One small step for Amiya, one giant step for Mommy and Daddy

Not a single tear was shed tonight at bedtime. (Remarkable because it's true on her part and my part.)

She had a bath, cuddled with Daddy for a bit. Then we were off to her room to read and sing, cuddled a bit and then to bed. No tears at this point. Something of a miracle, I feel.

I pulled the door closed about halfway, so she could still see Daddy sitting in the rocker by her door, but she couldn't see all of him. Daddy sat there for about an hour - she didn't fall asleep at all. Finally he saved himself and we can still hear her in there turning, banging Sonya into the crib slats when she rolls over, etc., but she is not crying.

Anyone else see those huge rays of light shining down upon our house?

The Gupta/Hounsell Blend

Amiya is definitely Gupta mixed with Hounsell.

Today for lunch we had sookhe aloo - it's steamed potatoes that are then dry-fried with onions, garlic, ginger, ground cardamom & cloves, garam masala, turmeric and cayenne pepper. I also made chapatis (store-bought, but cooked at home). She gobbled everything up, especially the chapatis. On days when we have chole, she goes crazy always asking for more, more, more.

To finish, I gave her a small bowl of raspberries with a dollop (dallop?) of whipped cream. She was very happy - to the point that when I put it down in front of her she said, "Ooooooooooooh!"

Yep, she makes Vinay happy with her love of all Indian foods and spices, she honors my Grandpa's memory with her love of raspberries!

What a girl!

Success (almost)

Amiya spent the night in her crib last night. It wasn't easy (on Vinay). I had a fairly good sleep.

Yesterday was an exhausting day for all of us. Amiya alternately was the sweet and loving girl we knew or a child who was clearly overtired and in need of some serious sleep. She doesn't sleep well on our floor, tossing and turning all night. Frankly, I'd had enough. I know I said in an earlier post that I wouldn't put her back in her crib until she was ready; but I think we have to make her ready. Her eyes had purple splotches under them from being so tired and the meltdowns were happening over anything and everything.

So, to her crib she went. She cried and sobbed and pleaded. Finally, Vinay went and read his own book in the rocking chair by her crib. She drifted off to sleep about 8:40 pm. She slept until 3 this morning when she started yelling, "Where you go, Daddy!!?!?" Vinay finished the night on her floor. She slept until almost 8 this morning, waking up with another round of "Where you go, Daddy?" as Vinay left the room about 7.

My Mom gave the suggestion of calling the pediatrician. I feel a bit weird about calling over something that is behavioral rather than physical, but if things aren't better by Monday, I probably will. I think if she just spends one night in there, she'll realize we're not going to leave her. Baby steps, I guess, baby steps.

sleeping beauty

by some weird happening, she has fallen asleep on my chest. therefore typing one-handed, no caps. sorry. the picture is an actual shot taken two minutes ago.

what's up with this girl? maybe it's just this cold that she can't seem to shake. maybe it's the fact that we've been on the go non-stop this week. maybe it's the age - tantrums, separation issues, etc

yesterday at target she told anyone who made eye contact with her "i just love my mommy." then last night it was "i just love you daddy." threw in some tantrums for good measure, too.

she's growing up too fast. it's wonderful that she can talk to us and tell us about things she likes, what she thinks, how she's feeling, but it's still hard. having her asleep on my chest like this reminds me of the baby months when this happened several times a day.

i tell V all the time that I am so lucky to have the life that i have. i really am. i have a great husband, a wonderful family and a healthy daughter who keeps me on my toes.

Pretty in Pink

Amiya is going to be a flower girl in her Uncle Mikey's and Aunt Melody's wedding in June. So, we're starting to think about how we should fix her hair. It should be cute, childish and practical, but a little something more than the usual, right?

Here's what we tried today:

We had beautiful, beautiful curls, but sadly, she's inherited my hair. The curls were gone within an hour. She'll be sprayed and gelled and moussed on the big day.

The good news - she sat still while I put the curlers in and thought they were a bit funny.

Daddy's Fault

Amiya got two new swim diapers today - they're reusable. So, instead of having to constantly buy the Huggies swim diapers, use them once and throw them away, we're now able to be better users of our resources. Amiya could care less.

She just thinks they're pretty. And now, thanks to Vinay, she thinks they belong on her head instead of on her bottom.

The Tampa Theatre Presents:

Act I, Scene I

A happy home in Tampa, dinnertime. Daddy enters home while Mommy and Amiya are in the bathroom. Bright sunshine streams through windows. Daddy enters stage right.

