Ah, toddlerhood!

Amiya fell not one, not two, but three more times yesterday while at Busch Gardens. She is as bruised and banged up as she's ever been and obviously not as graceful as usual. Her nose is completely scraped, the skin between lips and nose a mess and her lips are pretty much hamburger like right in the center. The good news is the child loves to have salve put on, so we've been doing that and will continue to do so. She's far more concerned about the toenail she pulled off yesterday and the fact that it hurts. She won't admit that she caused that owie and has power to not do it again. Sigh. Mommy and Daddy are watching her carefully because we're now at 5 falls in 4 days. That's a lot of falls for Amiya. It's most likely nothing at all, but we (I, specifically, Vinay is a bit more grounded) are the epitome of paranoid parents.

Despite all the scrapes and lacerations, Amiya is sunny and cheerful this morning. Last night the Moms in our Mom's Club held a baby shower for me at a yummy Thai restaurant. It was a very, very nice time (when isn't it when we can actually talk without wiping noses and/or bottoms?) and we were given very thoughtful gifts. Amiya and I went through the basket today and found gifts for Mommy, gifts for the baby, a frame and a CD that Amiya and the baby can share and even a coloring book for Amiya. She was thrilled with the gifts but how can anything compete with the big yellow sun shining down on Amiya when she woke up this morning? The balloon is a big, big hit. Her only complaint is that Mommy won't let her play with the balloon unless I am in the room and can give her/it my undivided attention. See first photo for reasons why and you can understand the paranoid parent part. Anyway, an order of pad thai and crab rangoon and a night out with people I really enjoy - what an excellent way to pass an evening! Thanks Friends!!!

The Perils of Red Light/Green Light

Amiya was at a friend's today playing a game of Red Light/Green Light. She's old hat at this one and we use it all the time to get her to stop at driveways, corners, etc. She took it a little too literally though and came to a direct stop on her face. This picture is actually not representative of the split - the lip has a pretty deep crack in it - but Vinay promises me it's not stitch worthy. (I think he and my Dad went to the same seminar on whether wounds are hospital worthy or not.) Upon further review, though, I think he's right. It had stopped bleeding once and then she scraped it with her teeth so it let off another torrent. Eventually it slowed and stopped and Amiya quickly learned that a split lip equals copious amounts of Italian ices courtesy of Daddy, lots of extra stories and cuddles and even *gasp* the supreme privilege of being able to take a nap on the couch.

Baby Shower

I'll never say that the few months I spent teaching at a certain sport camp cum prep school near Tampa bring fond memories, but I did meet a handful of teachers that were, and still are, fantastic.

Here we are Sunday afternoon for a lunch and baby shower. It was very good to see these "girls" again - it's interesting how once you reach a certain level of familiarity (in our case brought about by a headmaster with brain chemical issues), you will always have a certain comfort no matter how long the time in between moments shared has been. We were an interesting mix: one squeamish at the idea of changing a diaper, one newly pregnant, one with a one and a half year old daughter and me about to pop #2. Unfortunately for the one squeamish, we all know that anytime you put three Mommies and/or Mommies-To-Be together, the talk will turn to babies, baby poop and the like. She survived and we all know not to call her for babysitting until the kids are potty-trained. ;-)

The girls gave me a lovely gift certificate to Publix - how did they know I'm obsessed with their deli's turkey sub? I've had two since Sunday night (one Sunday night, one Tuesday night) and only skipped Monday night because it's become Amiya's job to pick dinner one night a week and she picked quesadillas. Can't break her heart and not eat what she picked. But I'm thinking a sub sounds good for dinner, tonight! Nothing too bad about a turkey sub - lean protein and I get 'em heaped with veggies. (Let's forget about the white bread I like and the mayo.) Anyway, thank you very much to the girls for a nice afternoon out and for helping me feed my (at least I tell myself) healthy pregnancy craving!

Smoovies

Amiya's discovered a new love: smoothies.
Daddy decided one night that a smoothie sounded like a good, fresh dinner (understand it's 80 here on a daily basis) and ever since that fateful night, Amiya is the smoovie posterchild. Until this point I've been perfectly happy going to our local smoothie place and getting her one on occasion but she's had a nagging cough for about a week now, a clear runny nose and has been sleeping a lot more than usual. So, being the stay at home Mom (literally - we haven't been going anywhere so as to not spread the love) with time on her hands, I came up with a smoothie full of all that Amiya doesn't like (anything with copious amounts of Vitamin C and lots of juice).

