Sam the Singer, Take 2

He was very put out at having to stop going through the kitchen cabinets to sing for the camera (and almost rolls his eyes during the song), but still cute:

Sam the Singer

Sam sings all the time. He recently started singing himself to sleep (last night for a full hour), and happily breaks into song at any occasion. Um, unless there is a camera pointed at him. Then, he becomes somewhat reluctant, and decides that the camera lens is a button he needs to push:






It should be noted that he also turned out to have a fever today, I blame that. :)

Video Attempt

OK, we've just discovered that our awesome digital video camera is lacking the cable to connect it to a computer (??). So, while we track down a cable, we're exploring other options. Today we went to lunch at Sparky's, the American Diner in Chennai (run by a real American, chef Thom Petty). Sam discovered that he can now open and close the high chair tray himself, and while he was doing that Mark tried out the video recorder feature on his cell phone. So, here's a snippet of Sam:



He says "namaste" and shows how to put his hands together, then says "I want a paci, Daddy," and laughs because we've been trying to wean him from pacifiers by telling him he doesn't need them.

Soon, higher quality video...

The Mango

Back when I was pregnant with Sam, before we knew his gender, Mark had a dream that we had a boy and that I insisted on naming him "Peachy." We both thought that was pretty funny, especially since we were living in Georgia at the time (the state, not the republic). So for the rest of my pregnancy, the developing baby was known as Peachy. Lori's daughter Anna, four at the time, weighed in that she didn't think Peachy was a very good name for a boy, and was relieved to hear that he wouldn't be called that after he was born.




Once we knew we were going to India and that our time in Chennai would coincide with wanting to have a second child, Mark and I decided that its in-utero name would be The Mango in honor of one of India's native fruits (the kind that will hopefully grow on the tree in our courtyard come May!).



Ladies and gentlemen, I give you The Mango:

Here s/he is in a close-up:

In other words, I'm pregnant and the baby is due at the beginning of September (the actual due date is September 7, my parents' 40th wedding anniversary). :)

If all goes as planned, Sam and I will fly to California in July and stay there for at least three months. Mark will join us for several weeks of that time, and when The Mango is six weeks old we'll all fly back home to Chennai. Incidentally, if anyone reading this has an OB you like with admitting privileges at Cedars-Sinai or UCLA, let me know!


Stay tuned for more Mango developments, and we look forward to seeing many of you this Summer!

We made the paper...

Sam (along with several of his friends) goes to a brand new preschool in our neighborhood called Alphabet. It's a great place; the founders Kavita and Anil are dedicated educators who gave up half of their property to build a fabulous facility, and they have a staff of newly-minted, enthusiastic teachers who are just so happy to be there. Sam loves his Mommy and Me class (he graduates to preschool in June) and talks about "Afabeh" all the time.

Before classes started, there was an official opening day, with an open house at Alphabet, a luncheon in Kavita and Anil's garden, and a fancy dinner with speeches at a nearby hotel. Sam and I went to the open house with our friend Paula and her sons Jeremy and Jonathan. There were a lot of people taking pictures, and a nice woman with a notepad was asking Paula what she thinks of the school.

This past Sunday, a picture of the five of us (and some of the other moms we were talking to) appeared in a local edition of The Hindu newspaper. A very, very local edition, the particular version of the "Downtown" section that only covers the five neighborhoods closest to ours. :) Seriously, even the copy of the paper they get at the Consulate didn't have the story, and it's certainly not on The Hindu Online.

In any case, Kavita saved copies for Paula and me. Here's the full article:

And here's a close-up of the photo:

(Mom, that was before I got a haircut.) You'll be happy to know that despite the photographic evidence, Sam does not bring his pacifier to school. :)

What did you do for Valentine's Day?

We went dancing!


Well, really we went to our friends Michelle and Mark's wedding. But there was dancing!


I was trying to figure out what was so different about V-day this year (aside from the India thing) and realized that it's the first time since 1998 that I didn't get a shoebox or paper bag full of "To my Teacher" Valentines. Weird. :)

Toddler Welcome

From the time we arrived in Chennai, our sponsors (Kristin and Tony) have been awesome. Even before we got here, Kristin had a social event lined up for me, Ladies' Poker Night:

Once we were somewhat settled, Kristin and Tony hosted a "get to know you" event for us, with most of the other Consulate families whose kids are around Sam's age. We ate, we shmoozed, we watched football. Now, Tony and Kristin are used to having their two kids (Holli and Carter) around, but they are well past toddler age. The chaos created by a herd of munchkins hopped up on toys and cake was something to see.

