Wow...a week flies by!

It's been a busy week...and I've slacked! Nishu has the camera , so I can't upload pictures until tomorrow or Wednesday, so stay-tuned...

We had a busy few days at the "Old house" in Yorkville. We ventured into the city on Saturday and had a really nice time visiting with old friends and then Dadi and Dadaji (Nishu's mom and dad, respectively) came to visit on Sunday. What fun! Kiran and Dadaji build "Chicago". They built lots of skyscrapers with blocks. Kiran remembered from weeks ago when they were building that the tall, skinny towers need a good "foundabase". Okay, so he combined foundation and base, but he got the gist of it. He made sure to get a wider block to be the "foundabase" for his towers. He also demonstrated his three-going-on-thirteen attitude when Dadi wanted to hold him and he told her, "That's not going to happen!" They had lots of fun playing school, though, with Kiran the teacher and Dadi the student, of course! After a long drive back today, and a couple of hours at daycare, Kiran was excited to come home and play with this new "computer game" from Dadi. She brought a V-tech video game system for him that he was thrilled with! Another package from Nani added to the excitement. Needless to say it's been a jam-packed week! I'll try to post some pictures soon!

The Hindi People

How could I forget to post this one??

Kiran has been really into the alphabet and spelling lately. And I've been writing a lot of words, especially his name, in English and Hindi. Needless to say he gets very confused that in Hindi the 'i' comes before the 'k'...hey, it's confusing for a lot of us!

Well, on our way to the park this weekend he was sitting in the backseat spelling his name, asking how to spell other words, etc. He asked, "Who spells Kiran with an 'i'? Do the Hindi people? Or the Spanish people?" So, funny...

Still working on overnight...

We're still working on night-time potty training. Although he got off to a great start, he just doesn't wake up when he has to pee or even after...so he'll lay there sleeping in wet clothes. Yuck!!

The other night he woke up in the morning and was wet. He called me to come get him and when I walked in he said, "Mama I was sweating. Because sweat water is warm and pee is cold. My pants are warm, so it's sweat water not pee." Poor guy felt bad about it and made up the "sweat water" explanation. Such an imagination...

This morning when I got up to get him, I walked into his room and he was naked from the waste down. He said, "Mama, I put my clothes in the laundry already...your welpum (welcome)." Funny little man.

Basketball, basketball, and more basketball

So, since the NCAA tournament started on Thursday we've been watching a lot of basketball. Kiran, however, isn't the biggest sports fan...yet! So, I had to bribe him with some fun activities to keep him occupied and relatively independent this afternoon so Nishu and I could watch the game. Here are a few pics...too bad, the outcome of the game was disappointing. Our Badgers made it the second round, but fell short against Xavier today.

Playing his guitar (that I made out of tissue paper).

Busy Painting.

Our spring-themed, tissue-paper/sticker creation.

And for a brief moment, he actually watched basketball.

Stories from the day...

No pictures today, but there were several cute little stories I thought I'd share. I actually wrote myself a memo on my phone so I'd remember to post them.

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In case you had any doubt that Kiran is a lover, through and through...When I picked Kiran up from school today he was outside playing (it was 70 degrees and beautiful!). His teacher, Ben, relayed a story from nap time. Most of the other kids nap, but Kiran hasn't napped for months. So, he plays quietly and cuddles with the teachers. Today, he said, "Ben, Ben...I have something to tell you." Ben asked what, to which Kiran replied, "I love you!" Kiran's other teacher, Salina, also stopped me on our way out to tell me that he asked for some cuddles before she left for her planning period (also right after lunch) and told her several times that he loves her. Such a sweet boy! And such a great feeling to know that he loves his daycare teachers so much!

In the car on the way home, I always ask Kiran if he had a good day. This is how the conversation went down today:
Me: Did you have a good day today?
K: No, I didn't have a very good day?
Me: Oh, no...why not?
K: Because my friend hit me?
Me: Really? Who hit you.
K: (Shrugs his shoulders) I don't know.
Me: You don't know who hit you?
K: Ivan and Diego
***Now, this surprises me because Ivan and Diego are very sweet boys who have never been aggressive toward Kiran
Me: Really, Kiran I thought they were lovers not fighters just like you....are making up stories?
K: Well, I don't have any more stories left in my body, so I had to make one up!

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He also said that he had a bad day because Ivan was singing his (Kiran's) song, We Will Rock You. I tried to explain that song don't belong to people...that everybody can sing any song. He was still pretty upset about it, though, because "Ivan doesn't know the words. He says, 'We will, we will pop you'. I need to teach him the words." LOL!

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Finally, he's been into jokes lately. Nishu told him two jokes on the way to school. First, he told him "What did the doctor say to the horse....why such a long face." Kiran cracked up. Next up, "Why did the chicken cross the road...to get to the other side." After hearing this one, Kiran said "That's not a funny joke, papa!" It's pretty bad when even your own 3 year old tells you you're not funny, sorry Nishu!

Happy Birthday, Ajay Chacha!

