Just this moment...

...watching Dora together. Amiya whispers to Kev, "I love you, Kev." and gives him a huge kiss. Then she asks me if there is some medicine she can take to help her stop kissing Kev all the time.

Seriously. Can they be any sweeter?

About the saris...

Vinay likes these indoor pictures better, so I'll post them, too. Notice the bangles?

Here's the rest of the story. Amiya first started wearing these saris last Wednesday. She walked around all afternoon with it on and then decided that she would speak to Vinay in Hindi when he came in the door. So, she practiced her namaste all afternoon.

But no.

That wasn't nearly enough.

Then she wanted to know how to say, "My name is ....." But Amiya wasn't a good enough name. We ran through the names of all the Indian girls we know, including her Indian Barbie doll. She only liked Nisha, but she decided that she couldn't use that because that is her Didi's name. So, we ended up back with Amiya. From there I heard (apologies for the spelling) "Mira nam Amiya hain." all afternoon. Her pronunciation was absolutely adorable and probably much more authentic than her Polish/Irish/American mother's pronunciation.

So now we're at "Namaste" and "Mira nam Amiya hain."

You know that isn't the end of the story.

That still wasn't enough.

Now she wants to know how little girls greet their Daddies when they come home. So, I told her the only thing that I know about greeting an elder in India. I said you kneel down in front of Daddy and touch the tops of his shoes and then touch your forehead. (That's probahly not exactly right, but the specifics can come later!)

And so that's what she did. Vinay came home to an absolutely adorable little sight. Amiya namaste-ing and kneeling herself even more deeply into Daddy's heart. She looks absolutely beautiful in these saris and to see her so interested and excited about half of her heritage is wonderful.

She tells us now that her next birthday party is going to be an Indian party so that all her friends can learn about India, too!

Derelict in my Duties

And don't I know it! After a tearful, heart-wrenching missive from my Mother, here I am.

A brief update:

Kev is jabbering away and most of it is incoherent, but we do have a few words. We've got Da-da, Ma-ma, Di-di, and the general, can refer to any of us Nay! We've also got moooooooore (said in a very sing-songy voice), peez and choo (shoe). On occasion we get buh-ble, too. He is also showing signs of understanding very specific, routine commands. Yesterday I asked him to sit down, take his Crocs off and put them away. And he did just that. Ah. Enough to make my heart melt. Love it!

Amiya placed a very brief moratorium on kissing yesterday. I was not allowed to "smooch upon her" at all. Except for before naps. And after naps. And if she got hurt. And if she was feeling lonely. And when she wanted to cuddle next to me. And if she was going to bed. And if she was going to her room. After going through tht list of all the exceptions to the no smooching rule, she decided that there weren't a lot of times when I couldn't kiss her, but there were still some. I was not allowed to kiss her when buckling her car seat. (Until she saw me give Kev a smooch when buckling his car seat.) I was not allowed to kiss her when helping her in and out of the shopping cart. (Until she saw me give Kev a kiss when helping him in and out of the shopping cart.) And definitely not allowed to kiss her while walking to the store. (Until she saw me give Kev a kiss while walking to the store.) That worked out really well. The ban has been lifted and it is a regular smooch fest around here lately.

Kev, in pursuit of BA!, under the train table. He gets in and then can't get out.

The dynamic duo in a quiet moment. Notice one is reading right side up, one upside down. Even more sweet? Amiya's arm around her brother.

Daddy had to get dressed up for work, so Amiya had to get dressed up to be in a "fancy" picture with him. Are midriff baring dresses considered fancy? Not where I come from....

Saris are all the rage around here lately. Amiya has two passed down from her Nisha Didi and she wears them daily. It's a full-on process to get them on - first take off everything else, get the blouse on, then the skirt or sari, then the bangles, the anklets, the bindi, etc. If anyone teaches her about mehndi anytime soon, there will be trouble!!! It's enough to get her into this much!

Here we see Amiya and Gabe after a birthday playdate. For Gabe's birthday, he came over and had a pizza lunch, then these two decorated "pizza" cakes together with pepperoni, onions, peppers and olives made from candy. Frosting was the cheese and jam was the sauce. They loved it. Talk about sugar highs!

This is Amiya's aquarium. The colored tiles in the middle is the fish. The child needs a pet!

Kev following in his Daddy's footsteps. Always on the computer!

