Baby Bhatt Blog

Santa Claus Came to Town (to Clarendon)

2009-12-14T21:43:00.002-05:00

Trick or Treat?!

2009-11-01T21:36:00.004-05:00

Wow - I barely recall something about a cow costume last year but I'm not sure there is ever a way I will forget this year's Halloween festivities galore! Check out my ghoulish schedule!

Saturday, October 24th - Mia and crew came over to carve pumpkins at my house! Okay - that orange gunk inside was DIGUSTING. I was happy helping Poorni Aunty pick pumpkin seeds after everyone else stuck their hands in that yucky orange pit of gooeyness.

Sunday, October 25th - Mommy and I joined 2,000 other kids and doggies galore for the Del Ray Kids and Dogs Costume parade (apparently strollers were eligible too!) My favorite part was the lollipop the astronaut kid gave me...until Mommy took it away. I was pretty much ready to quit in the middle of the parade.

Thursday, October 29th - Nimia, Molly and I got dressed up for the costume party at the park!

Friday, October 30th - Mommy yanked me out of the house as soon as she got home from work so we could make it to the Falls Church Halloween Carnival with Mia, Ana Aunty, and Naveen Uncle. Hmmm...somehow the parents of the 200 other kids there remembered to dress them up in their costumes...not mine. We still had fun scaring Ana Aunty in the haunted house!

Saturday, October 31st AM - Woo hoo! Halloween is here! Mommy STILL forgot my costume when we spent the morning with Saajan, Ashish Uncle, and Sejal Aunty at Cox Farms. But as soon as I started going on the million slides, the costume was pretty much out of my mind.

Saturday, October 31st PM - Still going strong! And the cupcake costume that my mommy made from scratch for me finally made it's debut. Let's at least give her an A for effort! We headed into DC to go trick or treating with my pal Molly and Maddie. SO FUN! The night started with someone calling me a lampshade but everyone else in the other houses we visited had imaginations and knew I was the cutest and sweetest cupcake they had every seen! Let's be honest, though...urban trick or treating and lampshades around your waist just don't mix! At least mommy got a workout and learned her lesson about just buying a freakin costume next year. The night ended with a pumpkin full of lollipops and lots of fun!

Sunday, November 1st - Why let a little time change and month change stop us from continuing the Halloween fun? We're running on momentum now! I headed over to Ishan's house for their annual Halloween bash where the cupcake costume was barely hanging on but with the support of the Baker (mommy), Spoon (Poorni Aunty) and Fork (Ram Uncle) I was able to hold on to the costume for the first 45 minutes of the party. But then the moonbounce was screaming my name...moonboune minus lampshade = lots more fun!

Pictures to follow!

Good night. Sleep tight.

2009-10-30T22:11:00.000-04:00

I completely forgot to post this photo back over Memorial Day weekend when Ayan and crew came to visit us. What is it about this sleeping position? Please note that these photos were taken within 1 minute of the other and no manipulation had been attempted for the photo op. Waking up a sleeping baby is just so NOT worth it! But these are priceless!

We're Making Progress

2009-10-29T09:11:00.001-04:00

The "NO" has officially been replaced by the "I DON'T WANT TO".

Baa Baa Black Sheep (Ary's Version)

2009-09-28T13:57:00.002-04:00

Baa baa black sheep, have you any wool?
Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full.
One for my master, one for my dame,
One for the monkeys jumping on the bed...

Flashback, Flashforward?

2009-09-23T12:14:00.007-04:00

The title of this blog has nothing to do with the main reason I've taken time out of my precious schedule to finally blog again but we will certainly get to it later (don't wanna disappoint the 2 fans we have out there).

Our little princess got her ears pierced this past Saturday by her HarshiBa (grandmother). Now this is more of a big deal because this little girl (that her daddy proclaims is a tomboy) loves to rummage through mommy's jewelry box almost every morning. In fact, she does it almost forcefully as she looks at me quite sternly and says, "MOMMY, put it here!" pointing to the bench we have at the foot of our bed. As she rummages, she picks up one earring at a time and holds them up against her ears and softly says, "Pretty earrings." So really, could we have waited any longer? Daddy thought so. But since Daddy was having his own type of fun in Vegas, we (as in mommy, grandmas, and grandpa - pretty much the consensus) pushed forward and made Ary's dreams come true.

As she'll soon learn about the "no pain, no gain" mantra of growing up female, Ary had no clue about the pain she was about to have to endure. After first arriving at HarshiBa's clinic, HarshiBa's medical assistant treated Ary to a fun lolliop and then she even got to sit on the super high table! She was such an eager beaver as mommy carefully "colored" her ears with a marker to indicate where the whole should be. But then she got steamrolled and the flood gates opened as the needle went through. I thought, "great, there's no way she'll let us do the second ear now." 30 seconds felt like 30 minutes, until, while consoling her in my arms, I thought I should show her the "gain" she gained from her pain. We walked up to the mirror and the crying suddenly stopped as she gazed upon herself..."Mommy, pretty earrings!!!" Yup - she's a woman alright! And back we went for more! Everyone feared, surely she will associate HarshiBa with the pain but this morning as we were carrying on about our usual routine with the jewelry box, Ary pointed out her own pretty earrings to mommy and then even said, "HarshiBa gave me pretty earrings." Awwww....

Now rewind 30 minutes prior and the scene in the Bhatt household wasn't as serene and Brady-like. Ary has been going through a series of random tantrums, triggered by god-knows-what. And this morning, less than 24 hours after her last one, she gave it all she had when mommy wouldn't allow her to run around naked on the balcony. These tantrums are quite a sight. Flashback to the 80s when breakdancing entailed something called "the worm". Now flashforward and imagine an almost-two year old doing the worm, except it's on her back and she's screaming bloody murder from the deepest depths of her throat. So we've got about 3 episodes of "the worm" under our belt now taking place in the living room, hallway, and mommy's bed. More to come? I hope not.

NO!!! Any other questions?

2009-09-17T23:23:00.003-04:00

Yup - the day has come where the answer to every question, request, and plead by mommy and daddy is combatted with a big, fat NO from our little turd bucket. And of all the words in her vocabulary, it's amazing how well she articulates this 2-letter word...such simplicity with such duplicity! (Did that even make sense? It sounded good. Make sure you cite me for that quote!)

Sports Illustrated

2009-09-17T23:16:00.004-04:00

Here's your next new cover model!

Special thanks to Ana Aunty and Mia for the excellent wardrobe selection!

ABCs and 123s

2009-07-26T10:02:00.002-04:00

Ary's starting to be able to say her the first parts of her ABC's (up to D). ONE catch...she says it like this: "Apple, B, C, D" She can also count to 7. ONE catch - she ALWAYS skips 4! We'll get there soon!

Beach Bum

2009-06-14T16:21:00.002-04:00

Our little bucket recently made her third trip to the beach. Trip I-Outer Banks; Trip II-San Diego/Redondo Beach; Trip III - Back to the Banks!

So you'd think that she'd be as ready as a ____ (fill in with most appropriate context). But if you saw her you'd have thought she was a fish out of water. (Like that one? Have a better suggestion?)

Despite weeks of playing in the local sandbox, our little princess didn't want a single part of her body touching the sand at the beach. And let's not even talk about the waves caressing the shore (I swear they were pretty darn gentle!). She wanted nothing to do with any of it despite the sadness she even felt watching all her little cousins scurrying about, having a blast trudging pails of water back and forth to their sand castle, and burying one another and not being able to be a part of the fun. Poor pumpkin. So this is how the week progressed:

Sunday - Didn't see the beach. Too busy running around the giant beach house like a bat out of its cave.
Monday - Hmmm...that's an awful lot of sand Daddy. Why is there so much bathtub water? Not quite sure about this. Just hold me.
Tuesday - WHY is it SO important for me to be making full body contact with this sand? FINE, but note the complete lack of excitement in my face.

Wednesday - Yipee! Mommy is here! I'm gonna show her how cool it can be to play in the sand! I'll protect you from the waves Mommy...well, how about you carry me so it doesn't touch me and I'll protect you from up here?

Thursday - The water is my friend.
Friday - Mommy! Daddy! Watch me chase after the waves! OR you could chase me chasing after the waves.
Saturday - Of course we came to the beach to relax! We're here spending quality time as a family: Ary runs towards water. Mommy yells at Daddy that Ary is running towards water. Daddy is running after Ary. One big, happy family!

"Bye bye beach, bye bye water, bye bye rocks, bye bye birdie, bye bye..."

Little Rebel

2009-06-06T23:49:00.000-04:00

April Showers Bring Ary and Endless Flowers

2009-05-05T22:39:00.002-04:00

Webster's Dictionary

2009-04-03T14:15:00.003-04:00

In the world of Aryana...

"blum-blum" = blankie
"lulloo" = love you
"cow" = car
"cow" = cow
"soo-soo" = doggie
"night-night" = goodnight
"dhoo-dhoo" = milk
"wa-wa" = water
"pup-pup" = up
"callor" = color
"callor" = squirrel
"bum" = I hit my head but I'm not in pain.
"Aylo" = Ary
"Mollo" = Molly
"Mimi" = Nimia
"Eeeka" = Jessica
"Sha-Sha" = Esha
"baby" = BABY!!!
"hello" = HELLO!!!
"bye-bye" = BYE-BYE!!!
"socks" = SOCKS!!!
"shoes" = SHOES!!!
"key" = KEY!!!
"come on" = COME ON!!!
"low-low" = LOW (as in Flo-Rida's song LOW)

Now you're ready for a conversation with the turdbucket!

