On My Toes

Alright. I know it's been that long. I have no excuses, except lots of interest in Facebook (ah-ha you say) and the fact that Kev is the happiest kid around who also keeps his mother on her toes all the time. He's dropping his nap even though I am struggling in vain against this. He's getting his own little personality and independent streak and we're experimenting with time outs and the like. He's also putting together sentences like you wouldn't believe and climbing into our bed every morning at 6:30 for his morning cuddle. There is no better way to start the day!

I thought a shortbread cookie would be so much less messy than chocolate chip. Ha ha ha ha ha.

Playing Ring Around the Rosy with the animals at gymnastics.

I'm not sure why, but this sticker could not be removed from his nose for the duration of our Home Depot trip the other day.

Microphones are for noses, doncha know?

Cheetos and cranky. A boy only a mother could love.

This is what I saw first after quiet time one day.

And this is what I saw next.

And this is what I saw last. And while I wasn't thrilled to be cleaning lotion art from the walls, books, animals, bedding, floor, curtains, etc. I was overwhelmingly grateful that Kev's medium of expression (baby lotion) is so much more pleasant to clean than Amiya's choice of materials (need I remind you?) when she went through this phase.

Amiya isn't the only one with homework. Kev regularly takes a book, puzzle or game to the table and plunks down. He tells us to "leave me be" until he can get his "omewok" done.


Going up the overpass by our house. It's the little things, right?

And now a little story.

Picture it. IKEA. Orlando. January 2009.

After consuming a (not) so delicious meal of mac 'n cheese, Kev decided he needed to visit the bathroom. I thought for a pee, but oh. No. He had more serious matters in mind.

And so off we went. IKEA was packed, as IKEA always is. The bathroom was packed, as the bathroom always is. We found ourselves in the stall where I took off his diaper without removing his pants and shoes and socks.

And there was problem #1. He cannot void (ahem) without being naked from the belly button down. So over and over and over I had to assure him that he could, in fact, complete the mission while dressed.

Problem #2 was that for a while, Kev assumed that he had to grunt (and loudly) in order to complete the mission. And so there we were, in the packed IKEA bathroom, with Kev grunting for about two minutes trying to do his job. I could hear the ladies laughing. I could hear the kids asking their grown-ups questions. And on and on he grunted.

Problem #3 is that everytime someone else's toilet flushed, Kev thought it was ours and that he was going down. He jumped, flinched, and tried to scramble down. Repeatedly.

All for two little blueberries.

Anyway, that's not to say that there isn't sweetness and light with the little man, too.

In the car line waiting to pick Amiya up from school -
so sleepy he fell asleep with his hand in his snack!


Tonight at Publix where we stopped to grab a sub after gymnastics. He fell asleep in the car and slept through the entire store just like this. Couldn't you just kiss him?

And I Was Doing So Well!

You could probably tell that my New Year's Resolution was to blog more often. And I was doing fantastically, but then, well, it all went south. I'm back on the wagon (mostly because I can't get onto Facebook because Vinay is ALWAYS on my account playing word games) and so here I am to blog.

Anyway, for tonight I leave you with this little gem:

Not the most flattering picture ever taken of this child, but it's certainly not because of that snazzy hairstyle. She absolutely wanted to style her own hair Monday morning. In light of the fact that no hair on her head is longer than six inches, I didn't think much harm could come of giving her the green light.

Oh.

How silly of me. It seems it doesn't matter the length of the hair when the styling product is Crest Minty Fresh flippin' toothpaste. Yep, that's extra, super hold for those of you who need a little more from your product. I got out what I could (both hair and accessories - there were at least 6 in her hair when she skipped out of the bathroom), but not before taking a picture.

On the up side, at least she went to school smelling minty clean.

Amiya Johnson Retton

Amiya is still loving gymnastics - so much that she is going to go Monday afternoons after school and Wednesdays after dinner. She's not going to be scouted by the Indian Olympic Committee as a gymnastics protege to get their team in the medal rounds but she's having a great time, getting exercise and learning to keep at it.