Amiya decorated this cake for Ellie's sixth birthday. If you look carefully between the purple tulip and the pink circle on the left side of the cake, you can see the E she made. We had to leave a birthday party before the cake was served and she was very, very disappointed. So, I promised her she could have free reign with the leftover icing and flowers. This is what she came up with! And yeah, she's the new (nearly) Naked Chef! It's a lot easier to get buttercream off of a girl than it is her party dress!

Please, start now.

This is an urgent plea to those in the know on these things.

Vinay and I have come to the conclusion that we should get Amiya into a traditional Indian marriage contract and the sooner the better. Please consult astrologers and pundits and find a suitable match.

We don't want Amiya and her future beloved to meet and we certainly, certainly do not want any sort of phone communication. We won't mind for a moment if he is hard of hearing, in fact that might be in our favor.

After a weekend of non-stop chatter, we fear that Amiya will never find a husband the American way. She'll chatter all through date #1 and there shall be no date #2s. Therefore, we'd like to get this matter arranged and finalized before the poor guy realizes what he's in for.

The Gimpsons

Happy Birthday Vinay!

The guy we all know and love celebrated his last birthday in his 30s on Saturday. The wee ones and I bought him a coffee mug from Starbucks that he had requested. Amiya had a good time trying to hide it from Daddy, holding the bag behind her back. Nevermind that the bag was bigger than her little self. It was pretty cute and Vinay did a very good job of acting surprised when she finally gave him the gift. Amiya also made Vinay three separate birthday cards. But the big gift was yet to come.

There comes a time in every man's life when he gives in to what is true and honest in man's character. Some get there sooner, some get there later. And so, I present to you, Vinay:

That's right. We bought a recliner for his birthday. It's burgundy/brown and really, really big. It's in the bedroom. It's conveniently placed near a window to enjoy reading by sunlight during the day with a lamp nearby for nighttime illumination. The king has his throne. He's been in it all day today, alternately reading and watching television. However, I will not complain as he has also folded at least 5 loads of laundry while in there and I'm not going to look this handsome gift horse in the mouth.

The anklebiters like it, too:

Miss Shaina came over Saturday evening so the grown-ups in our little family could enjoy a meal out - we had dinner at a great little Thai place. Eggplant and beef in basil sauce. It was delicious and so nice to not have to worry about what the kids would eat. Then we headed out to a bookstore and were home early. I've decided that there's no more denying the fact that we are definitely parents and definitely lame as adults at this stage in life. A night out - we could have seen a movie, gone to a comedy club, had a drink at a bar, etc., etc. But no, home by 10.
Lame was alright at 6:15 this morning though when the alarm went off.

Anyway, Vinay would probably say that he had a very nice birthday. His only concern is that since he had such a fabulous birthday present, I am going to want something big for mine in a few months. No worries, Love, no worries.

Some Cakes

I'm not sure if I've said already or not, but I am finished (finally) with fundraising for the 3 Day in October. I'm concentrating on training, training and more training. The longest I've walked at this point is 13 miles and while it wasn't fun, I got done and felt ok afterwards. The great news is that the smaller walks 7, 8, 9 miles feel easy now. And 4 miles is a breeze. After the walk is done, the 4 mile walk to/from Michael's will be a regular happening around here and since the weather will be cooler then, too, it'll be even better.

I'm still busy with cakes, too. Word has gotten around my circle of friends that I make some good cakes. Here are a few recent ones - some are obviously better than others, but they all called on new skills. I'm having fun learning this stuff! The new "thing" around here is Italian Meringue Buttercream. It's lighter and much less sweet than traditional buttercream. It's more difficult to make and harder to work with, but it's been a really, really big hit!

This was a tropical carrot cake with cream cheese icing and gumpaste decorations. I think this is my favorite cake that I've done lately! It also had these cute matching cupcakes:

This was a latte cake with caramel Italian Meringue Buttercream. It was for my neighbor's baby shower - she's about 7 hours away from induction! Good luck Cory!

This was a butter cake with caramel Italign Meringue Buttercream, covered in fondant with gumpaste Dr. Seuss figures. I was really pleased with the figures - I thought they would be a lot harder, but Dr. Seuss' style forgives a lot! The one disappointment was that it was supposed to be a topsy turvy cake (where the layers are oddly tilted), and it just wasn't really clear that that is what I wanted. Here's one more pic so you can see a bit of what I mean about Dr. Seuss' style being forgiving:

I had originally made a third tier for this cake to look like the red and white striped hat, but it just wasn't working. It didn't go. So, literally with about 10 minutes before my friend came to grab the cake, I rolled out some gumpaste and made this hat. It's not that I'm good, it's just that Dr. Seuss made it easy. Paint a few red stripes and then hatchmarks of black all over and it's done.

