Season's Greetings

Happy Holidays! Pooneet, Ananya, and I are heading to India today and before we left, we wanted to wish you and your loved ones a happy holiday season.

Wish us luck on the flight :)

Fun Friday

Pooneet and I took Ananya to the Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park this past Friday. The weather was perfect, and Ananya loved looking at the colorful fish, seeing beautiful birdies and butterflies in the rain forest, touching a starfish, and walking around the park, chasing dogs and pointing out the airplanes flying far away in the distance.




Here are more pictures from the day:

Fun with friends

Ananya is having a pretty major social life these days! She has a friend's birthday party every weekend this month and is greeting new friends as they make their grand debut into the world.


Ananya met her newest friend (and future Stanford classmate?), Aman.




Ananya helped celebrate Asha's 1st birthday at Peekadoodle, where she had a blast playing in the many play areas, painting a photo frame, and devouring the delicious cake!




Ananya wished her cousin, Vunshi, a very happy 1st birthday this past weekend!

Happy Halloween

Ananya (and therefore the rest of us) really got into the Halloween spirit this year! Ananya and I visited the Pumpkin Patch, where she loved patting all the pumpkins, seeing the bunny rabbits and chickens, and trying to eat hay when I wasn't looking :)






For Halloween, Ananya was a pink, sparkly butterfly fairy - and even had sparkly wings to match (Thanks Dadu and Dadi!). Ananya joined a bunch of super cute kiddies at her friend Gabe's house for a Halloween party and for some fun trick o'treating. She loved the idea of selecting candy and putting into her basket...but didn't quite get the concept of keeping the candy and would immediately offer it back!

16 months old

Ananya is no longer a baby, she's a big girl! She walks/runs EVERYWHERE, is so curious about everything, and has nonstop energy. This is such a fun age! She can point to different parts of her body (hair, head, eye, ear, nose, tongue, teeth, tummy, knee, and foot), although she does sometimes get eye/ear and tummy/knee confused. She is starting to finally love stuffed animals, and loves giving them hugs and sharing her bottle of milk with them. As much as I love putting hair clips and bows in her hair, she loves taking them off :) She's getting a little vain - anytime I put a hair clip or a new outfit on her, she immediately runs to the mirror to check herself out! (I say it's because she's her father's daughter, but Pooneet thinks she gets it from me!) She laughs a lot now, oftentimes cracking herself up. She definitely has a sense of humor - she'll pretend to offer you a snack and as she's putting the snack in your mouth, she'll quickly bring it back to her mouth instead! She just started walking backwards, and claps for herself when she does so. And she's crazy about books - she picks out a book, will climb into your lap, and then have you read it to her. And then she'll repeat this 20 times. Fun, funny girl!

Diwali videos

Here are two videos we took on Diwali...the first is a classic Ananya/Dadu video. Everytime she sees her Dadu, she gets into her "Superwoman" position and he flies her all around the room. She loves it and always begs for more! The second video shows how crazy our kiddo becomes when it's past her bedtime and she's hamming it up for her grandparents :)

Happy Diwali!

Pooneet, Ananya, and I just celebrated a wonderful Diwali weekend! We went wine-tasting during the day with our "Tahiti" friends, and Ananya and Gabe had so much fun playing with each other! At night, Pooneet's parents and my mom (dad's trekking in Patagonia) came over to celebrate. We decorated our house with flowers and candles in each room, put the lights up on the deck, did a pooja with our little mandir, lit sparklers (which made Ananya go "ooooh"), and ate lots of sweets. I even made burfi for the first time! It was so nice to celebrate this holiday with our parents and with Ananya, and we wish all of our loved ones a year of good health, happiness, and love. Ananya had a very happy Diwali, especially because she got to play with her grandparents all day and night!










Here is a slide show of some more pictures:

Videos from NYC

Here are some video clips from our trip to New York...

Ananya talking on our carriage ride


Gadget toys are the best!


Squealing with delight in FAO Schwartz


Swinging in the park


If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands!


