Merry Christmas!

Ananya wishes you and your loved ones a very Merry Christmas!

Slideshow for Grampa

This past weekend we had a small party for Ananya's grandfather at which we showed a short slide show which we thought we would share here. Enjoy!

Yummy Toes

So Ananya is a happy camper these days. Her tummy gets more food now that she's eating rice cereal AND she has also found her new best friend...her toes!

Food!

We got the green-light from our pediatrician to start Ananya on solids...we were nervous, not knowing what to expect and whether she'd like food. She loves it!!! Here are some pictures from her first day of rice cereal...so far, so good! She eats like a champ and loves it...although I can't figure out if she likes the food better in her mouth or on her face!

1/2 a year old...

Ananya turned 6 months old a few days ago - we can't believe she's already half way through her first year...we're excited about all the new tricks she'll learn in the next 6 months!

Two new developments in the past week: (1) she starting eating solids and she LOVES it, and (2) she sucks her toes, which are now her new best friends.

From 6 month bday

1st Holiday Party!

We hosted a party this weekend to ring in the holiday season! Ananya loved dressing up, playing with the presents under the Christmas tree, and eating her stocking!

Ananya meets Baby Krish!

Pooneet's cousin Mukul and his wife Ashima had a baby boy, Krish, two weeks ago. We went to visit them when Krish was 3 days old. Ananya clearly loved meeting her newest cousin and her two older cousins...she couldn't stop smiling all evening long!

Family Photos

Here are some photos of various family members with Ananya that I hadn't posted before...don't Deepu Mama and Anand Mama look like naturals holding her? :)

Diwali (long overdue post)

Ananya celebrated her first Diwali at her Dada and Dadi's house. Dada and Dadi made the house so festive - the lit up the whole house and put diyas all over the front yard and in each room. We had a small puja and then celebrated with lots of yummy food that Ananya's Dadi had made. And then, of course, we took a million pictures!

First Thanksgiving

Ananya enjoyed her first Thanksgiving...although she slept for most of it! She had fun playing with lots of her family and close friends and even had a mini-fashion show with 3 outfit changes! Pooneet and I are so thankful this year for the many blessings we have in our lives and for our beautiful baby girl who has brought so much love and joy to our lives. To think that this time last year, I was pregnant...and now we have this amazing girl in our family!

Ananya and her great-grandmother

My Avva headed back to India but before she did, I took a few pictures of her playing with Ananya. We hope she comes back for Ananya's 1st birthday!

November visitors

Ranjit, Stacey, and Leela came to visit Ananya all the way from Michigan which was super fun! I got a taste for what it's like to have a toddler and I can't wait for Ananya to grow up :) And then Tushar was in town for Thanksgiving, so he and Ananya finally got to meet!

So excited to see daddy

When Ananya saw her Daddy a few days ago, she was SO excited she couldn't stop squealing! By the time I thought to get the camera, she had tired herself out from all her laughing...but you still can get an idea for how happy she was to see her daddy :)

5 months old

Ananya turned 5 months this week and she celebrated her birthday in Cupertino with her Avva, Thatha, MuthAvva, Mommy, and Daddy. Amazing how time flies!

Ananya meets her new baby cousin!

Ananya welcomed her newest baby cousin (there have been so many lately!) this past weekend! Vunshika Goyal was born to Pooneet's cousin Mansi and Varish, and we visited them in the hospital and at their new home. On Ananya's Dadi's side of the family, where there are now 8 (and soon to be 9) members of the next generation, Ananya is the first girl and Vunshika is the second! These two girls will be the best of friends and I'm sure they will drive all their boy cousins crazy! We are so excited for Vunshika and her family!!

Dada and Dadi's Puja for Ananya

Ananya's Dada and Dadi hosted a puja and a dinner so that all of their friends could meet Ananya!

Happy Halloween!

Ananya's first Halloween was quite a success - she had two costumes (a pumpkin and Batgirl) and a gathering of family and friends to commemorate the fun day!

Go Obama!