Love is in the Air

2009-03-25T08:53:00.000-04:00

There are many moments that simply melt you heart into a big pile of mush when you're a parent. There's the first time your child smiles at you, their first time saying "mama", first step (which is actually very ambiguously defined by the way), and there's another very special moment that I was recently lucky enough to experience just this morning...the first "I LOVE YOU". It happened right as I was about to leave for work so of course this moment made it exponentially harder for me to leave. Now that I've set the stage, here's how it all went down:
Me: "Bye-bye Ary!"
Ary: "Bye-byeeeeee!"
Me: "I love you..."
Ary: "I LULLUUU!"

And that's all it took to melt my heart (and even Nimia's - yes, I even have a witness)!

Not to take away from this moment but the star in Ary has also begun to emerge. As of two weeks ago she has begun taking requests for singing. But she's also good at making requests now. For example, when she claps her hands and says "Happy happy?" she has a specific song in mind that she wants you to sing...can you guess?

The Funnies

2009-03-16T14:15:00.003-04:00

Every parent likes to think their child is a brainchild but seriously, how many 15-month olds already know the difference between hot and cold at 14 months of age AND can verbalize it??? Well, there is one that I know of and she's also the cutest bucket of turd you'll ever meet! But seriously, if you give Ary something even remotely hot to eat, she'll come back with a "It's HOT?" and you just have to assure her it's not too hot and blow on it a couple of times. This has been occuring for the last couple months now, probably since she was 13 or 14 months old. You can pretty much convince her it's not too hot once you blow on the food. And then with the recent snow falls and cold weather, Ary has learned what cold means so she won't hesitate to tell you when something is also cold. I think it's brilliant.

Another thing Ary has been doing since she was about 10-11 months old is giving kisses in the air. When you say BYE to her, she'll often pucker up and put her hand to her mouth as if she's about to blow you a kiss but she never makes it quite that far. She just keeps kissing her hand.

So this weekend I tried to make some progress with the whole blow kiss thing. I puckered up and raised my hand to give it one big smooch and then held it out and started blowing the kiss towards her. But when I did that, Ary was slightly perturbed and looked at me and innocently asked, "It's hot???"

Groundhog Day

2009-03-04T11:14:00.001-05:00

Today marks another first in Ary's life...today is the day she discovered she has another companion on sunny days...her shadow! This morning after our morning routine of opening the blinds while chanting "Sunshine, sunshine, come inside. Sunshine, sunshine please don't hide," (Ary contributes with "Shun Shun"), we were changing Ary's clothes and when she raised her hand she noticed a dark figure across the room doing the same thing. She held it up again and, gawsh darn, the dark figure did it too! My brilliant daughter, after these 2 encounters figured it all out and then partied on with her shadow with waves and shakes and head bops. This was all fun and games until it dawned on me...does this mean 6 more weeks of winter?

"Sha-Sha" Galore

2009-03-03T22:03:00.002-05:00

Aryana is officially the self-appointed president of the Sha-Sha fan club. "Who is Sha-Sha" you ask? Esha is our 4 year-old neighbor who lives 2 doors down. Ary never took much notice of her until recently, UNTIL Ary was fully able to appreciate all that Esha and her home had to offer such as a fully stocked play kitchen, chalkboard, magnetic board with farm animals and an electric piano! It also doesn't hurt that Esha has recently also been annointed as a big sister to new-to-the-hood Sama. So Esha takes extra measures now to be as tender and protective of Ary now too since she's practicing to be a real big sister. And all this love and attention has also smitten Ary who now pretty much asks for "sha-sha" all day long. In fact, if you let her out of the door, she marches herself right outside Esha's house and persistently asks for "sha-sha" until you make some attempt to knock on the door. When we pull up to the neighborhood now, we try to teach Ary that we are home but she puts us in our place when we ask, "Where are we Ary?" Ary's response -"SHA-SHA!!!" and bolts straight to sha-sha's door out of her carseat.
We recently received a much welcomed snow storm and Ary had a chance to play in the snow and try to make snowmen with Sha-Sha! Check it out!

Welcome Baby Krishnamurthy!

2009-02-28T21:43:00.000-05:00

Hi Mia! I can't wait until you come over and play with me! I promise to share all my toys and even show you how to be the boss of your daddy! WELCOME!

Top Chef

2009-02-20T21:12:00.004-05:00

Chef extraordinaire...

WAIT - something isn't right...

I CAN'T WORK IN THESE CONDITIONS!

You mean you loved the dish?

Really? MARVELOUS!

Houston, We (might) Have a Problem

2009-01-30T09:36:00.005-05:00

We've reached another milestone in Ary's life - one that we dreaded would inevitably be here some day. Here's how the story goes...

I was cleaning out the refrigerator last night and, as usual, Ary was all up in my fridge business trying to figure out what yummies we have stored up for her and what containers make the most noise when banged against Daddy's brand new floors. So as Mommy was finishing up the last bit of cleaning and shutting the door, our little turd-bucket made a run for the small buttermilk container. Being that it was way too heavy for her pint-size self, she dropped the container and buttermilk came gushing out all over the very-recently cleaned fridge.
Mommy's reaction - "Oh God Ary!!!"
Ary's reaction - "GODDDDD!!!"
Ladies and gentleman, Ary has begun repeating words that she hears. So all you potty-mouths BEWARE because the censor is now officially ON.

But the funniest part of the story is that several times through the course of the evening, Ary pointed at the fridge and would say, "GOD"! Hmmmmmm...this is a bad situation on so many different levels.

One Sock Wonder

2009-01-28T10:07:00.003-05:00

It's gonna be the eighth wonder of the world when some random dude unearths that place where all those missing socks go! It's frustrating enough as an adult trying to remember where you could have potentially put that one single sock. But double that frustration level when there is a child involved who is basically now mobile enough to get into every nook and cranny of your home and potentially place a sock that she has recently learned to take off her foot by herself! She's learned to say SOCK, except it comes out of her mouth as "SHOCK" but that doesn't help because you don't know whether she's giving you a warning that she's about to take one off, or if she's trying to tell you that she knows in which crevice she has placed that missing pair. Either way, sock-making companies fear not in this unstable economy as we have definitely identified a correlation between Ary's mobility and the amount of money dedicated to buying new "shocks".

America's Next Top Model

2009-01-26T23:49:00.003-05:00

Ary's First Hair Cut

2009-01-25T22:29:00.002-05:00

So there was this great debate about Ary's hair. As you know from earlier pictures, Ary's wasn't really born with a full set of nice locks. She had a bit of the Kojak thing going early on and then blossomed into some punk Japanese hair style most recently. So we were not sure what to do with her hair. In the typical Indo tradition her grandmother thought it would be a good idea to shave her head to facilitate better, thicker, fuller hair. Heck we even heard of the urban legends from other friends. One friend's wife claimed her beautiful locks were a result of a shaved head and rub down with egg yolk. Having succumbed to Indian folklore, we felt compelled in the interest of Ary's future hair to have her head shaved.

Now, Mom wimped out so Dad had to take poor Ary to get her first haircut. Why do Dads get stuck with the hard job? It was traumatic, as three Vietnamese ladies had to tend to Ary during the balding, but they were sweet and tried to keep Ary calm. It didn't work and she bawled and bawled but in the end mission accomplished. I don't think Ary was really upset about the hair. It was the buzz and tickle from the razor that got her going. Once we were done, Ary calmed down and Dad treated her to some Cold Stone. Lets hope baldi (Ary) turns into Goldilocks and not like her uncle Badal.

Mommy's Night Out

2009-01-21T14:03:00.005-05:00

Since Mommy is kind enough to share my daily ramblings with you, I thought I would return the favor and share with you some of the fun things going on in her life. Once in a while, Mommy will leave me in Daddy's care to let her hair down and try to re-live her pre-mommy days (if she can stay awake past 11pm). So she decided to take advantage of daddy daycare this week since Sarang Kaka (uncle) was in town...along with every celebrity from the tv, movie, radio, satellite, etc. industry for the big day we've all been waiting for these last 2 months - Barack Obama's inauguration. Our 44th President and 3 million of his biggest fans were all in town to celebrate the historic milestone and Mommy wasn't about to let this opportunity to slip by - an opportunity to celebrate this auspicious occassion with any A-,B-,C-list celebrity she could find in town.

The mission commenced 2 weeks prior when she had the brilliant idea to make immediate dinner reservations at any establishment in town where one can see and be seen. She enlisted the help of another trusted celebrity stalker and diner extraordinaire, Sue Anderson. They decided the best bet would be at Cafe Milano in Georgetown so Sue began at once in securing a reservation. An attempt was made to call the restaurant and they were quickly assured that every seat in the house through the entire weekend was taken. Sue didn't take NO for an answer and went on to Plan B - OpenTable.com. Sure enough a reservation was secured and later confirmed. They were one step closer to settling for a Miley Cyrus or Jonas brother sighting. (But pretty much any guy in skin tight jeans could have passed for one of those bros.)

So Mommy, Sue and Sarang scoured for cabs in 19 degree weather and stiletto boots, only to be horrified by the cab driver's stories about how bad traffic was getting into the city across the bridges from Virginia. (The federal government was pretty darned determined to keep Virginians out of the district limits.) But to their surprise they landed at ground zero in less than 10 minutes and were quickly ushered to their table. The evening started to seem hopeless as they scoured the room for any Clooney, Winfrey, Hanks, Alba look-alikes. Luckily the food was yummy enough for them to put some attention towards it...until...it happened. Mommy spotted some secret-service agents roaming the room. Could it be? Obama in the midst? NO. But surely these seven foot, gargantuans were there for a reason. The sliver of hope was soon lost as mommy recalled a private party room in the back of the restaurant and figured anybody who is somebody will probably prefer to stay back there. But then the drumbeat started to roll as the crew caught wind of a small entourage heading their way from the back...and suddenly Sue was able to identify a skinny Latino man with a vivacious Latino woman. Could it be...? Was it...? YES - Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony! And the proof is right below (they did the best they could do).