Amiya, on toilet: "Look, Daddy!"

Daddy, taking off shoes: "Who's that I hear? What's she doing? Peeing on the toilet?"

Amiya (enthusiastic and full of joy): "Yes Daddy!"

Act I, Scene II

Same home in Tampa, in Amiya's nursery, two minutes after Scene I. Sunlight becoming cloudy,

Amiya, laying down on changing table (unhappy): "No Mommy!"

Daddy, still taking off shoes: "What's up Amiya?"

Amiya (louder and angry): "No Mommy!"

Mommy abandons diapering cause to Daddy and goes to prepare supper.

Act II, Scene I

Same home in Tampa, all three characters in the kitchen. Mommy places a hamburger patty on Daddy's and Mommy's plate along with baked potatoes. Mommy places green beans on Amiya's plate.

Amiya (extremely loud and agitated): "No Mommy! No geen beans!" Starts tantrum.

Dadddy: "What the heck?"

Mommy: "It's been like this all day. Whenever she doesn't get exactly what she wants - tantrum."

Amiya still screaming. Tears streaming down her face. Standing next to Mommy.

Daddy (to Amiya): "We'll talk to you when you've stopped crying. We can't understand you."

Amiya still screaming.

Mommy (to herself): "Since when are green beans so horrible? She usually gobbles them up."

Amiya accelerating from a scream to a screech.

Daddy contemplating return to work and quiet of campus.

Mommy contemplating getting tubes tied.

Amiya screeching, stomping, turning red and still managing to stand upright at Mommy's side.

Daddy: "We'll talk to you when you've stopped crying."

Mommy escaping to relative calm of lanai.

Amiya chasing Mommy down while screeching, stomping, turning red.

Mommy and Daddy sit at table and attempt to choke down dinner in attempt to ignore tantrum.

Amiya standing sentry at Mommy's side while screeching, stomping, turning red.

Mommy abandons cause, picks Amiya up and carries her to master bedroom to put her to bed.

Act III, Scene I

Master bedroom, Amiya and Mommy only. Lights dim, characters on floor near Amiya's blanket collection. Sonya and Bear already put to bed, Amiya struggling.

Mommy: "You can either stop crying or lay down for a rest."

Amiya (still sobbing): "No Mia go sleep. No Mia go sleep."

Mommy: "You can either stop crying or lay down for a rest."

Amiya (gasping for breath, wiping eyes): "No Mia (gasp) go sleep. No (gasp) Mia go sleep."

Mommy: "You can either stop crying or lay down for a rest."

Amiya: "Mia stop (gasp) crying. No Mia (gasp) go sleep."

Mommy: "Would you like to have supper?"

Amiya: "Mia want geen beans."

Mommy to herself: (Tubes tied and vasectomy.)

Act IV, Scene I

All characters present around kitchen table with dishes still present. Amiya eating green beans and cut up hot dog. Daddy and Mommy finishing now-cold hamburgers and sides.

Mommy: "Daddy, would you like some raspberries or watermelon?"

Daddy: "I'll have some raspberries, please."

Mommy prepares a dish of raspberries with a bit of whipped cream on top.

Amiya: "Mia want some rapberries."

Mommy: "You can have raspberries when everything else is done."

Amiya (shoveling remaining green beans into her mouth): "All done."

Mommy presents bowl of rasperries and cream to Amiya.

Amiya (sweetly and gently): "Tink you for rapberries, Mommy. Tink you for rapberries!"

Mommy looks at Daddy with complete and utter confusion. Checks her navel for scars of alien encounters.

Daddy, open-mouthed, wonders when he'll wake up from this bizarro world.

Amiya (holding out sticky hand to Mommy): "Peez hold hands, Mommy."

Amiya beaming and apparently no worse the wear after most intense tantrum to date, brings down the house with her smile and leaves parents dreading the teenage years.

Co-Pilot Gupta

At Busch Gardens yesterday, Amiya had a really, really good time on this airplane ride - the first time. Just before lunch Amiya and her new friend, James, went for a spin in these early airplanes. Amiya and James swooped up and down, dodging other planes and smiling for all to see.

The second time around, post lunch, Amiya screamed and screamed and screamed. Either her paté sandwich wasn't agreeing with her or her mind was already on other rides. Regardless (or irregardless if you speak the President's language), she wasn't having any of it, even with the handsome and very capable James as her lead pilot.

