Grandparents are Great!

Thanks to Grandma & Grandpa, Peanut's bedroom got a makeover this weekend! They helped mommy navigate the vast expanse of Home Depot, Bed Bath & Beyond, and TWO Babies R Us stores to put together this ensemble. In addition to the 48 hours of free labor, grandma & grandpa gave Peanut a brand new rocker, where he will likely eat most of his meals (because mommy likes sitting in the rocker very much!). Thanks, grandma & grandpa!


"Peanut's-eye view"
This is what Peanut will see when he is lying in his crib - thanks to Grandma, who painted a fanciful sky scene on the ceiling! And thanks to cousins Jason & Jessica, who are generous enough to share their crib. :)

Canada is good for something after all... :)

Those Canadians - thank god they deviate from French policy on the important issue of allowing heli-skiing to continue in their pristine mountains! Anand has figured out one way or another to get up there for the last 3 years in a row. I think he's got his heart set on earning the "free" jacket that Canadian Mountain Holidays gives you when you ski a million vertical feet with them. Happy Skiing, Anand!

Patti's handywork

Every baby ought to have a quilt stitched by grandma! Anand's Vatsala Patti (grandmother) has been working months on this gorgeous blanket, on which the pattern is stitched in needlework crochet. Peanut can't wait to be all snuggly warm, and practice focusing his eyes on the bright colors & patterns! Thanks, Patti!! :)

Beaches

Today we got to see some of the amazing beaches in Chennai. The vast stretches of soft sand create amazing potential for these beaches. Unfortunately they are polluted from fisherman who camp on the beach next to their boats, and discard all kinds of rubbish in the sand. With a little cleanup effort, this could be prime resort territory! Hilton, Marriott?? Are you listening??

Breakfast menu

Globalization and outsourcing has really changed the economy in India. It's becoming more common to see brand name foods in a supermarket-style shop. And there is so much selection! If you like cereal in the morning, you can choose Original Corn Flakes, Strawberry Corn Flakes, Mango Corn Flakes, Banana Corn Flakes, Honey Corn Flakes, or Almond Corn Flakes (all basically corn flakes with artificial flavoring)! Corn flakes take about 95% of the shelf space for cereal; other options include Coco puffs and Muesli. Despite a general awareness that Corn Flakes aren't that great for those who are prone to diabetes, we have yet to find a high-fiber / high-protein / sugar-free cereal here. It's also nearly impossible to buy 100% fruit juice - water & sugar tend to be the first ingredients, which made me wonder: why sweeten drinks with sugar instead of corn syrup, as they do in the US? Oh, that's right - all the corn is being used for Corn Flakes. What was I thinking!? Pass the adai, please!

Dakshani Chitra

Anand's cousin Kaushik & aunt Kavitha tried their hand at pottery. For 10 Rs (25c), they got some coaching & could take home their very own clay cup! As usual, Anand's grandparents were along for the fun, every step of the way.

Grinding Rice

Hands-on experience of manual kitchen work at the Dakshani Chitra cultural heritage center. Of course, it now occurs to me that I don't think you use rice flour to make idli, but still a fun video. That's what I get for trying to be spontaneous!

Happy Karthigai Deepam!

Karthikai Deepam

Kaarthikai Deepam is a festival of lights, celebrated in the Tamil month of Kaarthigai. It is considered as the extension of the Deepavali festival. In some houses, they double the number of lamps every day from the day of Deepavali and this way, they end up with a number of lamps on the day of Kaarthigai Deepam.

It is celebrated in a special manner in Thiruvannamalai. Lord Shiva asks Lord Brahma and Lord Vishnu to find out the exact location of his head and his feet. Since Lord Shiva takes a gigantic form, they are not able to find out anywhere. Then Lord Shiva takes the form of a jyothi (light of fire) on the hill of Thiruvannamali. Therefore, this festival is also known as Annamalai Deepam. Here, a special torch is lighted on the zenith of the hill and it is believed that Lord Shiva's jothi will be visible on this day.

Lord Muruga took the form of six babies in a lake called "Saravana Poigai". On this day, all his six forms were united by Parvathi(his mother) and this way, he had six faces. Special poojas are performed to Lord Muruga.

On this day, people clean the houses. In the evening, they draw kolams (rangoli) in the front of the house and also place some lamps on it. The lamps(Agal) are placed in the pooja and lighted. Then the Deeparathana is done in which the lamps are moved to different places in the house. The lamps glow all over the streets on this day. The lamps are arranged near the doors and windows and also in the balconies. In this way, people of Tamil Nadu celebrate Kaarthigai Deepam for three days.

This is also the day when sisters pray for the well being of their brothers and brothers reciprocate by giving them gifts. The relevance being , Lord Muruga also known as Skanda or Shanmukha or Karthik was raised by six young girls called Karthikai damsels like their own baby brother.

home remodel

This is a new construction seen from the roof of Anand's family apartment. Given the circumstances: one worker, no power tols visible, no foreman, and a heavy reliance on bamboo, it could take a while! Posting this to show that even Chad & Drea's contractor could have been slower...Congratulations to them on moving into their new house last week!

Happy Diwali!

Learn about Diwali

Peanut-mania

Thumbs up! Everything is looking good on the ultrasound today!


Hmm... look at that foot! Am I going to like "American Football" or regular football?


Mommy thinks I have daddy's chin. Daddy thinks I have mommy's forehead. What do you think?!