We blend 1 c. fresh squeezed orange juice, 1/2 c. 100% cranberry juice, 1 c. mixed frozen berries and a handful of ice cubes. Chock full of Vitamin C, antioxidants and delicious flavor - Amiya thinks she's in smoovie heaven while Mommy and Daddy have the secret happiness of tricking her into drinking juice and getting lots of fluids.

Family Reading Time

Mommy went to catch a showing of Brokeback Mountain while Daddy stayed home and cleaned (what a man!!!) and Amiya took her nap. When I returned, I came home to find Amiya instilling a family reading time where she assigned the books to be read. She picked an old Fern Michaels novel, assigned me a book of her baby pictures and Vinay got a copy of the boardbook I Love You with All My Heart. Amiya's interest quickly waned when she found there are no pictures in a novel and (brace yourselves) the five letters she actively seeks in every book - A - M - I -Y and A (again) were interspersed with all sorts of other letters and some of them were even lower case. Nonetheless, it's fun to see Amiya and Vinay reading even if the material wasn't their favorite genres.

Are we dere yet?

Today we had to exchange the Roomba as the one we originally purchased was (unknown to us) a return and a bad return at that. So Amiya and I got in the car and headed out for the 25 minute trip to Bed, Bath and Beyond. What do I hear the entire 25 minute trip?

"Are we dere yet?" "Are we dere yet?" "Are we dere yet?" "Are we dere yet?" "Are we dere yet?" "Are we dere yet?" "Are we dere yet?" "Are we dere yet?" "Are we dere yet?" "Are we dere yet?" "Are we dere yet?" "Are we dere yet?" "Are we dere yet?" "Are we dere yet?" "Are we dere yet?" "Are we dere yet?" "Are we dere yet?" "Are we dere yet?" "Are we dere yet?" "Are we dere yet?" "Are we dere yet?" "Are we dere yet?" "Are we dere yet?" "Are we dere yet?" "Are we dere yet?" "Are we dere yet?" "Are we dere yet?" "Are we dere yet?" "Are we dere yet?" "Are we dere yet?" "Are we dere yet?" "Are we dere yet?" "Are we dere yet?" "Are we dere yet?" "Are we dere yet?" "Are we dere yet?" "Are we dere yet?" "Are we dere yet?" "Are we dere yet?" "Are we dere yet?" "Are we dere yet?" "Are we dere yet?" "Are we dere yet?" "Are we dere yet?" "Are we dere yet?" "Are we dere yet?" "Are we dere yet?" "Are we dere yet?" "Are we dere yet?" "Are we dere yet?" "Are we dere yet?" "Are we dere yet?" "Are we dere yet?" "Are we dere yet?" "Are we dere yet?" "Are we dere yet?" "Are we dere yet?" "Are we dere yet?" "Are we dere yet?" "Are we dere yet?"

I answered the first three by saying, "No Amiya, you'll know we're there when we get in the parking lot and stop the car." From the fourth query forward I let her amuse herself with her little question and tuned myself in to some of those breathing exercises that don't make the slightest difference during labor but truly save this Mommy's sanity when toddler times are trying.

Air Mail Amiya

We were at the post office today to ship a small
package to Grandma. Amiya was very unhappy that she was unable to also be shipped to Grandma so the clerk gave her a priority mail sticker that Amiya proudly wore for the rest of the day. At 28 pounds postage would have been cheaper than an airplane ticket but try as I might, they wouldn't take her. Something about potential biohazard leakage. Whatever.

Our family is now the owner of a pet: a roomba. Or, if you ask Amiya a rrrrrrrrroomba! It's ok, not as fantastic as we had hoped but it was a roomba or a dog and we don't want a dog. Amiya loves it and follows it around. "Look what the rrrrrrrrroomba is doing!" "Wow is the rrrrrroomba going fast!" She even knows that the roomba was Daddy's pet because he "loves bacuums." Daddy is a bit vacuum obsessed and that's ok. Better that than other obsessions, right? Amiya told Grandma last night that Daddy was buying the rrrrrrrrrroomba because he really loves bacuums. Such a smart little girl!