Sliding in Central Park


Stepping out some tunes on the BIG piano


Mommy and baby feeding Marcello the horse

New York, New York

After my cousin's wedding, Pooneet, Ananya, and I spent a fantastic 3 days in Manhattan. We stayed at an amazing hotel right across the street from Central Park and were there the one week where it was perfect summer weather! Pooneet and I were a little skeptical about how much we'd see or do with a baby in such a big city, but it turned out to be the best trip to NYC we've ever had. We devoted our daytime to making sure Ananya had fun and then each night, we got a babysitter to watch Ananya while we met up with friends and belatedly celebrated our 4 year anniversary. Fun times all around :)

Each day, we went to Central Park and played on their numerous playgrounds. We went for carousel rides (a first for Ananya and she was probably the only kid on it not crying!), visited the zoo and saw polar bears, snow leopards, and penguins, fed animals in the petting zoo, took Ananya on a horse-drawn carriage ride of the park and fed our horse, Marcello. We walked around a lot, and saw all kinds of fun things, like FAO Schwartz, Rockefeller Center, Magnolia Bakery, and what was to me, the most amazing and overwhelming Whole Foods I've ever seen (45 cashiers!!). We took Ananya to lunch with Pooneet's cousin, Shveta, to Tavern on the Green (so magical!) and even had a semi-celebrity sighting at Bouchon Bakery (clearly eating was a major part of our trip!).

Pooneet and I had a great time meeting up with our friends, and then he took me to a most amazing anniversary dinner at Jean-Georges for a lavish multiple course meal! So as you can see, we had a super fantastic trip to New York and can't wait to visit again!















Here are some more pictures from our trip:

Mohan Family Wedding

After a wonderful vacation in Hawaii, we came back home to San Francisco and a week later, headed to New Jersey for my cousin Aparna's wedding. Ananya, again, was fantastic on the flights, and made lots of new friends on the plane! The wedding was a fun family reunion - with Ananya's Baby Avva and Venkappa Thatha flying in from India - and Ananya had fun playing with Anjali and Ajay, and seeing her cousin Sonia whom she last saw a year ago in Maui.

We enjoyed being at my Kittu Mama and Shoba Aunty's house for the pooja and then the next day, we celebrated the wedding and reception at a beautiful venue overlooking the Hudson Bay and the NYC skyline. We then got to visit Sarayu and Eshon's house, where Ananya also got to meet Jagannath Thatha and Lily Avva.

This was the last Mohan wedding for this generation....strange to think that Ananya (or her cousin Sonia) will be next!














Here is a slideshow of more pictures from the pooja & wedding:

Aloha!

Pooneet, Ananya, and I just came back from a week of vacation in Maui. It was our first vacation just the three of us and we can easily say that it was one of the most memorable trips we've ever taken! We were definitely nervous about the flights, but Ananya was a champ (getting upgraded didn't hurt either) and took naps and made friends with pretty much everyone around us. Phew! Maui itself was wonderful and we spent each day swimming in either the ocean or the pool (Ananya would be in the water for over an hour at a time!), going out to eat (she loved eating out and saying "hi" and "bye" to everyone in the restaurant), going for walks by the beach, playing in the sand, looking at birds, and finally getting to wear summer clothes that we haven't been able to wear in cold SF! On this trip, Ananya perfected saying "mama" and walking nonstop (she no longer crawls), and learned to point to her knee, head, and tummy. Excellent!




Here is a video of Ananya at a sushi restaurant



Ananya having fun on the beach



Chillin' in the pool



First time fun on escalators

August wrap-up

Here are some pics from some fun times we had at the end of August: going to my work picnic where Ananya and Pooneet went on a slide for the first time, playing on computers, having fun with Sarada Aunty and Naseem Uncle, celebrating Ganesh Chaturthi, and spending a weekend with Dadu and Dadi in Atherton where Ananya played with all her aunties and cousins...and Pluto the dog!

So much walking!

Ananya spent the weekend at her Dadu and Dadi's house, where she got a ton of walking practice. Ever since then, she's been all over the place! She has pretty much given up crawling and just loves to walk now, which makes me sad to see the crawling/baby phase go and excited to see how much she enjoys exploring the world upright.

Cousin Ajay's 1st bday

Ananya celebrated her cousin Ajay's 1st birthday. Since she now knows all about turning 1, she had a lot to teach her cousin. Of course, she also couldn't resist giving him a big birthday kiss!

Growing up so quickly

We've seen so many amazing developments in Ananya in the past two weeks. We were away from her the entire weekend while we went to Las Vegas and she had a blast, which makes us feel so good that she can have fun without us (and which is also inspiring us to think of our next getaway!). Then, based on our pediatrician's suggestion, we have successfully weaned her off the pacifier! Yay! This is something we were dreading to do, given that Ananya seemed so attached to her beloved pacifier. But we started gradually taking it away during her daytime naps, and last week I took it away from her at bedtime...and she didn't even put up a fuss. Phew :) But I do miss seeing her with her pacis, it just reinforces how quickly she's growing up and leaving baby-hood behind as she becomes a toddler.