Tata, Thatha! See you again in a few weeks!

PS - Is it too early to post our son's bio-data on Shaadi.com?
- Age: Minus 4 1/2 months (approximately)
- Height: About 16 cm, measured head-to-tush; femurs are 2.9 cm
- Weight: 264 g (+/- 39g)
- Build: Fit & trim, but expected to gain weight in coming weeks
- Complexion: Difficult to say...
- Heart Rate: 150 beats per minute - strong heart, with lots of love
- Hobbies: swallowing water, playing with my face, kicking mommy
(Looking for a girl age minus 5 1/2 months or more with similar interests.)

Happy Halloween!

Whilst Anand was working tonight, I tested out my rusty sewing skills to make a baby pumpkin t-shirt for Halloween tomorrow. Yes, there will be trick-or-treating at the Kaiser Genetics department. No, we don't really have the time for this, but sometimes you gotta goof around.

Rough Days!

Poor Penny - sometimes during the middle of the night, there is no one awake to tuck her in. Life is rough!

Belly Laughs

Penny in Motion

Penny enjoys her off-leash romps at Twin Peaks. Now that she knows the market value of a tennis ball (= 1 liver treat), she has suddenly gotten REALLY good at fetch. Smart dog!

Peanut Progress

So today I got quick unofficial ultrasound by a friend of mine. In 5 minutes flat she confirmed that Peanut now has 2 healthy kidneys, a normal spine, 4-chamber heart with good vessels, cerebellum and corpus callosum (brain parts), left-sided stomach, and generally other normal looking anatomy. His heart was beating at 152 beats/minute, maybe due to the adrenaline rush he got from knowing he was on show! He also did some impressive somersaults, rolls and flips. I think he is trying to practice for flying in grandpa's bi-plane! He did show off his boy parts, but daddy didn't think the picture was good enough to show the world, so we'll have to wait on that one. Must make daddy proud!

Oktoberfest - yes, the real one

Despite an already crazy travel schedule, Anand makes time for his annual Oktoberfest trip. Yes, Oktoberfest starts in September. Yes, we're talking about the original event in Munich. If you haven't been, you've got to go at least once.


Anand, Eddie, Dan

Anand, Sabrina, Jan

More pictures from BBC at: BBC Oktoberfest pictures

family, family, everywhere

The great thing about a close-knit family is that you have someone to call on no matter what continent. Well, we'll have to ask the Swaminathans if they have any cousins on Antarctica, but otherwise I think we're covered. Saturday we had fun hanging out with Mallika, Nandu, and their son Jay. Nandu is Vanitha's 2nd cousin, making Jay Anand's 3rd cousin. Nice meeting you, cousins!

Full Emu = Safe Emu

Supposedly these guys can do some serious damage with their long toenails & powerful legs. Good thing this Emu is happy with his flower feast!

koala cute-ness!

Something tells me this little guy wouldn't need an upgrade to Business Class in order to sleep well on the flight...

The new Sydney Wildlife Worlds is great! We got to see Koalas, Cassawarys, Wallabees, Platypus, and other odd creatures up close. The best was a rooftop Koala exhibit, where you could stand literally feet from the koalas, without any barrier. The Koalas have an enviable lifestyle, munching on eucalyptus leaves and hanging out on branches all day. Think they would make a nice pet!? There is plenty of eucalyptus in Presideo park. hmmm....

Sydney rules

We got a super deal for a Sydney trip, so decided to go for it. We decided that we've never travelled so far to feel like we haven't gone anywhere! Sydney is SO similar to San Francisco.... the weather, attractions, geography, culture. We do have some advice for our hometown on how to make extra money for our infrastructure.... charge $150/person to tour the maintenance access steps on the Golden Gate bridge!

Peanut

Anand and I are very excited to announce that a mini-human - temporarily named Peanut - has taken up residence inside Laura. We expect Peanut to make his grand entrance into the world sometime at the end of March 2008. Thanks to "tellmepinkorblue" test, we know he's a boy. Can't wait to meet you, Peanut!

For every cloud....

... there's a silver lining. Unfortunately Chad & Drea did not have much luck with their flights home. But at least Great Grandma Lester got to meet her latest Great Grand Daughter!

Lisa & Dhaneshwar... v 2.0

At the rehearsal dinner Friday night

Mother & Daughter, Saturday wedding

Working hard for her money.

Lucky Pup

We are so lucky to have such wonderful pet-sitters. Technically, this isn't Oli's job; he's just the spouse of our pet-sitter. But either way, Penny is soaking up the love!

rough days!

Penny had a great time hiking at Dry Creek camp. So rough.... she didn't leave her blanket for about 36 hours!

Hawaii Fun!

Best snorkelling pics EVER, courtesy of John Shappell underwater photography. Trust me, he had the more impressive job, since John was the one catching the octapus, picking up the sea urchin, and holding his breath long enough to take pictures of us while we sloooowly dove. Mahalo John!

Lisa & Dhaneshwar ... v 1.0

We had the honor of attending my cousin Lisa's Hindu wedding in Toronto in June. Looking forward to the "western" one in Pennsylvania in July!

Proud Aunt

Barbados

Family vacation in Barbados for the 2007 World Cup of Cricket. Too bad India & Pakistan didn't make it, but we still had fun. First time travelling with parents, brother, boss, and friends, all surving together in the same house for nearly 2 weeks!