These pictures are from a few days ago (you'll notice the same clothes as a blog entry a couple of days ago!). Kiran made a birthday card for Chacha...turning 21!! Woah! His birthday isn't actually until tomorrow, but it's tomorrow already in Australia...So, we hope you're having a fantastic day (and being safe!). Here are a few pics of Kiran making Chacha's birthday creation!

Notice the letter 'K' that he drew. That's his signature...for now, anyway.

Happy St. Patrick"s Day

Busy, busy, busy...

Who knew you could cram so much into one evening...by the time we're home from work/daycare it's usually about 5:45...between then and 8:20 (when Kiran was out for the night) we painted/glittered pinecones and finger painted, rode bikes, climbed rock piles, played on the stairs/yard, made/ate dinner, colored & applied new tattoos, and took a bath. Whew. Busy night! Tomorrow is supposed to be even more beautiful than it was today, so I think I'll skip out of work a tad early so we can play outside! Anyway, here are lots of pics from our busy evening.

Painting outside.

We collected pinecones at daycare to bring home and paint/glitter.

For some reason, Kiran finds climbing up and down the stairs to the back door really, really fun!

And climbing up and down the yard adjacent to the stairs...fun, fun, fun!

Keeping a safe distance from the stray digger part...it made him a bit nervous.

He had LOTS of fun digging in the rock pile.

And of course, we had to take some rocks and smoosh them into the soft dirt.

Back inside, after dinner...fun with tattoos. They say getting tattoos is addictive. Well, Kiran got the bug. He put 6 on his one arm and was quite proud!

Marengo Cave

We decided to check out a cave about an hour south of Bloomington today. We did a 35 minute tour of one part of the cave, "The Crystal Room". It was really cool! Kiran was excited to go, but got a little freaked out when we got into the cave, insisting on being carried. He even asked several times if we could go home. We made it through, though! There's another 70 minute tour of a different area of the cave, so we're thinking it might be a good summer trip (especially since it's a cool 52 degrees in the cave year round!). Here are some pics:

Singing "We Will Rock You" in the gift shop before the tour. We can't go anywhere these days without a "We Will Rock You" performance.

Getting ready...


It's dark in here.

Ooooh!

Aaaaah!

If you look really closely at this one, you'll see a little bat hanging in between the stalagtites

Just chillin'

Today as Nishu and I were getting ready to leave for the day, Kiran was playing nicely in the family room. He apparently decided he needed some alone time, walked up to his room (without saying a word) and this is what we found (and heard!):

You've got mail!

Kiran absolutely LOVES to get mail. We check the mailbox everyday after work and he asks, "Did I get any mail, mama?" If there's any junk mail/flyers/catalogs that I don't need I give them to Kiran and he's always very excited about it. In fact, he's been walking around with a Comcast mailer for days...it's his map! Somedays, though, there's either no mail or only important mail and it's never good when I have to tell Kiran there's no mail for him. A week or so ago I was on the phone with my mom when I told Kiran there was no mail. He burst into a tears...very emotional tears. Needless to say, my mom took note. Kiran recieved a package and a card in the mail yesterday. Talk about excited...he tore into the package like you wouldn't believe. Unfortunately, Nani taped it up really well, so he needed a little bit of help.

Opening the card.

Ooooh, what's in the box?

Hmmm, it might be easier to read if it weren't upside down, huh?

Yay! Markers!
And now, down to business...

More Holi Pictures

Here are so pictures that some nice person with a camera at the party took:

Making sure Claire has enough green...

on her face...

and her hair!

Happy Holi!!

Today is the Hindu holiday Holi, the festival of colors. It's a holiday to celebrate the beginning of spring and one of the rituals associated with Holi is throwing colored water and powder (I'm no expert, so if you want to know more...google it!). It's very fun and very messy!! The IU Asian Student Association hosted a Holi celebration and Kiran and I went with our friend Claire. It was SO much fun!!! The ASA is just down the street from the Psychology building, so we walked over. As we walked up to the house (yes, it's literally a house) there were lots of people (college students) in the front lawn throwing very brightly colored powder of every color!! Kiran was a tad hesitant at first, but quickly realized how fun it was. He smeared powder all over Claire and me. When he realized it was okay to throw it, I got a healthy dose of bright blue powder directly to the face! Let me tell you, it doesn't taste good!!! Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera. There were several people snapping pictures, though, and being the only child out there in the fun Kiran was a popular "prop". LOL! I should get more pictures from the actual party, but for now I'll post some I took after we got home (and if you can believe it, much of the powder rubbed off). The whole ride home Kiran was planning his own "Happy Holi Party", asking me to go shopping for "glitter powder" and such. I immediately threw him in the tub when we got home, then he got dinner and went straight to bed (at nearly 9:00!). During dinner, Kiran asked, "Can it be Happy Holi tomorrow, too?" I think it's fair to say he enjoyed this holiday and we'll definitely make it a point to celebrate Holi as a fun family tradition!

Not so happy about having his picture taken.

Here's my first attempt at getting a picture of the two of us...Kiran was trying to run away. I think it's clear just how much fun he had dousing me with colors, though!

Take 2.

And, the final attempt. Gotta love that cheesy smile!

And now, time to clean up!!

Still some cleanup to do...

And finally, a clean little boy!