We can’t stay small forever!

I’ve probably mentioned this a thousand times before, but it’s really hard to fathom how quickly the little munchkins are growing up. We’re trying our best to absorb the cuteness every day since this will be our first and last time raising little babies :) This is certainly the cutest stage so far – they are expressive, interactive, and emotional little beings. Geeta and I sometimes call them our ‘little creatures’ because they are like baby animals or little puppies that do all kinds of cute puppy’ish things.

What’s new?

Jaiden’s vocabulary is growing by the day. He’s got this obsession with balls – he’s carries his favourite orange ball with him everywhere and will approach anyone in sight to show it off....”baaalllll, baaallll”. He’s also starting to point to things now and he often tells a story in baby language while pointing to things outside. When both Jaiden and Kailen drop things (often on purpose), you get a double ‘oh oh’. They also both love saying ‘up’ when they throw things.

Kailen has got a new dance – he loves music and often stamps his feet when he dances. He’s got a love for the outdoors and he tells you when he wants to go outside by bringing his shoes to you. Kailen has been very clingy lately; it seems like he’s going through a stage. He often wakes up at 5AM calling out for us to bring him into our bed. We’ve been trying to resist giving in since it tends to become a habit pretty quickly these days and it’s really tough to have the munchkins in our bed at this stage – they love to kick and crawls all over us making it tough to get any real zzzzz’s.

Ariya is standing up more and more and can do it on her own now. She takes steps when she’s got the support of a hand or furniture. Recently, we pulled her crib out of the room from the other two and into my office so that we can sleep train her. It was sad to separate the threesome for the first time but I guess its part of growing up! We’ve been trying to wean her off her nightly feed and have so far been successful in eliminating the 3AM feed – thank god..Finally more continuous sleep for mommy and daddy! Earlier this week, we learned that she’s got pretty low iron which was causing some swelling especially around her eyes lids in the morning. We’ve had to put her on iron supplements and get her back on iron-fortified formula for at least one feed per day.

Daadi (Grandma Gera) is in town for a short visit – the babies seem to remember her and have been really good. They love playing with daadi and we’re happy that she came for a short visit.

Ariya being funny

Ariay and cousin Rhea

Rhea and Kailen
Anu Masi (aunt) and Jaiden

We Love the Outdoors!

The last few weeks have been lots of fun for the kiddos - they've really showed how much they love the outdoors. Kailen often brings his shoes to us to show that he wants to go outside.

Recently, we built an outdoor play set for the munchkins. It has three swings so that no one has to wait their turn :) The kids are really enjoying it. We also got a little kiddie pool for them and they LOVE the water. Jaiden especially loves it and it's often a struggle to pull him away.

Daddy is away on a business trip next week and will miss the timbits a lot. Mommy will be holding down the fort with some extra help from the nanny's.

Recently, we had a Dr's appointment for the little ones and we were told that we need to start weaning Ariya off the milk at night (her bothers have been going without it for a while now) - that's going to be one heck of a challenge because Ariya demands her milk at least twice a night....if we can get her off ...mommy and daddy will reap the rewards of a continuous night's sleep....aaahhhh...how nice that would be!

Babies First Visit to the Ottawa Tulip Festival

Last weekend we took the kiddos to the Ottawa Tulip Festival at Dow's Lake.

They had a blast...and loved ripping up off those tulip flowers (although we tried to cover it up) :) It was really cute seeing three little munchkins walk across the park admiring all those tulips. Ironically, daddy learned to walk at this very same place when he was a baby.

Mommy and daddy started constructing the kids' play set last weekend. We are almost finished (will post some pictures soon).

A-Gaaaaaa

We have a ritual at dinner time...we do the 'a-gaaaaaaaas'! It has become our secret family version of 'what's upppppppp'...except in baby language!

Getting Ready for Summer

It has a good couple of good weeks – the kids are in a good rhythm, the weather has been warm, and work is under control. We just bought the kiddos a play set for the backyard; one with three swings! Home Depot delivered it yesterday....now we just have to find the 8 hours required to put it together (suggested project length).

Daddu (Grandpa Gera) has been visiting us from the UK for the last couple of weeks. It has been really nice to have him around and the kids (especially JJ) love their Daddu!

We’ve decided to make a trip to Toronto in a few weeks to attend a friend’s wedding. We still haven’t decided on whether we’ll make this our first trip away from the kids, or whether we’ll bring them....kind of torn with deciding and it obviously depends a lot on what kind of help we can arrange.

Interesting Story: when mommy was in grade one, her friend gave her a height tracker – a really nice one that mounts to the wall and is made of wood. Through the years as mommy and her sisters grew up they tracked their heights ...eventually the height tracker was shelved and thrown out in the trash. Mysteriously, someone had pulled it from the curb side before the waste collectors came that day to collect it. Years later, mommy wished that they had kept it but it was certainly gone forever... until one day (recently), Nanni (Grandma Uppal) was shopping and found that exact piece for sale in a store! It was a miracle to have found it. How did it end up in the store? Amazingly, it still had all the historical height tracking information etched into the wood! The store keeper was nice enough to give it back to mommy (for free) after he heard the story. Now, we’ll be using it for years to come to track JJ, KK, and Ariya’s growth.

What’s new?

Ariya is cracking lots of teeth now – her upper one have come in! She is standing quite easily now and I’m sure she is only a couple of months away from walking. She’s learn to become quite aggressive with her brothers when they steal her toys or when she wants something from them. She’s often pulling their hair or hitting them – we’ll need to work on that Miss Bella!

JJ is getting really fast at walking and often put his hands behind his back while he walks (so cute!).He’s learning new syllables and is becoming more expressive by the day. He’s learning so fast – it’s so amazing.

KK is also getting quite good at walking, although he still prefers to crawl half the time. He’s still screaming a lot these days but it is subsiding with extra attention from mommy. His haircut didn’t last too long – his hair is back in his face...poor Kailen!

Happy Mother's Day to Our Super Mommy!

Happy 2nd Mother's Day to our Super Mommy!

We don't know how she does it or where she finds the energy, patience, and strength...but she does. We love you mommy!

Some recent pics below.

Our First Haircuts & KK Walking

The munchkins got their first hair cut! Geeta and I had the barber at Chiquicuts do a small trim so that their hair is out of their faces. We still want the babies to grow their hair out long so we didn't have them take too much off the sides or the back - we find long hair so cute on babies. People do sometimes mistake Kailen ad Jaiden as girls but that's okay...we find them so adorable. To sum their hairstyles - Kailen's got wings, JJ's got curls, and Ariya looks like a little boy with her new haircut :)

Contrary to Indian/Hindu tradition we've decided not to do a Mundan (an indian tradition whereby we shave the babies hair). Here's an excerpt from Wikipedia on what that's about: “In tradition, the hair from birth is associated with undesirable traits from past lives. Thus at the time of the mundan, the child is freshly shaven to signify freedom from the past and moving into the future. The rite is performed as a special ceremony in most homes, for young girls and boys.”

Video of KK walking below.

Aunty Ros & Uncle Ben visit the munckins

JJ gets a trim

Let me out!!
Ariya not liking the barber!
KK gets his wings clipped

Kailen is walking!!