This was Vinay's birthday cake. Get ready - it was complicated. The cake was a dark chocolate mocha chip cake filled with a layer of melted dark chocolate and toffee bits (think Heath bar) and then a layer of dark chocolate ganache. Then, more cake. Iced in espresso Italian Meringue Buttercream and then wrapped in a semi-sweet chocolate wrap. The dark spots on top are dark chocolate covered espresso beans. It was a very, very rich cake, but also very, very good. I had an order for another one a few hours after this one went to work with V on Friday.

The World's Best Big Sister

There are some moments where a parent's feathers puff up. Amiya has provided several lately.

• Today at Gymboree. Amiya wanted to use a piece of equipment that was tucked away and she knows that she can only use what is out unless she asks the teacher. So, she very politely went up to the teachers and said, "Excuse me Miss Carole. May I use the blue [whatever] from the corner?" Completely unrehearsed, completely unprompted. Miss Carole said that she thinks Amiya has some of the nicest manners of any child she has ever seen.


• Kev in the kitchen. Amiya is generally in a state of hyper-alert big sisterness whenever she and Kev are awake and the energy that is Kev is uncontained. She closes doors, lets us know when something is out that shouldn't be, etc. Lately she has taken to patrolling the kitchen and making sure that when he climbs a chair, she is there to hug him down.


• At the airport on our way to Rochester. We were all bored - the plane was late in getting off the ground, but Amiya behaved admirably. She amused herself, she amused Kev, she even managed to crack a small smile on the face of the guy who's camera was swiped exiting security.


• At lunch today. Kev was taking an early nap, so Amiya and I had a girls only lunch. It's rainy in Tampa lately, so we had a rainy day lunch - toast with jam and hot cocoa. "Mommy, it's nice to have a girls lunch. Don't I have a lovely life?"

All of these little things, and so many, many more almost make up for the tantrum-induced cherry and macaroni & cheese-laced vomit fest we had Tuesday evening.

Let's Revisit

I'd like you to revisit the post re: Kev's climbing.

I thought we had that solved when last night, the monkey man climbed up onto a kitchen chair. He quickly decided that that was not where he needed to be and fell flat on his face on the kitchen floor (ceramic tile on a cushy bed of concrete). While holding and cuddling him through his tears, I felt sure that he had learned his lesson and would climb in the kitchen no more.

This Morning
7:32 AM - Kev wakes up
7:34 AM - Kev toddles into kitchen
7:34 AM - Mommy pulls Kev off chair
7:36 AM - Mommy pulls Kev off chair
7:37 AM - Mommy pulls Kev off chair
7:37 AM - Mommy pulls Kev off chair
7:38 AM - Mommy locks Kev into highchair for the rest of time

Kev's Balls

Our little man is in love with balls.

He sees one across a room and yells, "BA!"

Amiya touches one and he screams and yells.

They come in all shapes and sizes and he is forever making sure they are near.

At Gymboree he follows Miss Carole around when she has her box of balls. He's the mouse and she's the piper.

It's really just a little bit too cliché, I guess, to have a boy who is so into them. But then I guess so too is having a girl who can recite Cinderella verbatim.

Kevalin, oh, Kevalin

I popped the only two gray hairs I've had in my whole life during Kev's pregnancy and it was clearly a sign of things to come.

Climbing is the new thing and he never stops. Above you can see him (clearly on three different days as evidenced by the different outfits) after he has climbed onto the train table in the playroom.

For a while he would climb up there by stepping on the bean bag chair, so I moved that away. Then he used a pile of books, so those got put away where they should have been. Then he started popping his big toe into the hole in the drawer (see below) and using that as a means to climb.

I would have more pictures for you, but I'm usually busy saving his sweet little tush from sure head contusions with no time to get the camera.

See that window to Kev's left on the train table? If the blinds are up, Spidey Baby is up there, arms and legs out like a starfish, trying to get outside. I would very much like a picture of this, but the fall would just be too much. Maybe he'll bring out this neat party trick next time we have a playgroup here and then I'll be able to have one Mommy spot him while I get a pick.