The answers to all your questions are also provided below:
1) Is she just as pretty in real life? EVEN PRETTIER!
2) Who did they have dinner with? BABYFACE, HIS WIFE AND ABOUT 5 OTHER RANDOMS.
3) Were Max and Emma there? NO.
4) Is she tall? SHE'S ACTUALLY VERY PETITE AND HE WAS EVEN MORE PETITE.
5) How's the bootie? NOT AS BIG AS WE EXPECTED.

Ary, A Big Sister...

2009-01-16T12:52:00.003-05:00

Or just a fun friend? I figured this would get your attention! No - Ary is not a big sister but she certainly has been acting a lot like one with her new buddy, Molly. Molly started nanny sharing with us on December 1st of last year and she's been a delight to have around the house ever since! It took her a couple weeks to adjust to the new faces and the new surroundings (as expected) and Ary was by her side the entire time to make sure Molly was comfortable. Ary loves saying "HIIII" to a lot of people now, but really only when she gets to approach them. She won't say it if you approach her. So the minute Molly landed on our doorstep, Ary dashed over to her in her carrier and greeted her with the sweetest "HIIIII" you've ever heard. Ary is also in love with Molly's mom, Jessica. She scurries to her as soon she sees or hears her and has no hesitations about being with her. Can we say "BABYSITTER"?

Day after day, Molly and her mom are greeted with that same hi. Then Ary will proceed to pat Molly on her head. The rest of the day is comprised of very predictable cause and effect moments as summarized below:

- If Molly is crying...Ary insists on putting the pacifier in here mouth.
- If Molly is upset...Ary joins Nimia in a gentle patting of Molly's back.
- If Molly is laying on the playmat...Ary goes over and hands her a toy.
- If Molly has Ary's toy...Ary gives Molly another toy to distract her with and then sneaks away with her toy!

Too funny! And equally as sweet!

What about the moo?

2009-01-14T13:28:00.002-05:00

Those of you keeping up with the blog (and especially those of you nagging US to keep up with it) should all have sensed a theme of the bovine persuasion by now. So yes, mommy has tried to project her love of all things moo onto our little bear and turdbucket. But apparently, our child has developed a personality of her own and has begun to demonstrate her rebellious side. Last April, Ary visited the Smithsonian Natural History Museum with her cousins Nicole and Neya. Apparently, the Bhatt clan got suckered into the gift shop and Seju Foi (Aunty) was kind enough to buy each of the girls their own stuffed animal. Ary walked away (got pushed away in a stroller) with a lovely little tiger. After 5 minutes of as much enthusiasm and attention that a 6-month old's brain will allow, Ary pretty much forgot about Tiger.

Tiger resurfaced about a month ago and has been a continuous presence in our lives since then. Our child struts around the house now holding Tiger by the tail and will gently put it on the floor as she focuses on other activities such as emptying all the spoons from the dishwasher (before and after they've been cleaned) or rearranging the tupperware in the kitchen or even pooping. She then picks Tiger back up and goes about her daily activities. The cutest thing is how she holds Tiger too. Sometimes it's by the tail and other times she actually nuzzles it in her neck and leans her face to the side as if she's holding a phone on her shoulder. There have also been eyewitness accounts of the nuzzling action and head lean on the side with her babbling on the phone on the other side.

Now the sad part. Ary used to respond to the question "What does a cow say?" with a confident "MOOOOO". Now you'll either get a blank stare or a timid "mooooo". But if you ask her what a tiger says, her face lights up and you hear a confident "RAAAAARRRR!!!". (One a side note, she still sporadically responds to the duckie question with a QUACK QUACK and just started this week to say BAAAAA when you ask her about a sheep).

Her daddy teased her a little this past weekend in New York (sans Tiger) by asking her where Tiger was. Poor girl, seriously did scan the room for Tiger but then soon found something else to focus on (or destroy) at Avanee Aunty's place. We didn't bring Tiger with us.

We'll try to capture some of her more intimate moments with Tiger and post them soon on the blog.

Happy Holidays!

2008-12-25T21:15:00.000-05:00

I did! I did! I helped put up the tree!

2008-12-07T21:03:00.002-05:00

A real princess...

2008-11-22T22:31:00.000-05:00

Ary made her second trak across the US to the west coast but this time she ventured to Northern Cali instead of Southern Cali. We were a little wary of this flight since it would be the first one with her being much more mobile. To make things worse (or better?) we had to also endure a 3 hour layover in Houston in addition to the 3 hour flight from DC to Houston and 4 hour flight from Houston to San Jose. So how'd she do? TERRIFIC! So terrific that she used the layover at Houston's Intercontinental Airport as the backdrop for her first time taking more than 3 steps! In fact she took several steps and even walked in a circle! But it was short-lived as she quickly caught wind of random cookie crumbs and immediately made a bee-line for them the quickest way she knew how - crawling.

Nonetheless, Ary still shined like a superstar princess at Shivam kaka's wedding...next to the bride, of course. We also thought she would surely walk again, especially given her excitement over the beautiful payaals given to her by Usha Foi. (Payaals are little anklets with tiny jinglers.) She loved the noise with every step she took, but that still wasn't enough to get her to pitter patter on her own. Even better she used it as the perfect opportunity to drag her dada, daddy and mommy around so she could keep jingling away. Check out the pics of Ary's first wedding (not her own, of course).

An "Awwww" Moment - Happy Birthday Pooh Bear!

2008-11-03T21:33:00.001-05:00

Here's a little "AWWWWWWW" we'd like to share with you all as we reminesce on Ary's first birthday...

Happy Birthday!

2008-11-01T22:02:00.002-04:00

So there's obviously quite a bit of catching up owed to all you faithful blog readers. Please don't lose your faith in us as our biggest New Year's resolution shall be to not only catch you up on a day in the life of Ary but also try our hardest to relgiously keep up going forward in 2009. We'll have to redirect some of Ary's daddy's time from Facebook and back over to this blog. It's the least he could do for his little turdbucket/poohbear/sunshine. So you those of you reading this posting 20 years from now might be a little confused b/c I am about to do what I am notoriously now known for BACK-DATING! It's all a part of the catch-up process so deal with it (yes, you know who I'm talking to - deal with it!). Anywho - let's get to business.

Can you guys believe it? Our little turdbucket has just turned ONE!!! This makes it the one year anniversary of this little blog too! We had a fun little farm-themed bash at...guess where - a local farm! There was a slight emphasis on the bovine aspect of the farm theme as well (mommy wouldn't have planned it any other way). Mommy also showed her risky side by planning an outdoor party in November in DC. But someone was definitely on our side as we ended up with 75 degrees and clear skies for the entire day! But it seems that you can't please everyone since one person complained about drinking warm cider in a tank top and shorts.

Also, a note for all you city slickers...you can't wear stilettos to a farm no matter how close to the city it is! Just ask Kiran Aunty - she'll tell you how she learned her lesson.

You've all heard the cliche a picture's worth a thousand words so check out the pics of Ary and her pals (Joshua, Ayan, Jake, Holden, DeSea, Kayla, and Esha) playing and having fun amongst the slides, hayrides, petting zoo and pony rides!

TRICK OR TREAT???

2008-10-31T12:13:00.001-04:00

Finger-warmer?

2008-10-22T14:49:00.000-04:00

28-year old bachelor in charge of 11-month of turd-bucket! Sounds like a recipe for disaster? Well, it wasn't so bad. More info? Of course...when you have two consultants as parents, there will soon come a day when they are both required to be out of town for work. So that day has already come and gone but luckily, Ary's Nani was in town and was more than happy to watch her and spoil her for a night. But then it happened again, just last week. Luckily, we had another close family member in town but someone not necessarily as qualified as grandma - Ary's 28-year old uncle who had spent the previous weekend sampling DC's finest clubs and bars. Nonetheless, Neil was ready to accept his mission. This mission really wasn't as challenging as it sounds since I was going to be back in town by 11pm so it wasn't even an overnight stay but there was always the chance of flight delays/cancellations (anyone who's flown in the last 2 years can attest that the chances of this happening are bout 98%). We also helped him out by having Nimia stick around to put Ary to bed. So essentially, Neil was really "on-call" in case Ary woke up. Well, inevitably, she did. I got home and found Neil in her room trying desperately to rock her back to sleep but she wasn't playing. She knew who she was dealing with and figured since Neil kaka (uncle in our language) was used to late night parties, she was gonna be the guest of honor that night. Luckily, there were no tears involved, just blank stares as if she was waiting for him to get up and take her out somewhere. That's when I walked in...

So I took over turd-duty and like the pro I thought I was, I figured I would have her back down within 10 minutes. "Whatever mom!" Ary was determined not to sleep but more importantly, she was more determined, it seemed, to keep her fingers warm. What do I mean? Let me tell you...Her fingers somehow kept finding their way into my nostrils! Some of you observant ones may have noticed by now in recent pictures of our NYC trip and her cheerleading pics that Ary has discovered her nose and its cavernous characteristrics. But she's an equal opportunity nose picker. That night she couldn't have been more intrigued by my nose. If I moved my face, she leaned her body over to have full access to my nose. Then I took her into my pitch black room and tried to get her to sleep with me. Didn't work. She laid there and her fingers roamed the bed until they found my face and eventually my nose. If I moved my face, she just roamed some more and then back in the nose they went! Maybe my poor turd-bucket was cold? Maybe we'll try mittens instead of moist nostril humidity tomorrow night.

Nothing Like a Texas Girl

2008-10-15T13:23:00.009-04:00

We had round III of portraits done last week and the results are in....she's a beauty! You guys can click on the link below to access the proofs (or copy and paste into your browser). You're in for a BIG surprise!

Here's a link to the actual pics:
https://www.smilesbywire.com/home.asp?AC=LTPP0282100352JCP

You'll get a prompt to type in the customer name which is ARYONA BHATT (yes, major typo on their end).