Here's a picture from her last day of gymnastics before the winter break. The kids had their normal 15 minute rotation of the different stations and then (surprise!!!) they each got a medal. I don't think they figured out that the medals weren't really for them, but left over from a previous meet for the competition team. It didn't matter though, the kids were thrilled and were happy to show off their stuff.

Grandma and Grandpa joined us this week to check her out and we were all amused by her foibles, as well as proud of her effort. Amiya came out of the gym with rosy cheeks and big smiles, especially when Grandpa called her Shawn Johnson.

I think she's perfectly adorkable, don't you?

Sandy, Rajshree didi - Does this remind you of anyone?

Do you know someone who used to have to be torn away from his books to eat a meal?

Someone, say, a bit hairier than Amiya, but same eye and hair color?

Uh-huh. Yeah. That's what I'm saying.

First Day of First Grade

Well, today was the big day. All the students were back to school after being so rudely awoken before sunrise for the first time since mid-December. There were more than a few dragging backpacks in the hallways today.

Not so for our girl, but not because she wasn't tired. She begged us to leave her be so she could sleep. "I'm still dreaming. I need to finish my dream." "I didn't get enough sleep. It's not healthy to make me get up." And so on.

But then, once things got rolling, she was ready to go!

Only slightly nervous about switching from Kindergarten to first grade, she stoicly shoveled two waffles and a bit of yogurt into her mouth and kept a running commentary going throughout her morning ablutions. Then dressed, shoes on (to her dismay, her teacher wants tennis shoes every day) and outside for a picture, because I would be turning my back on my Hounsell genes were I not to take a picture of a school child on her first day of a new grade.

There she is, in all her glory (please don't mind the dirty gutter). (Also, can you tell that it's still dark out from the lighting in the photo? Sorry, tangent.)

She was really excited to get there and she walked right in the room and said good morning and got to work. From her report the day was good but her brain was tired because it had to work at school. (Whoo-to-the-hoo!!!) Her teacher said she did (and this is a direct quote, not just proud mama speak) "amazingly well." That's enough for us.

We're really happy with this (did I give that away already?) and we hope Amiya will continue to be so excited about the change!

Yee-haw!

Kev(al)in has pooped on the toilet. (No pictures in this post, that's a good thing, right?)

Don't be embarassed if you've shed a little tear. Me too.

It wasn't all of his own volition - he started to assume the position, so I scooped him up and ran with him. And then we sat in the bathroom for awhile until he was distracted by his Bertie book (Thank you Sandy, Nisha, Ravi and Vinnie - did you know it would come in this handy?) and let nature take his course.

Now he's wearing his Diego tighty-whities and checking the goods out whenever he can. Is this what's in store for me as the Mom of a boy? I think diapers might be preferable!

He Marches to His Own Drummer

Vinay asked Kev to put his laundry hamper back in his room today.

But why? It's so much better as a hat! So he trotted (because there is no other word for it) around the house with a hamper on his head for a bit.

And it was all well and good until Vinay asked him to put our hamper away. It is not so flexible, so see through, so soft. The trotting wasn't so graceful but he kept at it.

He is his own man.

Change of Name

I'll be doing a bit of editing around here, making the blog look a little fresher, etc., etc., but perhaps the most noticeable change will be that Kev will no longer go by his full name of Kevalin, but instead, we'll call him Kevin. That's the name he's given himself.

Mommy: "Who's bed is that?"
Kev: "Kevin's bed."

Mommy: "Who's mess is this?"
Kev: "Kevin's mess."

Mommy: "Who made this mess?"
Kev: "Kevin made da mess, Mommy!"

