Have you ever seen such a cute cheetah?
Our first foray into fingerpainting. This is the least pained of all the expressions he made while trying this out. He does not like to have muck on his hands, he does not like food hanging out of his mouth, and he definitely does not like green paint on his hands.
On the other hand, going down the slides, swinging in the swings, rummaging in the mulch, anything at the park and the little man is happy, happy, happy. Thrilled, even. At least definitely much happier than when fingerpainting.
Monkey Decorations (made by Amiya and her friend Aubrey)
This is a fabulous picture of two very proper ladies at tea! I think Amiya really loves her Grandma and her Grandma really loves her! It was a very sweet afternoon!
This is my sous chef Amiya helping me out, it's a big cake week at our house. Besides Kev's birthday cake this weekend, I've got a very chocolate cake to go to a friend's teaching staff and a baby shower cake. Both to be delivered Friday. This is the most I've ever done at once and Amiya is loving licking the spatulas and beaters (nothing with raw eggs - don't worry!) and only immediately before they go into the sink - never when they're about to be used again.
This is an actual Vinay created ensemble. Stripes. Print.
Don't look too long, you might go blind!
Promise me you won't let him dress our kids like this!
Kev and Daddy checkin' out the okapi. Kev loved the zoo but only the
Kev and Amiya grooming the goats!
Amiya saying hello elephant-style!
Amiya feeding a three ton rhino. I couldn't believe she got this
close to it, much less touched it. But she did!
Kev checking himself out in the bathtub. He does this over and over and over again. Adorable.
It's been over a week now. We thought the day would never come, but it has! Kev wanted nothing to do with little practice walks here and there. His first steps were not just steps, but part of a baby journey from one end of the playroom to the other. And now there's no stopping him! He's had a few knocks and a pretty strong bump to the head when he fell into the train table, but other than that he's rocking!
The general state of our home after Kev has passed through any given space. He loves to empty the drawers of Amiya's dresser, the magazines from our baskets and all the burp cloths and books from the coffee table.
Our adorable little man, asleep on the playroom floor. I brought him in from the car and wanted him to wake up, so set him on the floor in the playroom where Amiya and I were reading a book. He slept for 45 more minutes. Of course, had I put him in his crib, he would have been awake immediately.Don't you love his little tummy?
I love this picture - he reminds me of a 37 year old man from Des Moines, Iowa who is visiting Cancun and feels the need to wear a tropical shirt. The hair only adds to the effect.
Doesn't it look like he is calming down and getting ready for bed? This is our new bedtime ritual and it works a charm, although it does get him all wound up for a little bit. Dinner, baths, and then we all head to Kev's room where he throws his rings out of the crib and we put them back in. Then kisses and cuddles and to bed he goes like a dream.
Proof of Amiya's engineering tendencies - this is the chair she designed so Ellie could join both Amiya and I at the breakfast party last week.
I'm still not sure if Amiya's outfit was Princess or retired Vegas lounge singer, but whichever it was, she wore it to the grocery store and got lots of smiles and smirks.
Amiya and Ellie at our breakfast party. The dominoes and cards you see were our meal - some sort of fantasy sandwich and fruit.
Maybe the outfit was Paris Hilton-like socialite at 6 in the morning?
And finally, Amiya on ice. January was the month to study polar things at school. In Florida, nonetheless. Anyway, her class went ice skating and it was a trip! The kids were pretty brave about all of it and Amiya was a good sport about it. A few falls in the beginning, but towards the end there was less stomping and more semi-gliding.
Every.single.time we picked up a weight to do something, Amiya informed us that we were doing it wrong and that she knew the right way to do it. Nevermind that she couldn't even hoist the two pound bracelet above her head for more than two reps. When finished instructing us on what to do and how to do it with weights that weigh almost more than her, she ran into the house to find a silk scarf and proceeded to show us some stretching/Pilates type exercises that make no sense but seem to keep her in great shape. If only I had known this whole time that only silk scarves are needed to weigh 32 pounds and have the sweetest little buns this side of a French bakery.
11:30. That was largely due to Vinay's driving - I could not have done what he did. Amiya didn't fall asleep that night until close to 10 - "I just have too much excitement in my body!" We had a lovely, home-cooked meal at my good friend Jacki's house. It was wonderful - good food, nice conversation and Jacki's two darling children for our two darling children to play with. Amiya and Carli got along perfectly - odd for two type A kids, but I'm definitely not complaining! Here you can see Carli and Amiya posing in front of Jacki's tree. Carli looks bright eyed and bushy-tailed, Amiya like she just got out of a 1,000 mile car ride. That's about right, so I suppose we can't tease her too much about this picture in the future!
We pulled into Minocqua shortly before 6-8 inches of snow fell. It was a perfect white Christmas for Amiya. She built a snowman with Uncles Jon-o and Andy, Grandpa and Daddy. She went sledding with Uncles Jon-o and Andy, Grandma & Grandpa and Daddy. Ice fishing with Grandma and Uncle Jon-o. Making doughnuts with Grandma. Tea parties with Grandma. Filling the deer feeder and watching the deer with Grandma and Grandpa. And undisclosed quantities of hot cocoa and cookies. There are more photos coming soon in the mail and I'll upload a few when we have a chance.
While in Minocqua, Santa made his visit. One of the things I told Vinay before we went to Wisconsin was that I wanted Amiya to worry about if Santa would find her away from home and then marvel at the fact that he did. That almost didn't work because Mommy forgot to put the "Santa" presents in the car. And while I never thought I would say it, I was very, very grateful to Wal*Mart. A quick trip to Wally World saved the day. We had a lovely time visiting with my Mom's parents on Christmas Day, as well. Amiya spent most of that time badgering Super Grandma to play Candy Land (thank you Wal*Mart) and have tea parties. 
ood 'sing I had my helmet on!"
Everything in each picture is edible except the medicine cup and the note. I also had about six bags to sew and ship - it's kind of fun to think that "my" bags were under the trees of about 15 different Moms and Grandmas this year. All the profit from sewing and cakes goes directly to the Three Day walk and I'm happy to report that I'm just shy of 25% of the total I need to raise. I'm looking to find a team to join to train with and get to know. If I'm going to be spending three days with all these walkers, I'd like to know a few of them beforehand! 
She comes wrapped in her very own striking yellow sari with orange zucchini blossoms and green vines. A must have for every Didi. And if the Didi doesn't have her own sari, never fear, she can make one. A baby blanket wrapped around her and a scarf thrown over her shoulder and casually knotted make for a demure and dashing ensemble.
Amiya has been battling another cold this week. It started off as a cough that seemed to be a reaction to running around in semi-cool, yet humid weather Sunday afternoon. Everything with this child goes directly to her lungs! Now it has turned into a definite cold with runny nose, glassy eyes and general unhappiness. Poor kid. She has got to get better soon or we're not hauling her to cold weather. Send healthy vibes our way, please!
Those are no-good photos from trying to get a picture for a holiday card. We had fun, though. You'll have to wait for your card to see the good one!
My how I've changed as a Mommy. Once upon a time I would have felt terrible about sticking my child in a room full of baby-proofed toys and putting a gate up to keep him in. Now, not so much. He played happily in the playroom for about 45 minutes on Thursday while I cranked out a whole lotta stuff. He'd commando over to the gate every ten minutes or so and pound on it to make sure I knew he was there and then off he'd go again to regale in getting all the toys to himself for a bit.
That's all for tonight. Blogger won't let me upload anymore pictures. So.... you'll have to tune in tomorrow to see Amiya latest dress-up outfits and to find out if the Guptas will be driving to Wisconsin or flying the friendly skies!