Please ignore the cheesy background they put on some of the pics, as they try to entice us to buy them. We got suckered into buying a few but definitely not the ones with the xmas or cheesey pink background - just good 'ol fashioned pics!
Enjoy!

Big City Girl

2008-09-20T22:28:00.002-04:00

I took my first trip to the big apple this past weekend (ok, a couple weekends ago really but my mommy told me not to tell anyone that we are "back-dating")! I had so much fun eating, laughing and beating up on Ayan (see below):

He was such a good sport about it too! The last time Ayan saw me was on my turf, in DC, during the cherry blossoms. There was so much beauty surrounding him that weekend (I'm not just talking about the flowers) that he was pretty much a goner from the moment he entered city limits. So I had to make sure that even though we were on his turf this time, I was still the boss. Based on the pictures above, ya'll pretty much know...mission accomplished. Though I must admit, he did show me a good time...between the Children's Museum, incredible mac n' cheese from S'mac, banana pudding from Magnolia Bakery, indian-chinese food, cupckaes from Crumbs, and gazing at the sunset across the Manhattan skyline from Avanee Aunty's condo. Not everyone can keep up with this kind of excitement all the time, and apparently, Ayan barely did too!

You too, can experience the thrill of a fun-filled weekend with the Ayanator just by flipping though the pics here (just a sample of the fun I had!):

Nana's Visit

2008-09-15T13:36:00.002-04:00

Okay yes, we've got a lot of catching up to do. My how time flies when you're having so much fun with a little turd-bucket like Ary! But I guess the whole point of having this blog is to share those moments with you all so you can feel like you're right here growing up with our little bear! So now that I've formally apologized for the delay, I will also admit to having back-dated this entry. (Katie Lunar Landing, are you happy now?)

So Nana (Ary's maternal grandfather) was getting lonely in Texas since Nani (grandma) was visiting family in India, far far away. So he decided that this was the best opportunity for him to get own quality time with Ary and purchased a ticket to come on up. How long do you think it took for him to rush upstairs to sneak a peek at his little angel sleeping soundly in her crib? Whatever, you guessed is probably correct. So his first day with her was a weekday therefore mommy and daddy had to go to work and he got to tag along with Ary and Nimia (her nanny) on their regular Friday routine - sing-along/story-time at the library, some crawl time in the park, a quick visit to mommy's office and then home for a nap. Well, it was more like the paparrazzi was tagging along with Ary and Nimia. So the rest of the weekend was pretty much the same EXCEPT the best part was dad getting up early enough to make sure he caught a glimpse of Ary waking up! What else would you expect out of a grandparent? It was sweet but Ankur and I loved it b/c it finally gave us an opportunity to sleep in!

But there was one specific moment that topped the waking up to see Ary wake up and the papparrazzi-like behavior...It was dad's last day visiting (side story - he got to stay 2 extra stays cuz Hurricane Ike knocked out the power at home and at work in Houston)...So Ary is happily sitting in her bumbo eating her cheerios and bananas when dad pulls out his itty bitty wallet comb (which is pretty much all he needs to take care of the few strands left probably due in large part to raising me). So he pulls out the itty bitty comb and then begins to chastise me for never combing Ary's hair! Wow - you guys have seen Ary's pictures right? Well, the last photos may have dated back a month or so but that doesn't mean Ary suddenly sprouted some dreads while you weren't looking. It's still pretty much a "what you see is what you get" kind of situation. Nonetheless, we should be brushing the tiny stands she does have on her head cuz that's what Nana does. Ironically, ever since this incident, Ary has been enamoured by my hair brush when I get ready for work in the morning. And somehow, she already knows that she's supposed to use it on her head! Brain child or brain-washing by Nana?

On another note...Ary's 2 top teeth have fully grown in now! Woo-hoo! They're about a mile apart right now and only she can get away with such a look but we're up to 4 now!

MTV "Cribs"

2008-08-18T21:15:00.004-04:00

So MTV called me the other day and wanted to show off my crib...and the rest of my room! They said that people had been writing in and wondering, "What's it like to be Ary and live like Ary?" So I opened my doors to let the world in to see Ary's crib...(Don't forget to read the captions!)

The Champ's 9-Month Weigh-In

2008-08-07T22:34:00.003-04:00

So our little champed had her 9-month check-up which inevitably also means more shots - poor bear. We were also a little ancy about this visit since Ary has clearly grown a ton since her last appointment 3 months ago based on the the growing pile of onesies set aside in her closet that can no longer snap at the bottom and our achey backs from carrying her around. The process now is to set aside the itty bittys to be shipped to nani's house in Houston (a city in which storage doesn't seem to be an issue for anyone) awaiting use by baby #2 (no - we're not prego!). I digress...So we were ancy about this appointment also because at her 6-month check-up she had fallen behind the curve by only coming in at the 40th percentile for her weight. This wasn't so much a concern for me as it was for her daddy who is determined to raise a female linebacker rather than supermodel. He must not have been paying attention in his pre-med genetics courses or rather, middle school science classes, where you learn that if you share the same genetic material, your body is likely to resemble one another. So being that both her daddy and I are of small frame, why would you come to expect to have a pudgey, rolly-poly kid? I was only concerned that she was healthy and as strong as she needed to be. So of course, the nurse did her thing and the results were in:
Height - 29 3/4 inches.
Weight - 17 lbs, 6 oz.
Head Circumferance (in case anyone cares) - 17 1/4 inches.

What does all this translate to?
Head Circ - 50th%
Height - "Greater than 97th%"!!!!
Weight (drum roll...) - eek! 30th%!!!

Yeah, her daddy's gonna be perturbed not only b/c she's only in the 30th% but quite possible also because his turd appears to be taking the supermodel route rather than the linebacker route! I mean > 97th %!!! What does that mean? It means they don't know if she's at the 98th, 99th or 100th percentile since she's off the charts in her height for her age.

Poor Ary, though. This means there's gonna be a whole lot more tofu mashing and barley cereal in her immediate future. But as far as mommy-time goes (which is 4 out of the 7 days in the week anyways) Ary will continue to get to eat her favorites like mangos, bananas, and theplas!

So I purposely waited til the end for the sad part - the inevitable shots. Since the bear is crawling around now it was even harder to pin her down and still enough on the exam table. The only distraction that works - mommy's blackberry. Poor Ary just started scrolling through the urgent client emails when BAM!, her skin was punctured, her face had turned red, gasping for air and there was a bright and colorful bandage already covering the crime scenes on either side of her leg. For the first time in 3 months nothing was more important than getting a big bear hug from mommy - not even the blackberry. This lasted a whole 2 minutes until mommy flashed the blackberry in front of her and suddenly the faucet turned off and Ary was back in business.

Mommy ended up having to take her to the new cupcake shop in Georgetown right afterwards since we had both been through such a traumatic afternoon. Seriously, it was just as much to ease her pain as it was to ease my cravings! By the way, it was so yummy and probably worth the wait in lines that I hear seem to go on forever on weekends.

What's in a name?

2008-08-04T22:49:00.008-04:00

Any of you who have been friends with Ankur and I (as a couple) know that the pet names we have for each other are always evolving. I think in the last 10 years (yes, TEN YEARS) that we've now been together we've averaged about 4 names per year. We won't get into those names right since the point of this blog is to talk about Ary and some of you may have just eaten breakfast before reading this and don't want to hurl out those frozen eggo waffles. All, I want to say is that the tradition continues with Ary. Ary, meet your mom and dad! In the nine months of Ary's life, she's already had the following nicknames (in chronological order):
- BooBoo (including variations such as booboo bear and booboo-jee) - those of who have watched the Bumbo video are familiar with this now famous nickname.
- Sunshine (a name that's still stuck with her buddies Devin and Nikhil).
- Cookie (such as mommy's favorite kind - chocolate chip)
- Mamacita (including "Ary mama") (This one probably came up during a trip to one of our favorite tex-mex eateries, La Union or Los Tios) (Could also be reflective of our Texas roots?)
- Pooh-Bear (which then got shortened down to...)
- Bear (including variations such as "bear claw" for when she's angry and "bear-bear")
- Turd-bucket (daddy came up with this one, sometimes he'll defer to cuddle-bucket or just plain old "turd". Very flattering, I know)
- Pookie (slow catching on)

The most utilized ones have been Boo-Boo and Bear. Boo-boo lasted at least the first 4 months of her life. Bear has been going for at least the last 2 or 3 months and has so far been the most prominent one. We'll even call each other to check up on the bear and ask on the phone "How's the bear doing?". "The bear's got turd in her diaper, it's your turn to change it." "Bear claw won't go to sleep." And finally, "Bear-bear is the cutest bear in the whole wide world!"

Help I Have Gotten Up and I Can’t Get Back Down!

2008-08-01T23:31:00.000-04:00

So Ary has figured out a way to pull herself up on anything that can keep her standing but she has yet to master the art of sitting back down. It is entertaining watching Ary trying to figure out how to sit back to down. Generally after about 5 minutes Ary sends out her usual distress yelp…”HELP, I HAVE GOTTEN UP AND I CANT GET BACK DOWN”, just like the old lady in the those Life Alert commercials, of course in the opposite direction.

SHAMU INSPIRED

2008-07-18T15:45:00.010-04:00

There's a lot to catch you all up on...Yes, we've been bad about keeping up with the blog. But once you see how much we've had going on in the last month you might start to sympathize.
- One and a half week vacation in southern California (okay, no sympathy there).
- Visit #2 to the grandparents with 3 tex-mex meals in a 48-hour period (sympathy? maybe not)
- Ary's on the move! (now that's gotta draw some sympathy!)

So we started the whirlwind month with a trip to San Diego for my company's annual retreat followed by some time spent in L.A. with Su Aunty and Ryan Uncle (apparently Ary's namesake - A-RYAN-A) followed by some time spent in Houston with the grandparents. I'll let Ary's daddy tell you more about the vacation itself.