And finally, if you're ever in need of a word and you just can't come up with what you need just take your favorite and add a y or ly to the end. A few weeks ago we had a very "acorny" day when Amiya was amassing acorns left and right. If we are walking at a good pace but not running, we are walking "fastly." And so on. Parts of speech are no issue to a three year old - if she gets the point across, all is well with the world.

Little Golden Presents

You may remember my excitement about Amiya going to the bathroom all by herself. I'm past that.

She now goes into our bathroom, as well, to the little toilet that is an entity in and of itself as opposed to the little seat we place on top of the regular toilet that is in her bathroom. She goes in, seats herself, leaves a sparkling present, dries up and places the toilet paper in our toilet. She flushes the paper, but doesn't pour out the liquid offering she's left behind.

We, umm, me, really, never looks in that tiny toilet because how can it even be possible that she's old enough to be doing this on her own? Just a few days ago she was banging on our coffee table in Illinois with a plastic hammer full of primary colored beads. Anyway, I never look in the damn toilet until my super sensitive pregnant nose picks up day-old urine odors and I figure out that once again she's done it. She's such a verbose little thing - don't you think she could find the words to say, "Mommy, I peed and it'd be swell if you could deal with it pronto."

Thankfully, there's Febreze.

Why?

Why on the days when I say that she needs to sleep (purple splotches under eyes, cranky, dramatic) does she not? And then when I tell her she only needs to lay down and rest she falls asleep like an angel and sleeps over the CD I had set to signal the end of her rest time? Of course I'm jinxing myself and this won't happen again tomorrow, but for these past two days it's been nothing short of fantastic!

In other news - Amiya's been screwing a lot lately. That's how she says it - minus the s - crewin. She screws all over the place with her screwdriver and a bolt. She walks around telling us where she's screwing and that's she doing it a lot. Precocious? Maybe. Worryworthy for the future? Probably.

And finally - we won't meet Obie on March 1st. A silly string of events has pushed the date forward to February 24th. Five days earlier and only 43 days from today. Can you even fathom? We can't.

The Week in Pictures

Mommy's tired lately, I know you'll forgive me!

A quick recap of our week - Amiya's favorite after-nap snack as of late: a small handful of mini chocolate chips and a glass of water to be shared with Bear and Little One while sitting on the kitchen rug. Mommy scores bonus points if she tosses in a few bits of cashew.
To the left is Amiya checking out Clifford in her View Master that her Uncle Matt sent. She's completely into this little toy. Good job Uncle Matt!

In this action shot you can see the lower 2/3 of Amiya and the right 1/2 of Aubrey - it's the best I could do given the circumstances. Aubrey came over to play on Thursday so her Mommy could do some errands and it was a non-stop parade (literally) around here. The girls had a great time making all sorts of music and messes and it was a lot of fun to see how the interactions have changed in the year that they've been playing together.
To the left we see Gabe and Amiya on the playground for a Friday morning playdate. These two were, as always, inseperable. There might be a chill in relations though as, for once, there was minimal kissing and hugging. Or, it might be that all fear is gone and there is nothing on the playground that these two won't scale, climb or attempt. Either way, they were busy and having fun until the Mommies got cold and decided to call it a day.

After our playground time we made a quick jaunt to the grocery store for a few supplies. Amiya was fascinated by the deli clerk's hairnet. So much so that she was given one of her own. She calls it a hairapron and refuses to consider that that might not be the correct term.

Not such an exciting photo to the left, but just in case you're ever here and wondering why there is a hairnet hanging from our dining room chair it's because that's where Amiya has decided it should be. I can move it x times and Amiya will put it back there x + 1. Just so you know it's not bizarre housekeeping or a really huge spider web. It's the whim (and will) of an almost three year old.