Ananya's Thatha and Avva made sure that she was appropriately dressed for the presidential elections...and Ananya is very happy that she was witness to Barack Obama being elected President!

Sept and Oct visitors

Here are some pictures from people who visited/saw Ananya in the months of September and October - Ambika Aunty, Atish Mama, a host of IIT grandmas and grandpas, her friend Connor (and Auntie Cheryl), Auntie Cami from Chicago, Vik Uncle and Reena Aunty, and of course her beloved Imo who baked cupcakes to celebrate Ananya's 100th day birthday!

October Update

Ananya is now 4 1/2 months old and can do so many tricks! She can roll over from her tummy to her back, can have a long conversation (in Ananya language, which consists of "ooh" and "eh" and "geh"), can sit and stand with support, and we heard her first laugh two days ago! She is totally obsessed with sucking on her hands these days and doesn't seem to realize that her mouth can only hold so many fingers.

She's really fun to be around now - it seems like every few days, she's able to do something new!

She had her 4 month doctor appointment and is the 70th percentile for height! I'm wondering what she can be when she grows up to maximize her being tall....basketball player? :)

Other than that, we both spend a few nights each week down in Cupertino with my parents and with my grandmother, who is visiting us from India. GGM (as she calls herself "great grandma") and GGD (great grand-daughter) have so much fun together - they both sit outside and GGM points out all the trees and birds and flowers. Ananya loves being outdoors!

This upcoming week is really exciting for us all, as it will be Ananya's first Diwali and first Halloween!

Aloha!

Ananya got back from her first vacation to Maui and it was quite an adventure! She went with her parents and with Pooneet's parents, and had so much fun!

Both plane rides were surprisingly uneventful - she slept most of the time and, when awake, was so amazed by the airplane that she couldn't stop staring at everything. She had some jetlag when we got to Hawaii, so Aditi had several mornings of being woken up at 4am from a wide-awake baby! Ananya got to spend some wonderful quality time with her Daddy and with her grandparents, who were constantly singing to her and playing with her.

Ananya definitely loved Hawaii (just like her parents!). She loved going to the beach, staring at the sand, hearing the ocean waves, and feeling the warm breeze on her skin.

She even got to meet her cousin Sonia and her Deepa Aunty and Erich Uncle as an added bonus!

So now that we've survived our first vacation with baby, we're wondering where our next vacation should be. Any ideas?

Baby Jet-Setters

Ananya met her cousin Sonia in Maui during our Hawaii vacation...the two cousins got along famously and I'm sure that the story of their first meeting in such a fabulous location as Hawaii will be recounted for years to come!

Baby's 1st Mohawk

Daddy and Mommy decided to have some fun with Ananya during her bathtime!

Sarayu's visit

Aditi's cousin Sarayu (Pedamma to Ananya) came to visit for a week...Ananya loved having her Pedamma constantly play with her and sing to her and entertain her (and Ananya's mom loved having another set of hands to give the baby to!)

Thatha and Avva's party for Ananya

Aditi's parents (Thatha and Avva) threw a party in honor of Ananya and Aditi's grandmother, who is visiting from India! Here are a few pictures from that day

September pictures

Here are some pictures that we have taken this month: Ananya showing off her stylish summer dress, Ananya playing on her crib, and Ananya dressed up for her mommy's birthday!

Today she turns 14 weeks old and we're amazed at how quickly time flies with her! She is getting really excited about her great-grandmother who will be coming next Monday all the way from India, just to see her! Ananya plans on spending a LOT of time with her great-Avva :)

Tummy Time...

We thought we would share a video from one of Ananya's many tummy time sessions...enjoy!

Ananya is the Indian Michael Phelps!

Ananya recently started swim lessons at La Petite Baleen in San Francisco and is really loving the water. We can't wait until she wins her first gold medal (or her "no-crying" ribbon, we'll take whatever)...

Happy 3 month birthday!

Today is Ananya's 3 month birthday! It's hard to believe that she's been in our lives for such a seemingly short period of time. To be honest, I can't really remember what life was like before her!