So a little background. We worked really, really hard on finding names that were Indian in origin, but accessible and pronouncable in this country. I had strict rules against more than 3 syllables and too many consonant combinations. I'm not being mean, I'm just saying, there weren't going to be any Dikshitas in our family. Some names can work in both cultures, some can't. Vinay presented me with many, many names and I vetoed most of them - we ended up Amiya, Leela, Kevalin and some other boys name that was obviously so impressive that I can't even recall it anymore. To be fair, there were some names that I really liked that he didn't - most noticeably - Anand. (If we ever have a pet that I get to name, it's going to be Anand. Be warned.)

Kevin, as a name, is Irish in origin, meaning handsome. And it's true. He's a cute little bugger.

Kevalin, as a name, is Jain (a religion in India) and means seeker of knowledge. Also true. He asks a lot of questions and leafs through a lot of books.

So if he wants to be Kevin, fine by me. He is 25% Irish, after all. And if he wants to be Kevalin, that's good too. As long as he doesn't stop calling me Mommy in his squeaky little voice for a very long time, it's all good.

Happy New Year!

2009 started, it would seem, with a bang, but I can't say for sure because I'm getting old and could only make it until 11:45. Amiya, however, rang in the new year with my parents at the Shady Acres campground. It seems the campground was hopping at midnight. That's good. Someone should be up.

We started the evening with Kev and my Dad watching Dumbo. I hope watching TV with the little guy is always so interactive - we can't get through a scene without him yelling out the types of animals on the screen, as well as their role in the family. "Iss a Mommy hippo, Mommy! Iss a Mommy hippo!" The pictures a little blurry, but that's good. It makes the psycho dancing elephants seem like the drug trip that they surely were.

Following Dumbo and a delicious dinner prepared by Grandma, we headed outside to light some sparklers. My thought was to place them upright in the ground and let 'em burn. It seems that wasn't the idea Vinay thought best - oh no. He was going to hold one and use it to light the others and then place the one he had been holding back in the ground. Ha ha ha ha ha ha.

I'll pause until you're done laughing, too.

All better now? So yeah, that didn't work out too well for him, but the three other grown-ups were laughing with him, not at him, so that's ok, right?

Today, Dad and Vinay headed out to golf and so Grandma, Kev, Amiya and I headed to the zoo. I'm not sure if I've ever been there when it's been that busy, but we still had a good time. Kev initiated a whole conversation with some gibbons that pretty much the whole zoo could hear. The best part was spending a calm afternoon with two kids away from toys that make noise, Webkinz and Dumbo.

I think we can safely say that the 2009 holiday season was a lot of fun and we'll have some great memories.

It's very different from a holiday with lots of family, so we make it our own. But, as evidenced by this picture of Kev, all good things must end. I think the Guptas are tired. Everyone napped today, everyone is in, or on their way to, and everyone will be chilling for the remaining four days of vacation. Life is good if this is our biggest concern, right?

A Lovely Little Christmas Story

A few weeks ago, I told you about the kids going Christmas caroling with Amiya's playgroup friends. It was a lot of fun and snowballed into something bigger than we ever imagined it might be.

A few days before we went, we slipped a note from the kids in the mailboxes of the homes we would be caroling at to let them know that we were happy to sing for nothing but staying up past bedtime, but if they'd like, we'd accept a donation for Metropolitan Ministries, an area food bank & social services center.

Well, we jingled and sang all the Christmas carols the kids could muster and in doing so, collected $150 and a rubbermaid tote full of canned goods. We did not take it to Metropolitan Ministries but did something even closer to home with it. Read on, but grab a tissue, because everyone who has heard the story so far has been a little choked up by the end.

There is a little boy in a kindergarten class who came to school the last Friday before break in the same clothes he wears every single day instead of pajamas for pajama day. The ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) teacher came into the room and quietly gave him a bag with new underwear and socks. I asked if he had pajamas for the day and she told me that they have nothing. None of the kindergarten teachers had extra boy PJs either.

The family is living in an apartment with the help of Metropolitan Ministries. It seems the Dad was killed in Cuba and the family had to flee. There are three children and the mother - who is doing everything she can to get them back on their feet.

