Anyway, the reason for this momentous return to blogging is as follows:  Riya went to bed on her own!  Not a big deal you say for a four year old, but consider the whole scenario before you make that call.  In the evening Neetu and I split the dinner giving/oversight duties between Riya and Isha.  After dinner Neetu took Riya upstairs to put her clothes away while I watched Isha.  I had my dinner while I was waiting for those two to get done with the folding etc.  Riya and Neetu came down to give Riya her milk and Neetu observed that she still had not had dinner.  At this point I was watching Isha and she wouldn’t let Neetu eat in peace so I suggested that “Riya why don’t you go to bed on your own tonight?”.  Neetu immediately interjected that it was fine and that she could eat afterwards, but Riya proudly stated “No mamma you eat and I’ll go to bed on my own tonight!”. 

OMG!  So we did our hugs (Riya and I do a big hug thing where she tried to squeeze the heck out of me) downstairs and she came up and went to bed. And while she is a sleep I scarcely believe it!  So there you go…the reason for the blog update.

Since I have not updated the pics on here (you should have seen all this on Facebook but in case you have not…)

Leaving Atlanta

The trip started off like a quest in LOTR (Lord Of The Rings); the company was formed of Dad, Tina, Neetu, myself, Miti, Riya and Isha.  The best part of travelling with Mr. Platinum SkyMiles Member (Dad) is that your get to cut lines everywhere and get access to the Delta SkyClub or whatever it’s called. The bad of travelling with an infant and a four year old is that you end up having a lot of bags.  We had two items each as carry-ons and with Neetu carrying Isha, it felt like I was Rambo with military gear.

The first twenty or so minutes of the flight were utter hell!  Isha was wailing and there was nothing that Neetu and I could do to make her stop. Eventually she fell asleep and that was the the last time she cried on the the entire trip to Mumbai. 

Amsterdam

It was a small layover and the only thing that need be said is that I got busted for taking pictures at the airport.  Apparently you can’t take pictures of the gates, the gate number or the people working the gates.  They made me delete them…punks. 

Mumbai

The rest of the trip was rather uneventful (or events that need not be mentioned on a blog, there are always those in my life!). 

Here are some pics from the journey to India. (Thanks Miti for taking them)

More pics as I get them from Neetu’s camera.  She has some from the AMS airport.

We’ll need to find some sort of coverage from Feb 22nd onwards until May.  Suggestions? Ideas?

Poses two, three and four are applicable to this situation.

My work week has been rather hectic as well.  While I have not been travelling, I have gone into the office each day (I normally telecommute two days a week) and have been in all day work meetings.  What could be so exciting? Installing WebSphere for Maximo in a HA cluster as a proof of concept!  Yah it’s that exciting!   It’s a new platform for us and that makes it interesting and fun, but most of you are probably thinking –nerd-. 

Riya and Isha had a normal week.  They did get to spend a lot of time with dad but I think the Wednesday night trip to Athens should have appeased the mommy time that they were both missing.  On both days that Neetu was gone the last thing Riya would ask is “When is mommy coming home?” and “Can you ask her to come to my room for a hug and a kiss when she gets back?”

Some pics from this week.

I’ll be introducing a new element to the blog (hopefully) this weekend and improve it quite soon.  More on that in a later post.  I just wanted to make you guys aware of it and build up a bit of anticipation for it (even if it’s just my dad ).

The Week in Review

Isha: This was the first full week with our new nanny who we’ve gotten to take care of Isha since Neetu’s mom is in India for the next few months.  The first few days were a bit tough, Isha has started recognizing people and so it took her a bit to adjust but it’s all good now.  Neetu’s maternal instincts kicked in early and she had a little bit of a tough time adjusting to what is essentially a stranger taking care of her baby.  The nanny is doing a great job with Isha and week one seems to have been alright.

Neetu had a lot easier time adjusting to the food the nanny has cooked up this week!  

Monday: Shahi Paneer;
Tuesday: Rotli Shak
Wednesday: Dosa!!
Thursday: Andhavo (Lunch); Normal Fare
Friday: Normal Fare (Rotli, daal, shak)

Riya had a big week; she had to get her vaccinations, four wonderful shots in the thighs.  You should have seen her walking around like an old lady because her legs were hurting.  She did really well working through the pain, having a goofy daddy that you want to chase around helps with the cause.  Of course the first thing she said when she got the shots was “MOMMMMMMMY! I want MOMMMMY”; I suppose some things will never change.

I am not sure if many of you know but Riya was in a commercial for a local indoor soccer place for kids! The commercial was filmed last year (embeded below) but the reason I bring this up here is because her daycare teacher asked me “One of the other teachers just told me that Riya was in a commercial is that true?!” How cool is that!

Snehal: It’s been a quiet week for me (I’m going to ignore the basement flooding and count that into last week).  Had a great time over dinner with some of my friends from the tennis team on Monday (Robert/Chris and their significant others).  Fine food, wine and great company are the best of things.  Speaking of wine, Sonia has introduced the family into a new tradition of having a glass of red with dinner and we have obliged for the most part!  Having Sonia around is a lot of fun, she like spicy food, desserts and helps make fun of Neetu at times; I couldn’t ask more from a sister-in-law.

That’s all for now..wow that was fun and hopefully there will be one next Friday and not a Friday three months from now!

-Snehal

I thought I would shock you all again with my 2nd blog of the year! I figured I only had a few hours left before the new year starts! The buzz word in our house for this year has been “tumultuous”. After reflecting back upon this year, I have come to realize I truly do have a lot to be thankful for. Despite the massive flood issues in our home we are blessed to be in our home filled with love, family and our friends. To think earlier in the year, on my birthday, I could have lost Snehal, my brother, my bhabi and myself/Isha in that horrible car accident still sends chills up my spine!

To counter the bad, this year has brought many good things. I gave birth to my little angel Isha… I got a promotion and received an honorable award at work… My dad turned 65 and we celebrated it “bollywood” style once again… We are fortunate to live down the street from Manish/Tina and my 2 awesome nephews and are only within a few minutes from my parents’ house. We had an awesome Christmas celebration with our family from Canada and to top off the end of 2010, we have an amazing night ahead with Manish/Tina and some of our closest friends in the ATL. Ironically we are ending this decade at the very first club I visited after moving to Atlanta… Havana club! Happy New Year Everyone and may 2011 bring you lots of love and happiness! -Neetu

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Riya is adapting to the big sister and almost four year old role really well.  It’s amazing how much she retains from day to day life and is always listening to what we are talking about.  Her mannerisms, her speech seems so advanced for her age and it’s often scary the connections she makes between the conversations she has with us or overhears between Neetu and myself. 

Some photos to sign off with and hopefully I’ll update this more often now (just for you dad )

One patient told me after their meal: “I have been here 7 months and this is the best meal I have had!”. I really think we made a difference in a lot of lives today, maybe just for one day, but we saw a lot of smiles and a lot of laughter in a place that desperately needs it.

A photo of the food we served: