tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59364364957190929292012-02-11T16:12:19.639-08:00Our experiences on baby raising, cooking, movies and traveling.Rahulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14152290714003016111noreply@blogger.comBlogger861100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-18857961311871616752012-02-11T16:07:00.000-08:002012-02-11T16:12:19.668-08:00

My boy is getting older and wiser. He turned one year old last month. Some of the developmental milestones he has reached are: He has started taking a few steps. He has started calling Rahul papa. Around the 11th month, he started waving goodbye. He can say ma ma ma or mummy. Sometimes it feels like he is trying to call me, but when Rahul asks him call mumma, he stays quiet. Whereas, if I ask

Ruchikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00606975600364219802noreply@blogger.com0Pleasanton, CA, USA37.6624312 -121.8746788999999937.6211692 -121.95313289999999 37.703693200000004 -121.7962249tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-67583927562208883472012-02-11T15:33:00.000-08:002012-02-11T15:33:50.049-08:00

Ashwin started clapping two days ago, loves to play peek-a-boo on his own with his feeding apron, loves to bite :-(, enjoys eating green beans on his own, but also likes being fed grated kashifal with सौंफ, उपमा or चावल. he loves cheerios, loves to pull on Sameer's hair and enjoys drumming with his hands, everywhere, including our faces and head :-)

Ruchikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00606975600364219802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-89305996903085026772011-10-05T12:44:00.000-07:002011-10-05T12:44:00.157-07:00

Hallu ram is what we call him these days. He wants to throw a baby tantrum every time he is denied getting a look at something he wants. Sometimes we don't even realize that he was busy looking at something when it got interrupted. He loves coming into the study in our house and once I took him back after a short conversation with Rahul. He started throwing his head back and screaming before I

Ruchikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00606975600364219802noreply@blogger.com1Fairfax, VA 22033, USA38.8735614 -77.3898601999999938.8463434 -77.42728069999998 38.9007794 -77.35243969999999tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-54412111930288922792011-08-13T20:26:00.000-07:002011-08-13T20:26:41.159-07:00

Ashwin started crawling before he completed 6 months. He had been trying to move around and would swivel himself on his stomach for a 360 degree view. Around the time he turned 5 and a half month old, he had slowly started crawling. Now he has become faster and is able to quickly reach anything he is interested in. He loves slippers, I think I need to get him a pair that he can use just for

Ruchikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00606975600364219802noreply@blogger.com2Virginia, USA37.4315734 -78.6568942000000135.9689469 -82.91138420000001 38.8941999 -74.4024042tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-54081818409961733062011-07-12T20:10:00.001-07:002011-07-12T20:11:17.388-07:00

Ashwin is five months and a half now and he is already getting his first tooth. Sameer's first tooth came out around the same age. I used to wonder if Ashwin will follow in Sameer's footsteps or will it be different for him. Already he is starting to enjoy his food. It's only a few spoons right now. So far we have tried bananas, avocados and carrot puree. Up until two days ago, he lost interest

Ruchikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00606975600364219802noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-8015292561178211752011-06-21T19:57:00.000-07:002011-06-21T19:57:47.751-07:00

Ashwin has started rolling both ways ever since he completed four months and a half. He had been trying since the time he turned three months, but somehow he wasn't able to do either. And then one day Sameer shouted to us that Ashwin has rolled on his own from his tummy to his back. The next day he again rolled from his tummy to his back. Guess what, his 'maalish' and diaper changes have already

Ruchikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00606975600364219802noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-16492073824217840852011-03-05T12:31:00.001-08:002011-03-06T20:08:14.794-08:00

Ashwin was born on January 28th, 2011 in the morning. He came in the middle of snow and icy rain :-) It was a tough one for Rahul. He had to take care of Sameer, me and the house, all by himself as mummy-papa were still at the Delhi airport, getting ready to catch their flight.But all's well that ends well. Sameer has been wonderfully supportive. He does get a bit moody and I know he would

Ruchikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00606975600364219802noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-56867155669137924752011-01-19T19:24:00.006-08:002011-01-19T19:50:26.921-08:00

Dr. Seuss is a world renowned children's author. Of late, Sameer has really started enjoying quite a few books by Dr. Seuss. They all rhyme and since Sameer is really into rhyming words these days, he loves to read them over and over again. One of his favorites is: Green Eggs and Ham. This book is a best seller of Dr. Seuss and no wonder why. Give it a read and you will understand. It's funny,

Ruchikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00606975600364219802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-7186489688228422342011-01-18T18:35:00.008-08:002011-01-19T19:31:49.334-08:00

When I was pregnant with Sameer, I had joined a prenatal exercise class. After that I also purchased a DVD of the Perfect Pregnancy Workout. (I know, that woman looks in amazing shape, something I never even bothered to try for during pregnancy, just enough to keep going) They both taught me these two exercises which I have used a lot more in this pregnancy compared to the last: hip circles and

Ruchikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00606975600364219802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-84459396616034138812010-12-04T19:22:00.005-08:002010-12-04T20:11:49.915-08:00

Sameer is keenly following my pregnancy with our second one and really excited about the baby's arrival. He keeps referring to himself now as big brother. He has been to three prenatal visits so far, including the first ultrasound. He found the ultrasound images a bit scary, although he wanted to look at them repeatedly later on. He is definitely a lot more comfortable with the expectation of a

Ruchikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00606975600364219802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-9203547836256929912010-11-22T14:51:00.002-08:002010-11-23T06:32:32.921-08:00

This past summer, Sameer was really into listening to and creating stories of his own. Most of them, both mine and Sameer's, did not really make much sense. But there were a few of his stories that were really interesting. I can only remember one now. Since it's been almost 4-5 months since he last narrated the story, I only remember the outline. I still want to at least record it. It features

Ruchikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00606975600364219802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-33060103444118648992010-11-17T19:06:00.007-08:002010-11-17T20:18:14.915-08:00

Sameer started going to preschool this September, at the age of 3 and a 1/2. He goes to the Boyd School, which is a montessori school. What we liked about this school was the simplicity of all the educational toys, the way all the materials were placed neatly within reach of a child, the amount of sunlight coming in the classroom and of course, the most important thing was the teacher. She seemed

Ruchikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00606975600364219802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-87373714047464999962010-08-03T18:52:00.003-07:002010-08-03T19:01:59.201-07:00

This is something I have been wanting to note down for a long time now. Sameer now remembers Rahul's cell phone number completely, the full 10 digits. For us, it's just one reassurance that in case there is an emergency, he knows how to reach Rahul. For Sameer, it was just a small independence from mommy as he wants to use the phone without my help. In fact a few times it's happened where he

Ruchikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00606975600364219802noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-45881982627241829472010-07-11T14:45:00.002-07:002010-07-11T14:58:05.086-07:00

This is Sameer's favorite game these days, other than lego. He got interested in this game after seeing Advik play it. Advik plays it with categories -- places, famous places and other ways. Sameer just plays it using any words he knows, all categories allowed :)So we start with A and if we said Alligator, we have to start the next letter with R and so on. These days he wants to play it all the

Ruchikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00606975600364219802noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-25283000234655935732010-05-14T14:15:00.006-07:002010-05-14T15:19:50.856-07:00

Sameer is at the stage when he asks a lot of questions. I have heard a lot about this stage. But what I find funny is he also wants us to ask him questions. Questions he already knows the answers to. This is not something I had heard about before. So for instance, this morning in the car we had a conversation about about why he kept turning his head in the other direction when I was trying to

Ruchikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00606975600364219802noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-47793420401328161432010-03-15T13:30:00.000-07:002010-03-15T18:06:42.102-07:00

Well the subject line says it all. It was a hectic day but ended well. We are in the middle of a move back to USA. We are leaving in three days. However we did take some time out to celebrate his birthday in the evening. As his birthday present we gave him a bar of 72% dark chocolate and three carnations. He is fond of flowers.I wanted to note down a few things that I want to remember about him

Ruchikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00606975600364219802noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-27699718168696752052010-03-13T23:35:00.000-08:002010-03-14T17:50:43.149-07:00

We got to celebrate Holi in India this time. I was pleasantly surprised with how much urban India has changed in how it celebrates the festival. I feel rural India still predominantly celebrates it organically as they probably have less access to pigments and dyes. Newspapers had many sections on raising awareness against artificial Holi colors. There were a good number of sections on creating

Rahulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14152290714003016111noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-28705038887357459652010-02-28T03:18:00.005-08:002010-02-28T05:52:44.465-08:00

This past December we decided to go to Khajuraho. The plan originally was to spend 2-3 days in Khajuraho, but our friends and family who had visited Khajuraho before advised us that 1 day is sufficient. They were right. Don't get me wrong here. Khajuraho is definitely worth a visit.The three of us decided to fly to Khajuraho. The temple town is well connected by air. Though Indian railways has

Rahulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14152290714003016111noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-51351166758305005022010-01-15T02:50:00.004-08:002010-01-15T22:32:21.535-08:00

Sameer has bestowed the title of Lion King to his dad after watching the Circle of Life video. Rahul loves the title, of course. Sameer has enjoyed role-plays for a long time now. About two months ago, he started giving himself animal identities: rabbit, squirrel, sparrow, parrot, owl, pig, dog, anything that caught his fancy. The next logical step for him was to give both Rahul and I animal

Ruchikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00606975600364219802noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-755947352593555252009-12-03T03:00:00.001-08:002009-12-03T08:08:01.851-08:00

Pretty much everyday for the last few days, everytime Sameer wakes up in the morning one of the first things he asks for is Lego. Before we moved back to India, we purchased a box of Lego Duplo. We have since purchased another box in our last trip back to the US. He also received one of his cousin's Thomas Lego Duplo set asa gift recently.Initially his creations were limited to creating towers

Rahulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14152290714003016111noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-17556507457683603002009-11-20T01:31:00.002-08:002009-12-02T01:44:45.806-08:00

Yesterday was Sameer's first day at playschool -- Gunjan. He was supposed to get there by 9:30 am. So I tried to get him to atleast finish his breakfast and brush his teeth. I was planning on walking him to the school initially. However, by the time we got out of the house, I realized that it was already 9:25. So we took a cycle rickshaw. We were there well in time as the school is a 10 minute

Ruchikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00606975600364219802noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-83805822218904390182009-11-12T08:07:00.015-08:002009-11-20T10:32:51.332-08:00

Sameer really enjoys ice cream. In the past few months his dairy intake had dropped quite a bit. So I tried making some frozen yogurt at home for him. I looked up a recipe online, reduced the amount of sugar and tried other flavorings and it came out really well each time, with hardly any crystals. I made it without an ice cream maker. The first time I tried it, I made it with mango pulp as

Ruchikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00606975600364219802noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-60214638420519934722009-08-26T16:14:00.002-07:002009-08-26T16:16:46.104-07:00

Since this past July, Sameer has started to speak complete sentences. Its very interesting to hear him talk about his likes/wants and dislikes. He likes his Lego, the carpet where he plays with the Lego, mango, edamame, roasted corn on the cob, cars and his ice cream. He does not like daal-chawal and yogurt anymore. :-( His pronunciation is not perfect yet, but what I find really interesting is

Rahulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14152290714003016111noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-27562531454167761622009-08-12T16:10:00.008-07:002009-08-12T16:49:13.665-07:00

The frequency of our travel went down drastically the year Sameer was born, but it's been on the upswing after that. From just two short holidays in summer of 2007, and then again two vacations in 2008, this year we have managed four trips already! Three of these were plane trips. And there are still quite a few months to go before this year ends.The first trip we took in the new year was a

Ruchikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00606975600364219802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-12671753100996071822009-07-10T01:59:00.006-07:002009-07-11T05:04:49.526-07:00

An update to my previous post Oh, its difficult going to work.... I haven't been able to take him to my office yet :-(. I will certainly show it to him from the outside.I did find a way to calm him though when I leave for the day. He likes numbers. I have started showing him the clock and telling him that the small needle is at 9, so that means I have to go to the office and I will be back when

Rahulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14152290714003016111noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-73768301261132114562009-06-21T02:08:00.000-07:002009-06-21T01:48:29.416-07:00

We sent Sameer to a summer camp in the second week of May. He was exactly 2 years 2 months. We wanted to see how he'll cope to being away from home for about 2 hours on a daily basis. I was hoping that he would enjoy it. Lately he had really started enjoying pretend play. He would become a vegetable seller at times. Then, on occasion he would imagine driving to his dada-dadi's house or nana's

Ruchikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00606975600364219802noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-82151593901401041172009-06-21T01:02:00.003-07:002009-06-21T01:14:25.580-07:00

Over the last one week, Sameer has been complaining a lot about my going to work. That just makes it really difficult to go to work for me. As it is, I am not too fond of going to work His complaints were usually limited to him saying "papa office नहीं" and hiding his cheek so I can't kiss him goodbye. But lately, he has started to cry a lot. I found an innovative way to say goodbye to him. I

Rahulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14152290714003016111noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-77563699893544455852009-06-11T02:10:00.005-07:002009-06-13T02:40:55.452-07:00

धम्मक धम्मक आता हाथी, धम्मक धम्मक जाता हाथीऐसे सूंड हिलाता हाथी, पानी में नहाता हाथीधम्मक धम्मक आता हाथी, धम्मक धम्मक जाता हाथीकित्ते केले खाता हाथी, ये तो नहीं बताता हाथीधम्मक धम्मक आता हाथी, धम्मक धम्मक जाता हाथी।Sameer and I learned this rhyme recently. I enjoy it as much as he does. We sent him to a summer camp for two weeks in May. It was in a playschool called Ananda. We liked that the

Ruchikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00606975600364219802noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-9079308470863478932009-05-12T03:48:00.008-07:002009-05-12T04:04:07.005-07:00

I love it when Sameer compliments me on something I have cooked for him. A few days back he told me that the wheat porridge I made for him was nice. He said, "Mumma achha." He did not say it on his own. But when Rahul asked him if he liked it, he said it on his own accord. These days, he'll also spontaneously give us a kiss or a hug or just a caress. When interacting with Sameer we try to be as

Ruchikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00606975600364219802noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-20585482643265203812009-04-18T03:53:00.004-07:002009-04-18T04:08:24.922-07:00

Can you guess which is the Elmo color? Well, if you are a fan of Sesame Street like my son Sameer, you would know that this color is also known as the red color. Sameer is now able to differentiate all the colors and can vocalize the most common colors. Blue is Boo, Green is Geen, Yellow is Yeyow, etc. But Red is Elmo. I am not sure if it is because of his fondness for Elmo or because he

Rahulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14152290714003016111noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-11602402261708311822009-03-30T09:58:00.004-07:002009-03-30T10:12:34.698-07:00

Earlier it just used to be, "Papa cook." Lately, however, it has mostly been -- mumma cook. It's not an observation of us cooking in the kitchen. It's a banishment when he has to choose between one of us being around.I guess he got this idea when usually in the evenings, I just had to get the dinner ready, not just for us, but for Sameer as well. I would have to tell him that mumma needs to go

Ruchikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00606975600364219802noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-77689246384988000212009-03-10T21:29:00.002-07:002009-03-10T21:41:54.383-07:00

Developmentally, he is changing so rapidly, acting more and more like a boy. He loves the alphabet. He knows all the letters now and wants to read any place he can. He used to get confused when he would see lowercase and uppercase letters. However, now he is getting the concept, specially since he encounters them all the time.He loves to draw -- all scribbles of course, lines and sort of circles.

Ruchikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00606975600364219802noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-21239560051114680852009-03-07T15:00:00.001-08:002009-03-10T21:42:44.848-07:00

Sameer is about to turn two years. Although I feel as if he has been with us for longer than that. Maybe because I have never before been so conscious of each moment. But then again, I have never been forced to. Then why are so many things such a blur. Perhaps for the same reason; each coming moment pushes the previous ones out, only the most significant ones remain.As Sameer turns into a boy

Ruchikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00606975600364219802noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-84522326678343909552009-02-04T16:32:00.004-08:002009-02-04T17:12:40.393-08:00

We have been living in Corte Madera, California for the past week and a half. We'll be here for probably a month total. Rahul had a project that needed a 4-6 week trip. Luckily this is a beautiful area and the location is great. It's close to San Francisco, and Napa-Sonoma valleys; there are beautiful beaches and redwood parks nearby.This has actually been a really nice break from our hectic

Ruchikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00606975600364219802noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-63677414015854777862009-01-14T06:34:00.010-08:002009-01-15T02:55:35.525-08:00

The Elmo and Norah Jones video with the letter 'Y' got Sameer addicted to reading-- atleast the first step of reading, learning the letters of the alphabet. He tries to identify all the letters he sees. If he doesn't know any, he asks us which one is it.He loves to find the letter 'B'. Anywhere we go, he'll keep asking, "B kahan hain, B kahan hai?" People have favorite colors, songs, cartoon

Ruchikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00606975600364219802noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-1287147657049210012008-12-10T23:32:00.001-08:002008-12-11T08:54:00.698-08:00

Last week we had burritos for dinner. I used leftover rajma and pulao for the stuffing. We haven't been able to find any tortillas so far in NOIDA, so I looked up a recipe for the dough online. It was a really simple recipe, perfect for a last minute weekday dinner. We have a Kitchenaid mixer at home which is great for kneading doughs. That made it even easier. The link for the tortilla recipe is

Ruchikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00606975600364219802noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-40076436288451152092008-11-19T08:34:00.003-08:002008-11-19T08:53:49.267-08:00

When our betu Sameer was an infant we made a sincere effort to shun him from TV. Now that he is almost 20-months, we are trying to slowly expose him to TV. We are thinking that he should be able to learn from watching "educational" TV programs. So far we haven't found much on TV here that would be interesting for him. So please do suggest some programs if you live in India by entering some

Rahulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14152290714003016111noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-2170127618259675292008-11-01T22:13:00.001-07:002008-11-02T04:40:01.996-08:00

Today morning when I was changing his clothes Sameer found a onesie that has small cars on it throughout. He refused to wear anything else after looking at it. It's a summer onesie that I wanted to put away and infact too small for him but of course, he doesn't know that. He loves cars, bikes, trains, trucks. Whenever we visit Sameer's grandparents (dada-dadi) he loves to play with Rahul's

Ruchikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00606975600364219802noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-17273705062168349772008-10-14T08:37:00.003-07:002008-10-14T09:09:08.836-07:00

Sameer these days loves to talk loudly. He gets to meet his dada dadi and nana frequently. So in the middle of the day if he starts thinking about them, he'll go like this: दादा गए, नाना गए, बेबी गए (baby means Naman, his bua's son), पापा गए. At times he'll start calling them loudly, as loud as he can get. When asked kahan gaye, his response is: caar ghar (ghar as in home). Anytime the bell rings

Ruchikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00606975600364219802noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-57785175915685566912008-10-09T08:54:00.005-07:002008-10-14T09:08:24.138-07:00

....it must be called Gagga. That's what Sameer seems to think. He is now over 18 months and his vocabulary is growing every week. However, it is very funny to see him point to an object that he has seen before, but does not yet know how to say it and hearing him utter "Gagga". A picture of an apple is Gagga and so is that of a pear. The bus is Gagga, but the car is "Caar". I guess he loves

Rahulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14152290714003016111noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-66789027366999850692008-10-04T02:49:00.002-07:002008-10-04T03:00:36.579-07:00

The last four months we have been busy shifting base from USA to Delhi to Noida. We still haven't received our stuff that we shipped from the USA. During this period, Sameer has also been developing from a baby to a toddler.He wants to make his own decisions, gets frustrated and sometimes really angry if we do not agree with him. His memory is way better, he learns things quite quickly, he wants

Ruchikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00606975600364219802noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-22415082497865128792008-07-12T14:49:00.002-07:002008-07-12T15:05:31.737-07:00

With our move coming up, things have been crazier than usual. Today, finally I had a few minutes to spend in front of the computer. During this time, Sameer has been having a lot of fun at home, with his dada-dadi around, getting all the attention. He is trying to talk more -- something he wasn't doing much of earlier. So that is a very positive development. His favourite game these days is कहाँ

Ruchikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00606975600364219802noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-53492843634832677922008-06-13T09:15:00.004-07:002008-06-13T09:26:57.283-07:00

We have been trying to get Sameer to learn how to power on the stereo and then press the play button. He (like most kids of his age) fancies anything with buttons. The phone instrument, TV remote and the BlackBerry are among his favorite toys. So I was pretty confident that now he can be trained to turn on the stereo. About a week ago, we were successful. When we say, "गाना सुनाओ" he

Rahulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14152290714003016111noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-54406965617402381892008-05-28T18:38:00.003-07:002008-05-28T18:53:51.249-07:00

It's such an interesting name, and a very interesting taste too. In the U.S., fiddlehead ferns are mostly found in North-East and that too mostly in springtime. We saw them in Shimla, Himachal Pradesh also once, when we went there in May 2006.Right now we have been able to find them often in the grocery store. But they'll go away in a few weeks. Since they have a very strong flavor of their own,

Ruchikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00606975600364219802noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-30459614053151450182008-05-28T18:17:00.004-07:002008-05-28T18:34:51.483-07:00

I know it's a little late, but atleast it's still May :-) Rahul made this delicious and a bit time consuming dish for Mother's day. It was a lentil loaf. The recipe can be found here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_33522,00.htmlWith the mixture, we managed to make two loafs, enough to feed us for dinner that day, and for our lunch the next day and a bit more for

Ruchikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00606975600364219802noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-68624721818058819902008-05-26T06:41:00.001-07:002008-05-26T06:43:05.908-07:00

यह देखो.... हमारा चूज़ा सेठ जी की तरह बैठा हैं.

Rahulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14152290714003016111noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-27978661002131887392008-05-26T05:56:00.005-07:002008-05-26T06:27:05.067-07:00

These days I am working on getting our son Sameer to recognize some of the common colors. He likes to play with his nesting cups and stacking train. While is still trying to figure out how to stack them, it appears that he has understood which ones are yellow, red, green and blue. On asking, "समीर, blue block ले कर आओ" or "green cup ले कर आओ" he does bring the correct one most of the times.

Rahulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14152290714003016111noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-41374471719231794882008-05-25T10:16:00.005-07:002008-05-28T18:17:41.141-07:00

I have heard from everyone again and again about the importance of following a routine with a child. I used to try my best, although it did not always work out that way. I wasn't even really sure how much it benefited him. However, I can now see the positive effects of following a set pattern with Sameer. I think he is more confident of himself, since he knows the whole routine. That confidence

Ruchikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00606975600364219802noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-80017136965822532872008-05-11T13:23:00.005-07:002008-05-25T10:59:32.263-07:00

Now that spring is here and Sameer is walking, I take him to the local playground. We usually meet three other boys there, all between two to three and a half years old. Since he is so much younger than any of them, all of them get so excited on seeing him. They want to come play with him whenever we are there. They'll run around saying, "baby, baby" or "chhota baby." Sameer usually just stares

Ruchikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00606975600364219802noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-10055882683261987062008-05-04T16:32:00.005-07:002008-05-11T13:45:22.644-07:00

हमें नए नए व्यंजनों का बहुत शौक है। आज हमने brunch पर अपने एक दोस्त परिवार को बुलाया। वह अपने साथ साम्भर और पुट्टू ले कर आए। हम दोनों ने ही कभी इसका नाम नही सुना था। हम जब केरला गए थे कुछ साल पहले तब भी हमने यह कही नही देखा था। पर खाने में मज़ा आ गया। यह brown चावल के साथ भी बन सकता है। मुझे यह कुछ विधियाँ मिली गूगल पर:एकदोतीन

Rahulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14152290714003016111noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-37144991890649750882008-05-04T16:06:00.009-07:002008-05-05T16:41:51.715-07:00

We have a 13 month old. My wife and I love to travel. After our son was born we have curtailed our trips. We've been taking mostly day-trips or one-day trips. Now that he is over a year old and the weather in Northeast USA is beautiful, we decided to go to Newport, RI. To our surprise we found a few kid-friendly activities there. So if you have a toddler and want to spend a couple days in Newport

Rahulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14152290714003016111noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-74801875883621032212008-04-26T15:24:00.008-07:002008-04-26T15:56:31.308-07:00

These are the latest sounds that Sameer has learnt. To keep him distracted while changing his diaper, I used to copy animal sounds. So two of the oft repeated ones were those of a cat and a lion. Plus he has a cat in his stacking toys. So I would say, "बिल्ली कैसे बोलती है? meow." And then about 3 weeks ago he started responding. Not with a meow though, but with something resembling a mew or a

Ruchikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00606975600364219802noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-53497550642887143162008-03-30T18:20:00.009-07:002008-03-30T18:53:20.923-07:00

