summer's finally here...or so I hope!

this year has really worn me down with its 'Spring basically never was' and 'Summer can't make up its mind if it wants to stick around' trend. can't imagine what we'd have done without Zoya to brighten our days - rain or shine :) some videos of fun times over the past month

it was a quiet Saturday morning and Zoya and I decided to take a walk in our lane - drizzle notwithstanding. she was fascinated by the water drops on the trees and random stuff on the sidewalk



redmond town center has become a weekend ritual. it's simply wonderful to see how much fun kids have in the water fountains. no fancy toys, no equipment needed - just splashing around to their hearts content and re-using their parents' Starbucks cups :)



this one cracks me up!



another quiet Saturday morning at a park in Bellevue. Zoya was the only toddler among several puppies :) she's currently both fascinated (>3 ft) and scared (up close and personal) of bhu-bhus (i.e. dogs). and of course ducks, rabbits, cats and deer are all bhu-bhu in her eyes

sunny california!

life has been insanely busy since we got back from India and we needed a break from everyday, from the rain, from cold and gloomy Seattle (this Spring has been abysmal!) the original plan was to head to Vancouver for a day but the weather forecast was enough to prompt a last-minute trip to destination "guaranteed weather"

we spent a couple days in LA and made a day trip to Sea World in San Diego. our first day there, Ayanna and Zoya spent some time bonding in the neighborhood playground. Saturday Z had an absolute blast at the Getty! she couldn't stop running around and the 4 of us had fun seeing her so exited :) headed over to Glendale where most folks had a refreshing swim followed by yummy dinner. Mangal mavshi tried out some newly acquired Spanish recipes, Abhijit was grilling and Marc made a really good cobbler.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkmonoPGfQ8

happy Diwali!!

halloween

minnie mouse had lots of fun at mom and dad's office on Halloween! Planet Kids had a party planned for all the families where she got a hat made by one of her teachers. 

rhyme time

i'm all fingers and toes

Zoya and Ayanna

we flew down to LA couple months back to spend time with everyone. it was awesome seeing ayanna and zoya playing!  

enamoured

right around 2-3 months Zoya was starting to get super interested in colorful objects so I made her a mobile. here she is looking at it for the first time :) 

mom's back to work!

transitioning back to work was definitely a big change after three months of 24/7 baby duty but I was glad to be back and Zoya did great without me. it was a huge relief to have Mangal mavshi with us for the first couple weeks in August - they enjoyed each other's company. this is a random assortment of pics from July and August.

finding my voice

zoya went through a phase when she was really working her vocal chords. this is a fairly toned down version of her going at it

hiking runs in my blood :)

or should we say Manpratap and I were very eager to keep up our old ways and take Zoya along. I owe her a gift (when she's old enough to want something) for being a total angel and holding up splendidly through the day.

kungfu Zoya!

eeee ho! 

zoya goes to LA

zoya went to her first Indian wedding at 6 weeks old and met practically all of my family there. it was great was watching Zoya and Ayanna together. Family, food, fun! 




at the wedding reception Zoya got a pretty clip in her hair while enjoying a dance with Manpratap 

eyes wide open

the first set of pictures we shared with family and friends didn't have any shots where her eyes were open (understandable given she was snoozing 90% of the time :) zoya was in a great mood and I had a fun time clicking away!

musical education

mahesh used to practice the harmonium everyday and here's Zoya getting an earful :) 

mother's day

i don't usually care much for all the fuss around 'days', but this one was special with Aai and Zoya around.

a week in pictures

zoya's first week feels like it was such a long time ago - all the struggle with feeding, worrying about her goopy eyes, and just handling such a tiny human being...

happy birthday!!!

to Zoya...and me :)

I didn't have a clue when she was coming, but I was rooting for her due date - my birthday. and she made it!