After lunch on Friday, Amiya went to the neighbor's house while Mommy got her haircut. Taking after her Mommy, it seems that Amiya has an allergy to pet dander - check out the purple splotches under her eyes. This picture doesn't really do the swelling and the bruising justice - this is after Tylenol and a rest. Her eyes stayed bruised for two days. Her doctor gave us drops and a prescription allergy medication. Amiya's biggest concern was not feeling bad, but rather that she thought she did something wrong with the dog. So, we're working hard on talking about petting an animal and then washing hands before touching anything.
Saturday morning found Amiya and Mommy making cut-out cookies. Mommy had hopes of getting the cookies rolled, cut and frozen before Amiya ever clued in to the activities, but it wasn't to be. So, Mommy cut out about 60 dog bones to be frozen and then baked before Amiya's birthday party and then Amiya went to work on the rest. Our cookie jar was soon replete with butterflies, flowers, stars and, of course, dog bones for Clifford. Once again, Amiya goes straight to the heart of the matter - placing the cutter directly in the middle of the dough so that Mommy has to reroll many, many times. In the picture here, Mommy helped her place it on the edge but quite a bit of resistance was felt, so that didn't happen again.

And finally, Amiya is still stuck on music. Her middle name is Clare and that was chosen to honor my late Grandfather on my Dad's side. He was a musician, composer and conductor and besides family, music was his life. Amiya's latest thing is to take the stick from her triangle set and be the condoctor. She waves that stick like crazy and expects Mommy and Daddy to play the other instruments. Her favorite instrument lately is the tuba and she's always looking for it if we should find a concert on TV. When that's not available, she's singing or clapping or being her bossy little self and telling us what to do.

The Divine Miss A

Amiya's been all over the place lately - playing with toys she hasn't played with in forever. The most popular two are an orange flashlight whose batteries have died - no matter, it makes an excellent microphone - and her $2 rummage sale paño. This girl is all about the concert right now - we have them hourly. Tickets are cheap if you're in the mood for some crazy music.

Witness:

Above she's introducing herself - the speech is as follows and it is exactly.the.same.every.single.time.

Ladies and gentlemens. Please find your seats. Amiya Clare is gon to play the paño.

Then she waits until we sit down and applaud.

She starts the set with a rollicking version of Rudolph. Think Jerry Lee Lewis doing Great Balls of Fire. Her hands are slamming down on the ivories (or fluorescent metallic keys, as the case may be) and her whole body is shaking.

Next we move to something a bit more soulful, although the method of playing remains much the same. Think Billy Joel singing his lullaby song.

Don't be a hater now - but we were laughing our *&^%@ off when we took this picture. She is definitely feeling Stevie Wonder's groove during this number.

And finally, the show ends with a very, very active song. Many kicks and steps and a whole lotta jazz hands. We think Elton, although it might be a bit Liberace, too. We're just too young to know for sure.

Happiness is...

... Amiya going to the bathroom for the first time all by herself!!! It was very quiet and Vinay and I both realized we didn't know to where she had gone. We found her peeing/wiping in the bathroom. A little pee was on the toilet seat, but overall a HUGE step for Amiya!

... scheduling a date to meet Obelix. If he/she stays put, we'll meet for the first time on March 1st.

... getting a big ol' list of things to do to give Amiya a fantastic birthday party. It's her third birthday this year and just a few short weeks after Obie gets here. Since she's so into birthday parties and because her whole world is going to be turned upside down, we've decided that she is going to have a big ol' party. (Um, sort of. Still no circus acts or minor celebrity appearances.) I've got the invitations done and am now working through a list of other things that can be done pre-Obie (p.O. from now on) so as to make the after-Obie (a.O. from now on) time as calm as can be.

... being told that I am the "best maker of all." Upon further clarification, it was amended to the "best maker of pork" as that was our dinner selection tonight. Do not worry if you do not have a "best maker of" title at this time. It has been made clear that I am not the best maker of tomatoes - I leave that challenge to you.

... having Daddy home for four days straight. Amiya's been in heaven as Vinay has had a four day weekend.

3 Days Post Family

To the right: Amiya taking a breather shortly after everyone left Tuesday morning. She was both sad and exhausted and not even playing with all the lip gloss in the world could maintain her attention. She needed a rest and (I guess) the bathroom rug in front of Daddy's mirror is as good a place as any.

Amiya was thrilled to find that Auntie Melody had left behind a box of popsicles for her. To be specific, they are mung bean ice cream pops - an Asian treat. Mommy loves 'em because there is absolutely no temptation factor here - so they can be in the freezer all the time. And Amiya loves 'em because bean ice cream isn't all that bizarre to a two-year old's imagination *and* she can use her teeth to shape them into Christmas trees.

