Nikhil's Mundan

On January 14th, Nikhil had his mundan ceremony. For those of you that need a little bit of education on what a mundan is, here it a description from BabyCenter:

"Tonsuring (mundan) is an important ceremony in Hindu communities. Muslims too shave or trim the baby’s hair. Some Sikhs perform kesi dahi ceremony – equivalent to the mundan ceremony performed by Hindus -- by putting curd in the hair of the newborn baby boy.

Among Hindus, the mundan ceremony (also known as Chaula or Choodakarana) is performed during the first year or in the third year of a child’s life. The first haircut is an important ritual and it is believed that shaving the hair rids the child of his past life's negativity. Some believe that a mundan bestows a long life, a better future and also protects the child from the evil eye. In some communities, the hair on a newborn’s head is considered impure and it is believed that only a mundan can cleanse the child’s body and soul.

Some believe that a mundan helps release excess body heat and keeps the baby's head cool. Some also believe that a mundan helps relieve headache and pains associated with teething. It is also a common belief that shaving off the hair stimulates cells and improves blood circulation, which may help in the growth of better and thicker hair."

We hired a barber to come to our home who performed the mundan ceremony. Being the person who hates anyone touching his hair or wearing hats, he wasn't too pleased with someone cutting his hair but he was trooper: 

We were all so worried how he'd look after his mundan, but he was as adorable and cheerful as ever. He reminded me of a little Buddhist monk:

Afterwards, the proud Dadaji and Dadiji hosted a luncheon at Star of India restaurant.  He was the star of the event in his cute outfit.  Here is is with his adorable cousin, Rijul who had her own Mundan down last October:

Where do they learn these things?

It's amazing what kids learn at such an early age. After watching his mommy and daddy on their smart phones, Nikhil now grabs our phones and begins tapping away at the touch screen as we would do.  He has no idea what's he's tapping but he taps away anyways. He also loves the phone.  He knows that sounds will emit after pressing the buttons.  Recently he even puts the phone to his ear and has imaginary conversations.

Nikhil talking to ???

It's amazing how fast kids pick up technology.  He's fascinated with pressing buttons and turning knobs.  Do we have an engineer in the making?

Merry Xmas and Happy New Year!

First of all, I can't believe the holidays are over (insert sad face). We've started taking down our holiday decorations.  Only the sad, lonely tree remains. But what a great holiday season it was. We celebrated at the home of Roger and Maya Arora on Christmas Eve followed by a wonderful dinner on Christmas Day at Mom, Papa, and Nitasha Bhua's home. There was good food, good music, and great company.  Of course, Nikhil got spoiled the most for Christmas.  Can a kid ever have too many toys? As a parent, I say yes although I'm sure Nikhil will disagree.

We took Nikhil's Santa picture on Christmas Eve (yes, this was the last day to take pictures):

Nikhil and Santa Claus

And yes, he kept the hat on! He did surprisingly well. He didn't noticed that he was in Santa's lap initially.  We kept him preoccupied while his pictures were taken so he wouldn't turn around. After the last picture was taken, he suddenly turned around and saw who was hold him.  In about 0.324 seconds, he went for a content little boy to a screaming, raging, out-of-control child. Luckily, we got the pictures we wanted.  Although, I must say we didn't care much for this year's Santa Claus.  We'll let the pictures explain why.

In between Christmas and New Years, Nikhil and I paid a visit to California once again where he got a chance to visit his Nanaji, Naniji, Masi Raj, and Mama Tej for a couple of days. He's still afraid of his Mama Tej but we're working on it.

Then it was New Years Eve. We celebrated at the home of Raj & Anjli Giri with a little more than a dozen other people.  The setting and atmosphere was perfect.  Nikhil went to bed early in his pack n' play and we enjoyed the rest of the night with great friends.  So hard to believe that 2011 is over.  But here's wishing to a better and brighter 2012.  Our 2012 wish is for new additions to the family in the form of husbands (ahem, Masi and Bhua) and maybe even babies. Above all, we wish all our family and friends good health and prosperity!

Happy 2012!

Love, Kunal, Navi & Nikhil  

Gobble Gobble!

Thanksgiving came and went in the blink of an eye! This year we spent Thanksgiving with our family in California. This year, the "girls" cooked while the "women" got to enjoy being Grandmothers (although they did come to our aid towards the end). The feast was magnificent thanks to head chef Raj. And we all ate more than we should have.

