Ishaan is getting the hang of swimming

Ishaan has been scared of water since he was a baby. When he was little, he did not like water on his face - even in the shower. When he was little under 3, we tried out the mommy & me swim lessons for him and it did not go well. He cried so much for first couple of classes, that I had to pull him out.

Between the ages of 3 and 7, we tried swim lessons for him on and off at various places - AVAC, YMCA, WaterWorks Aquatics, Mrs. T, Almaden Cabana, Private lessons at a friend's pool, etc - however, he just wasn't getting the hang of it.

This summer, I enrolled him for daily swim lessons at Almaden Cabana. This is his 5th week of continuous lessons and he is finally getting the hang of it. He can swim half length using free style with side breathing. He is not afraid of water any more and even attempts to go in the deep side. He is still refining his free style and side breathing and also learning back stroke. I am so happy to see his progress. He now wants to swim more and more !!

Sibling fights

I remember my childhood days when I used to fight with my brother. But I just cannot stand my kids fighting with each other :)

They are 3 years apart and now at a point where they can play most of the games together but that also causes lot of fights ! Ishaan likes to annoy his big sister and Kavya lacks tolerance and patience. She just wouldn't let go anything that she doesn't like. Most of the times, the fights are verbal, but then sometimes they get physical too !

The good thing about kids is that usually they forget about the fights in few mins and then play together again. How I wish adults can also forget so easily !!

Guess what is kids latest favorite toy that causes lot of fights ?

Its that big exercise ball ! I got that ball 10-12 years ago and it was hardly used or noticed till recently. One fine day Kavya decided to get it in the house from the garage and started playing with it. It caught Ishaan's attention and then he wanted it too. But Kavya insisted that she got it from the garage and so it was hers. For first few days, Ishaan did not get the ball. Kavya would take it to her room and Ishaan is not allowed in Kavya's room without permission. But then gradually, Ishaan also got to play with it and then he wouldn't let Kavya have it. Some days, they would play together with it. They even named it - Bolly Boo ! But soon, they started fighting over it.

I suggested that they take turns, but that did not work well. They would shout at each other, call each other names and then even started hitting. So, I warned them that if they fought again, Bolly Boo would go away. But the fights still continued. So, one day after they went to school, I hid the ball. It was difficult to find a place for such a big ball and that too where kids could not find it. But it worked out. When kids got back from school, they discovered that the ball was missing.

I told them that if they figured out a way to share the ball, then Bolly Boo would come back. So, next day they had a plan. Kavya agreed for Ishaan to have the ball as long as he would let her play with it whenever she requested. Didn't really make sense to me, but Ishaan bought the deal. I let them sleep on it for a day. And the day after when I went to pick them up in school, I told them that a guest had come with me to pick them up. They were happy to see Bolly Boo!

Its been 2 days since they have had the ball back and there hasn't been any major fights so far. Hopefully I wouldn't need to hide the ball again, but you never know. After all, who knew that a big exercise ball can be someone's favorite toy - so much that they would fight over it ?

Stay-At-Home-Mom (SAHM) calling...

Kids are growing up fast its getting harder to keep up with their activities, school projects, house hold work along with both of our full time jobs. Kids are at an age where they want to try out different activities and its hard to always schedule them in the evening or weekend. Besides with constant running and a long list of things to do, if kids don't cooperate, it hard to maintain calm and then you feel bad for shouting at them.

I had taken a 6 month leave of absence (LOA) in summer of 2014 and although didn't do everything I wanted to in that break, I enjoyed the time with kids. I also realized that life was less stressful for all of us. There was more time, more patience, less shouting and I was also able to spend more time into healthy cooking at home.

With that experience and the back to work pressure combined with odd time meetings, I am thinking more often about being a stay-at-home mom. Part of me wants to be there for the kids since I know they will only need us for next few years, but part of me is having hard time letting go the 15-yr old career. Also, I guess when you work, there is this feeling of independence and confidence along with brain stimulation through challenging and engrossing adult conversation. That will be hard to get in SAHM, but then I don't want to feel bad later for not having spent enough time with kids and being there for them when they needed me the most.

The SAHM calling is getting stronger day by day. Lets see when it actually happens...

