mazhalai's world

Friday, November 13, 2009

#425 Neyan's month three summary

Neyan's third month was jam packed. He met both grandpas and enjoyed new toys.

quack quack

He dressed up as a cowboy bandit for Halloween.

cowboy bandit

Got baptized

being baptized

wearing a handknit!! (for project details see Rav link here)

in baptism dress

He met his Gavi chechi

with gavi

and went to Sea World with her.

sea world

This is his month 3 portrait. (portrait set here)

month 3 portrait

Family portrait

with amma & appa

and with the grandparents

with pune thatha and ammamma with ngl thatha

We celebrated his 3rd month with made-from-scratch pumpkin cupcakes. (Recipe for cupcakes here and recipe for making pumpkin puree from scratch here)

made from scratch mini pumkin cupcakes

Monday, November 09, 2009

#424 Sea World

Note: Drafted 9th Nov 2009; Published 13th Nov 2009

We spent the weekend with Gavi, Girish and Swapna. On Sat, we drove to Sea World at San Antonio. Here is our guests enjoying a sweaterless November day :):)

at entrance to Sea World

After a quick meeting with the penguins, we headed to lunch (we had a really late start!).

with penguins

While waiting for the sea lion show to start, we went along with Gavi on her first roller coaster ride - Shamu express. Gavi's first trip was really good. We howled and screamed, even though it was just maybe a max 10 feet off the ground.

gavi's first roller coaster rider at Sea World

The Sea lion show was really really really good. We were really impressed with how they had been trained to do the show. here is 2 of them taking a bow at the end.

sea world

On our way to see Shamu, we saw a pond full of various duckies and pale pink flamingos. It was fun to see them stand on one feet. They supposedly do that to conserve body heat and energy (from here).

flamingoes at Sea World

Next was the killer whale - Shamu show. Here is Neyan, Gavi and T at the entrance.

shamu at Sea World

I couldn't get a decent photo of them in action, so took videos of the same.



Neyan was just oblivious to his surroundings and graced us with smiles :)

smiling

Gavi got a pretty half butterfly painted on her face. She was amazingly patient and did not get tickled or giggle like the other kiddos there.

face painting at Sea World

This is us with 3D glasses at the 4D pirate experience. Be warned that this is not for the weak of heart!

4D experience at Sea World

Overall a fun trip, though we wished we could have enjoyed more rides.

Saturday, October 31, 2009

#423 Crafty updates

Note: Drafted 31st Oct 2009; Published 13th Nov 2009

At our farewell party, Bryna gifted Neyan with a handknit blanket. I believe the pattern is - Big Bad Baby Blanket (rav link to project here) . Here is the in action shot of the blankie and Neyan.

for Bryna

Neyan also received this beautiful handmade quilt from our neighbor Ratna Ajji in Pune. We love the shades of blue and so does Neyan.

beautiful quilt by ratna ajji

My knitting buddy at work showed me the owl patten on a sweater. She later adapted it to make adult mittens. Ever since I saw this pattern I so wanted to make it. Got a chance to finally make it for our friends in Pittsburgh who welcomed Yuvaan on June 29th. Rav link of project here.

owl vest for Y

I made matching mittens too. I used white thread instead of buttons - which can become a chocking hazard. This pattern was adapted from the adult version of the same. Rav link of project here. I hope Y enjoys it as much as I did making these for him.

Owl mittens

Last but not least, even though its not really craft related: Neyan in his Halloween costume - cowboy bandit! Only thing store bought was the hat. Everything else, we had at home. I really intended to at least seam his handkerchief, but that dint happen. So it was just a piece of fabric left over from our bag project.

cowboy bandit

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

#422 Appa's super-fast sightseeing tour

Note: Drafted 28th Oct 2009; Published 13th Nov 2009

T took his appa on a super-fast sightseeing tour last weekend. They covered highlights of NYC, DC and VA beach. Typical touristy photos, so instead I picked highlights of the trip - him meeting our friends and family:

With Sini and Sony

with Sini and Sony

with Aunty and Uncle

with Aunty & Uncle

With Andrew anna and Bernice akka

with Andrew and Bernice

With Dhana and family

with Dhana and family

With Sindhu and Sundar

With Sindhu & Sundar

And just one exception - a photo of fall colors. I miss fall colors so much here in TX. Have been sending thank yous to anyone who posts fall color pics on social networking sites!

fall colors

It was a fun and hectic trip. But I think Appa had fun meeting everyone the most.