समीर आजकल खूब सारी नई बातें सीख गया है। आजकल उसको ताली बजाने में खूब मज़ा आता है। कुछ भी कहो, ताली बजाने लगता है। ताली बजाना उसने अपने birthday पर शुरू किया था। फिर उससे पूछो कितना बड़ा, तो फिर मेरी या राहुल की ऊँगली पकड़ कर हमारा हाथ उठा देता है। आज सुबह एक बार उसने अपना हाथ उठा कर दिखाया था कितना बड़ा, पर उसके बाद से फिर से वही शुरू, हमारा हाथ उठा देता है दिखाने को।कल से इसने एक नई चीज़ सीखी है --

Ruchikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00606975600364219802noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-48353050986249512942008-03-23T08:37:00.002-07:002008-03-23T08:48:10.876-07:00

On our son's one year birthday, we took him to the local mandir. We took some prasad along with us. In our earlier visits, we had seen people bring halwa and kala chana to the temple for other people as prasad. I thought it was good idea to take something, till we set it up for dsitribution. They have a table where you can put up the plate/dabba with the prasad and a spoon, so people can take it

Ruchikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00606975600364219802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-52259050695983975322008-03-15T16:40:00.004-07:002008-03-15T17:11:47.484-07:00

Its been a while since we posted to this blog. What better day to restart blogging than our son Sameer's first birthday. What a fun-filled day it has been. I thought I should share the day with you all.Ruchi made काला चना (kala chana) and सूजी का हलवा (sooji ka halwa) for breakfast for Sameer. To our delight, he ate both of these easily. This doubled up as pooja prasad also. We took this

Rahulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14152290714003016111noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-92173699799065337852008-03-01T13:43:00.006-08:002008-03-07T12:12:45.208-08:00

Sameer got these wishes from Anirudh some time ago. I had been having some problems uploading pictures to blogger, which is why this post took some time. Want to thank Anirudh and his mom and dad for wishing him. God bless you too Anirudh, Rishab, Naman, and Advik. Ofcourse I would like to wish all my nephews and nieces.

Ruchikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00606975600364219802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-59943423750282893842008-02-17T18:48:00.004-08:002008-02-17T18:58:47.786-08:00

I tried this dish for Sameer. Its red cabbage, apple and raisins cooked together and pureed. I just loved the color of this dish when I saw the photo in the recipe online. I did anticipate that Sameer will not like it, and yes, he did not. I still wanted to give it a shot for two reasons. First ofcourse, the color is beautiful, and second, it was really easy to make. The idea to put it in

Ruchikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00606975600364219802noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-18395356254286178462008-02-17T17:46:00.007-08:002008-02-18T17:11:57.374-08:00

I have been trying for the last few days to get Sameer to learn to get down from either the futon or the daybed on his own. Today, it seems, he got it. Every evening I would sit Sameer on the daybed. When I sat him near the edge, he would have fun jumping into my waiting hands. However, that does not count as learning to get down on his own. I gradually started to seat him farther away from the

Rahulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14152290714003016111noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-7804384964881832152008-02-06T07:44:00.001-08:002008-02-07T12:42:55.552-08:00

Now that Sameer is taking more interest in textured food, I have been trying to give him dishes that we eat, with less spices. One neat trick I learned from wholesomebabyfood is to simply freeze the dish in ice cube trays and once frozen you can take out the cubes and put them in a ziploc bag.I have used this technique for mashed foods mostly and not purees. The other day I made some butternut

Ruchikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00606975600364219802noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-90329874879317222222008-02-02T13:52:00.000-08:002008-02-02T14:01:48.858-08:00

Sameer these days enjoys jumping from the daybed into our laps. I guess he now trusts that no matter what we are there for him. Pretty cool, huh? Well, I guess the following pictures best describe it.

Rahulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14152290714003016111noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-82478440657335098082008-01-29T18:20:00.000-08:002008-02-07T12:43:25.727-08:00

Sameer has learnt to shake hands, or at least extend his hand when we extend ours to say hello. Rahul used to play with him and entertain him by holding his hand and shaking it. He would say, "Hello, how do you do?" each time. We don't know when he realized this, but now each time we extend our hand and say hello, he'll also extend his hand.People used to keep telling us about the latest tricks

Ruchikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00606975600364219802noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-4696788357686284742008-01-28T14:20:00.000-08:002008-01-28T14:31:05.958-08:00

Now that our son, Sameer, is over 10-months old, we are trying to get him to sleep without rocking and milk. Our goal is for him to sleep through the night without getting up for milk. We are now in week two of our efforts. Things have really improved. He gets up perhaps once or twice a night. He does not get milk till about 4:30AM. When he would wake up in the middle of the night, with

Rahulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14152290714003016111noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-84318232505183274462008-01-20T16:37:00.000-08:002008-01-25T13:20:00.360-08:00

Its true when they say that an infant cannot make out the bitter taste. I guess their taste buds are still developing.The other day I tried giving Sameer an orange. I peeled the thin membrane for each slice and offered the fruit to him. He tried it and then refused it. He started playing with the orange peels and then put one in his mouth. Oh how he loved grinding it and would have loved to eat

Ruchikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00606975600364219802noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-37099228914730567122008-01-13T18:29:00.001-08:002008-01-31T11:53:49.248-08:00

We have been trying to make Sameer watch cartoons on television. We tried some Baby Einstein DVDs, but he has not shown any interest so far. So we tried some on cable. We have OnDemand as part of our subscription. Till now, I never realized that they also carry cartoons that you can see for free, no purchase required. You can pause them and rewind and fast forward them, as you would with a DVD at

Ruchikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00606975600364219802noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-73675636009690191802008-01-05T18:02:00.000-08:002008-01-11T12:39:29.453-08:00

Today evening while we were in the car, it was raining. We were returning home from the restaurant (read previous post) and the road was dark for the most part except for the occasional streetlights. Suddenly Sameer started laughing. Both Rahul and I did not know why. He quietened, but again he burst out laughing and that's when we figured out the reason. Every time we passed a streetlamp, the

Ruchikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00606975600364219802noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-54452156496172693302008-01-05T17:16:00.000-08:002008-01-05T17:41:26.319-08:00

Now that Sameer can easily sit up straight, the three of us can eat out. Today we went to the local Udipi Restaurant in South Brunswick, NJ. He enjoyed playing with the dosa pieces, which he could reach out and easily tear. Needless to say, the restaurant staff have their work cut out in cleaning up the dosa pieces that our betu left there. :-)

Rahulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14152290714003016111noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-17749227329608925802007-12-31T13:25:00.000-08:002008-01-01T07:56:41.860-08:00

The best way to explore a big city is on foot. We spent one night in Washington, D.C., this past Friday. I wanted to see the Smithsonian museums and the weather was warmer than Princeton so it seemed the ideal place to visit with Sameer. Rahul found a hotel in the Mall area (near the White House, Capitol and the museums).We started on Rhode Island Avenue (in Washington, D.C., many of the avenues

Ruchikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00606975600364219802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-10392845427177603842007-12-31T13:02:00.000-08:002008-01-01T07:58:23.240-08:00

A month ago I realized that Sameer can now understand the meaning of no. So when I would say no to his touching something, he would pause immediately. Of course he would start again, but again if I said no, then again he would pause. I was so happy. Well now he not only understands the meaning of no when someone else says it, he knows how to say no -- he'll nod his head 'no' when he doesn't want

Ruchikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00606975600364219802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-71356137986217849922007-12-31T11:45:00.001-08:002007-12-31T11:50:26.499-08:00

Sameer has invented a way to entertain himself while waiting to be picked up from his car seat. His car seat has a curved bottom, so he can rock it. He rocks it with his legs while holding the handle.

Rahulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14152290714003016111noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-61903541020966168252007-12-22T08:56:00.000-08:002007-12-22T09:09:57.863-08:00

Sameer is often playing in the living room with his toys and his books. Ruchi or I will leave him alone and would either be cooking or doing something else. Up until a few weeks ago, he would start crying in a few minutes if he would not find us near him. Now he would start by going towards the kitchen, then to the bedroom and then to the guest bedroom/study. He gives us such a lovely smile

Rahulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14152290714003016111noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-68787324217685041382007-12-06T10:21:00.000-08:002007-12-09T17:59:30.584-08:00

Eyebrows furrowed, face tensed up, nose wrinkled, lips upturned, and a two second pause before crying starts. That's how Sameer looks when he wants to be held and instead finds himself being put down instead. Please note, this reaction starts even before he has been put down. Sometimes, as soon as we bring him near his crib, he realizes that he is being put in his crib, he'll start protesting

Ruchikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00606975600364219802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-12997704734651456822007-11-21T10:35:00.000-08:002007-12-09T17:41:17.392-08:00

Sameer started solids around five months. We started him with rice cereal, then oatmeal, then carrots and so on. As usual he liked all the sweet stuff and is not so fond of veggies other than carrots and sweet potatoes (they're both sweet). Surprisingly he likes dal -- dhuli masoor(red lentil), dhuli moong, arhar(pigeon peas). It took some time but I finally figured out how he likes his dal. I

Ruchikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00606975600364219802noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-79362334402008424832007-11-06T11:24:00.000-08:002007-12-07T05:38:14.083-08:00

With every passing day I find more and more changes in Sameer and I just wonder, where and how is he learning? Just a few days ago, when I was feeding him after his bath, as I usually do, he turned his face away and then smiled. I offered him the spoon again, and again he just smiled and turned his face. To try one last time, I offered him some of the mixture on my finger. This time he looked at

Ruchikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00606975600364219802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-69215091138886221502007-11-06T10:38:00.001-08:002008-05-26T06:18:08.398-07:00

Sameer started sitting up around the beginning of October. It took him one month to learn that. By the end of October he was crawling easily and even trying to stand up. In betwen there were stages of hopping and just plain falling and trying to inch forward (on the bed). These days, all he wants to do is move. If Rahul tries to hold him for a few minutes after coming back from work, he'll

Ruchikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00606975600364219802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-8056756946537116992007-10-26T17:11:00.000-07:002007-10-26T17:37:25.885-07:00

Weekend of October 20-21st has to go down as probably the best sporting weekend for me, in terms of how many of my favorite teams won.Our Indian cricket team beat the mighty Aussies in the Twenty20 game. Here's the scorecard. The Boston Red Sox made it to the World Series again -- second time in the last four years. This time they came back from a 3 games to 1 deficit to convincingly beat the

Rahulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14152290714003016111noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-10015253839494557552007-10-23T10:21:00.000-07:002007-11-06T11:05:38.641-08:00

Like most parents of newborns, I dread trimming Sameer's fingernails and toenails. When he was born, everyone complimented us on his beautiful long fingers and nails. In the last seven months though, I have reduced his fingernails to almost half their original length. Initially, I tried waiting till they were really long before trimming them, but he kept scratching and hurting himself. It was

Ruchikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00606975600364219802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-1675308115891481512007-10-20T15:44:00.000-07:002007-10-20T16:01:08.823-07:00

Ruchi and I are so fond of avocados these days. They are not only convenient to prepare, but are super healthy. They are rich in proteins and fats, but low in carbohydrates. They usually find a way in our weekday breakfasts. When sliced and with tomatoes they make an excellent weekday breakfast sandwich. Sliced avocados, along with mushrooms and onions make a great omelet topping.Lately, we

Rahulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14152290714003016111noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-85009952913974632612007-10-09T12:34:00.000-07:002007-10-26T17:42:13.024-07:00

Sameer loves his pouch. We bought it for him when he was 2 months, from the owner of a website called QuirkyBaby. Jane, the owner, helped me learn to use the pouch and sent me some more tips and tricks later as well. Everytime I put him in that pouch he looked completely cocooned up. It used to make me nervous, but he would calm down and enjoy the ride -- everytime. We were using it till last

Ruchikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00606975600364219802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-75582980569177861182007-10-08T10:06:00.000-07:002007-10-09T16:48:29.377-07:00

Sameer's first tooth started coming shortly after he turned five months. It wasn't an easy time for him. He had fever, diarrhea, felt miserable. He used to bite me during breastfeeds all the time. Its been okay since then. But he just looks so cute with his one tooth now.

Ruchikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00606975600364219802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-24032136622026762032007-09-27T07:48:00.000-07:002007-11-06T13:08:20.727-08:00

Sameer is not so fond of orange. He likes red, black, white, blue and green. I think he's most fond of green. Sometimes, I'll show him two onesies of different color. He always goes for the green one -- whether the choice is between blue and green or white and green. On the other hand, he's really not that fond of orange. We found that out accidently. Rahul once put the classic children's book

Ruchikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00606975600364219802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-78654976190843887642007-09-27T07:29:00.001-07:002007-09-27T07:48:41.956-07:00

Sameer is still in that age when he loves to meet new people and will gladly smile when they talk to him. I have read in various books that children go thorugh a phase of 'stranger anxiety' beginning around the age of 8 or 9 months. Before that however, they'll have a phase where they will exhibit 'showmanship,' smiling at anyone who talks to them or wants to play with them. Yesterday evening a

Ruchikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00606975600364219802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-8109921517572302742007-07-02T11:07:00.000-07:002007-07-02T11:11:51.575-07:00

Last week, our son Sameer started to babble. His Glu-glu, goo-aa, etc are sweet to listen. He especially babbles when on his changing table. Its as if he knows that this table is his. He becomes so comfortable on it. Can't wait to start chating with him.

Rahulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14152290714003016111noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-67292392051688262182007-06-03T11:37:00.000-07:002007-10-26T17:55:46.810-07:00

We have compiled a list of lullabies in Hindi for our son. They really help us in getting him to sleep, especially when he is tired in the evenings. They are all from Hindi movies. Here are the songs:गानाSongMovieनन्ही कली सोने चली, हवा धीरे आनाNanhi Kali Sone Chali, Hawa Dheere ChalnaSujataपलकों पे चलते चलतेPalkon Pe Chalte ChalteDaayraप्यारा सा गाँवPyaara Sa GaonZubeidaसपनों के घर कीSapnon

Rahulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14152290714003016111noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-38727025950633008702007-05-28T14:34:00.000-07:002007-10-09T12:32:48.500-07:00

We have been using the KitchenAid Mixer for making Chapati dough for a couple of years now. I know kneading the dough for chapatis is not a very easy or interesting task. Here's how I use this mixer to make our life a bit easy: -1. For one cup wheat flour, use a little more than half-cup water. If you mix any other kind of flours like buckwheat, millet (jowar/bajra) you will need to use less

Ruchikahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00606975600364219802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-2814422698108476302007-05-22T07:55:00.000-07:002007-05-22T11:42:17.194-07:00

Some must have items for pregnancy and afterwards with babyWhat to Expect When You're Expecting: It details expected changes in the baby and mom each month. Answered most of our questions related to pregnancy.Your Baby's First Year: This book always comes in handy for day-to-day questions in raising an infant. Sameer developed acne all over his face in the first month and we were concerned that

Rahulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14152290714003016111noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5936436495719092929.post-67305217006194858252007-05-20T17:07:00.000-07:002007-05-22T11:22:20.973-07:00

Welcome to Rahul and Ruchi's blog. We just a had baby boy, Sameer. In our spare time we like to read (Ruchi mostly!), watch movies, cook vegetarian food and travel. As we find time to post, we will be blogging our experiences in all these subjects as well as baby raising.

Rahulhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14152290714003016111noreply@blogger.com