass and say good morning (or good evening) to on my way to take Ashley and Luis out. There are no dogs on the street.
At breakfast, Luis didn't eat much of his toast. I looked around the kitchen to figure out which would be the best window sill on which to leave the extra pieces for the crows and wrens. Oh yeah, there aren't any here.
I drove to the grocery store to pick up milk. I had no problem sticking to the proper side of the road or following the traffic signals/signs. But when I needed to make a left turn into the aisle of the parking lot, I had to remember that I did not have the right of way just because I could sense that the woman who HAD the right of way was timid. Remembering the right-of-way rules is going to be a bit tough.
The thing that was odd about the grocery store was the aisles of refrigerated items. In Mumbai, my grocery store had a small (like, really small) fridge where they kept butter, yogurt and one kind of cheese.
I am sure there will be dozens - if not more - things like this; things that remind me that I'm not in Kansas, er Mumbai anymore. And though we were in Mumbai for only 9 months and before that in the US for 32 years and 5 months, the truth is Mumbai was our home. It was were we lived with our family. It is where our life was. It was not perfect. And leaving was the right thing to do. But it's going to be hard to adjust. There are things I will miss (things I already miss). And it will be a while before we establish a new home.

Bye Bye Bombay

I just returned from the airport, it's 3:26 am and Mary,Luis and Ashley are on a flight to Washington via Frankfurt. It was an interesting experience for a number of reasons. They flew on Lufthansa which is the first airline operating out of the renovated terminal at Chhatrapati Shivaji international Airport. The facility looks very nice considering that the space we remodeled had been abandoned for about13 years by the previous airport administration. Akthough there is still tons of work ahead to bring the airport to our aspirations, I'm happy to have been a part of the CPR team that this airport needed to inject some hope into this city that often seems like it just wants to be left alone to die. I look forward to the next 10 days to wrap up my projects with the airport and head on to some rejuvenating vacations and gear up for the next project .

The Penultimate Day

Our apartment at 1:30 yesterday

(the lift eventually started working)

218kilos of Air Freight


When all of the toys are gone, you find new things to play with


*Most* of my luggage (crate, stroller and carry on bag not shown)
(alternately - a good ad for LL Bean)


The Sunnnnn ... has gonnnnne ... to bed and so must I-iiiiii...

Moving Day - Part 3

Since I last posted (what 3 hours ago??), I discovered that I neglected to pack all of Luis's 12 mo clothes, all of my nursing supplies (pump, bottles, etc.), our big, favorite cutting board and Diego's fly-fishing flies. Oops. Guess it'll be a few more boxes. The good news (sort of) is that b/c of the elevator being broken and the guys carrying the boxes down the stairs, they are still here and so these things can still get packed. Lucky me!

This is how the apartment looked this morning:

Moving Day - Part 2

In general, things went really well yesterday. The movers got all of the sea freight - and then all of the air freight - packed up. Luis held up generally well throughout the day, but had a hard time going to sleep in his empty room. Ashley also had a hard time, and is sticking extra close to me now (except for when she's sequestered to our bedroom).
The head mover told me yesterday that we had "two pallets" of air freight, while our quote was only for one. So when I asked the pricing lady if two pallets was 2x as expensive as one pallet, she said, "Close enough." Well, one pallet of air freight is pretty damn expensive, so I started paring down. The goal was 220 kg of stuff (there is a volume limit too, but apparently we are sending all heavy stuff so we were clearly going to hit the weight limit before the volume limit). After sending my golf clubs and Diego's SCUBA gear to the sea freight pile and shift one ginormous suit case to the "luggage" pile, we were about 8kg under. But we still had to add the printer and the baby jogger to the air freight pile. So I pulled out a bin of toys and 24 mo clothes for Luis and put it in sea freight (I don't know how fast he's going to grow, or when we'll see the sea freight stuff...). Now, I was close. But looking at the pile of boxes, there was for which I couldn't remember the contents. Turns out it was a second box of SCUBA gear. A second heavy box. So that moved to sea freight. Then, the box of toys was back in. So was the printer and the baby jogger. At this point, I was at 218kg of my 220kg allowance. I am pretty pleased with myself!!
But the joy was short-lived. The move coordinator here asked if it was OK to start sending boxes down to the truck. Of course! The sooner they start (theoretically), the sooner they finish. Except. The lift is broken. Urgh! I was so angry. And it will be "two hours" until someone can come to fix it. My landlord sweetly suggested that they could start carrying the big stuff down the stairs. Down SEVEN flights of stairs. In 95+ heat. I don't envy those guys. Keep your fingers crossed that the rest of the day goes smoothly...

Moving Day - Part 1

Sorry, but no pictures this time. Today (it's Monday morning here) is moving day. The packers arrive at 9:30 to pack up our sea freight, which is mostly stacked up in neat piles around our living room. The air freight will get packed tomorrow. I am very nervous that they'll be a mix-up in which items are going air freight (and will arrive at Mom's house in about a week), which items Diego and I are carrying with us, and which items are going sea freight (which arrive in DC in about 10 weeks). My root of my concern is that even though our sea freight is going to DC, there is a chance that it will simply be lifted off one ship and put on another - IF we end up in another over-seas assignment. Not knowing when or where I'll open my sea freight boxes is a bit intimidating.

Ashley, who gets nervous when we pack an overnight bag won't leave my side. Luis, who hasn't seen us pack anything that he remembers, even knows that something is up. I'm not sure how he will take it this morning when we dismantle his crib... As for me, I am hanging in there. This is a stressful time for me; I don't do (the idea of) change very well. And, I don't particularly like to part with my belongings. If I had it my way EVERYTHING I own would go with me on my flight Wednesday night. Of course, I realize logistically, that doesn't work out so well.

The big question now is: Where are we going. The short-term answer is: To the US. Luis, Ashley and I will arrive in DC this Thursday. Diego will leave Mumbai on 1 June, stop in Dubai for a couple of days for a conference and arrive in the US on 4 June. We'll regroup in Annapolis for a couple of days before heading down to Melbourne, FL - where we plan to spend June & July on holiday. Diego will fly down and find us a rental house. Luis, Ashley and I will drive down, and (hopefully) visit with friends and family along the way. (For those of you not familiar with McDow road trips, "along the way" could technically mean anything east of the Rocky Mountains. In this case, it includes Richmond, Durham/Carrboro, Rock Hill and Atlanta). That's the plan at least...