Kavya (4 years and 8 months) and Ishaan (19 months)

Hello !

Here I am with updates about Kavya (4 yrs and 8 months) and Ishaan(19 months). I know its been a while since the last update, but hey - better late than never :)

Past few months have been very busy with varieties of different activities.

Kavya is growing taller and learning lots of new things. She participated in her first public speaking competition in April. She talked about the recipe for cup cakes:). She also had her first ever dance performance on the stage on the song "All Izz Well" in May. She showed us how brave and fearless she is through her first indoor flying experience at iFly. She had her first ever graduation experience (Pre-K) in June too. Besides that, we went cherry picking in June, camping @ Big Basin during July 4th weekend, Carmel beach and Children's discovery museum in August. She enjoys biking, going to parks and library. She continues bollywood dance (currently dancing on Zoobi Doobi...) and swimming and recently she also started gymnastics. She is getting better at reading and writing in straight line. She enjoys drawing and coloring, building lego structures and watching Dora :). She changed school from Bright Horizon to Stratford since end of June 2010. She is all excited for our trip tomorrow to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

Ishaan is getting smarter and naughtier day by day. He has lots of teeth (new ones still on the way) - we have lost count now :) He gave up his bottle and drinks milk with a sippy cup since he was 16 months olds. He loves fruits (like his mom) and vegetables (like his dad). He is a good eater, but he continues to be in 2 to 5 percentile, but since his growth rate is fine - we are not worried. He is learning new words everyday and recently, he has also started saying 2 words together. Even though he is not saying full sentences, he manages to convey everything. He is getting better at shape identification. He doesn't get past A, B when we sing the alphabet song, however, sometimes, when we sing or count, he will say the next alphabet or number and surprise us. So, it seems like he knows and understands, but just doesn't sing/speak. His love for soft toys and dolls is now fading and he is getting more into stuff like cars and batteries :) One thing that we still can't understand is his fascination for the weight (whistle) that we put on the pressure cooker. He loves to hold it and play with pressure cooker. He also enjoys playing with the toy kitchen - may be he was a chef in his past life :) He enjoys bike rides with mommy and going to the park. He greets us every morning with a big broad smile - really great way to start the day !!

Here are few pictures :



Cheers,
Ami

Children's Discovery Musuem is so much fun

We visited the Children's Discovery Musuem in San Jose for the first time in February 2010. It was so much fun that we bought the annual pass hoping that we will come back often for the fun. However, it had been over 5 months since the last visit and we hadn't had a chance to visit it again.

We had read in the newsletter that they have a new section of Bob, the builder and so we had been looking forward to taking Kavya to see that. Today, Gaurav made an impromptu plan to go to the Museum. Kavya got all excited. We all got ready and decided to take the 12:26 pm Light Rail Train. Kids enjoyed the train ride and within no time, we were at the Discovery museum.

We first went to Bob, the builder section. Both Kavya and Ishaan had fun there. We then went for bubbles and water fun. After that, we explored the other areas as well. Both kids had fun. It was almost 5:00 pm and Ishaan went to sleep. Kavya didn't really want to go, but the Museum closes at 5:00. So, we headed towards the station and soon got on to the light rail and got home.

Based on this experience, even 2-4 hours can be sufficient and lots of fun at the museum. So, we need to make smaller (may it be unplanned) trips more frequently - at least while we have the annual membership :)

Here are the pictures :

Day at the Carmel beach

After spending just a few minutes at the Carmel beach with Jinansh and Priya during the July 17th weekend, we had decided that we will come back soon and spend more time there.

So, today, when Gaurav skipped his biking practice, he decided to have fun with kids and what better fun than going to the beach? Kavya was all excited. We called up few friends to see if they would like to join, but since this was a last minute plan, everyone had some other commitment/plans. But we decided to go anyways. Initially, we were planning to have lunch at the beach, but since we got little late, we had lunch at home and then left around 1:00. Reached there by 2:15 and spread the mat and laid down the sand toys. We had decided to let the kids do whatever they wanted and not scold or dictate too much. Kavya and Ishaan enjoyed playing in the sand. The weather was perfect. After some time, Kavya and Gaurav headed for the water. Although it was cold at first, Kavya soon got comfortable and she jumped with the waves. She wanted to get fully wet and since we don't go to the beach very often, we allowed her to do so. I then took Ishaan in the water. He first resisted, but then he wanted to be on his own and run around. After falling a couple of times and getting wet, I took him back and changed him. Soon, there after, Kavya and Gaurav got back and Kavya changed too. We enjoyed some light snacks and then blew bubbles and played with beach ball.

It was getting little cold. So, we decided to leave around 5:00.
Although, we only spent about 3 hours at the beach, it seemed plenty and worth while. Should definitely plan something similar more frequently. The drive back was long due to traffic jam. It took us over 2 hours to get home.. But all in all, we had a nice time at the beach.

Here are the pictures :