Cruisin'

After the airplanes, a water ride for James' and Daniel's parents and several roller coasters for a thrill-seeking Daddy, James, Amiya and Daniel went for several spins in these dragon-inspired cars. Amiya and Daniel are almost exactly the same size and they looked very, very cute driving together here (and on the trains earlier).

As the paparazzi yelled out to Amiya, "Where are you going?" she smiled back and said "shoppin!" I'm doing my job well, I think.

USS Reallytired

By this time in the day, Daniel and Amiya were draaaaaaaaaagging. Meltdowns (for Amiya at least) around just about every corner. So many colors, so much music, so many things to do and no nap. And yet, these brave troopers held on for one (no, two) more rides. Two times a very adept Captain James navigated these children through turbulent waters. Two times Amiya and Daniel steered in opposite direction, yet young Captain James was able to overcome this mutiny and keep the boat on course - with a smile on his face the entire time.

When pressed to find out where Amiya was going in this beautiful boat - "shoppin!" I don't think she would have learned that if she were in day care all day! Being a stay at home Mom really is very important work.

Merry Go Round

There's not much to say about this picture and I only posted it because I want some opinions - don't you think Vinay looks like a Little Person in this picture?

Busch Gardens

We bought passes to Busch Gardens today. It's an amusement park/animal park in Tampa - about 20 minutes from our house. It makes sense to buy the passes for a season vs. a one-time deal so we are now going to go to Busch Gardens everyday for at least two years. Ha ha! Just kidding. Once a week for two years will be enough and we should definitely get our money's worth!

Maybe you're wondering - how's Amiya feeling by this point in the day? Not so good, not so good. Sitting on this tortoise was no fun for her (but lots of fun for Mommy). She wouldn't smile and she wanted to get down ASAP. She didn't want to get out of the stroller for the elephants or the flamingos (a perennial favorite of hers). And, I swear this is true, she wanted to recline in her stroller. When has this child ever, I repeat, ever wanted to recline in her stroller. Never before.

Whoever gave her this cold do you have something to help with our nighttime sleep issues? We'll take some of that, too!

The Clifford Effect

It's a really flattering picture of Amiya, don't you think?

She woke up Sunday morning with a really awful cold - runny eyes, runny nose, cough and general unhappiness. (The general unhappiness thing might just be because she's two and not necessarily due to a cold.)

In order to appease her general lethargy and to give us just a small break from all the whining, our TV (which she believed to be sick) underwent a miraculous recovery and Amiya spent a good thirty minutes watching your friend and mine, Clifford.

Why we can't go to a toddler bed...

Everyone asks why we don't go for a toddler bed.

Here's why:


This picture was taken within thirty minutes of her falling asleep Saturday night. This child is all over our floor all night long. You can see behind her our curtains (maroon) and then the vertical blinds (white). What do we hear all night long? It goes like this: clump, tic, tic, tic, tic, tic. Vinay gets up to move her away from the blinds and back to her bed. Thirty minutes later: clump, tic, tic, tic, tic, tic.

She wakes up in the morning announcing to both of us, "I just wake up!" as if we weren't already clued in to this fact. At this point we can't make the same proclamation as we've been awake for most of the night.

It's often true that we would do most anything for this child. It's unquestionnably true that at this point in time we would do absolutely anything for 8 hours of sleep in one stretch.

A rant (feel free to skip right over)

1. At the home furnishings store on Friday, a woman started speaking to me about her neice's international adoption and proceeded to ask how mine went.

2. A week earlier, at the mall, the clerk asked if Amiya was my child.

3. At the pediatrician's office in January a woman, seeing our Maya wrap (a baby sling with a Central American type fabric), assumed that we had adopted from Guatemala as she had.

4. At the playground early last fall, someone, assuming I was a nanny, asked if there were other nannies in the neighborhood.

5. At the airport over Thanksgiving, my sister-in-law (who is not Indian, but rather Taiwanese) was holding Amiya while I stood immediately adjacent. Someone told my sister-in-law that she had a beautiful daughter. Amiya looks no more like her than she looks like me.

I could go on (and on and on and on) with examples, but you get the point.

I am starting a collection for a series of t-shirts in multiple hues that say, "I gave birth to this child." That's for days when I'm feeling polite. The rest of the days I'm going to wear a simple black shirt that says Mind your own business.