And finally, it's an awful lot of work taking care of Rena, Mommy and Daddy all day long. You can see Dr. Gupta taking a break here - long enough to watch a bit of her new Princess video, but not long enough to take her steffecope out of her ears.

Christmas by Amiya

Christmas was great. I got to spend lots of time with my Uncle Andy, Uncle Mikey, Auntie Melody and my Grampa and Gramma. Mommy and Daddy pretty much took care of the grown-up stuff like food and drinks and I took care of making sure nobody ever had a moment's peace or got bored. My Uncle
Andy and my Grampa came down on Thursday and that was great - I had a whole day of Uncle Andy all to myself. He's in a grown-up body, but I've got my doubts about him - he's really too much fun to be a grown-up. He played horse with me all the time and he even let me wear his baseball hat. He was also pretty good at cuddling - especially when it was a 'cary part in a movie. Uncle Andy was never too busy to pay lots of attention to me and I had a great time with him! The only thing I didn't like was that Uncle Andy wouldn't let me sleep with him. I don't understand this. Something about all my wiggling and giggling! I thought that's what I'm supposed to do!

The next day Uncle Mikey, Auntie Melody and Grandma came to our house. They got to our house really late so I didn't get to play with them a lot. But the next day was really great. We all went to see some manatees and then we went to the beach. I saw lots of birds and even some raccoons. Auntie Melody played with me on the playground - I really love her. Grandma also brought me lots of my favorite cheese and you know I ate way too much of that. That night was Christmas Eve and I have no idea what that means except that I got to open all my presents from Mommy and Daddy, my Grampa and Gramma, my Aunt and Uncles and my family in Rochester. I don't know about you, but I think the whole idea is pretty cool. I got lots of cool presents - a princess movie, a cash register, a fishing rod set, some musical instruments and a doctor set. I like all of my presents, but I like the fishing rod and the doctor set the best. Everyone I know is very healthy because I have given out lots and lots of shots since I opened it up. I also give a kiss after every shot to save my band-aids. Grandma sewed matching pajamas for everybody - check out the plaid!

(Please note that I tried to tell Mommy and Daddy that two different plaids don't really go todeller, but they wouldn't hear it.)

On Christmas Day we woke up and I checked to make sure Santa ate his cookies. He left me some great presents - a soccer ball, Cinderella and a game with some ladders and slides. I don't understand the real rules, so I make them up as we go. Then we all went to Busch Gardens and you know that that means I had to go see Dumphrey the Dragon. We started our day at Busch Gardens with an insanely long train ride, but it was ok because I got to give lots and lots of cuddles to Uncle Andy and Grampa. I also stole lots of Uncle Andy's popcorn, but don't tell my Mommy because I'm not supposed to eat that yet! We saw great big animals and a Christmas musical and then I got to ride on some motorcycles and a train. Finally we went to see Dumphrey and I made sure everyone knew the rules - no going up on the stage before the show. When it was time to dance I was doing my best. I can't really get my feet going at the same time as my hands but I sure do try! I got to go up on stage and dance with Dumphrey again - can you even believe it? I love Dumphrey so much and I gave him a very big hug when the show was over. After this it was time to go home and I was really tired. It's hard to keep so many grown-ups together but I did my best.

The next day was a quiet day around the house. I had to keep doing check-ups to make sure everyone was healthy enough to travel. After many more shots, I could tell that they were. All day long everybody kept telling me that they had to leave and that just made me sad. I love them all too much and I made sure I told them that every time I remembered.

On Tuesday morning I woke up and I knew it was not going to be my favorite day. The first thing I said to Mommy was that I didn't want to say goodbye to anybody. It was really hard, but I know I'll see them again soon. I just love them too much.

Slippery Slope

We've started down the slippery slope of really unhealthy breakfasts around here. For a long time, Amiya's choice was toast, a waffle with jam, oatmeal or a healthy cereal (read grown-up sort - brown, not sugary, etc.). On the rare ocassion she gets chocolate milk it's not even Quik but Ovaltine or soymilk. For the most part it still is relatively healthy but we do throw in a Daddy/Daughter Donut Day a few Saturdays a month and an occasional McDonald's if that's where her pals will be. But not this week. Bad Mommy.