She started walking all of a sudden, and is walking very sturdily for such a beginner. We are so proud! Her sense of hearing is amazingly sharp (she definitely gets that from her Papa and not me), and she will stop what she's doing and point to the sky when she hears the sound of a helicopter or airplane...even before the rest of us can hear it. Half the time, I think she's making it up, but then a few seconds later, sure enough, a helicopter or airplane becomes visible in the sky! And, I'm saving the best for last, she started saying "mama" two days ago. Yippee!

She now has a best friend in her Ananya-sized Winnie-the-Pooh, and loves to hug him all day long.



Her teeth are coming in by the droves, and I feel like I see new ones sprouting every few days. She loves shoes - especially ones that are not hers - and gets a big kick out of trying on other people's shoes. Couch-falling and yoga are still her two favorite activities, and it's funny to see her get into her yoga pose and try to either a)eat upside down, b) shake your hand upside down, or c)hold something in her hand and pass it to her other hand upside down.

From Yoga to Walking

So just a couple weeks ago Ananya perfected Yoga and now she goes from no walking to immediately walking across rooms. Here is a short clip of her walking to Aditi.

Enjoy!

Fun weekend

Pooneet took me to Las Vegas for the weekend to kick off my birthday festivities, where a group of our friends also joined in on the fun. It was our first weekend together, away from Ananya. We had such a great time (oh the joys of sleeping in!) but missed our baby a lot!



Meanwhile, Ananya got to spend a fun-filled weekend with Thatha and Avva. She had such a great time, playing in the park with the duckies, going for walks, and enjoying Avva's homecooked meals.

Yoga

Ananya is the yoga master of our house. Check out her skills!

A day of tricks

Yesterday, Ananya wanted to show off a few of her tricks. Here is a video clip of Ananya dancing and another clip of Ananya's favorite new activity - getting up on the couch, crawling to a pillow, standing up, and falling down. This girl has no fear!

Fun with Friends

July was a fun month for Ananya! She got to visit her favorite Connor and meet his new baby sister, Chloe. Her new favorite thing to do is to go to our shoe rack and try on all of our shoes...and then try to sneak a quick lick! Pooneet and I also got to meet Baby Sohum and can't wait for Ananya and him to play together. Conley came over for lunch and Ananya enjoyed showing him her musical tables and secret stash of cheerios.

July Updates

July has been a fun, birthday party-filled month for us! We spent July 4th in Colorado Springs and then celebrated Ananya's birthday each of the following weekends at Ananya's grandparents' houses. Ananya can now say four words: Thatha, bow wow (for any animal she sees, including flies!), Papa (which results in a big goofy grin on Pooneet's face each time he hears it), and eye. Yes, she has learned that she - along with everyone else - has an eye. So if you see her and she pokes you in the eyeball, it's only because she's so excited to let you know that you, too, have an eye!

Ananya took her first few steps at her Dadu and Dadi's house, right after the party ended!

She continues to love all things that start with "b": ball, book, button, balloon, boat...it's amazing how many wonderful things start with that letter! Ananya has picked a convenient "ba" to say when she's referring to any and all of these things. Makes for fun times, trying to decipher what exactly she's referring to!

Here's a picture of her in her new swimsuit:

ATH party

Ananya's Dadu and Dadi threw an amazing birthday party for Ananya this past weekend. For entertainment, Ananya's cousins, Shivum and Aneesh, performed (for the first time ever!) a Bollywood dance. Ananya loved eating her birthday cake and playing with all of her little cousins.











Here is an album with some more photos from the day:

CPT fiesta

Ananya's Thatha and Avva hosted a birthday celebration for their favorite 1 year old. The theme was "Mexican fiesta", and there were homemade soft tacos, quesadillas, and a tres leches cake, which Ananya loved. Ananya had a fun time playing with her little cousins, showing off her standing skills, and parading around in multiple dresses!