I'm here to tell you about Ary's inspiration during the trip. My company hosted a lunch at Sea World on the last day of the retreat. We weren't sure how worthwhile a trip to Sea World would be with an 8-month old (but Ankur seemed to make up for all the excitement Ary was lacking by demanding to see the sharks and penguins before we left while mommy sat outside each exhibit with a sleeping baby in the stroller since strollers are pretty much banned in 80% of the park!). (Note to parents planning to visit Sea World - supplement stroller with a baby carrier (i.e. Baby Bjorn)!) (But now come to think of it, the carrier is also useless if the baby is sleeping. Then you're pretty much stuck sitting outside all the fun parts of the park babysitting a stroller and sleeping baby.)

So the anticipation is building as we're awaiting Shamu's arrival. The trainers are teaching directing the audience on how to clap and cheer for Shamu. [Cheesey, inspirational music in the background.]Music speeds up and she's out of the gate! Shamu swims around the pool splashing (and pretty much drowning) the audience along the way. The audience breaks out in applause and Ary, who has pretty much only been interested in the girls' toes in the bleachers behind us this whole time, suddenly faces the front and starts to clap! It was the first time she's clapped by herself and we were lucky enough to capture it on video! Take a peek!

Turd is Mobile

2008-07-16T23:01:00.001-04:00

Crawling away

Our little turd bucket in now mobile. I have to say one of the most enjoyable things about having a baby is watching them learn, try, and do their first. Yea some rents over do the my babies “first” this or first “that” and it can be annoying but know I understand why the speak of it so much. It has been fun watching Ary bear try every break dance move to get across the room. She tried the back ward crawl trying to push with her hand; the Caterpillar as she tried using a wave like motion, and my favorite the rolling like a log to get to the other side of the room. Those were all fun watch but watching Aryana crawl and the try to pull herself up is sheer entertainment, like watching crash car bury but she is now mobile and getting into things. So its time to secure the ship before Ary gets into everything, I think I am really dreading when Ary walks.

I think Ary just discovered her hands. It’s a trip watching her wave her had and then have her looking at you like what the hell is wrong with my hand

On Your Mark, Get Set, GO!

2008-07-13T21:42:00.001-04:00

The time has come! The coffee table has been moved next to the fireplace and daddy is finally motivated to vacuum at least every other day. I've figured out how to get one knee in front of the other to make my way around the house! Yipee! My favorite spot is right next the ottoman because it helps me practice standing up and it's the perfect spot for me to play peek-a-boo with mommy in the kitchen! Sometimes I fall, though, when I get too excited and try to clap instead of holding on to the chair. I get a little sad when I crawl all the way to mommy or daddy on one side of the room but when I get there, they walk over to the other side! I guess they are busy people and cannot stay in one spot like I do. Maybe I can teach them!

California Dreaming on a Hot Summer Day

2008-07-06T19:01:00.002-04:00

California Dreaming on Hot Summer Day

Aryana got to take her first true vacation as we got a chance to head to the Left coast to enjoy San Diego and LaLa land. San Diego was its usual gorgeous self with excellent weather. The flight was long but Ary tried her best to be good as its hard for anyone one to be stuck in a seat for six hours. Aryana had a blast as she enjoyed clapping for Shamu and friends and watching daddy learn to surf. Sure her sleeping schedule was thrown off and beach sand become her favorite food but the trip was a blast and lounging around on sunny Redondo Beach with auntie Su and uncle Ryan made us contemplate leaving everything behind in DC for some beach life.

By the way we had a pleasant surprise as Aryana has a new friend, Isabella. My good friend Mauri, whom I hadn’t spoken to in about a year and half greeted us at the Santa Monica promenade with a stroller in hand and in it - his 4 month old daughter! Now talk about surprises. Ary had a blast with Bella. No celebrities were seen but Ary got enough attention from the conference goers and friends for us to feel like we were with a celebrity. Enjoy the pics....

Bye-Bye Proof!

2008-06-29T21:31:00.000-04:00

Look Who's Talking!

2008-06-13T22:13:00.003-04:00

So Ary has long been babbling now for the last several weeks. In fact, the first words out of her mouth on Mother's Day were "ma-ma" but ms. sunshine had no clue why she was saying it. She's gotten through the "mama", "papa", "dada" and especially the raspberries where she sticks her tongue out and showers us all with her saliva. But guys! Today she actually said something she meant! Nimia (her nanny) was leaving for the day and did her long good-bye with Ary, continuously saying "bye-bye" when Ary suddenly says "Ba-Ba"! and even tried to wave her hand! So you're saying it's a fluke? Well, when I got home from work, mommy and princess were hanging out when I had to run to the other room to get something. So before disappearing out of sight, I looked at Ary and said "bye-bye" and Ary looked right back at me and "ba-ba"! Later we were spending some quality family time enjoying the weather in our patio when Ram uncle stopped by for a visit. On his way out he said "bye-bye" to Ary and she just stared blankly at him. BUT 5 seconds after he disappeared behind the door, she said "ba-ba"! It's such a fun milestone and we're excited to be able to share it with you all! So "ba-ba" for now and stay tuned for Ary's next shannigan!

Welcome Baby Chokshi!!!!

2008-06-12T23:21:00.001-04:00

Well, it looks like I won't be the center of attention any more but I'm happy to have to share it with you! By the way, thanks for dropping in early! You came just in time to see my second tooth coming in but, more importantly, you'll get more time to enjoy the parks, the swings and the rest of the city with me before it starts to get cold again! We're gonna have so much fun! I promise!

Chompers!

2008-06-02T23:29:00.000-04:00

My first tooth is here!!!

My Memorial Day Weekend

2008-05-24T23:18:00.001-04:00

I went to the Outer Banks in North Carolina with a fun group of friends!

Gastronomical Delights

2008-05-23T14:07:00.002-04:00

To date, I have had the opportunity to eat the following treats (in order of experience): Peas, Sweet Potato, Acorn Squash, Apple, Banana, Butternut Squash, and as recently as yesterday, pears!

My favs so far have really been peas and bananas (not necessarily together). I show my excitement to mommy and daddy by diving for the spoon. I think it scares them a little b/c they think I'll choke on the spoon since I rush towards it so fast.

They don't know this but some other folks (nani and masi-ba) have also sneaked me some other food like kichdi and mango pulp. Not yet a huge fan of these things, although I was defintely intrigued by the mango.

I also will only drink water from a spoon rather than a bottle. Hey, it's my perogative! I'll also dabble in some apple juice every couple days since I start bouncing off the walls from the sugar intake! Come join me for a drink anytime! Let's make it a HAPPY hour!

Ary's First....

2008-05-17T13:57:00.002-04:00

Today Ary got to experience something some people have never experienced in their lives....getting pooped on by a bird! Yes, poor Ary was trying to enjoy a a gorgeous day sitting next to a fountain and spitting on all the doggies walking by when BAM - she was suddenly the victim of avian gastronomical output. Yuck! It was a bit of a traumatic day as this poop attack only followed the sudden disappearance of Mr. Quackers (as seen in previous photos) while on a walk with her daddy. Daddy was even warned that Ary has a new habit of tossing things out of her stroller and not thinking twice about it. Back to back tragedies while on Daddy's watch...sad.

Twins, Panda Bear, and the Yankees

2008-04-21T22:35:00.003-04:00

What a weekend!! Aryana got to see butterflies, pandas, elephants, and seals plus cousins and uncles and aunts of the regular and great variety. It was an eventful weekend as Aryana’s older twin cousins Neya and Nicole came to visit. Neya and Niki were joined by Seju foi, masa dada, masi umma, Sachin kaka and Amee kaki. Aryana wants to thank the Hartford Bhatt clan for all the toys, clothes, and joy.

The weekend was topped off by a panda hunt and boy was it a hunt. Lets say the zoo is a zoo (tons of people+hills+heat+kids). We must have walked miles to catch a glimpse of the famous DC panda. Word to the wise start the National zoo tour at the front. Daddy made a mistake to park at the back of the zoo which resulted in a quite a hike. All through the hike I was wondering two things 1) Why the hell are the pandas, the most important attraction, at the back of the zoo? 2) Those damn pandas better show themselves or there will be a riot. Well an astute curator set me straight and that indeed the the pandas were in the front of the zoo and that I had technically parked in the back. Oh well...lesson learned. We finally got to see the panda and we can say mission successful. He even gave us an extra "treat" by dropping a big stinky one right in front us!! I would have hated to the seen the reaction on Neya and Nicole's face if no panda was to be found. Of course DC panda was nowhere as cute as the Houston Panda Bear...

Neya and Nicole also got a chance to teach their lil sis ABCs and colors. Dad, Sachin kaka, and Seju foi even got a chance to watch the Yankees get spanked at Camden. It was a fun weekend and now we need the rest of the Joshi clan to come and visit us. Did you hear that Dharti foi, Devki foi and Ram kaka?

Click below for a sweet slide show.

The Lean

2008-04-14T14:14:00.000-04:00

We had family in town last week...tons of family. So in an effort not to overwhelm Aryana with too many people in the house, we let Nimia, Aryana's nanny, work abbreviated hours and even gave her the day off on Friday. So Ary went 3 days without seeing her buddy. We never would have figured how much Ary had missed her since she was happy and cheery all weekend with her grandparents. But this morning, as soon as Ary laid eyes on Nimia....she did the LEAN for the first time ever! She got a smile as big as a rainbow and leaned waaay forward in her mommy's arms towards Nimia and even held out her arms! We're definitely reassured that Ary loves her Nimia!