And then, there's the crib theatrics. This young cherub will be out of his crib by December. I checked on him during his nap Tuesday afternoon only to find him stuck in the slats of the crib fully up to his groin. He was lying, sort of awake, sort of not, completely submissive. He knew he had done a silly thing. Impossible to get him out, I'm not quite sure how he got in there so tightly. One good, thick coat of vaseline and lots of whimpers on his part later and he popped out (perhaps he was seeking a non-cesarean birth experience???). Hopefully he won't repeat this experiment again.

Then there is the slide at the pool. Amiya has to be cajoled to go down the slide and is just now going down the slide by herself. Kev walks right into the pool (you know he just walks off the side and completely eschews the steps), he loves to be dunked and he loves going down the slide.

And finally, the kitchen chairs. We cannot, cannot keep him off of the kitchen chairs lately. He thinks he's hot shit sitting up there for all the world to see. He climbs, I pull him down. I turn to put the milk away, he's back. Monkey is such an apt name.

Vinay and I debate almost daily whether the differences between our two children are based on their sex or simply their personalities. Oh. My. I'm gonna need to wash that gray right outta my hair!

Where is the love?

Here it is!

And here!
And here, again!

So it appears that our two little cherubs can't help but cuddle each other. Kev bangs on the front door all day long while Amiya is at school. Neither one of them cracks a big smile in the morning until the other is awake. If Amiya is on the couch watching TV, Kev makes herculean efforts to sit next to her - it doesn't matter if it's Angelina Ballerina or some other uninteresting show for his level. It's Didi.

We predict terribly sad feelings this weekend when we go to Rochester and Kev is no longer the apple of Didi's eye. He'll now have to compete for Amiya's attention with Nisha Didi who has long been Amiya's very favorite "big kid." The first time Nisha and Amiya skip out of the room for girl time is sure to be hard on the little man.

Never fear though, dear readers. Super Daddy is also flying to Rochester with us and, as evidenced below, his smiling, tickling ways are enough to distract even the most distraught little brothers.

Holy crap, Batman!

Let me just start by saying we have been busy. Busier than before. So busy that I'm tired. Worn out. Done. Etc. We're forgoing fireworks tonight because I just can't imagine it. That says a lot as I'm usually game for all such things. If they can't be seen from our lanai, they're not meant for the Gupta family tonight. So, let's take a pictoral look at what we've been doing these three long weeks.

Little Man in the pool. We go almost daily, if we didn't Kev might be severely dehydrated. We can't get him to stop drinking the water. Mmmmmm. Chlorine. Do you see his tan lines? That's right, just above his left elbow - he's got tan lines in his fat folds! So stinkin' cute!

And speakin' of cute.... he's got a Buddha belly. It's hard not to rub it!
And then there's not so cute. When he's decided that he's done eating, he sticks both feet up on his tray and screams until we acknowledge the fact that his stomach is full. We're sure our family in Rochester will appreciate this party trick.
Back to cute. Two feet, one Croc. He stood like this for a good ten mintues.
Reason #1 for not being online in forever and a day. We've had my French host sister, Celine, in town. We were at 4 different beaches in the ten days she was here, plus 84 malls (slight exaggeration). We had a great, great time and we think she did, too. Here she is with Amiya as the sun was setting on Vendido Beach in Naples.

Vinay and Kev, also Vendido Beach. I LOVEthis picture!

Who are these masked cats?
It's Diego and Diegette! Amiya's good friend Gabe gave her a ticket to see the Go Diego Go! Live show and wow - it was a good time! Nothing but smiles from Amiya the whole time. Especially cute was the one slow song in the whole show - Amiya put her arm around Gabe, he put his arm around her and they kissed each other's foreheads and cheeks repeatedly. It's all well and good until they're 12 and then ixnay on the issingkay.


I've been busy, busy on the cake stuff. Luckily, about four years ago I birthed a secondary dishwasher. That's what she calls herself, "Mommy's little dishwasher." I'm not sure she saves me any work in the end, but it's pretty cute to see her "helping" me. For the record, she does not help with things with raw eggs - only frosting. She's pretty mad at me about that - she thinks she should be able to help clean everything.