Mommy made a cake for Amiya's little holiday party yesterday and it seemed that Cookie Crisp cereal would make the perfect little accents. And it did - it was super cute (I'm just a bit immodest here). But after using approximately 20 of the cereal cookies, we were left with the remaining 876 to go. Amiya is in heaven! Every day that she's had them I've made it very, very clear that we are not going to buy this type of cereal ever, ever again. She looks at me as if she's already working up a devious plan to divert my attention to the mishmash of Malt O'Meal bags while she grabs all the boxes of Cookie Crisp that she can.

In what is perhaps a more worrisome development, we've been much more tantrum free lately except these past two days when Amiya had this cereal for breakfast and a large tantrum ensued shortly before lunch. Enormous sugar high and then deep crash? I don't know but I'll let you know tomorrow when Cookie Crisp will be out at the curb and she'll be back to her healthier options.

Jumpin' Rope

Someone on Clifford must have been jumping rope recently because it is all the rage at our house today. I'm not silly enough as a Mommy to give the child free rein with rope & hard handles, so she steals my tape measure to try and do her thing. It doesn't work. On so many levels. Amiya thinks that jumping rope is really all about standing on the rope and jumping up and down. For that, a measuring tape is fantastic because it's so thin and flat that it doesn't hurt her little tootsies. Check out her super girl smile here - she thinks she's got it down! And don't be too envious of her stylin' PJs. They are hand-me-downs from a cousin of mine and about as worn as worn can be. But, there is nothing so cuddly for a two-year-old as going to bed with Elmo and Zoe on your tummy and your bottom! If we tell her to go get her PJs we're pretty sure that these are what we'll see 9 times outta 10!

Letter from Santa

Christmas 2005

My dear Amiya Clare,

I'm so proud of you this year. You are almost three years old and you have learned so much. Think of all the new words and meanings that you now know and you will learn many, many more this next year. This year your learned to use the bathroom and now you can wear "Princess Underwear" instead of baby diapers.

Soon a new baby will come to live with you and I know that you will be a loving and kind big sister. Your Daddy and Mommy love you so much and they always will. They'll love the new baby too and each of you will be precious and special to them.

You have made progress this year with temper tantrums. My elves tell me that you are trying very hard to not cry and have tantrums. It's OK to cry when you are sad but not if you are mad or you can't have your way. Then you need to tell Daddy or Mommy how you feel without screaming or crying. You just keep trying hard. You're doing great!

The elves told me that you are a very good sharing friend and that you play nicely with other children. They also told me that you listen to your parents and put your toys away when you are finished playing with them.

Let me see... what else did they say? Oh, yes, they know that you are worried that I'll forget your house because there isn't a fireplace. Ho, ho, ho, don't you worry about that my dear. Santa has magic. I won't forget to bring presents to you. Will you leave a cookie and some milk out for me? The reindeer love baby carrots, too.

See you soon.
Love,
Santa Claus

Weekend Discoveries

This weekend was full of new discoveries for one little miss. The first was Mommy's all-time holiday favorite - cheap white chocolate covered pretzels. (I say cheap because I'm not sure the stuff to make almond bark is even considered white chocolate, but it's not important. It's too good to worry about.) Amiya helped me make white chocolate pretzels, dark chocolate pretzels with peppermint and turtle pretzels. She was dying to eat one and couldn't believe that Mommy was being so heinous as to not allow it until after dinner. When she finally got her little paws on a pretzel (smart girl chose Mommy's favorite), she discovered that she didn't like it all that much. Much like one eats corn on the cob, she nibbled all the coating off and left a pretzel stick.

The second big discovery of the weekend was 'stashos. That's pistachios for those of you who took Spanish and not toddler in high school. Amiya is a nut lover - she'll eat any and every nut that comes her way. Pistachios were one of the few holdouts, mainly because we rarely have them in the house. But one taste and the chick is hooked! Not only must she have 'stashos, but she must also shell them herself. This means Mommy and Daddy have to sift through the bigger bowl of nuts to find those that toddler thumbs are going to be able to break open and get at the meat of the matter. Heaven forbid she gets one of those that is just barely open. You can see her shelling station here - a bowl, a glass of water and her bench. She won't sit when she's shelling, it's serious work. The lower picture of Amiya in the green sweater is her begging for just one more 'stasho. I gave her just one more and she quickly changed her demand to, "I meant two, Mommy." Little twerp.