I ran to WalMart and bought him PJs and used the caroling money to purchase a $150 gift card for the teacher to use to buy this family some of what they need. We also took the food up to Clark as the teacher indicated that there are several families whose children are only getting hot food at Clark. She is planning to start a food pantry at the school.

I took the PJs to the classroom and was able to explain (in very bad Spanish) that they were for him to keep. And he started crying. This kills me. Amiya got pajamas for Christmas and while she said thank you it was in the way that someone who doesn't really need anything is grateful for yet another thing. But this child started to cry over pajamas.

And it didn't end there. Another family from our playgroup went out and bought this child several sets of school uniforms, undergarments and an additional $50 gift card for more household items. A family that we caroled for heard the story and went out and bought the family Christmas gifts, toileteries and books and games that emphasize beginning English words. And another family donated five grocery bags full of non-perishable canned goods and personal hygiene items. And finally, another family donated a homemade quilt for the Mom and yet more clothes for the children.I spoke with the ESOL teacher over break and she said that the Mom was beyond grateful and relieved to have a bit of breathing room as she continues to get her family acclimated to a new life.

I think it's a really beautiful story and I'm so glad the kids were a part of it. Amiya knows how we ended up using the money and I think it's been eye-opening to her to know that while she has at least 10 pairs of pjs in her drawer at any given time, the sweet little boy in her class didn't have a single one. It's been a great opportunity to talk about poverty and wealth - and how wealth doesn't equal worth and poverty does not equal sloth. And I hope it's helped her put our Christmas celebrations into perspective - how lucky we are to have what we have and how responsible we are for caring for each other.

Post Christmas Round-Up

Oh my. Another Christmas season has come and, in Florida, gone. Decorations are gone, gone, gone. We seem to be the only ones on our block who aren't with it enough to get the lights and such put away. It didn't feel so much like Christmas this year, what with the 85 degree weather on Christmas day and the AC running around the clock.


But I'm not complaining. Most of you reading have had really, really difficult weather. We had lots of fun and made the most of it.


Our Christmas tree was a lot of fun, even though I'd be lying if I said we did more than 1/3 of all the activities on there - it was a lot. But, when you're celebrating Christmas secularly, it's all wide open and we make our own way. A lot of the activities we did do were for others who are not so fortunate this year and that's the message we really want to convey. Absolutely it's about giving and receiving presents, but also taking care of those around us.


We managed to get a lot of non-tree things in, too:

Amiya on Santa's lap at the Lowry Park Zoo. I couldn't hear what she said she wanted, but she's stuck true to three things every time she writes a letter to the big guy (almost every other day).

Kev and Vinay on the kiddie roller coaster at the zoo. If you squint you can just make them out in the middle car. Vinay pretty much had to headlock Kev, but we could hear Kev laughing the entire time.


Kev on the Flying Banana ride at the zoo. Vinay somehow got him in there without my knowing it - this would never have happened on my watch. Which is why it's good that our kids have two parents - I'd keep them locked up and bathed in sanitizer. Vinay is the yin to my parenting yang. (That sounds kind of naughty, eh?)

Alright, to Christmas Eve. We are woefully remiss about the pictures - when wrapping paper is flying, the camera is forgotten. Anyway, a few, for the sake of posting pictures.

This is the best shot that we got, sadly. Have I used the jell-0 to a tree analogy before? I think so.

And this one is after the standing up proved to be too difficult and Kev fainted clear away. Amiya revived him with a bout of tickling and the world started spinning on its' axis once again.

Grandpa and Kev reading one of Kev's two new hippo books. Please note Kev's change of clothes - he opened up his Mickey Mouse PJs and had to change then and there.

Amiya checking out her new fish - this was the first present she opened and probably her favorite. It's a betta and it seems to be on its' way out - we'll see. She's named it Indigo, with India serving as its' nickname.


