Play soccer! Or baseball!

Such a puppy!

Today we went to a birthday party where they had hired a soccer coach, Coach Paul. He had all the kids playing soccer. You also started to play but you are not even 3 years old! I held your hand and we both did one exercise together. You then kicked the ball around a bit in your own cute little way. You so much want to play with the big children, and you put so much effort into it. But you get tired. At one time you just sat down on the soccer ball-and you are so small that it was a comfortable seat for you.

Another time, the group was paired into two teams. The coach handed out plastic mesh coverings to separate the two teams. It was so big on you that it came down to your knees. And another time, I was looking for you, and you were hidden among all the other kids.

We have been playing soccer a lot, you and I. I harbor fantasies of making you into a soccer player. Basketball is out because you will never be that tall. Football is out because I don't want you to turn into a vegatable. Baseball maybe-but I don't find that sport interesting. Soccer is a global sport. But of course that means global competition. Maybe just enough for you to get a college scholarship. Ah, the fantasies of a middle-aged father.

So I take you downstairs to the garage, and get you to start kicking the soccer ball. Only, your sister likes to kick it more. And you also like to ride your bike. So we spend some time kicking the ball. And then you ride your bike. I don't want Simone to play soccer. There is no money in women's soccer. I'd rather she play tennis or golf. But she likes it. I have to wean her off it.

So, neelu, we'll see. What you will play.

Neelu Guitar December 2011

Rakhi 2012

Neelu and Honeyman

Muir Woods - a walk in the woods

Neel's first day of Preschool

Presents from Kaka :)

Kaka got you a big box of presents.. and this is your thank you to him :)

Neelu rides his bike.....

Cute Cute Neelu!!

October 2012 - You have been carrying this little bhagvad gita around that you call as jai jai. The other day over dinner you said -- "let's talk about honey man". It took a few minutes for us to realize who you were talking about. Then we all burst out laughing and made you say "honey man" atleast 20 times because it was the cutest thing ever!!!!

September 2012 - I had made some rasgullas and put them on the table. You really really wanted to eat them, and despite several attempts when I refused to give you any. You started saying -- "mummy ek rasgulla" "ek mummy". You were so cute, you tried to bribe mummy with hindi and it worked.

Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

4 monkeys

Friends are precious! Spending time with friends is one of the best things a person can do. Cherish your friendships. These 4 little monkeys share a special bond.... I love watching you play with both Rohan and Tiana. Here's all 4 of you walking over for Pizza when we moved into our new home.

Neel Scootering

Didi scooters everywhere and everywhere she goes, right behind her is a little pink scooter with a little boy on it! Neelu you look so cute scootering on the pink scooter! You are gaining confidence to move from the 3 wheels to the 2 wheels scotter.

Neel's 1st day of Preschool w/o Simone

Neel's reaction after his 1st baseball game

Here's a message for Mama & Myme from Neel

Handy Mandy Neelu

Disneyland and Neelu

Simone tried to trick Neelu by saying that he was going to be with Ariyan while Mummy, Daddy and Simone go to Disneyland. She kept asking Neel if it was okay. Neel responded by saying that you stay with Ariyan while mummy, daddy and I will go to Disney.

I burst out laughing... Neel had the wit to respond back to Simone.

Cutest things Neelu has said

5/14 -

Dadi gave it to me in  a hat when he comes back from the kitchen with sweet roti for him

Your first roller coaster ride

This past weekend was your 1st roller coaster ride at Disneyland. We thought we would have make you stretch for you to hit the 35" cut off. Well you stretched beyond the 35" and off we went for our first ride. I thought you would cry or scream but no, it was mummy who screamed the most. I wanted to record this ride for all of us to remember, but mummy started screaming the most and forgot to record.

Your reaction after the roller coaster..

When I asked you enjoyed the roller coaster, you said you loved loved it. So you and daddy went back and did it 2 more times. How fun! My little little puppy you are growing up sooooo cute. 

Neelu loves reading....

I am your huband....

This past weekend you said the cutest thing ever... ever! You see you and didi have been playing home home a lot. While playing home home, you get married, you have kids, and the both of you say silly things like -- I am a daddy, I am a mommy, I am wife etc.. You are playing house.

So when we were house hunting this past weekend -- you turned to me and said -- "I am your huband...". It was the cutest thing ever. You turned around and told didi -- "you are my life". I think mommy and daddy snickered the whole day about your, "I am a huband" comment.   Ofcourse, we had to record it before you started saying huband correctly or worse just stop saying it.

What is neel upto?

Neelu accompanies Daddy for a haircut

I had to get a haircut today so I took Neel along. He wanted to sit in his sister's carseat because it is the big girl seat. While we were leaving the building he said 'Police says no lights'. He used to like the interior car lights on and we told him that the Police said no, but then we changed our minds. Of course he repeats it like a mantra. We rolled down the street to the SuperCuts. I thought the place would be packed because it is a weekend but there was no wait. I sat down for my haircut and told Neel to sit on a fixture nearby me. He took out his super-bouncy ball but put it back in his pocket after I asked him to. So polite you are, Neelu! The women were all gaga over Neelu. He would talk to them, telling them he is two, and that his sister is four. They asked him if he went to school and he said preschool. They asked him if he liked to dance and he said 'ballet' but they didn't understand what he was saying, but then Neelu started doing some ballet moves that they really liked. Good first position, Neelu! One of them asked him if he wanted a balloon and he said yes. They asked him which color and he looked confused so she quickly said "Blue' and Neelu parroted back 'blue'. The balloon duly came out and she tied it to Neel's wrist. The women were surprised that a little tot of 2 could be so vocal. Neel then sang songs for them. I asked him to sing ABCD and he made his way through Jingle Bells and Twinkle Twinkle before starting ABCD. They told him that they would not cut his hair because he looks so cute in it. At the end of it they gave Neel a mint-flavored Hershey kiss that I told myself I would get rid of when Neel wasn't looking. But when we got home,the first thing Neel did was open up that mint and gobble it down. When we got home I asked Neelu if he wanted to take his balloon upstairs and he said No. So the balloon stayed in the car.