There's a show on TV called Oobi and it's these hands that have eyes glued to them. Amiya likes the show, but doesn't care for it more than that. Monday, however, was Oobi day around here. She glued eyes to her hand (very much like on the show) and Oobi'd and Uma'd around the whole day.
The Fourth of July! Amiya made my shirt for me - it's very, very puffy and patriotic. Kev was especially fascinated with the stars on the flag which were not in the best place for his constant attention. We went to a parade today - Amiya was very cute, waving and clapping and with her hand on her heart when the American flag and color guard went by. However, this may be the last time we attend a Fourth of July parade in the south - it was weird to see confederate flags being handed out. I know it's a different culture down here and a different represenation for a lot of people. Nonetheless, it was something we weren't comfortable with and now we'll have to explain it to Amiya if she asks.

This is a baseball hat cake for a friend's birthday. I am proud of this one - it's all new stuff for me - red velvet cake with a new frosting - both from scratch. With this cake, I am officially well over my $2200 needed for The 3 Day walk. So, now it's onto training and training and training. My longest walk so far was 9 miles and while I was tired, it was ok. This week is 8 miles and then next week begins 10 miles and above until the walk itself. We have a couple of weekends with walks of 17-18 miles on Saturday and 13-15 on Sunday. Keep me in your thoughts! It's hot, humid and sunny in Florida - if I can do these walks in this weather, the sixty miles in October should be a breeze!

And finally, the quietest moments of the day. We love when they sleep, but we're those pathetic types of parents who stare at them and talk about them the whole time.

They're just so sweet and quiet and relaxed and quiet and calm and quiet.

Another weekend past....

Weekends seem to fly by. Ugh. We would like someone wealthy to loan us their housekeeping staff for just one weekend. We'd like to not have to do one (or eight) loads of laundry, wash a single dish, cook a single meal or pick up a single board book. We'd like to just be able to sit on the couch and have the kids climb all over us for two straight days.

Barring the housekeeping fairies visiting us anytime soon, we'll take a weekend just like this one. Some housework got done, some lawnwork got done, some a lot of laundry got done, etc. but we also had time for a lot of tickles, some giggles and a whole lot of cuddles. Vinay loves his pictures and somehow Amiya conned him into believing that he wanted her to have a chocolate shake as part of his Father's Day. Watch out when she's sixteen, right?

We are getting ready for a visitor from France on Wednesday and then an action packed week and a half with lots of beach trips, zoo trips and probably even more giggles. Life is good.

And, because it's Father's Day, a few not-so-new pictures to share with you of the kids either doing stuff with Vinay or doing stuff like Vinay. No question they love their Daddy!

Amiya and Daddy tackling mounds of paperwork. He sorts and files, she shreds.

Kev reading the paper on a lazy Sunday morning. Checking out the sales, not to be bothered.

Happy Father's Day!

I'm sitting here tonight, working on V's Father's Day present while the kids are sleeping and he is watching a movie. When Amiya was 9 months old, I made Vinay a collage of pictures from her first nine months. It was his Christmas present "from" Amiya. It was terribly cheesy - one of those frames that has the cut-outs in the mat already. But, it was maybe the best Christmas present he ever got. To this day he loves it (or so he tells me).

So, for Father's Day this year, he's getting one of just Kev and a smaller one of our family - mainly pics of Kev and Amiya together. It's hard to give this man presents - polo shirts are always a safe bet, but we've got those covered. And so I found myself staring at this frames in Michael's about a month ago and thinking they might be just the thing.

And yet, I know that these pictures can never capture the truth of Vinay's relationship with Amiya and Kev. I watched Vinay cuddle with Kev on the couch today after the little guy woke up from his nap. It was the very picture of happiness, for both of them. Vinay said he didn't need any presents - that moment was present enough. And then later in the day, Amiya rode on Vinay's back while he pretended to be a horse and she a cowgirl chasing Kev around the coffee table. It was giggles and chortles and laughs for a good twenty minutes. Nothing more than three hearts entertaining themselves together. Joy and beauty without toys or movies or anything more than living that moment.

So, to Vinay on Father's Day, I wish you a million moments as precious as this evening was. Your children are the luckiest on earth.

Big Boy

In his "I love Grandpa" hat!
Please note - those are Vinay's knees, not mine.

Stuck and pissed (because he's stuck) in the high chair.
You'd think he'd learn.
I just love the little hat and the little butt.
Big smiles after the first real haircut. He did great, but he doesn't look like a baby anymore!
This is a preview of Kev as a 7 year old. Seriously, doesn't he look really old? If only he weren't in a baby swing he'd pass for a preschooler, at least!It's a lot of work to watch Diego every day. Kev shows you the proper watching position. And, I'll say it even though it doesn't need to be said, Vinay dressed Kev in this ensemble, not me!