And finally, in what is perhaps my favorite weekend discovery - Amiya has forged a friendship with our vacuum. Daddy was vacuuming this morning (what a husband! what a husband!) and Amiya was freaked out - perhaps a sign that we don't vacuum enough.
I assured her that the vacuum only nibbles on the toes of girls who do not have nail polish on and she quickly determined that she did, in fact, have nail polish on so all was well with the world. Somehow, from there, she decided that the vacuum needed a friend. Not only did she take it drinks of (thankfully) pretend water, but she pulled out her Sesame Street dominoes and played a game of checkers with her new friend. How she knew this was the vacuum's favorite past-time or even what checkers are is beyond us.

Do you see the resemblance?

We think that Amiya might actually have been the inspiration for Dory of Finding Nemo fame. Nevermind that we sat with her in the theater when she was all of three months old and the folks who made the movie probably had thought about Dory long before Amiya was even a twinkle in her Daddy's eye. Witness the following exchange at dinner tonight:

Amiya: Why do Kate's Mommy and Daddy not love her anymore?

Mommy: What Amiya?

Amiya: Why do Kate's Mommy and Daddy not love her anymore?

Mommy: Kate who, sweetie?

Amiya: Kate, Mommy.

(Daddy twirls his spaghetti hoping to remain out of this bewildering conversation.)

Mommy frantically searches brain for any Kate we might know. Comes up with Baby Katie and Kate, Arthur's little sister, from the TV show Arthur. Baby Katie is well-loved and Kate rarely has more than an extra role in the show, so they can't be the Kate in question.

Amiya: Kate, Mommy!

Mommy (by some stroke of luck): Oh, Kate from the book with the new baby brother?

Amiya: Yes Mommy, Kate! (Said with as much duh!!! as a two-year old can muster.)

Mommy: Kate's parents love Kate and her baby brother, Amiya. They love both of them because Kate is such a sweet daughter.

Amiya: They love boff of them?

Mommy: Yes, Sweetie. Kate's Mommy and Daddy love both of them, just like Daddy and I will love you and your little brother or sister.

Amiya: You will?

Mommy: Yes honey. Don't worry, Kate's parents love her very much.

Amiya: Who's Kate?

See what I mean? This happens with startling regularity around here - this girl starts a conversation with 14 questions and then when we've finally gotten somewhere conveniently forgets she was ever involved.

Rudolph the 'cary Reindeer

You must think that we subject Amiya to random viewings of Die Hard or Platoon. The truth is that she's never seen anything more action-packed than Chicken Little and that was the glaring exception to our movie "policy." If it couldn't play on PBS, this little one doesn't see it.

We've tried a few others, but they just don't seem to fly. Nemo is passable, but we have to sit with her. Chicken Little didn't work at all (happily, she was free!). And you can see, Rudolph is way too 'cary for her (and she deems to 'cary for Daddy as well). It's about as much fun to watch her watch the movie as it is to see the movie itself.

Big Sister Material

Today has been a day of craziness at our house. We had a little visitor, Tyler, from 9-12 and another little visitor, Carter, from 11:30 - 2:50. Tyler is just a month younger than Amiya and Carter is just two months short of being one. Both of their Mommies needed to take care of some stuff, so we spent the day playing with them. Tyler was a cherub, an absolute cherub. We made cookies, we played at the playground, we colored snowmen. Carter was a cherub, too, but in the way of ten-month olds it was a lot of chasing and building block towers to be knocked down.
A good time was had by all and now good naps are needed.

See Amiya:

This actually is Amiya - you can see a bit of her hair in the upper left section of the striped blanket. She finally fell asleep just a few moments ago and apparently she did so in the midst of playing yet another round of Baby Bird.

Anyway, the point of today's blog is that she is as ready as she is going to get for her debut as a big sister. She was fantastic today with Carter. She shared when she didn't want to share. She was gentle. She was concerned. She let Carter play with the same block forever (or at least forever in toddler time) even though she really wanted it. She understood when Mommy couldn't play the o-rolling game with her. She really was just fantastic!

