Happy Halloween!

Well, unfortunately, Abhi is a bit under the weather this halloween. He got a flu shot on Tuesday and he has since gotten a touch of the flu. We are missing our halloween playgroup this week so that is a bummer. I still put his costume on him though, he is a skeleton. Check out this cute (I mean scary) skeleton.



Note to self: Don't get the flu shot a few days before a holiday! We will still head over to our friends Lori and Bills in the evening. I think he is better, I just don't want to risk infecting other babies.

Abhi went for his 15 month check up, that was when he got the flu shot, as well as, one other shot and blood taken. It was rough one! But he did really well. After he got the crying and upset out for a few minutes he was busy saying "hi" to everyone as we strolled out of the doctor's office. He weighs 25lbs and is 30 1/2 inches tall. Both are 50th percentile so the doc told Abhi he is exactly average.

A Trip to the Farm, one nap, and some news...

Abhi and I had so much fun last Friday when we went to cox farm with our new mom's group. This is our second time joining them and we got to meet more moms and babies. Every month they try and do an outing so this time it was to cox farm where they have slides, animals, hayrides, and all kinds of things. We got there about 10 and left about 1 so it was a long fun morning. Abhi got to see chickens, a turkey, sheep, pigs, goats, and cows...which he was most excited about. He knew the cows and was mooing at them. When we went in to see the goats, he was saying 'dog.' That kind of works. He was happily petting them and did not appear scared at all, would you expect anything else from mister fearless! One of the little girls, Adeline, was turning one, so we celebrated her birthday with cupcakes. Her and a couple others were dressed in their costumes, they looked very cute. We finally got around to the hayride after lunch during which Abhi fell asleep. It had been a busy morning and he was fading fast. After that, we were off and he was asleep in the car in no time and had a nice long afternoon nap. Here are some pix from the farm...



We are in the transition from 2 to 1 naps I think. It has been a little rough but I just don't think Abhi needs two naps anymore, or at least it is getting harder to get him to take an afternoon nap after he has taken a morning nap. Then, if he doesn't get that afternoon nap, he is falling asleep at dinner. So, I am purposely keeping him awake and then putting him down at about 1/130 and letting him sleep 2-3 hours. Depending on how early he gets up....like today which was 630am...he can usually stay awake until then without much trouble. Today he was nodding off at about noon. Yesterday, he got up at 8, so that was perfect for the afternoon nap. It is a work in progress.

The news - no, it's not another baby- we are buying a house! We have been looking since returning from India and found something we like at a great price. We are moving about 5 miles from where we are, not too far, life won't change too much. It is in a different city but a little farther out. The house is big...we are sure to be lost in there... and the neighborhood is very nice so we are very excited. I haven't mentioned it yet because it is a short sale. Not sure if you know what that is but it is a very difficult way to buy a house. The contract has been ratified after a month of negotiations!! We settle on Nov. 12 (hoping all goes well) and then plan to move in by end November. Of course, since it is a short sale anything can happen even now and the bank can pull the plug so I hope I don't jinx it buy putting out the news.

Abhi went to the doc yesterday - 15 month check up. I will write about that in a couple of days.

Facing Forward!

On Monday, we finally turned Abhi's car seat around to face forward. You can do this at 1 year and 20lbs but I left it longer since it is safer. It was getting more and more difficult to get him in and out of the middle of the backseat now that he is getting so big. So, he has a whole new view of the world now when he is riding in the car. He can see me in the front seat and he can see really well out the window. That means he can see all the things he is so fond of these days...trucks, buses, cars, trains...he is a happy boy. He has always been good in the car seat and continues to be that way. But, now since we go outside and play a lot when are leaving the house he thinks we are going to the park. Sometimes that makes getting in the car seat not very desirable. But, this will probably help keep him occupied while riding instead of just staring at the back seat and window.

It was a low-key past weekend. On Saturday morning Abhi finished up his six week swimming class and got his certificate. The only two things he did not do well on are 'face in the water' and 'blowing bubbles.' He has been swimming awhile now and he has not been successful yet at either of those things. All he does when his mouth goes in the water is drink it. I try to discourage that. Guess we will start another session in a couple weeks. After that, Abhi went to daycare at the gym for an hour so I could go to pilates (god, I hate that class but it is really good for you!). K had to work until about midnight friday night, so he got to stay home in bed that morning...it was a peaceful one with Abhi slamming pots and pans around for once. Saturday evening, we spent at our friends Bill and Lori's, they got to have fun with Abhi and we ordered Thai food. Lori got colors out for Abhi, so he had fun doing that. He has only colored a couple of times but he seems to know what to do. Who doesn't love to scribble!

