Vira... Up

Hello Lovely Lady,

As is proven by this beautiful picture taken by your Auntie Sruti. Mommy is confident that her decision not to make you America's next top baby model was correct as you were fairly unable to stand still, pose, and smile for the camera. That could have been my fault as we got up late and didn't have breakfast prior to the shoot. But the pictures are still really fun and the whole set can hopefully be seen on Mommy's flickr site.

We say hopefully because we've just received our "End of the World" talk. You may have clued into some of the anxiety around this talk through the medium of your Mum but am trying to tamp it down so that you don't turn into some apocalyptic, survivalist. As Papa Dharmanidhi put it to us, being prepared, responsible human beings means acknowledging the state of the world around us and attempting to be prepared, without hope for result by the way, is part of that responsibility.

And alas baby girl, the state of the world is a bit disheveled to be sure. Mama wishes that she could shield you from it and maybe if we play our cards right, you will be innocent of the worst of it. But if I fail my love, I apologize and pray to MA that you retain your center and your safety.

On a lighter note, we think you have, like, 1 million words! That is a slight exaggeration so lets change that to A LOT of words :). The title of this post refers to your Uncle Vajravira and of course your ultimate favorite Auntie Jnana. Oh how you love them. You look for them after you look for your Papa. It is true, I am a little jealous as I believe that I am actually 4th on your list :) but thank you for the teaching my little upaya guru.

You've been sleeping in a lot in the mornings. I'm not sure what this is from. We've heard that toddlers need between 11 and 13 hours of sleep at night and at least 2 to 3 hours of naptime. Unfortunately you've started napping around 2 or 3pm which means that you are definitely not wanting to sleep anytime before 11pm. Although the one day you were run ragged in a good way - a visit to the park with your Lola and an hour long game of ball with the roommates that night - knocked you out around 9pm.

We're working out the magic formula. It would probably help you if Mommy got her big butt out of bed before 9am too I guess LOL. Speaking of butts, potty training is going well. You have a cute little potty that you have been doing a morning pee and poo in for the past few days. Yesterday you even let Mommy know right beforehand that you had to poo and we made it to the loo (Brit for toilet) in time! Will you remember that we taught you to say a fist-pumping-YES everytime you made pee or poo? Well we did which might explain why in your adult years you might be getting so happy over your bowel movements.

We'll be heading back to Thailand for a month soon and you will get to see your brothers Rohan and Kane. Can't wait to see what that reunion looks like.

Ok, signing off now. Remember how much we love you.

Joop Joop,
Mommy

Back in America

My Darling Terrible Two :)

No, actually you aren't really that bad. You're testing your boundaries, yes you are. Seeing how loud you can scream, how long you can cry, how hard you can hit things, if you can actually throw a tantrum. Most of the time you just laugh yourself out of it. It looks like you know how silly you are being. Sometimes we have to turn our backs and ignore you until you come to yourself again. That is a strong measure and it is sad to do. In general though, you are a cute, sweet, and funny toddler and we love you so very much.

Papa is extremely glad to have you back. It is very wonderful to see you two together and makes living here in this... place... bearable. And boy do you love your papa. You ask for him almost as much as you ask to eat. I would say it's papa 40%, eat 50%, poopoo 5% and mama 5%. Oh wait, out is 5%, poopoo is 3% and mama is 2%. And I'm not exaggerating! LOL.

You also love the roomies, especially Jnana. She's like an older sister to you and you love to play with her and be read to from her, and hang out with her. We think you call her, "Nana," but there was a banana nearby that day so maybe you were talking about that. You haven't repeated it so we're not too sure. The truth is you like to play with all the roommates. They're all just the right age for you I guess and they don't have children of their own to take away attention from you.

Your words have hit the 2 syllable stage. You haven't strung 2 words together yet and your, "What's this?" is still, "Uhng, uhng?" My favorites so far are: finger, towel, and beer (although I'm not sure if you are really meaning beer), oh yeah, and computer. Yes, you say computer which IS a 3 syllable word! How 'bout them apples?

You're also starting to use the potty now. Both the big one and the baby one. I'm afraid we made it a little confusing as we started you on the big one and now all of a sudden there's this little one you're supposed to use. But you used it today 'cos mama was on the big one. Yay!

I think you miss people because you look worried when you say, "Papa," and he's not home. Or when you say, "Roro," which is sadder because you won't see him for another couple of months. But for now you've got the big kid roommates to play with and it seems like it's ok.

With all my heart,
Mama