Vinay and my Dad have spent lots of time on the links lately and I'm loving it. I think it's great that Vinay's developing a hobby and that the boys are getting bonding time. I think they should take Amiya along to be the scorekeeper (it's good for her math skills) but they aren't taking that idea seriously at all. My Mom, the kids and I were stranded with no husbands/Dads Sunday, so someone had the brilliant idea to go to the beach. And I say brilliant because it really was a brilliant idea. I can piss and moan about 85 degree weather all day long, but it takes a northerner to make lemonade out of it and go to the beach. Anyway, off we went to Honeymoon Island - a very nice beach. The kids loved it, the weather was perfect and the waves were gentle.

Does this remind you of anyone?
Yeah, that's right. My son is buff like the future President. He'll need to lose the pull-up and maybe wear his shorts a little lower, but I think the resemblance is uncanny. I'll be the next Barbara Bush. But don't look to me to wear pearls. I'm a sapphire kind of girl. (More on that later.)

There's exciting changes coming for Amiya, but more on those in a bit, too. Until then, let's take a moment to check out the very last of her baby pudge. When she's in jeans and a t-shirt, her shape is so much like a girl that I can't stand it. It's only when she's in a swimsuit that we can see that she's still little and has just a touch of those thighs that had creases and the pudgy cheeks. She'll be mad at me for writing this when she's 13, but a Mom's gotta do what a Mom's gotta do.

A few other things - if you got a package of cookies in the mail, this is what they should have looked like. It's my understanding that the oranges travelled well, everything else was a hot mess. We had fun making them and we hope they brought a little Florida sunshine to your day!

The kids and I were in a pretty serious fender bender (is that statement even possible?) two days before Christmas. We were sitting at a stoplight at a complete stop when someone slammed into the car behind us, causing that car to bounce back and forth between the offending car and us. We were hit twice, in rapid succession, but luckily no one in our car was hurt. The other drivers were taken by ambulance to the hospital, but the paramedics deemed us ok. Kev complained that his head hurt, but a trip for further review showed nothing. Our car is pretty banged up - about $3,000 in damages total. It's hard to tell from the picture, but there is a lot of undercarriage damage from the angle of the hit. The left side is bent out of shape, the bumper and door will have to be replaced, and something about the frame. The estimate-guy (technical term being???) was talking and all I heard was "yada, yada, yada, fixable." Alrighty then.

On the plus side, the importance of sitting in a car seat was hammered home to Amiya who is starting to complain that she's in a 5 point harness when some of her friends are in backless boosters. And even more, we were able to walk away. I hope the drivers in the other two cars were home for Christmas.

Vinay and I celebrated our eighth wedding anniversary on the 23rd - my how time flies! He got me a beautiful sapphire ring (I told you I was a sapphire kind of girl) and I, once again, reminded him that my gift to him is the two precious children that strew toys all around the house and never stop talking. No ring can compete with that. Ha! We spent our anniversary night addressing envelopes and writing out New Years cards - how romantic is that? (I'm not being sarcastic when I say that it was sort of fun to see our circle of friends and loved ones that seems to grow a bit each year. It's nice to come from such different places/cultures/backgrounds - we often remark on how much we bring to the other.)

And finally, the big Amiya news. It seems the little Miss is a pretty smart little piece of work. She'll be heading to the first grade after winter break. We've been talking with her kindergarten teacher since early November about how to better challenge Amiya and it was decided that the best thing to do would be to test her a bit and see where she really is. So, she took a reading test and her scores placed her up to a fourth grade, sixth month reading/comprehension level. That was just a computer test, though, so the reading specialist came in and gave her a very specific assessment - Amiya went through everything up to the end of second grade with very strong (perfect?) scores and then the reading teacher stopped her. She also took a mid-year math test that the first graders are given and scored very well on that. So, the decision was made to move her to first grade. She was initially very excited, then a bit anxious and then again excited after meeting her teacher and a few future classmates. So, she's excited and we're happy that she's taking it with a great attitude. She loves her kindergarten teacher, so I fully expect the night before the first day to be hard for her, but in the grand scheme of things, this is a good move.