Since it's Thankgiving and all, I thought this would be a good time to share all the things I'm thankful for.  Of course, there's the usual...family, friends, health, and wealth.  But if anyone has ever seen Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, its time to write my Thank You Notes...

Thank you Diaper Genie...for allowing me to postpone the unevitable diaper disposal.

Thank you Tupperware...for being the delight of kids everywhere and the headaches of parents who have to pick them up.

Thank you Bright, Colorful, Expensive Toys...for keeping Nikhil occupied for 2 minutes before he turns back to the tupperware.

Thank you last year's Christmas Tree...for leaving behind your pine needles that I still find in November.

Thank you Ham...for allowing us to have meat that we actually enjoy on Thanksgiving.

Happy Thankgiving!

The Frequent Flyer

I remember when we were getting Nikhil's first passport at the ripe old age of 3 weeks. We were in line at the post office waiting to submit his application.  There was a mother there with her 17-year old son.  She was telling the clerk that this was his first passport and first time he's ever flown. While I thought this was strange that he's flying for the first time at such a late age, I realized that there are a large group of people who have never flown their entire lives and some are well into middle-age or elderly.  Flying is a privelege that some people could either not afford, were too afraid to do, or just simply never cared or had a need for.

Then there's Nikhil...our little frequent flyer. In his 13 months of age, he has been to the Bay Area three times (and once more in a couple of days), Chicago, Dallas, Houston, and Hawaii (I'm sure I'm skipping a few dozen places in there).  I remember how nervous we were the first time we flew with him at 2.5 months. His first trip was to California and we weren't sure if we were prepared.  We had so many questions running through our heads:

Did we have the right stroller? No. I got stroller envy when I saw other parents with their fancy smancy strollers and us with our cheap umbrella stroller (our other stroller was too big to travel with) so of course, I bought a new one when we got back. Do we really need 3 strollers. Of course! (although Kunal may beg to differ).

Did we pack the right items in his diaper bag?  Yup! We got that right. We had plenty of change of clothes for Nikhil and ourselves.  And we even remembered his diapers, wipes, and bottles. Wow, we're awesome until...

What if he threw up or pooped?  Of course, he did both on our short 2 hour flight. Luckily we were smart about bringing extra clothes when he threw up.  But we weren't so smart about changing his poopy diaper. We had no idea how to change a diaper on a plane. So much so that Kunal, in all his parental glory, accidently tossed the poop-filled diaper into a bucket containing ice for the entire plane. Not the finest moment in parenting.

I was convinced that every flight henceforth was going to be a nightmare.  But, it got better and now I wouldn't call traveling a breeze but traveling with Nikhil isn't nearly as daunting as it once worth.  There's still a long list of items to pack and remember (We still forgot his diaper bag in the car on a recent flight and I forgot his passport on our last flight). But (please find a piece of wood and knock on it) overall he travels really well and sleeps for a good duration of the flight. Now I know I just cursed myself and I'm going to have the flight from hell in a few days. Keep your fingers crossed.

The frequent flyer

The Hardship of Daycare

Every morning we drop Nikhil off at Daycare.  Along with dropping off Nikhil, we're also picking up the guilt of leaving him in the care of strangers for so long who have so many other kids to look after too. He's never happy about being dropped off in the morning but is usually smiling and happy when he's picked up. To ease the guilt, I began looking at his daily schedule and realizing why he's generally happy when he's picked up.  Let's review his hard day:

Breakfast
Indoor playtime with toys/puzzles/etc
Snacktime
Morning outside playtime on the playground
Singing/dancing/instruments
Lunch
Storytime
2 hour Naptime
Art/Cognitive Developement/Sensory Development
Afternoon outside playtime on the playground
Second Snack
Indoor playtime until picked up

First of all, they're constantly eating which probably explains why there is often bits of crackers and other unnamed objects stuck to his hair, face, and clothes when we pick him up (Nikhil is not the neatest of eaters). Secondly, their day is filled with playtime, singing, dancing, and making art. Makes me jealous that I'm not on his schedule. So when I start to feel guilty about dropping him off at daycare, I start thinking to myself, he could have it so much worse.

Nikhil on his first day at Daycare. 

Haa-Choo

I was going through the countless amounts of video we have of Nikhil. It's going to be one daunting task of putting them altogether in a video.  Came across this one.  It's an earlier one taken from Raj Masi's iPhone and it is still by far one of my favorites.  Nikhil was just a couple of weeks old at the time...

Oh what a difference a year makes.  Here's one taken just last weekend.  Nikhil has become quite the talker...