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 :

First camping experience with 2 kids

During July 4th long weekend, we went for camping at Big Basin with 5 other families. We were total of 17 adults and 9 kids (17 months to 8 years).

We were little skeptical about this camping trip with 2 kids at first, but since so many of our friends with kids were also going, we decided to give it a try. We left around noon on Saturday, July 3rd, had lunch at Taco Bell with few friends and then headed straight to Big Basin. It was quite a drive (very curvy and seemed long). Due to long weekend, it was very crowded. Finally, we reached our camping spot and put up tents. Then guys managed to get the BBQ going while girls prepared the stuff to be grilled. We enjoyed roasted corn, Burger with the veggie pattie from TJ along with marinated veggies and paneer. Kids enjoyed marshmallows and smores too ! One thing that kept bugging all of us was the mosquitoes. There were tons of them and despite applying mosquito repellent, they kept on biting us.

After dinner, we went for a short walk. It was getting dark, so we just sat around the fire and chatted. Guys then took off to watch the stars while girls continued to chat and watch after sleeping kids. The kids had so much fun running around, that they were were tired and fast asleep.

It got little cold at night, but was still bearable. Our tent was on a slope, so we had to be careful not to roll over. Although the night was without any incidents and no crying kids, we somehow didn't sleep very well.

Soon it was morning and we started preparing for breakfast. There were lots of stuff including crossaint, muffin, fafda-jalebi, watermelon, tea, khakra, dhokla, bataka pauva, etc. Kids continued to run around and have fun. After breakfast, we went for a short hike. By the time we came back, it was already time for check out. So, we folded tents and laid the table for sandwich lunch along with things left over from breakfast. After nice lunch, we all left for our houses with all the memories of a nice camping experience.

Will we do it again - sure.. hopefully once more during this summer - probably not at big basin though (due to those nasty mosquitoes :) )

Here are the pictures :

Biking is so much fun

Gaurav got his bike in 2008 and soon thereafter attached a child seat to it for Kavya. He and Kavya have been going for bike rides with friends since then. I was waiting for Ishaan to grow up a little so that all 4 of us can go bike riding together. So, finally this summer, I got a bike too and put another child seat at the back. So, now I ride with Ishaan and Gaurav rides with Kavya or Kavya might ride on her own bike too if it is a shorter ride.

It is so much fun. When I used to ride bike as a kid,I was always waiting to grow up and get a scooter/kinetic - never realized how much fun biking can be. Now, I grab every opportunity I get to go biking - may it just be biking to the near by park !!

Cherry Picking in Gilroy

We have been going for cherry picking at Brentwood for past 2 years and it has been lot of fun. So, we wanted to go this year as well. Mummy is visiting us and so we thought it would be a nice picnic with her.

I had heard that there is some cherry picking farm in Gilroy and so I googled it and thought of trying out the Buckley Farms in Gilroy (about 30 miles) instead of driving all the way to Brentwood (about 60 miles) this year.

We called up many friends to see if they would like to join - but for some or the other reason, they all could not. So, we decided to go all by ourselves. I made some Quesadilla for our lunch and packed up everything. We left around 11-11:30 and were there in 30-40 mins. The Buckley Farm is very near by to the Gilroy outlet mall. The farm is family owned and has a very nice setting. They had other fruit trees beside cherry as well. The apple trees had very small and cute apples :)

Mummy and Kavya were very happy and started picking cherries right away. Mummy had a different idea of what the farm and cherry trees would be like and so she was very pleasantly surprised. We soon found some shade under a nice tree and had our lunch. And then we were back to business - cherry picking !! There were lots and lots of cherries on the trees. Some of them were so low that even Ishaan could reach them and he loved it. He would pick cherries with both his hands :) Since he does not understand the concept of seed yet, he would put the entire cherry in this mouth and then when he realized that there was something hard inside, he would spit it out.

We ate lot of cherries there and came back home with 4 lbs of them. They were very sweet and it was a great experience. We will surely go back to this farm next year..

Vicinity to the Gilroy outlet is a big plus too since we can do some shopping after cherry picking (just like we did this time) :)

Here are some pictures :

Our first flying experience

Earlier this week, Mehul suggested this place in Fremont called iFly that offers an indoor skydiving experience in a vertical wind tunnel. It looked interesting and so we decided to try it out. Mehul confirmed that we could take turns and hence it was doable with kids around.

We got the appointment for today at 7:30. We had to report 45 mins earlier to get some training and also get ready with the gears. We got a group package for 5 people which offers some discount as well as free DVD. However, Tejas-Ishaani had to drop out since Tapas was not well. So, we thought Kavya could give it a try if she wanted. She was already excited to see people fly and when we asked her if she would like to do it, she was even more excited and ready.

We reached there around 6:45 and filled up the paperwork and headed upstairs. Our coach was Chris. He took us to a room for some training video and showed us some hand signals to remember. Then we headed out and got the gears : astronaut like costume, goggles, helmet and ear plugs. Priya and I were going to stay with Ishaan and Ved while Mehul, Gaurav and Kavya would go and take their turns first.We had total of 10 flights (1 min each) between the 5 of us.