Ishaan wants to copy Kavya

Ishaan is so impressed by Kavya that he likes to copy her in everything she does. Then sometimes, he cannot do certain things because he is a boy. So, he was telling us that he wish he was a girl - then he could copy Kavya in everything.

We were so surprised and asked him "Really? You wish to be a girl? " and then he went on to correct himself. He said "I want to be a girl only for some time.. not when I grow up". That was surprising and confusing. So, we asked him why. He explained "I only want to be a girl now so that I can copy Kavya, but I don't want to be a girl when I grow up because I don't want to have a surgery to have a baby" :)

He cracked us up. Amazing how little kids think !

Kavya and Ishaan are getting interested in Chess

This summer Kavya insisted on learning how to play Chess. So, Gaurav and I taught her the rules and played some games (to the best of our ability) with her. Ishaan was also paying attention and picking up gradually.

Then school started and both of their school offered Chess as a after-school program. Kavya went for the first class but did not like the teacher. Ishaan has been going for a month and is loving it.

Now Kavya and Ishaan can both play against each other and are getting better day by day.

I am trying to remember how old was I when I learnt to play chess. Kids of this generation seem to be learning everything very early on !

New school year - new and old challenges

The new school year has started. Its been almost a month for Kavya in 3rd grade and 3 weeks for Ishaan in KG. So far, they are both doing well and liking school.

The biggest challenge this year will be to make sure they are challenged enough in school. Ishaan comes home every day and complains that everything is so easy! And Kavya lost focus towards the end of 2nd grade because she felt it was all repetition and that she already knew all of that. So, I hope as the year goes by, the kids find it fun and challenging enough to remain motivated and focused !

I also hope that they make good friends - the ones they can be friends with for many years to come ! I have found that often time, kids will not listen to you, but they would listen to their friend. So, it is so important to have friends who are there for you, who care and who are good influence !


Wishing a good and successful 2014-2015 school year for both kids !

Ishaan has become a reader !

Kavya has always been a good inspiration for Ishaan. She pushes him to achieve more and he looks up to her. So, Ishaan has been making good progress.

Till last year, he wouldn't sit with me for 5 mins while I read a book to him and I used to worry how will this boy ever learn to read :). However, this year, he started reading with small book and then Level 1 and Level 2 and even Level 3 books from the library.

And then Kavya encouraged him to read Magic Tree House books. She told him they were really interesting chapter books and that he will learn about new places. So, Ishaan gave it a try. His first chapter book was Sunset of the Sabertooth in May and since then he has read lots of other Magic Tree House books as well as other books.

The reading program at the library and Barnes & Noble was a good motivation. He is now at a point where he can finish 60 page books in less than a day. And these are book with AR level 2.x and 3.x when he is not even in KG yet. He probably does not understand everything yet - so comprehension is lacking. He can tell you high level story but not the details. So, he still has some progress to make there, but the good thing is that he likes to read and is able to sit for an hour to read.

We have also introduced reading books on Kindle to both the kids. They both enjoy it !

I am a happy mom. Even more excited about how Kavya is being a great inspiration for Ishaan !

Kavya's 2nd grade projects

2nd Grade has been an interesting school year for Kavya. She has learnt a lot, made some good friends and at the same time realized that public school needs to offer more challenge for some kids !

This year, I volunteered for computer lab instead of grading papers at home like last year (1st grade). I am glad I did that. I feel like its always good to meet her teachers and classmates to get a better understanding of what and how they do things in school. It also helps you relate to some things when kids tell you about school.

Kavya has done some interesting projects this year.
For this first one was a book project where they had to create the front page of their favorite book on a cereal box and answer some questions about the book

The following three are the things they did in class and displayed it for parents for the year end display !

This was a briefcase project where they had to collect and show things about their ancestors and where they came from. 

This one was a picture frame made using two disposable plates to show their choice of celebrity - sports, politics, etc. Kavay chose Wilam Rudolph who was a a great runner and won many medals in Olympics.

Kavya is very creative !!

Kavya loves art and crafts. Every now and then she amazes us with her creativity.

She is good at drawing and coloring. She makes very creative things with legos and K'nex pieces. Alphabets, animals, glasses, fruts, various designs are just some example things that she created using those tiny pieces.

She used playdoh to make various fruit as well as angry birds.

Playdoh fruits

Playdoh angry birds

She used pennies to do a nice writing and make a bunny around Easter last year.