About the stockings....

Why did I ask you might wonder.

Vinay and I attended a holiday party this past week (mentioned below) and we were told to bring a funny or whacky (read naughty) gift for a gift exchange - sort of a white elephant thing. I'm feeling creatively-impaired lately and left our gift until the last minute. And so, to Target I went.

Four million people in Super Target does nothing for the imagination.

That might be stating the obvious, but I wanted in and out of there not thirty seconds after I entered. So, the whackiest thing I could come up with was a stocking filled with coal with a tag that said "For someone very, very naughty." Someone (ahem) didn't think it was funny and didn't think anyone else would think it was either. I wasn't expecting people to clutch their sides from cramps, but I didn't think it was a complete waste. Anyway, I'm glad to know a few people get that a stocking full of coal is culturally relevant.

And just to clarify - there was also a pretty cool CD in the stocking, so it wasn't a total waste of a gift!

The Parents

Someone keeps asking us why we never post our pictures. Mainly because this blog is about Amiya and Ob. But also because we're usually chasing after Amiya and rarely take a moment to be together, much less on that side of the camera. This is a self-portrait, so you'll excuse the fact that it is not photographic magic.

Nonetheless, here we are. We've turned a corner in our lives - Mommy and Daddy are trying to go out more without our out-of-utero child. Saturday night saw us on our way to a holiday party at a friend's house. Amiya did not understand why she couldn't come to the party much less why someone would even have a party that is not for children. She didn't understand why Mommy went to an "only Mommies" party tonight and she'll surely be baffled again this Saturday when we go out yet again.

You can say it because I know you're thinking it: "Live it up, Guptas. The end of all this frivolity is just 12 weeks away. Then you'll be stuck at home, not sleeping nights and smelling of baby burps." And so we are, in our simple Gupta way.

My Darling Daughter

Dear Amiya,

Someday, when you read this, I know you'll be old enough to understand. It may be that you are a seven year old big sister who wants your four-year old little bro or sis to clam up for four minutes so you can read the Goosebumps novel you're engrossed in. Or maybe you're a fourteen year-old who is babysitting the neighbor's toddler and you'd like to get a word in edgewise about changing her diaper. Or maybe you are a new Mommy (better not be before you are 25 and in a long-term relationship, young lady!) who only wants a moment of quiet to try and clear the fog from her brain. It doesn't matter, really, it only matters that you know that I'm writing this to you in love.

WON'T YOU EVER STOP TALKING?

I know, I know, you look at these cherubic photos and you can't imagine why I might be exasperated. But I am, sweet little child of mine. I am. We went to get these photos taken the other day - a twenty minute drive both ways, plus an extra long wait at the picture store. You did not stop talking even long enough to take a breath. Truly. The happy news is that you are starting to entertain yourself more, especially when you're in your car seat. You sing beautiful songs about your imaginary daughter, Rena. If you only love any children in your future as much as you love Rena they will be lucky ones indeed.

You also spend a fair amount of time singing to the baby in my "you-ta-rus." You sing about how much you love babies, how much you love this baby and you throw in, for good measure and clarification, that you love Rena, too. Daddy and I are confident that you're going to be a good big "sisser," although we're a little concerned about you forcing your little brother to play Cinderella and the like. That's all fine and good, as long as you play trucks with him, too. But maybe it's a little sister and all our worries are for naught.

Finally, my little girl, you've gotten into the swing of the holidays. You're planning on which cookies to leave out for Santa and you've started to worry how he'll get into our chimney-less home. We read The Night Before Christmas daily, as well as Elmo's version and a few other holiday books. You've already spilled the beans on what Daddy bought Mommy and what Mommy bought Daddy. And, it hasn't occurred to you to open up all those packages under the Christmas tree. You know that they're presents but you haven't gotten into them. Uncle Andy would be disappointed, but Mommy and Daddy are proud of you and we're hoping you won't start peeking until at least next Christmas! Maybe the cutest thing about you this Christmas is your insistence that we go to the store and buy some "'now." You tell me over and over that we really have to buy some and you don't believe me when I tell you that it can't be bought. It's cute and you're cute, Peanut.

Love you,
Mommy