Mehul was the first to go for the first 1-min flight, followed by Gaurav and then Kavya. I was super excited to see Kavya. What was funny was that she was trying to swim in the air by kicking with her legs. She was confident and no sign of fear. That's my girl ! I was a bit skeptical if she would go for 2nd flight, but to my surprise, she was all ready :)



After they finished their 2 flights each, they came out of the chamber and then it was my and Priya's turn. Priya was quite skeptical and scared. Chris suggested that she go in first and there she went and did fine. Then it was my turn. I wasn't scared, but at the same time I wasn't sure what to expect. As I went in, I felt wind blowing really hard from below. The force of the wind was good enough to lift you. There was a controller in a cabin outside the tunnel who would keep an eye on what's happening in the tunnel and control the force of wind accordingly. Chris was good at helping us control our body position. I kept my mouth open to breathe - that was a mistake. There were a couple of seconds when I felt that I was not able to breath properly due to the wind, but all-in-all it was a good experience. My second flight was much better since my mouth was closed and then Chris also helped by making me fly higher and in circles, which was quite exciting.

Overall, it was a good experience. Would I do it again ? Probably not - I would rather go for the real skydiving.

Here are pictures from our camera and Mehul's camera.

Kavya attained sea-horse level in swimming

Kavya has been going for swimming lessons at AVAC for over 1.5 years now - she started before she turned 3 because I remember Gaurav going in the water with her. She loves swimming and eagerly waits for the day when she has swim lessons. Along with having fun, she is also learning an important skill that I believe everyone should have.

Today, she attained the sea-horse level. This level means that she can do the following:
-Explore water independently
-Have face in water with eyes open
-Knows cue words
-Supported prone float with face in - 10 count
-Supported back float with roll in tummy
-Stands up from prone position unassisted
-Assisted circle swim
-Assisted bobs - at least 5 times
-Climbs out of pool unassisted
-Retrieves object from the step
-Wall walk

She also got a ribbon for this accomplishment.

We didn't even know about these different levels before she got this :)

Kavya's Pre-K Graduation

Kavya has been going to Bright Horizons day care/school since Sept 2008. She started with Pre-K I and then jumped to Pre-K III in Aug 2009 since they merged Pre-K II and Pre-K III classes.

Today, they had Graduation ceremony for the Pre-K class. The kids had been preparing songs for this day for past few days. Kavya was excited about it and had been telling me (as well as her teacher) that she is going to wear a nice dress with stockings and black shoes that day :). The ceremony was from 11 to 1. So, Gaurav and I took couple of hours off to attend the ceremony. I have never been to any of my own graduation ceremony - did not have that concept in India and then for my Master's graduation, I had already started work - so chose not to go. (I now wish it would have been a good experience if I had gone :) ) And Kavya was going to have her Pre-K graduation :)

The graduation ceremony was outside and it was little windy. The parents had all slowly gathered and were waiting for the kids to come out. And just around 11:00 am, the kids lined up and started walking towards us. They all had the graduation cap on and a garland around their neck. They were so cute and especially Kavya - she looked so pretty in her dress with that graduation cap. They all sat down on their chairs and sang the graduation songs and then the teachers called their names and they came forward to collect their diplomas..

Binduben, Harshil and Nehal joined shortly after. We took some pictures and then went into the classroom where they had set up a potluck lunch. We all had something to eat and chatted with some parents/teachers and then came back home with Kavya, Harshil and Nehal. Kavya got rest of the day off from school :)

Kavya will most likely have another Pre-K graduation next year since she is born after the cut-off date and so will be repeating Pre-K at new school next year. But in any case, this first graduation was a nice experience.

Kavya's first dance performance on stage

Kavya has been learning bollywood dance for past 2 sessions now (since end of Jan) from Gurus of Dance company.

The first session was held at Blossom Hill location (KB fitness) and was taught by Miss Rani. There were 5 kids in the class (2 others did not continue). This session was not a performance quarter meaning the kids would not perform on the stage - just in the class. Kavya enjoyed this session - especially since her friend Keya was in the class too. They danced on the 'All izz Well' song from the '3 idiots' movie. Here is the link to the video.

After the first session, I was having double thoughts if I should continue with the 2nd session..but then since it was a performance quarter, I thought of giving it a try. Gurus of Dance did not have enough enrollment at the Blossom Hill location, so they canceled the classes at that location and asked us to move to Evergreen or Milpitas location. Since the class at Milpitas location was on weekend, it was more favorable, but the location was about 17 miles away. However, Leena (Keya's mom) convinced me to go for it. So, Kavya and Keya both ended up going to the Milpitas location. This time their teacher was Miss Tejal and they were dancing on 'Ek thi Ladki' song from the movie 'Pyar Impossible'. The kids (along with the teacher) worked hard for 8 sessions (including the Grand and Tech Rehearsals)

The final performance was at the Campbell Heritage Theatre on May 8th. The dance company provided the costumes and they were so cute. Kavya's group was the first class to perform and they all were so cute. Enjoy the video :


Kavya seems to be enjoying dance. Every time she listens to either 'All izz Well' or 'Ek thi Ladki' song, she starts dance. Also, these are the only 2 songs she wants to listen in the car now :). I have already enrolled her in the next session that starts in July.