The week started off pretty uneventful as well, but picked up towards the middle. We went to babygarten on wednesday, made our weekly trip to Ashburn. He has learned so much from that program (of course I am constantly reinforcing it at home). We have been singing a song in there for the last couple of sessions I call 'the me song.' that Abhi just started singing out of the blue one day. It has a repetitive tune that you sing me, you, we then yes, no, maybe...and Abhi has picked it up so well. He goes around singing 'me,me,me...." all the time. It is very cute.

We went to the gym on Thursday for toddlin time. I swear, once we get there Abhi runs off and never looks back. Well, he does once in a awhile, but he is just so into all the stuff they have there. We also do parachute time, Abhi does not care much for the parachute. But, each week he tries a little more during that time. He did go under it this week when we were holding it up in the air. He wants no part of sitting on it when we pull it around in a circle and all the babies are sitting in the middle. He hasn't gotten there yet. After that, we went to the downtown coffee shop and accidentally met up with one of the moms and babies from Abhi's class, Nicole and Everett. Everett is about 5 days younger than Abhi and I think Abhi has finally met his match! Everett is very energetic and always seems to be having so much fun with everything, just like Abhi. Nicole invited us for a mom's group at her house this morning so the boys got more time together and there were more kids for Abhi to meet and play with. I think he had fun although, he might have been a bit tired. It is great experience for him so he can learn to play with other kids instead of being mr. center of attention at home. Nicole also made a great lunch, pizza with all kinds of roasted veggies and cheese. Abhi loved it! So, we are getting out in manassas finally and making friends close to home.

Nothing else for now. I still haven't organized the India pictures...there are about 300 of them, 299 of them of Abhi probably! It is on my list of things to do. More blog info soon! Hope all of you are well.

Busy, Busy, Busy...

The weather has been absolutely beautiful and we have really been enjoying. Every afternoon we head out the little tot play lot right behind our house and Abhi has a good time. It is a smaller play set, so he is able to go up the steps and go down the slide all by himself. He also keeps himself busy with picking up, investigating, and sometimes still putting in his mouth rocks, mulch, and flowers. He knows these things are "dirty" and he shouldn't put them in his mouth, but the temptation is just too much sometimes. So, when I tell him not to eat it, he quickly throws whatever is enticing him and says "dirty" or "yucky."

Lots of airplanes fly over our house, so since we have been spending lots of time outside, Abhi now knows airplane. As soon as he hears one, he points to the sky and says "airplane." Even if he just sees streaks of smoke in the sky he knows it is an airplane. He also knows bus (we watch the kids get on or off the bus almost everyday), truck, car, and train (we hear the train horn a lot by our house - when Abhi hears it he says"t" meaning train). He also just learned bird which he points to the sky for, and just the other day we took and early evening walk and he pointed to the moon and said that too. We read "Goodnight Moon" a lot...so he must have made the connection. I must say, I can't believe how much he talks!!! And he repeats every thing - we have to be careful what we say. I said something to K the other day and at the end said "good god" and from the other room out of Abhi's mouth came the same!

Since returning from India Abhi has been doing swimming class, babygarten(storytime at the library), toddlin time, and swimming at the gym. He goes to the gym daycare 2 or 3 times a week and they love him there. He is so good. And frankly, I think he gets tired of being with and playing with me that it is almost refreshing for him to get out. When we go to babygarten or toddlin time (it's like little gym), he is off and he barely even turns back to see where I am.

Here are few pix of Abhi on the playground behind our house.



Our friends Oscar and Jenn came over for dinner on Saturday night with their daughters Luli and Fiona. The weather was so nice that we took the kids out to play and Abhi had so much fun with the girls. When it started getting chilly, we all headed in. I made pasta, salad, and curried butternut squash soup for dinner. Jenn (with help from the family) made a wonder apple cake from fresh apples they had just spent the day picking at the apple orchard. Here are Abhi's friends Luli and Fiona...



Hope everyone is doing well...more soon!