Coming out of the closet

Archaeology for beginners

Last week we went to Mahabalipuram for a little field trip. I wasn't sure how the kids would behave, but it turned out to be quite a nice outing for them. Rohan was a little suspicious and preferred to be carried most of the time, but Rajiv behaved like a little explorer, climbed here and there and was really sad when he realized that we were heading back home.

The Five Rathas:







Arjuna's Penance carvings and the balancing rock:




The lemonade is almost over - time to go home?

Big Butterflies

We are in Chennai right now. Nonna was with us for a few weeks, but now she is about to fly back home. We traveled a lot and had some trouble being online (think laptop crashing on the floor and internet key breaking into small pieces - the joys of parenthood...) but I have truckloads of photos to show. As usual though, don't wait by the modem.

Just for cuteness, a small anecdote:

We took the kids to see some elephants. Rohan was very impressed and screamed "Butterflies!".

Papa' is The Greatest Dad

Tomorrow we are flying to India to be reunited with papa'. To celebrate, let me bring up a couple of memories.

Italy, Rajiv, three years ago:




Rohan, India, eight months ago:



Papa'- never leave home without him :)

Photos you have missed - part 6 - the final chapter :)

Foto della mattina di Natale e foto della nostra gita a Toronto nei due giorni successivi. Le prime foto sono dello zoo, dove Rohan e Appu hanno trovato le loro due anime gemelle in due cuccioli di orangotango. Le altre foto sono del Science Center, dove Appu si e' divertito a giocare con le dighe e molto altro. Anche Rohan, dopo un bel sonnellino in braccio a suo papa', e' sembrato sodisfatto del nuovo parco giochi.. :)

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Here come the Christmas photos, with only one month of delay.


The first photos are from Christmas morning. I really had to push them to open the presents at first, but then they understood that it was supposed to be fun and played along. Appu of course immediately took complete control of the situation, but we managed to save something for Rohan to unwrap too.



Of course some of the presents were new trains and here they are trying them on the track. Unfortunately, the Thomas train carrying a snowman that Santa had hunted down on ebay for weeks doesn't seem to fit under all the tunnels, so it wasn't as much of a hit as Santa had dreamed. Sigh..




The next photos are from our trip to Toronto, a last minute idea to get out of town around the holidays. We left on Christmas day and spent two nights at a hotel (known in Appu's language as "the biggest tower").

One day we went to the zoo. It was cold, but some of the animals didn't mind and other were kept warm inside. We saw a rhino indoors and as you might imagine his presence really fills the room. Hard to feel fully at ease... :) We saw a beautiful tiger (below) and wolves and polar bears in the arctic section.


But our favorite were hands down the orangutans. There were two little ones climbing around and playing like toddlers. The moms (you see one in the photo) were sitting quietly on the side and every now and then the kids would go to them, drink some milk and then go back to play. Just like Rohan and Rajiv :)
I am sorry for the quality of the photos, the (not so clean) glass between us and the orangutans made it difficult to take good shots in a hurry.





The next day we went to the Science Center. It is a lot of fun for kids and they also have a specific wing for children under six where they can play with stuff that in principle could also lead to an understanding of some science principles. We didn't even try to put it that way to Rajiv of course, but he sure had a lot of fun! His favorite part was playing with canals and dams in the water.




Rohan took a long nap in the carrier with papa', but after that he enjoyed himself too.




Then we concluded our trip with a stop at the Mississagua Ikea store on the way back, as a Christmas present for mamma :)

Appu impara a leggere! (In inglese...)

Rajiv has known his letters and the sound they make for a while now, mostly thanks to an annoying electronic toy. However, he just wasn't interested in putting those sounds together to make words. I tried to introduce the idea a couple of times, but he just wasn't ready.

And now, suddenly, he really wants to learn! In the video he is reading from a book that I made for him more than six months ago. He loves that he can more or less read it all by himself. Of course the pictures help and by now he must have it all memorized, but you can see that he is really trying to figure it out by himself.

Anyway, mamma is so proud :)

Note: At Appu's request, I wanted to record the reading of the whole book, but Rohan had some computer trouble and then I finished my memory card, so the video at some point just ends.

Photos You Have Missed - Part 5

Un po' di foto della settimana prima di Natale.

These are photos from just before Christmas.

The first is a typical sight this days: Appu in his "nest". Other times it might be a "house" or a "cage" (which for some reason he thinks would be very cozy) or a "bedroom" or just a "bed". Occasionally we make "boat".




Cello practice.






Christmas decorations. The poor tree will never forgive us for leaving him alone with the two little disasters.



"Oh no, the flash is hurting my eyes!"



"Uhm... Maybe if I come closer... AAAAAAAAAH!"



"Much better!"




And to finish, a little bit of Appu cuteness.




Coming soon, the actual Christmas Holidays. Stay tuned.