P.S. All photos taken by T.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

#421 The Appas are here

Note: Drafted 21st Oct 2009; Published 11th Nov 2009

They are finally here! here is T's Appa meeting Neyan for the first time.

with ngl thatha

and here is Appa.

with pune thatha

It was Neyan's first road trip - Austin to Houston and like his first flight, he did really well. This is him waiting at the airport.

for Bryna

We visited Sarita and her family and in all the hulla of meeting Neyan we forgot photos. Sarita thank you so much for hosting us. We had a wonderful time with all of you and wished we could spend more time with you.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

#420 Neyan's month two summary

Note: Drafted 15th Oct 2009; Published 11th Nov 2009

Neyan's second month was really eventful. He remained calm as we packed up all our belongings and moved to TX. He missed my wall of handbags and hence I cut out some animal figures out of sale papers for him, which he tried to grab

enjoying cutouts

He absolutely loved the mobile and enjoys it ALL the time.

enjoying the mobile

he learned to hold his bottle (I think it was by fluke cos he hasn't really done that again)

holding bottle

enjoyed his first flight on Southwest - he was really calm for the entirety of the flight

flying to austin

he started grabbing on to things and tried incessantly to put them into his mouth

grabbing stuff

he started noticing toys on his swing

enjoying the swing

took monthly portraits on the same day as the welcome reception in Church - which explains why we were dressed up.

Monthy portrait

family photo

Family photo

and one just with me :)

with amma

It was hard leaving all friends and family in the DC metro area. I am :( Neyan will grow up without them, but we need to bend with the wind and move on.

Thursday, October 01, 2009

#419 Updates from Round Rock TX

Note: Drafted 15th Oct 2009; Published 11th Nov 2009

We have been here a week since we landed in Round Rock TX, and we miss all our friends and family. We had a fun farewell party before we left and want to thank all who made it. Neyan of course was the center of attention - here with Bini

with Bini

Thanks to Sony and Abraham who helped us with packing the container with such high density. It is scheduled to arrive here anytime this week and then uphill task of unpacking.

ready for move

Before we left, Susan took some awesome photos of Neyan and us. This is my fav one.

family photo

Neyan was visited by his paati and family

with leena and family

and also by others. Anne made these beautiful booties for him.

booties

Neyan too made a couple of visits before we left- here he is with Varun and Pavi who took turns holding him.

with Varun with Pavi

Saturday, September 19, 2009

#418 Crafty & Misc updates

First crafty updates: I have been knitting, but progress has been extremely slow. Neyan and packing* takes precedence. I did however manage to hand sew this pennant. I roughly followed a pattern from moonstiches.

owls

During the course of packing, inspired by the stash flash on the Rav South Asian group, I decided to document all stash and related stuff.. here is all my yarn... related stuff here (pics have notes. Move your mouse over the photo to see them).

yarn

Neyan got this beautiful hand crocheted hat from Anu, a new friend and fellow raveler.

Hat by Anu

Sue made me some beautiful handspun! I think I know exactly what to make with it!

sue's handspun

Now for the Misc updates... Here's a ladybug I found on one of my plants.

lady bug

and a last get-together with the gang! We will miss all of you! The fun, the laughter, the food and especially the taboo wars! {hugs}

last get-together

* to moving ~1500 miles.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

#417 Neyan's month one summary


Neyan's spent most of his first month sleeping

Sleepy time

sometimes during the day and kept up at night

sleep all day up all night

he loved talking to the tortoise

talking to the tortoise

and trying out outfits we sewed for him.. and of course smiling all the time!

Smiling Neyan

He was named by T at a small ceremony with friends and family

Naming ceremony

and got to wear jewelery as part of the 28th day celebrations. (Traditionally, the expectant mother goes to her mother's home (maike) for the delivery. On the 28th day after the baby is born, the new father and family come to name the baby and bring gifts)

Naming ceremony

We took a family photo, but Neyan cried :(

family portrait

But he had fun playing with T

playing with T

on 11th Sept, he was one calender month old. Here is his one month portrait with Winnie the Pooh

One month portrait

and one as a family :)

month one portrait

Friday, September 04, 2009

#416 Welcome Neyan

He's here!!
Neyan Nirmal Thinesh was born August 11th, 2009 at 8:51 pm. He came out screaming and yelling! This is my fav of the first few photos. Sabarni interpreted it well -
"Aaiyoo, now i have to start observe and learn and study and bawl.....so much work to do!"
Neyan

He looks a lot like Gauri. Here is her pic taken a day after she was born! For side by side comparison here.

Neyan

He spent the first few days sleeping a lot...

Neyan

and listening to anyone who had something to say. Look at him listening to T intently!

Neyan

and here with Grandma

neyan

He didn't cry at all on his first car ride and took a nap as soon as he reached home!

Neyan

played a bit with T

neyan

and smiled a lot!!

Neyan

and got grumpy soon after.

Neyan

Our lives have changed and no words can express the joy he brings!
Welcome to this world Neyan!

Needless to say, posts will be sporadic
all for a good reason :)
Blog Widget by LinkWithin