Kavya (3 yrs and 7 months) and Ishaan (6 months)

Here I am with more updates on both kids. Kavya is little over 3.5 years and Ishaan is little over 6 months already !!

This past quarter has been very eventful for all of us. We did a long road trip in mid June to LA (Disneyland) and San Diego with both kids, Koki-ba went back to India in June, and then we also flew to NY two weeks back - first flight for Ishaan.

Ishaan started turning over when he was just a week shy of 5 months. And then just before turning 6 months, he started to sit without support for good amount of time. In past 2 weeks he has also started to crawl a bit - In Gaurav's words, he moves like a caterpillar - goes forward a bit and then gets back on his tummy and then goes forward again. We also started solid foods (rice and oat cereal) for him at 4.5 months and veggies just over this past weekend. He demands lot of attention and likes being carried around. If you put him down, he starts crying. He is very active and gets very restless easily. He likes to put everything in his mouth - almost seems like he will start teething soon.

Kavya is also growing up fast. She is learning to read and write. She can also identify all the car brands (Toyota, Honda, .. and more than 20 others ...) through their symbols. She likes to play and take care of Ishaan, but she still has some jealousy issues. She also does not like to share her toys and books with Ishaan - she would shout "No, don't touch.. that is mine, bhaiyu' :) Her English has improved a lot. For more than half of times, she now speaks in English and we have to remind her to speak in Gujarati. She had a blast at her first disneyland visit and at grand parents house in NY.

Looking back, it seems like Kavya was much easier to handle than Ishaan at this age:)

Here are some of their pics :

Kavya : School dilemma

Kavya has been going to Bright Horizons, which is like a school as well as day care since Sept 2008. She started out with only 2 days a week, then we increased it to 3 days a week in November and then 5 days starting April 2009. She took few months to adjust and get used to the school. Now she also has a good friend, Keya Shah, that she usually hangs out with.

We had planned to start her with Challenger school which has more academic focus from Aug 24 2009. We were determined because we were thinking that she is smart and so she needs more academic challenges than what Bright Horizons offers and besides, since we have been brought up with academic focus, that's bound to affect our thought process. Also, at Bright Horizons, she spends about 2-3 hours playing outside everyday (even in winters) that we did not like too much due to weather/health issues and also it came across as lack of academic activities.

Ever since we told her teachers at Bright Horizons that Kavya will be moving to Challenger in August, they had been suggesting that we reconsider our decision and that change is hard on kids and that Kavya is comfortable at Bright Horizon. But so far that did not affect our decision.

This week we got a letter from Challenger that the first month fees are due by August 3rd and then the reality sank in. We are seriously reconsidering if this is the right thing for Kavya as well as us at this time . Kavya and I went to Challenger yesterday to check it out again and I also wanted to see if Kavya likes it. She liked it but said that she wants to go there after she gets little bigger :)

Here are some of the thinking points :

As her teacher had mentioned, she is very well adjusted to the routine and place at Bright Horizons. Also, it took her so long time to get used to there. So, is she really ready for a change? Will she adjust to Challenger ? What if she takes such a long time again? Can we handle that struggle and resistance at this time with little Ishaan in the picture? Would it be better to let her spend one more year at Bright Horizon and let her get more matured and develop more understanding before making the move? Should we just let her enjoy as a kid before throwing her in the academic pressures?

Other minor point is also that they offer lunch at Bright Horizons, but at Challenger, I will have the added task of packing her lunch every morning. Do we really want to add more work in the fully-packed morning schedule at this time ?

Although not the most important thing, but Challenger will be overall about 300$ per month more expensive than Bright Horizons considering the flat fee difference plus the added tax benefit we get for Bright Horizons since it falls in day care category.

We are still discussing and reconsidering, but leaning more towards letting Kavya continue in Bright Horizons for another year. We will loose the $320 application fee + deposit at Challenger, but that's not a big deal at this time.

Any Thoughts? Suggestions? Comments?

Milestone : Ishaan has started 'crawling'

Starting this week, Ishaan has begun 'crawling'. He is not exactly crawling, but he moves a little using his belly, hands and legs and then rests on his belly and then moves again. Gaurav says he is moving like a caterpillar :).

Kavya is very possessive of her things and doesn't like it when Ishaan touches them. So, I can only imagine what will happen when Ishaan gets better at crawling and is fully mobile!! Oh.. the fun has just started :) ..

Milestone : Ishaan has started to sit up

Today, Ishaan has started to sit up without support. He can sit up for couple of minutes at a stretch and then he would either put his hands down for support or would just tumble down on the bed/carpet. Its so much fun to watch him achieve these milestones..