Here is an album with a few more pictures:

Family Reunion

We celebrated July 4th this year in Colorado Springs with Ananya's Avva's side of the family - the first family reunion/vacation this group has ever taken together! Ananya had lots of fun being in a big house with her uncles, aunty, thathas, and avvas! She saw the Red Rocks, went in a train up Pike's Peak and saw snow, had fun climbing up and down the stairs...and of course, ate yummy food, got lots of attention, and even said her first word!

So she's been babbling for awhile now - her first intelligible babble being "avvavavava". But on this Colorado trip, she figured out how to say "Thatha" while pointing to her Thatha! So much for all the "mama" brainwashing I've been doing :)

Ananya's birthday pictures

Here are some pictures from Ananya's birthday weekend. On Friday (her actual birthday), we celebrated at home and then drove to Pooneet's parents' house, where we celebrated with family. Ananya's Dadu had blown up a ton of pink and white balloons, which Ananya loved playing with! After singing "Happy Birthday To You", Ananya got to taste her first cake - a delicious cheesecake topped with blueberries and rasberries. Our funny Ananya was quick to stuff almost ALL of the berries into her mouth in rapid-speed, but never actually ate any part of the cake itself. We're very proud - so health conscious at such a young age!

The next day, we had a small party at a nearby park so that Ananya could celebrate with her closest friends. She had lots of fun, sampled cake yet again (and this time tasted the cake and cried afterwards!), and even selected her future career! We borrowed this idea from Connor's birthday where the baby is presented with a few items that represent potential careers, and whichever the baby chooses "means" that is the career path on which he/she is headed. Ananya had many fun options, and had a tough time deciding between the calculator (accountant) and gavel (lawyer). She picked the calculator, but didn't seem convinced of her decision, so she then picked up the dollar bill (business/finance). So while we're still not sure what her future career will be, we do know that she had a fun birthday celebration and loved seeing her family and friends!

No fun being sicky

As our luck would have it, we had to cancel our Hawaii plans. Ananya and I both got sick and we were both running pretty high fevers. So poor Pooneet had to cancel our vacation plans and take care of wife and daughter. He's done an amazing job - all on his own - and slowly but surely, we're on the mend. My parents came to rescue Pooneet yesterday and we're SO relieved that they're staying with us and taking care of all of us this entire weekend. Pooneet deserves a big award for taking such good care of both of us! And to my parents, thank you thank you thank you for coming to our rescue :)

1 Year Old!!

This month, Ananya learned to dance to music, walk with a walker, stand, do peekaboo (when you say "peekaboo" she puts her hands on her face!), babble constantly, and rip off her bib when she's eating food (fun laundry times). She's obsessed with Cheerios, is super ticklish, and continues to love the outdoors. She loves to eat, especially anything that you're eating, and she always says "mmmm" when she's eating something yummy! She is incredibly active, loves playing with balls, and enjoys turning pages of any book.

Pooneet, Ananya, and I are heading to Hawaii this week to celebrate her birthday and to treat ourselves to some long-overdue R&R :)

Ananya's Birthday Weekend

Here are a few pictures from the thousands we took over this past weekend for Ananya's 1st birthday. I'll upload an album soon, but in the meantime, enjoy!

Ananya Turns 1

It's Ananya's 1st birthday today!

"Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday to you!
Happy birthday, dear Ananya
Happy birthday to you!"

We've been singing this song all morning long, and though Ananya has been clapping along to the song, I don't think she has any clue that it's her special day! Pooneet and I feel like we should be the ones celebrating that we survived and conquered this first year of parenthood :)

Now our baby is officially a toddler, and I can only imagine the crazy adventures that this year will bring!

Walking (kinda)

Ananya is learning to walk, with the help of her fun walker toy!

Dancing Queen

Ananya has discovered how to dance!

First Idli

Last weekend, Ananya's Avva made a yummy idli lunch for us and made some baby idlis for Ananya to enjoy. We've now figured out that unless we give Ananya something to eat while we're eating, we never get to eat a meal together!

11 months old

Ananya is 11 months old and we can't believe that in a few weeks, she'll be a full year! Her personality has really emerged: she's very mischievous! She crawls all over the place, pulls herself up on all kinds of furniture, and loves chewing on things that she's not allowed to chew on (namely, iPhones and shoes). She is babbling constantly, says "oooooooh" when she sees something cool, and makes a lot of really funny faces. Pooneet taught her a bunch of neat new tricks, too. She can now give kisses, howl like a wolf, give high-fives, stick her tongue out, clap her hands, dance to music, and smack her lips.