Alright. That's all for now. I'll be back soon with a Christmas story that might make you cry. Have kleenex handy.

We are alive in Tampa.

But we've been really busy and it's all my Mom's fault.

So now that I've cast the blame on her she can't be upset that the blog hasn't been updated, right?

You see, my parents are in town and while that's very exciting and happy-making for me, it's even more exciting and happy-making for the wee ones. Oh, happiness is Grandma and Grandpa within driving distance.

So, we've been very busy with holiday stuff and grandparent stuff. You can't blame me for doing that sort of thing instead of sitting in front of the computer.

A few (a lot, actually) photos from the past few weeks:

Amiya watching cookies bake in the oven. We made spritz cookies for the first time this year - I had forgotten what a pain in the ahem the spritz things are to work. But Amiya loved it and spritz cookies are fast! Whoo!

Kev eating his PBJ with a fork. We tried to tell him not to, but he wouldn't listen. And then he poked himself and it all went downhill from there. He's in this mindset where every meal needs a spoon and a fork and come hell or high water he's going to use them both.

Ah, the green goatee. Green frosting from the Dunkin' Donuts breakfast the kids enjoyed one early Saturday morning.

Kev was trying to escape Grandpa's tickles, so he knotted himself up tight as could be.

Kev's first time on Santa's lap (I think). He didn't really get the whole concept until Santa pulled a present out of the bag just for Kev. Now he gets it and is always on the lookout for another Santa to talk with.

It's not lice. It's mac 'n cheese. Fudge and finnola. Can't we get one day, just one!?!?, without a bath?

Tell me he's not super cute in his tie and vest.
You can't, can you?

This is how much he loves his puzzles. He's cuddling with it on the couch.

We spent a day at Disney a few weeks ago. This is one of the new fairies - Amiya's read most of the books, but this one doesn't have a book out yet. I think her name was Iridessa and she rocked. I sort of really dislike the smarmy way the Princesses speak and this fairy had spunk and sass. Very. very. nice.

See? That's what I mean? Even the kids think they're lame and it was clear Amiya couldn't wait to get out of there.

Ah, Dumbo. Have I told you about Kev and Dumbo yet? I think so. This was a great moment for Kev. Dumbo is his favorite!

And the teacups. The crazy teacups. Mommy will not be going on the teacups again, the kids like to spin way, way too much. When did I get so old?

I love this picture. He was awestruck by the show at Cinderella's castle. He couldn't believe what he saw - this is a typical Kev reaction. Hand on the mouth, absolutely stunned.

From Disney to mudbogging, that's how we roll. Just a few days after our trip to perfection with fairy dust and mouse ears, we took a trip to Dade City for their annual parade. It was very fun with a lot of cool floats, but the highlight (for the grown-ups anyway) was the monster trucks. They are so tall they are absurd, so loud they are obnoxious. It's sort of fun to see how this different part of our culture lives. Sort of. Also very puzzling.

The kids got a puppy. It's name is Lucky and I can turn it off. Perfect puppy!

We went caroling tonight. There were twelve kids in all and it was a lot of fun! We carolled (two Ls, just one? not sure) for canned goods for a food pantry here and we ended up raising a bix box of food, plus a nice chunk of change. The kids practiced their songs and really did a bang-up job on Jingle Bells (over and over again). Next year, new songs.

Amiya was taking her singing seriously.

(Does anyone else see something wrong with caroling in short sleeves? It was 85 here today and very humid. Ugh. I feel for all of you in the frigid north and would happily take some of that cold off your hands.)

Kev was the jingle bell king. He had a stick of bells from Miss Sherri and he shook those bells everywhere we went. I'm not sure how he didn't crash early on, but he kept up with the big kids and had such a good time!