Really, with as many inter-racial/multi-racial families as there are in the world today, you think people would get over it. If they're just not capable of getting over it, then maybe they could at least shut their mouths for just a few moments. Maybe seeing a beautiful, thin, brown-eyed child with tan skin and dark hair is just too much of a contrast against this fair-skinned, hazel-eyed, portly Mommy. However, I like to think that people are capable of discretion and frankly a little common sense. It's to the point where this happens at least once a week and I'm tired of it - ready to be rude right back to them. But, I've got this adorable two year old with me who is learning from everything that I do, so I remain civil. It takes everything in me to not be unkind - she must be able to tell. Hopefully, she's learning self-control and a bit of "turning the other cheek" everytime she sees Mommy do it.

Rant over. I promise the next post will be happier.

Double Trouble

Last night was our second attempt at Date Night and it worked!!! Mommy and Daddy went to The Bamboo Club and had a great time. Eating out is an entirely different experience when everybody can cut their own food and no special apparatus is required.

Amiya spent the evening at Avery's house and all reports from Avery's Mommy indicate that these two little girls are going to keep us on our toes when they're together. They played together very well until bedtime. Avery went to her toddler bed and Amiya was to lay down on the floor. The girls weren't having that. So, Amiya climbed in with Avery and they started to chit chat toddler-style. Avery's Mommy reports that there was some talk of Barney, stuffed and in the corner, and that there were lots of giggles. The two girls were so chatty that they were keeping Kylie, Avery's 6 month old sister, happily awake and entertained. When we stopped by to pick Amiya up at 10:30 the two girls were sitting on the couch, giving each other smooches and hugs, and generally keeping Avery's Mommy and Daddy from getting any rest.

I feel for their future kindergarden teacher!

Summer Fun

It's definitely summertime in Florida. Yesterday was hot and just a bit humid. So, we set up the sprinkler and let Amiya play. She had a great time once she got used to the cold water squirting on her.

Our neighbors across the street came over and those three children (ages 6, 3, and 1) showed Amiya how to jump and how to drink the water. Amiya can't quite get her feet off the ground yet, but she makes a noble effort. She is quite adept at drinking the water. She also likes to feed Nemo fresh parsley from Mommy's herb garden.

New Friends

Our neighbors have two little girls: Avery and Kylie. Amiya loves to play with Avery, although they don't really play together, more like next to each other. Amiya is about six months older than Avery and every once and again she tries to overpower her. But, Avery holds her own so these two are a good match for each other.

Last night Avery and her parents came over for dinner. We had chicken makhani, chole and cabbage. Amiya gobbled everything up - there's no doubt that this little one is half Indian - she goes after rice like she hasn't eaten in a month. Avery looked at it like, "What in the world..........?" Both girls happily gobbled up fruit pops though so no one will suffer from malnourishment.

The best part of the night - Amiya had to share and share and share and then share some more. This is really hard for this child which is why having children over to play with her toys is really good.

Today we're off to the zoo with Avery, Kylie and their Mommy. Amiya is very, very excited. Finally someone else to make monkey noises with!

I love you more than...

I've started a bit of a new nighttime tradition with Amiya since we can't rock in the rocking chair anymore as she's sleeping in our floor. In the tradition of those horribly repetitive children's books, we've been finding things that I love her more than.

Examples:
"I love you more than there are stars in the sky."
"I love you more than there is sand in the desert."
"I love you more than there are fish in the sea."

Two nights ago, I also threw in "I love you more than Daddy has hair on his chest." Tonight, she threw it right back at me. I started with "I love you more than..." and she came back with "Daddy has hair on his chest." It must have amused her the other day as I'd only said it once. Either that, or she knows how true it is.

No More Crib

We've given up on her crib. Completely and entirely. I tried to put her in it yesterday afternoon for her nap. After twenty minutes of absolute, non-stop screaming, I pulled her out to find her whole body trembling. I won't do that to her again - she's welcome to her own little corner of Mommy and Daddy's room until she's ready to sleep on her own again.

As I type she's banging into the wall in our bedroom. This girl moves a lot when she sleeps. Any minute now she'll wake up and whisper to me that she needs Cliffuh ce-eal. She'll try to move four strands of hair out of her face with her palm pressed flat against her cheek. She'll grab Bear and Sonya and insist that they sit on the bench while she eats. She'll ask me to pull her hair up, but will squrim the whole time. She might ask for a fruit leather or maybe today it's a yogurt day. Then we'll get done, get dressed and get on with the day. In between I'll be sprinkled with random kisses and hugs and maybe, if I'm lucky, an "I love you, Mommy." accompanied by her smooshing my cheeks together and planting a big kiss on me. It's easy to love this little girl.