At one point the older kids started throwing a toy frog at the ceiling. And it stuck.

Yeah, it was that kind of party. :) Thanks, guys!

Home? Ennai!!!

The title of this post is what Sam says at least once most days, now that we are in our new home. At first I think he was asking to go home (to Falls Church), but now it's just for confirmation that this is home.

Surprise, surprise, we had more issues with our baggage on the flight from Delhi to Chennai. There was much conversation, several phone calls, boarding passes produced to prove that we had arrived on an international flight, more fees, and on and on. At one point, Mark was taken away to some office somewhere (I later found out that it was to pay the fees), and I found myself alone with a toddler in a strange airport, in a new country, without passports, boarding passes, a working cellphone, or local currency. Not letting that happen again, let me tell you.

You have to look at electronic signs to see what gate your flight's at in Delhi (and they change all the time, and announcements are difficult to hear), like at a train station. The flight involved taking a bus out to the tarmac and going up portable stairs to the plane. It's been a long time since I've gotten to do that! People were very helpful with, if slightly suspicious of, all of our carry-on baggage. Sam fell asleep at the airport and didn't wake up for the whole flight. Which was good, because (unannounced to us), our flight had been combined with one to Bangalore, and was now twice as long. Hmm. We just hoped that our sponsors, Kristin and Tony, would find out about this and not be waiting at the airport for 2 extra hours.

Kristin had found out, and didn't mind the wait, although Tony had gone back to work. She also said how sorry she was that we would be in temporary housing for a few days, referring to an email that we hadn't actually gotten. :) Luckily, the temp apartment was perfectly adequate, stocked with food and toys by Kristin, and complete with a crib for Sam. That's right, we lugged around the Pack N Play for a week, when everywhere we stayed (except for Chase's) had a crib available. Note to self...


We took a quick visit to the Consulate to check it out and introduce ourselves, then on to our temporary digs and a lesson in water purifiers and mosquito nets. Poor Mark, he's allergic to the bug bites but is like catnip to mosquitoes; Sam and I got one bite each to Mark's 13. The weekend was a blur of hanging out, eating out at a variety of vegetarian restaurants (green dot on the menu = don't have to ask about ingredients), and meeting new friends/co-workers, including Matt and Jill. Jill went to Israel with a bunch of my summer camp buddies, and we had a fun time playing Jewish Geography.


First impressions of Chennai: it is much greener and nicer than what we saw of Delhi, not to mention largely free of smoke (there's an ocean nearby; it's the same reason West L.A. is less smoggy than the Valley). We've seen cows and oxcarts and people living under tarps right next to huge mansions (it turned out to be housing for the construction workers), families of five all balanced on one motorcycle (with mom riding sidesaddle), and women in gorgeous saris walking around barefoot.


On Saturday morning we went to the Consul General's residence, where an Auto Rickshaw, festively decorated, had been set up for anyone wanting to take holiday photos. Sam quickly fell in love with the "truck," wanted to drive it, and protested loudly when taken out of it.

Yeah, that's the shot for the card. We found out that there are two other boys, Alexander and Jackson, born within a week of Sam. That'll be some birthday party come June! There are tons of other kids in the Consular Community close to Sam's age, and we had a brunch playdate set up within an hour of arriving at the CG's. :) At that playdate the next day, with Kris and Richard, we discovered that they had lived in L.A. and were fellow devotees of places like The Apple Pan.

I don't want to overgeneralize about FS people, but in our limited experience, they sure are friendly and helpful! We were toted around, fed, entertained, lent/given anything we needed until our shipments arrive, and on and on. The result of this generosity was that by Tuesday, we had moved into our permanent housing with our own working Indian cellphones, working internet, a high chair and toys for Sam, a temporary car and driver, food, and playdates for me and Sam while Mark worked. It was awesome.

Oh, and while we were at the temporary apartment? Sam and I saw a monkey. For real. Running along the top of the fence like a possum, with crows dive-bombing it and a local dog barking his head off. I couldn't get to my camera fast enough, but we were thrilled, and for days afterwards Sam would say "Muntey!" to any and everyone.

In the next post: our fabulous house and what makes it weirdly Indian. Hint- it has to do with water...