Neel's 1st Dental Appt

Potty training has begun

Three days ago, you told daddy that you want to go pee pee in the toilet. Daddy followed you and you did your business and we went about the day. We didn't think much of this, till the next day. Yesterday, you woke up and you said, Mummy I need to go potty. You take your diaper off and run to the bathroom and wait for someone to put you on the toilet. I put you on it and sit down. You tell - "its coming mummy, give me 5 minutes". We wait for a minute or two and lo and behold you pee pee in the toilet.

And Mummy was sooooo PROUD!! You have officially started your potty training.

Today in the morning we went to Target to put up a toilet seat for you. I gave you all the choice - cars 2, elmo and all you wanted was the pink/purple dora seat. So,we came home with the pink/purple Dora seat. Maybe someday you will give us a hard time for letting you buy it but for now, it is rather cute, watching a 2 year old sitting on a pink/purple seat.

Will you be my best friend?

Two days ago you asked mummy if she would be your best friend. Oh my how my heart melted when I heard that. Playing with you is one of the biggest joys in my life. I love playing this little pinkie..

You speak so full Neelu. At 26 months you are speaking full sentences and compounded sentences. Yesterday on the way for your swimming trial class you said - if you fall in water, you get hurt. WOW! I could hear you speak forever! 

Neelu's 1st Haircut

Simone interviews Neel...

Q & A with Neelu

Neelu's responses to questions asked of him:

1) Q: How was your day?
     A: Awesome Day....

2) Q: Who is your best friend?
     A: Didi...

Neelu thanks didi and uses his presents

He's playing with his birthday present:

When you and didi play

You and didi are pieces that complete a jigsaw puzzle.. My heart skips when I watch the two of you play together. For now you are the follower, you follow along doing everything she is doing. When I ask you who your best friend is, you respond  "didi".

Our favorite games....

My little little little neelu singh (my cute little name for you), what I would do to keep this little for ever. You are rambuncious little boy, so full of energy, but when you are ready to sleep, you like to snuggle next to Mummy.

We play the following little silly silly games:

1) The Blinking Game -- at night or occasionally during the day, I will hold you close and we talk about something. You start blinking your eyes and I blink mine. We make a game of this to see how many times we can blink etc.

2) This little Piggy -- one of our favorite games at night. When you are lying next to me, I pick your little hands and start saying -- this little piggy went to the school, this little piggy went to tick tock, this little piggy went to the grove, this little piggy went to piano class etc.. then you add in your little notes based on whatever suits you at the moment. This little piggy went to disneyland, this little piggy went to gymboree etc..

3) Where's my son -- Every time we play this game, my heart melts. I start by asking --"where's my son?". I look around the room and look all confused. That's when you come to me and put both your hands on my ears and move my face to face you and you say -- "right here". Every single time you do this - my heart melts. You are growing up soo sooo sooo fast but I love spending my time with you.

Can't hardly keep up

Neel is growing so fast, we can't hardly keep up. We suddenly realized that all the talking and reading that we are doing is actually sinking in. We have a little alphabet book for Neel-we went through it and he did well. We were happy. Last night he insisted on doing 'ay bee shee'. He brought the box of little books over, plopped himself on my lap, and insisted on going through them. When I tried to cut it short by saying that there were no more books, he opened up the box and fished through it till he found a few more. I remember how we used to do index cards with Simone- I wrote up a bunch of three letter words and when she could remember those we moved on to four and five letter words. It is time to do the same with Neel. It is so cute to hear him say words in his neotenic English. Today Neel insisted on wearing his underwear. He pulled off his diaper, ran to his Mom yelling "Nangushingh" (which is a cute term for 'naked boy') and then put on his underwear by himself. If he cannot find his own underwear he helps himself to his sister's underwear, so we always make sure he gets his own. He got it wrong a bit, but it was very cute. We eventually convinced him to put the diaper on and then put the underwear on top of it. I took Neel to the laundry room and he first asked where the coins where-he remembered that the machines needed coins. I instead asked him to help me transfer clothes from the washing machine to the dryer, and we had fun while he helped me do that. Then he helped me put coins into the dryer. Neel has also figured out how the whole fighting thing works. He has realized that if he holds something in his hand-and whacks his sister's head with it, it is the easiest way to get her to stop beating on him. It also means we have to intervene much faster. The old days of them just pulling hair and screaming are over, now it gets to actual fighting pretty quick. This past Saturday I attempted to take Neel on a hike. I figured he would enjoy some nature. I took a push-push (a plastic car that he can sit in while I push him around). I was thinking that when we got to the park he would hop out and walk a bit. But no...Mr. Neel refused to budge from his car, and so instead of hiking, we did an urban trail from our home over to the walk of the stars, stopped by to say hello to a friend, and headed home. It was towards the end that Neel decided he wanted to push the push-push and not just sit in it. Saturday was also the first day that Neel figured out how to propel himself along. He got on a scooter and pushed himself along a bit. It was fun to see. We were at a birthday and they had a puppy party. Simone instantly found the most vulnerable puppy and started to mother it, while Neel just started at the puppies, trying to figure out what to do. He petted a few of them and then got bored. I think is on the verge of the language explosion-and we are going to make sure we take 100% advantage of it.