Ananya is definitely coming into her own now. She is much more alert when she is awake. She can hold her head up - which is no easy feat and, according to the look on her face, takes quite an incredible amount of strength and concentration. She can smile easily, look at you when you're talking to her, and even will talk back to you! She's quite the conversationalist and loves attention - in fact, if you're holding her and not looking at her and not talking to her, she'll get upset and let you know!

The last week, something wonderful (for Aditi) happened: Ananya started sleeping through the night! Yay! She now will sleep from about 10:30pm until 5am. Needless to say, mom and baby are better rested and much happier :) In addition, she has now started sticking her tongue out a LOT - I don't think she means to be rude, I think she's just proud of her cute little tongue and likes to show it off!

Pooneet and I still don't think she looks like either one of us....any thoughts? What do you think?

And the most fun news of all: Ananya started swimming lessons last week! Daddy and daughter went into the swimming pool at La Petit Baleen in SF for a half-hour swim lesson. Well, I don't know if it's totally accurate to call it "swimming", more like "splashing". But Ananya had a GREAT time - for the first half of the class, she didn't cry, was bobbing her head around, got in an inner tube, and held her head up for the longest period of time to date. It was so fun! We'll post a video/pics as soon as we get our act together.

Now we're off to celebrate mommy's bday and Ananya's 3 month bday!

Ananya is pretty hip

Ananya recently received a very cool onesie from her Aparna Mausi...She totally rocked it on Labor day.

New Pictures....

We have added a couple albums for everyone to enjoy.

First we have some visitors that came to see Ananya during the end of July and August.



We also have more pictures of Ananya from the end of July until August including her meeting her new cousin, Ajay!



Enjoy!

More Photos

We have uploaded three new albums on the right side of the page. Some pictures from June, July, and our first temple visit. As soon as I figure out this whole video camera thing I will start to upload some videos as well.





Love,
Aditi & Pooneet

5 weeks old

Ananya made her first "official" outing this past weekend. With both of our families, we took her to the temple, where her name ceremony took place. Despite bells clanging and holy water and rice thrown in her direction, she managed to sleep right through it all :) We then took her to visit both her Thatha/Avva's house (Aditi's parents) and her Dada/Dadi/Bua's house (Pooneet's parents and sister). She is one lucky girl to have both sets of grandparents so close by! And then, so that she wasn't the only one having fun, we left her with Thatha/Avva and went to go see Batman! It's nice for us parents to have a semblance of a social life every now and then :)




Ananya continues to delight us with her million expressions per minute, her arm and leg stretches, her spit bubbles (we're very proud!), and the funny sounds she makes! My next goal is to figure out how to get her to sleep better at night. As some of you may note, it is 5am and my lovely daughter hasn't slept all night. Ah, the joys of parenthood.

Ananya's cousin, Sonia Mohan Patten, was born yesterday and we are very excited for Erich, Deepa, and the rest of the Patten/Mohan clan to welcome Baby Sonia. We can't wait for Ananya and Sonia to meet, wear matching outfits (like what Aparna, Deepa, and Aditi used to do!), and play together!

Pictures from Thatha

Ananya's grandfather (or in the South Indian custom - Thatha), Ram Mohan, has uploaded some some pictures he took.

http://picasaweb.google.com/kiliwalker/Ananya?authkey=3_UNOg9E5sk

Please enjoy!

Aditi & Pooneet

Updated pictures from the last week

Hi guys,

We have uploaded a bunch of pictures all the way from Aditi's baby showers to the the last couple weeks. Please enjoy and feel free to share.

Check out the links to the right under "Ananya's Pictures".

Love,
Aditi & Pooneet

We would like to welcome Ananya Sarada Goel to our lives. She was born on June 12th, 2008 at 5 lbs 11 oz at a height of 18 inches. Her name means "without equal or peer" and she truly is a unique force in our lives. We hope you will cherish her story as much as we do.

Love, Aditi & Pooneet