April in the District

2008-04-12T08:51:00.001-04:00

April in DC is what spring break is to Cancun. Everyone and the mother shows up. Yes…the little thing called Cherry Blossom has consumed our social lives our last three weekends have been a visual and nasal (those who have allergies) enjoyment of D.C.’s Old Faithful. With the cherry blossom come the horrific crowds and limitless picture taking. Now I may sound bitter, but the truth is we enjoy the company and even more Aryana gets in social time, family time, and play time in one setting. Lets see...we had baby Ayan and family visit us, grandma, grandpa, mama (unlce), auntie, and cousins visit, and we are expecting kakis (fraternal uncle), fois (fraternal aunts), dada masa, dada masi, AND twin cousins. So as you can see April is a busy month for both Aryana and her parents, but the truth is April in DC is fun as the cold of winter goes away, the colors of spring appear, mostly significantly it is shared with people we love.

Check out the April slide show!

DON'T EAT THE LONGHORN!!!

2008-04-04T17:33:00.001-04:00

I am trying to instill some Texas Longhorn spirit into Aryana (despite the Elite Eight loss to Memphis). So I introduced her to a stuffed longhorn given to us by Purvi's colleague, Gita. She was extremely delighted when we pulled it out for the first time for her...a relief to her alum parents. In fact, she even giggled every time Bevo would stampede towards her! Unfortunately, things took a turn for the worse as she realized poor Bevo offered more than just a giggle - she tried to eat the cow…she just doesn’t understand….YOU DON’T EAT BEVO!!! (For all you veggies out there!)

One little, two little, three little fishies...

2008-04-03T09:27:00.003-04:00

Aryana is more entertaining day by day and yes it’s a cliché but not when you get to see it first hand. Bala uncle recently dropped by for a visit and gave Aryana one of the coolest toys I have seen. It’s simple a fish tank with fish toys you thrown into the tank. When you throw the fishies into the tank it makes a splash and blub-blub-blub sound followed by music. Simple but ingenious way to teach infants motor skills. Now the funny part is watching Aryana try to stick her whole head in the tank trying to follow the fishies. It’s a load of laughs and will brighten your day so watch the video.

Food Fun

2008-03-22T00:20:00.005-04:00

No one remembers the days when one moves from liquids to solids unless it happens in your senior years and our little phoo bear may not remember the day she tried something other than milk but her parents sure will.

Aryana had a chance to enjoy something other than what is produced out of a mammary gland. Our Aryana is now eating mushy solids. So far we have tried carrots, some kind of squash concoction, spinach, and a Guju staple, kichdi (how the hell do you spell it, who knows but for those of you not aware, kichdi is the Indian lentil version of chicken soup…the cure-it-all-mom special).

It is always fun watching Aryana do something new. Watching her try rice cereal for the first time was a hoot.

Now gone are the days of cleaning liquid poops…other than the occasional gastric miscue. We now live in the times of measuring log lengths and chucks along with grunt durations and other signs of intestinal exuberance. Now changing liquid diapers was pretty straight forward with minimal smell and fairly easy wipe downs. Chucks are quite different. First of all it smells, second of all it just feels weird cleaning it up. It sounds nasty and to be honest it is nasty. Ahhh the enjoyment of eating solids.

Rolling Rolling Rolling

2008-03-18T09:34:00.000-04:00

Nimia, Ary's nanny, said Ary rolled over twice all by herself from her back to her tummy!!!

The Champ Weighs In

2008-03-13T17:22:00.002-04:00

The Champ (reference to November 2007 posting) had her 4-month check-up today. She weighed in at 14 pounds and 5 ounces and a long and lean 25 inches in height!

But this appointment also included her next round of vaccination shots. I recently read a book that said that it's really bad to wake up a sleeping baby for many clinical reasons. But what happened today had to have been pure torture. Our poor Ary was very cranky throughout her visit not only b/c she hated being poked and prodded but also b/c she had to miss a nap. So as soon as Dr. G walked out for a but Ary passed out half-naked on mommy's shoulder. Poor pooh-bear! Then Dr. G walked back in...with needles in hand. I gently laid Ary on the exam table and she was still passed out. What happened next was one of the cruelest things I've had to witness in my life...we didn't JUST wake her up...we jolted her awake with the prick of THREE needles back to back! MY GOODNESS - it hurts me just thinking about it.

Another FIRST

2008-03-11T16:29:00.002-04:00

Ary rolled over from her tummy to her back for the very first time yesterday! Luckily, it was encouraged so it wasn't any sort of scary surprise and she was far, far away from the edge of the bed. I jumped up and down and screamed in joy...I also think this must be the first of many times she will be incredibly embarrassed to be associated to her mommy.

Part Deux

2008-03-01T21:47:00.005-05:00

Aryana's on a roll. We had another poopie episode in the tub but this time it was on daddy's watch. He quickly called in for back-up but not more than 2 minutes had passed after mommy cleaned up the mess that she presented her daddy with another gift. Granted it had been more than 4 days since her last BM so we had been praying to the dookie gods for a BM and they answered our prayers. All this and we still think she's the cutest thing that's graced our lives! On another note, Ary got to sit in her Bumbo chair for the first time! Check out this video of her experience sitting up by herself for the first time. (I'm still trying to figure out how the heck to post the video on here and tech support (aka Uncle Richard) was too cranky to explain it to me yesterday. If you REALLY wanna see the video RIGHT NOW, you can click on the DAY IN THE LIFE OF ARY album and it's in there).

Ary's Playdate II

2008-03-01T11:48:00.000-05:00

Ary woke up one morning and decided she wanted to play dress-up with her buddy, Mrs. Moo.

You can check out more pics from her fun-filled dress-up date in her album - A Day in the Life of Ary!

Another FIRST

2008-02-27T09:40:00.004-05:00

Princess Aryana is now into multi-tasking. While soaking in her baby tub last night, she decided to also take a poopie. Nuff said - no details necessary.

I guess the dookie chair is a thing of the past now. Sorry guys - no pictures to share with you for this one.

Graduation Day

2008-02-24T13:25:00.001-05:00

Yipee! Ary has graduated to size 2 diapers! Of course, she has her growth spurt 3 days after mommy and daddy buy a 108-count pack of size 1 diapers. If you all know her daddy, you know that he's gonna make those size 1s fit until every last one of the 108 have been used.

The Dookie Chair and Other Habits

2008-02-20T21:20:00.002-05:00

Ary is certainly growing into her own these days as she is slowly developing her own patterns and habits. A couple of interesting ones to note...Ary has a bouncer chair that we put her in whenever she's hanging out in our room and also sits in it when we take her into the bathroom for a little steam since the heater is constantly running our home these days. Nothing special about the chair except that it is slightly reclined and has some toys hanging from above to keep her entertained. But somehow or another Ary ALWAYS poopies when she sits in the chair! A little bit of grunting and some sneaky smiles later you lift her up and inevitably the diaper has been filled with poop. You gotta love the dookie chair!

Another milestone in Ary's life....she's found the thumb! Yes sir, the thumb seems to be the best thing that's happened in her life since sliced bread (and the dookie chair, of course). We knew it was inevitable when she started shoving her fist in her mouth a a couple of weeks ago. In that time, the middle and index fingers replaced the fist and this week she finally singled out the thumb. Man - you should see her go at it too no matter how hard we try to take it out of her mouth. As bad of a habit as it is...she does look adorable!

Speaking of milestones....Ary saw her first rainbow yesterday!!! She also spent her first day alone (half day) with her new nanny, Nimia. Ary has now spent 4 half days with Nimia and today she even gave her a big fat smile when Nimia arrived. I guess mommy really has the all-clear now to go back to work. Too bad for her.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!

2008-02-14T18:13:00.007-05:00

Hugs and Kisses from Aryana!

Aryana's Playdate

2008-02-11T23:20:00.000-05:00

Aryana's Newest Friends

2008-02-11T21:57:00.000-05:00

Aryana has started spending much more quality time these days with some of her favorite friends, Ms. Duckie and Mr. Moo. What do YOU think Ary and Ms. Duckie were discussing?

Ary's First Ski Trip

2008-01-28T22:28:00.001-05:00

Our little poo-bear went on her first ski trip this past weekend. Although the closest she got to the slopes was from the view on the deck of our awesome cabin.

Yes, Aryana went on her very first ski trip. This past weekend we packed up Aryana and her belongings (which was a lot) and headed for Wintergreen ski resort in western Virginia. Aryana, along with 15 others had a chance to enjoy some good company, good food, and some decent skiing.

Now Wintergreen will never be mistaken for Vail but the house we rented was unbelievable. It was a brand new ski lodge built at the edge of the resort. A 5 bedroom lodge with kitchen and game room on bottom floors and large living room with a decked out kitchen on the main floor. To top it off we had a our own mini media room with fire place. Now that’s the way to enjoy vacation….too bad it was only for one night.

Aryana didn’t get to enjoy any skiing but dad got to enjoy a bit of the Wintergreen slopes. The best part was of the trip was the company that joined Aryana on the trip. We enjoyed a night of fun with some down home dinner, poker, and a bit drinking.

Aryana took in as much as she could with all the people but in the end she pooped out for night of rest as mom and dad enjoyed some R&R with good friends.

Family Portraits

2008-01-24T23:55:00.000-05:00

Well, we made it through the first round of family portraits - barely. Ary's face summarizes the entire experience in which she cried, wailed, changed clothes, and chugged down a bottle of milk in a single one-hour session.

Thank You!

2008-01-23T18:21:00.000-05:00

Ary has officially stolen the title from Princess Di...we've got the real "people's princess" right here. Aryana has gotten so many wonderful gifts from family and friends alike. And of course if it's not for her birth or Christmas, then it's for her 2nd month birthday, first fart or "just because" ...any excuse to spoil our little Miss Sunshine. We want to thank everyone for all the wonderful gifts from the novelty clothes to the handmade blankies and want to show you that Ary is definitely having fun with them all!

Makes her mommy proud...

And, of course, her daddy...

Keeping up with the Joneses

2008-01-18T00:14:00.000-05:00

So the grandparental units are pushing us to get a webcam so they can see me and Ankur and how quickly I'm graying and he's losing hair. No, not really. They want coo all over Sunshine Ary and adore her from afar. Someone suggested the Logitech 9000. Any other suggestions from anyone out there on any good webcams?

Aryana also welcomes comments from all of you on all her other postings she's left for you!

Little Miss Sunshine

2008-01-16T21:38:00.000-05:00

Aryana has already been missing all the friends she made on her trip to Houston. We think she made more friends in the two weeks we were there than some people make in a lifetime. Where shall we start? You guys already know about her "friendship" with Joshie-poo. I think the photos say it all. But there were so many others she also connected with...

She made have made the biggest impression on two little mun-chi-chi's named Devin and Nikhil. Devin and Nikhil arrived right about when she was waking up from her nap and so she wasn't the happiest baby on the block just yet. But who can hold back a smile when you've got two of the most handsome faces staring down at you and calling you SUNSHINE within 5 minutes of meeting you!

Aryana also got to meet Dylan and Shreya on that same day. Dylan also made quite an impression on her, especially right after this 3 year old told me that he was saving the change he was playing with to buy himself a new car! Shreya also intrigued our little Ary but she's going to have to work her way towards being able to keep up with that little busy body!

Ary also had a blast during her holiday gift exchange party with Ally, Nate, Lauren, Megan and Joshua. Ally and Lauren (the big girls) took turns making sure Ary was sleeping soundly in the corner of the dining room. Nate was too busy making "snow" angels in all the shredded up wrapping paper. And Megan was also a little distracted by Joshua.

Ary also had a little impromptu dinner with Jayden on New Year's Eve at her mommy's favorite texmex hotspot - Chuy's! Jayden showed off his bottle holding skills while Ary showed off her milk chugging skills. Unfortunately (or fortunately) she slept through the ball drop moment and the dozens of firecrackers going off at Manish Uncle's house. At least her new friends Rohan, Sitara and Umber got to enjoy them.

Check out all the holiday fun she had with her new buddies on the "Aryana and Friends" album!

Don't Mess With Texas

2008-01-07T17:06:00.000-05:00

Aryana made the most of all the culinary indulgences that Texas has to offer (i.e. Chuy's, Los Cucos, bubble tea, Benjy's, and the best of them all -grandma's home cooking!). In the two weeks we spent in Houston, Aryana gained 1 pound and even grew 2 inches! She now weighs 11 pounds and stands (lays) a proud 23 1/4 inches! That puts her in the 55th percentile for her weight and 80th percentile for her height. America's Top Model might have another contender in the running very very soon!

Aryana Wishes Everyone a Happy New Year!

2008-01-01T00:14:00.000-05:00

May all your troubles last as long as your New Year's resolutions!

We'll Always Have Houston

2007-12-27T00:42:00.000-05:00

On my first trip to to Houston I left an impression on a young boy named Joshua (or Panda Bear as my mommy and daddy like to call him). The first night was special as Joshua and I subtly flirted with a farting competition. I think we’d make a great pair since his were loud but not stinky and mine were silent but deadly. What fun it was! Then I decided to stop by his place again so we could hang out and chill but I also had a strategy in mind….I slept the entire time I was there! Joshie put on his “A” game but I refused to budge as he danced, sang, and farted to his heart’s content.

I heard that playing hard-to-get is the best way to attract a guy (my mommy said that’s what she had to do with my daddy). Then I discreetly slipped off a mitten on my way out the door so Joshie would have no choice but to call me back over to retrieve it. It worked! Even with a little competition from Megan, I was still back there again a week later and Josh didn’t know what hit him!

My plan worked so well that Joshie gave me a surprise visit to bid me farewell on my last day in Houston and I even happened to have been wearing one of the outfits he gave me for Christmas!

Splish Splash I Was Takin A Bath….

2007-12-10T20:22:00.000-05:00

Everyone says that in the first few months of life, babies are still trying to figure out their likes and dislikes. Well, Ms. Aryana (or “Ms. Virginia”, as her grandma likes to call her) has definitely let it be known how much she loves her baths. There is no better way to hit the mute switch during fussy time than by dunking our little princess in a tub full of water. But let me clarify – dunking isn’t enough. She sits and chills in her little baby tub (or any other accumulation of water) like a rap star in a jacuzzi in a music video. She doesn’t cry, she doesn’t laugh, she doesn’t talk – she just chills and ponders life. I’m sure the serenity comes from her reminiscing to her days inside the womb but it’ll be fun to have a water baby too with all trips her mommy and daddy plan love to take to beachy places! Hopefully we’re not jinxing ourselves right now…

Aryana's First Snow

2007-12-05T22:21:00.000-05:00

Ary got to experience her first snow with her grandma. Do you think her face is suggesting that she might not be a snow bunny? Maybe she's just thinking about it...

My First Thanksgiving

2007-11-26T03:16:00.000-05:00

So I had my first Thanksgiving and I had so many guests come to visit me. I had my whole family visit me. My dad was so worried where everyone would stay, but everyone found a spot with the young uncles sharing the downstairs living room of all places.

I heard my grandparents and uncles had a great time while they were here. They went to Great Falls without me but I got them to stay home most of the time to have gradma’s home cooking. We had the traditional Italian meal of stuffed shells for Thanksgiving but the best was when we had pav bhaji (traditional Indian street fair). It was yummy, as I had it second hand from mommy.

Well, I hope that everyone had a good time during Thanksgiving. Thanks to my dear Uncle Neil for all the Texas gear, even though they lost. Hookem Horns!!

Daddy's New Toy

2007-11-18T02:39:00.000-05:00

Ok, they say having a baby is an excuse to buy anything and everything and from what I have seen from Purvi there is no reason to doubt this notion. They call it nesting; I call it an excuse to do what every women luvs…shopping. Lets see.... we splurged on new furniture when we really didn’t need to, we went all out on the baby gear, crib, clothes, stroller, ect. Purvi even bought an expensive rug when she very well knew it would be ground zero for the future toy room.

Well I can say Aryana has also given me an excuse to splurge. Yea the idea of buying a new car is cool, the need for new camcorder in nice, but I had to get myself one of those semi-professional cameras. You've seen all my great work on my rinky dink camera but with a new super duper mega pixel camera it would be like giving Michael Angelo the Sistine Chapel to paint. Yea the price tag was high and normally when I buy any electronic gadget I do my due diligence and it takes a few months for me to make the purchase. It was an impulse buy and I simply justified it by the fact that my daughter needed her precious memories captured by an expensive digital SLR camera and anything lesser would be criminal. So I took the plunge and plop down a grand for a camera justified by the birth of Aryana. Here are a few samples below of my new wicked cool Canon Rebel Xti compliments of Ram’s Costco card and Aryana’s beautiful mug.

In the end the truth is that photography is one of my favorite past times….lucky for y'all.

The Champ

2007-11-16T09:18:00.000-05:00

The Champ weighing 8.5 lbs and 23 inches ready to contend against any willing baby this side of the Mississippi. "I pity the fool"

"Now you dont want to mess with my left hook".

Yes this something only a daddy could blog but the pictures were too funny not to comment on.

Fall Fun

2007-11-13T20:38:00.000-05:00

One of the best things about Norther Virginia is the fact you get to see the four seasons in full. That’s not something we get down in Texas. Seeing the fall color in full bloom is one my favorite times of the year even better than a cherry blossom filled spring.

With Aryana being a fall baby we had to take opportunity of the fall foliage for some fun pictures. We even got a visit from scary Kiran auntie and sporty Paul uncle. Though the likelihood of Kiran scaring poor Aryana was high we found that Aryana had a liking for the strange and macabe. Now one of the positives of Kiran auntie visiting is that we are always promised a baking treat from Paul uncle. This trip was no exception with Paul uncle making one of hit most splendous creations. Yes, Ary has her very own Emeril with uncle Paul and Zsa Zsa Gabor, with Kiran aunite. Aryana would like to give a big thanks to Kiran auntie and Paul uncle for visiting her.

Learning to do the yucky stuff and other thoughts

2007-11-13T09:01:00.000-05:00

Baby Aryana is doing well. The past two weeks she been slowly breaking out of her every three hour pattern where she eats, poops, and sleep. We now get to enjoy a few more extra minutes and even a hour here or there of play time. Now play time consist of looking around, a few grunts, and an occasion involuntary smile (reflex). It also means much less sleep for mom and dad but we get by.

Baby Aryana did get to take a few trips around the block. Her first stroller ride was in week 2. Yea I think that was a bit early to be out but dad was away and mom took the opportunity since the weather snuck up to 75 degree. Not bad for a Virginia fall. From all accounts mom enjoyed it immensely and baby just slept. For all those who are reading the blog when was the first time you took your baby out? (and trips to the doctor dont count).

So lets go through the count of things I said I would never do. First was diaper changing....well I knew I would do it but not to this extent. I have become a champ at it. I can do a change in about 28 seconds flat and that includes a good cleaning. Secondly, I never thought I would become a contender in the nose cleaning job. Yea, they call me the cleaner. Give me a bottle of saline solution and one of those bulby things and I can clean her up in lickidy split. Its a riot doing it as some times you gotta get Aryana in a straight jacket as to avoid flailing arms. Let see what else is there....ahh getting pooped on or my favorite, peed on is no longer in the gross out territory. Oh there are countless other things mom and I do, that we never thought we would get used to. Its just part of a day's work.

Happy Diwali from Aryana!

2007-11-09T23:16:00.000-05:00

Aryana wants to wish everyone a happy Diwali and best wishes for the new year!

Poop, eat, sleep, more poop

2007-11-08T23:05:00.000-05:00

So it’s been about week since Aryana was born and I have learned quite a bit of things I thought I would never have interest in I never thought color of poop would mean much to me (yellow is for breast milk and green for formula). I never thought I would care if breast milk was better than formula. I never thought I would be so interested in the various techniques of swaddling. There are a ton more that I could go through.

Now the experts say that newborns don’t have a pattern and you cant set a schedule until they are bit older but I can tell you the order of Aryana’s daily activities.. They are as follows. It starts with a whimper then a full cry. She is now announced that she is awake. Then she grabs a bite to eat. It could be a double order topped off with a bottle when the supply runs low. Then a nice poop to follow. It can happen during feeding of after. It can even happen both during feeding and after. This followed by a three minute burping session. Then it’s a few minutes to give the adults a little precious playtime with waken Aryana. That is then followed by sleep. This pattern tends to repeat itself every 3 to 4 hours depending on how tired she is.

Unfortunately you cant set a clock to the pattern but at least we are now accustomed to the pattern. Now the first few days it was a Chinese fire drill every time the pattern started but we go the system down by the 3^rd day at home. I had enough and I had to set a schedule so there wasn’t always three people tending to Aryana’s needs. Its though having eager grandma, tired mom, and blurry eyed dad scurrying around when Aryana awakens for a meal. So we decided Grandma took care of the late evening shift so dad and mom could sleep. Mom would take care of nighttime shift and I would take care of morning shift. This ensured that everyone got sleep and that someone was attentive for Aryana’s daytime needs.

So there you have it, poop, eat, more poop, sleep. Its simple thus far and I know it will get more complicated but I wouldn’t change it for the world.

I have fallen in love all over again.

2007-11-06T22:56:00.000-05:00

What can I say, but that I have fallen in love all over again. It’s hard to explain and I never got it when my other friends told me the same after they had their children but it just hits you. I can literally sit there for hours and stare at Aryana. It’s amazing and it gives me an unbelievable escape from all the stress that may be bearing down on me that day. Work, finances, to dos...who the hell cares when you with Aryana. Come on, look at this picture and tell me how can you not fall in love with something as precious as this?

So we have a name!

2007-11-05T22:29:00.000-05:00

Ok most of those who know me, know that when it comes to making big decisions I always take my time. Well the naming of our child was no different. Now there is a lot of thought into the naming of your first born. You cant screw this one up. We had been kicking around a ton of names but started to settle on 4 as the due date approached.

Now one thing I have learned through this process is that everyone has an opinion, so no matter what you maybe kicking around in your mind its not worth asking friends and family. You will get every opinion under the sun and no matter what you choose someone will not like it. Plus you get all those unsolicited suggestions. So for all the newbies out there keep the name ideas between you and your spouse until the grand unveiling.

We both wanted something that was modern but traditional at the same time. It had to be true to our Indian roots but be easy enough to work in our modern culture. For those of you don't know, you generally don't want to leave the hospital without a name on the birth certificate. You are asking for a world of hurt trying to change the name after you leave the hospital and the birth certificate is cut.

Ever since you were a kid you have an idea what the name of your child will be. We all have grand visions but thats before you have to name the child with your spouse involved. So the traditional names I always thought I would name my kid were pretty much thrown out. It came down to the wire. When you are in the hospital the first day they actually send someone from birth certificate office to get the name. We had to fight her off, our parents, pesky friends, and ever calling brothers. Our choice came down to a game time decision before Baby Girl Bhatt's discharge. After much thought and deliberation we settled on Aryana.

Aryana means "of noble family", nobility, or noble in Sanskrit. Now I am a son of a Raj and that does make me in someway of noble blood. Enough kidding around...Aryana already has some great built in nicknames...Ary, Arya, Ana, and my favorite Aru. So there you have it Baby Girl Bhatt is now Aryana, amongst many other nicknames I have given her.

Nothing Like Grandmas

2007-11-03T22:53:00.000-04:00

Enough cant be said when family comes to visit and its even better when there is a special occasion. Baby Girl Bhatt was lucky enough to have two grandmas visit on her birthday. Bharti dadi was there to witness baby's birth and then Baby Girl Bhatt was lucky enough to have Dr. dadi give here a personal check up.

Bharti dadi was there to help us out when it counted. We have been enjoying her home cooking all week and her loving hand preping the house for our new addition. She was also there to help Purvi out during labor.

Dr. Ba was on the move once she got the news of Purvi's contractions at 1:30 AM. She and Dada not only got her tickets booked but she ran to the office in the middle of the night (3AM) to get medicine and formula the baby. To top all of this off she went to the hospital to check on 4 newborns (5AM) before getting on to the 7AM flight to DC. Now thats dedication.

What can you say....two grandmas equals double the love.

She's here!!

2007-11-03T17:00:00.000-04:00

So the wait is finally over for us! One word...AMAZING!! I am not one to get emotional but when I saw her squirm out, something just overcame me. We will chat later about this but lets get the statistics out of the way. Baby Girl Bhatt was born November 3, 2007 at 9:21AM. She was 7.7 lbs and a nice height of 20 1/4 inches. All the vitals were good and she came out a screamer.

Mama is doing good. No complications, a little sore and tired but she is all smiles at this points. For her first delivery it was spot on. So here is the story, we conceived on the night of....wait we don't want to start that early. Lets start with the evening of November 2nd. November 2nd was the due date and for the past week nothing was happening. We had been visiting the doctor every week for the past three weeks and just went to see her on Wednesday. The doc told us nothing was happening...nada...so we began to plan for a Nov. 12 induction. Since we had some time, we decided to attend a company bowling event at Lucky Strikes. Why not? We had no expectation of baby arriving that day and both us needed to use up every last opportunity to get out.

Bowling went well...no, mama did not bowl but I did and not really well. I was trying a new technique but thats another story. So we get home from the event looking forward toward a relaxing evening and some good sleep. Mama had not been sleeping well at all that week and when she doesn't get sleep, I don't get to sleep. So we were ready for some good down time.

Well mama is asleep and I am fading away around when around 1:30 AM when I am shaken awake by mama. The funny thing was that mama experienced something before we went to sleep and we did call the doctor. Doc told us not to worry, so we didn't and we started planning out the weekend. Mama wanted to do Eastern Market on Saturday and I was not to sure about idea and neither was her grandma. We even got a call from grandma Bhatt to see how things were going that evening. Maybe it was her doctor intuition. So back to 1:30....I am now awake and Purvi is asking me to pull her out of the bed to get her to the bathroom. Right when I got her to the bathroom she starts feeling contractions.

At this point I wasn't sure what to do. The funny thing is that we took birthing class a month ago and they had given us a little study guide. Purvi tells me to start reading the guide and figure out what to do. The weird thing is that I open the guide and there is this section on what mama should do during the initial onset of contractions. There were things like bake a casserole, clean the closet, wash the baby clothes. So I told her to think about baking some brownies. Lets say that didn't go over very well. In the end the manual was not really helpful.

We now start to time the contractions and they area bout 5 to 6 minutes apart. She also starts experiencing a bit of wetness and we all now what that means. So we call the OB\GYN. She says get to the hospital now. The abnormal thing is that I remained calm. I always imagined that I would be a bit more panicked. I go wake up grandma, get myself dressed, and make sure the hospital bag is ready to go. At this point I was scared about this being a false alarm and that we would be sent home. Now I have heard some horror stories where you go to the hospital only either to come back in a few hours or even worse where you end up delivering at home. The last thing I wanted was a drawn out process where your sitting around biting your nails.

So we get to the hospital at 2:30. Get situated in the delivery room. The rooms were nice and big...who the heck puts wooden floors in a delivery room, but it was nice. Our nurse gave mama the once over and the waiting began. The OB\GYN came by at 3AM to give the official announcement. Yep...mama was on tract for delivery and she was dilated +4. We would now begin the official watch. So grandma and I tried to sleep while mama was dealing with the pain. Of course we were waiting for the magic number 10+ to commence delivery. The next few hours were a jumble mess as I was in and out of sleep, all I know was that mama was in pain....nurse came by and checked and Purvi got her wish of an epidural. With the epidural executed, we waited, went through a shift change, and our nurse Sandy left and nurse Wandra come in. Now nurse Wandra was great but she was imposing...exactly what we needed just in case we got panicked. We got the all system go signal around 8:30 from our OB\GYN. Now this OB\GYN was the OB\GYN we have been seeing the past month and she has been great. We thought it was all go with her but unfortunately she had been working a 48 hour shift and was spent so she handed us to Dr. Martinez. Now being a newbie at this, I was thinking this isn't a good idea, switching doctors before you begin the procedure. My preference was that mama work with someone she has been seeing the last nine months instead of a new guy. Well we were lucky! Dr. Martinez was solid with a some excellent bedside manners.

So we were told there would be anywhere from 3 hours to 12 hours of pushing. So the pushing started and what do you know 2o minutes into it the our nurse starts calling in the doc. You know its close when the doctor is called in. So the hard part started and it was interesting. Its was me, grandma, nurse all trying to coach mama. The doctor would have none of it. It was pretty funny sight, it was like he stopped the whole process and told mama to look at him and only the nurse to talk. Mama was the same way but this was all due to the pain and she had some harsh word for grandma and me. Moral to the story, let the pros do their job and leave mama alone when she is pushing.

So only after about 45 minutes of pushing we start to see the head and it was only a matter of time before baby girl Bhatt was born. I will leave out the medical details and what not but at 9:21 AM our bundle of mucus and blood arrived. And as as crazy it sounds I was in love. Like many before have told me, you cant describe the feeling until it happens to you.

Baby girl Bhatt was put under the warmer, similar how they keep the fries warm at McDonald, and mama was being attended to. After all was said and done mama was moved to a new room, baby went to nursery for a once over. You want to make sure there aren't any extra digits or a funky heartbeat. I went straight to the airport to pick grandma Bhatt. And there you have it, our brief synopsis of our adventurous Saturday. Mama and I have now started a new phase in our lives and one that we cant wait to share with our friends and family. Now its time to figure out a name for our baby girl....how about Ankurita?

- ARB