India at School

Today I went to Vivian's school to talk to her class about India. In keeping with the subject matter I was late. But Ms. Andrea was very nice about it and let me chat with the kids over lunch. I had a slide show for the kids. One of the pictures I had in the slide show was of HPS - my school from pre-school to 12th. I got it from Flickr. It shows a portion of what we called the "Main Building".

Vivian was my prop. Jo dressed her in "Indian" clothes this morning. I got a photograph before Jo did Vivian's hair. I must say that Vivian looked exceeding lovely.

Dadu and Evan

Vivian and Dadu get along - but it's nothing to write home about. One problem is that Dadu forgets to put in his hearing aids most of the time and he asks Vivian something and she replies and he doesn't hear the reply and asks her again. Repeat endlessly.

Evan on the other hand is pretty tickled with Dadu. Dadu looks at Evan a hundred times a day and says "Smile" and Evan cracks a huge smile. Here are some pictures of Dadu and Evan.

Dadu is headed back to Hyderabad tomorrow. Today Vivian told Jo what Dadu should be for Halloween (a hotdog hula girl - like the rest of us) and when Jo told Vivian that Dadu was going to be in India during Halloween, Vivian said that we could have another Halloween when he gets back.

Cooler Weather

All I wish for in Austin during summer is that the mornings be cooler than the air-conditioned inside of the house. Opening the door at 630am and feeling like someone just farted in your face is a horrible way to start your day.

Last week it got cool - down in the 50's early in the morning. That's unexpected for September. Vivian put on her pajama bottoms and her skirt and her fluffy puppy house shoes and pink mittens before stepping out. She looked like fuzzy pepto. Here she is horsing around with Jo. And then Jo took a picture of Vivian and me (and Rody). I don't have too many pictures with the kids - so it's an automatic for the blog.

Abe of the Small Brain Fame

Abe pops up in the blog occasionally. He's our stupid cat. As opposed to Crazy, who's the smart cat. Today Vivian was drawing a picture of the family. She made a blob and pointed to it and said "Daddy - this is Abe". Then she made a small squiggly shape inside the blob and added "And this is Abe's brain". I thought it's time to post a picture of Abe.

He's a handsome cat and has a great personality (really). He's got a couple of small liabilities: he's stupider than a door knob, and he pisses on everything.

Solid Food

Not satisfied with just sitting up, Evan has been smashing his developmental goals this month. He is eating food.

He started out with that nasty rice cereal plus mama's milk paste and soon graduated to pulped pears and peas. Note that in the second picture he's not his in Bumbo. The lad is sitting at the table in Vivian's old Stoke and Vivian has moved on to a full sized adult dining chair.

Sitting Up

Yep. That's what that kid is doing. The first reliable sightings of controlled sittings were about a week ago. Since then he's been sitting like a champ where ever he can.

The Race

Notwithstanding my recent rant about Vivian being my witness and my trying to be a good son, my dad and I are already like room mates in need of some separation.

I don't like to wait. I start late and drive fast to get wherever. I feel physically queasy if I'm not the last person to hurry into an airplane. I hate doctors because they always make you wait. So I have to invoke some inner zen calmness when I walk with my dad. He's excruciatingly slow. And then he completely stops and looks at something for a while. Or pokes at a dead leaf with the pointy end of his hiking pole.

So the other day we step out to go to the grocery store. He asks if we are driving. I need to invoke that inner zen and say "Yes. We are driving. You walked to Central Market once four years ago. It takes us 15 minutes to walk down and around the corner to your house." He says "No - I walk to my house in 5 minutes".

In a flash I whip out my iPhone and start the stopwatch. He gets this steely look in his eyes and shuffles down the porch steps. Once he hits the sidewalk, he's practically running. At first I'm a bit worried. Then I start to imagine the music from Chariots of Fire. My dad picks up speed. We careen down the street and lurch up the next one. At the doorstep of his house my stopwatch reads 8:47. I'm impressed. But I say "See, not 5 minutes". He catches his breath and says "I could do it in five. I was taking it easy."

Jesus Loves You*

Imagine you are a good christian (some of you are going to have to image pretty damn hard). Then imagine that you send your daughter to a school where they tell her every week that there is no god.

So I choose to ignore certain aspects of Vivian's otherwise very satisfactory education. Meanwhile, chapel can cause some funny moments at home.

The other day Vivian started to sing a song about Jesus. But she couldn't remember all the words. Jo looked up the song on the internet and played back a rather gospel-ish version. Vivian enjoyed it and we joked that she might raise a few eyebrows in chapel if she burst forth in tune the next time. Then Vivian ran around the house singing the song for a while. I was in the kitchen with Evan when she again forgot some words. "Daddy - what are the words after such-and-such?"

I admitted that I didn't know. She asked why I didn't remember it from church when I was a kid. As plainly as I could, I told her that I didn't go to church as a kid or an adult.

She chewed on that for a moment then raised her voice so that Jo in the other room would be able to hear. "Mommy - we need to teach Daddy the song because he didn't learn it when he was little."

Evan and I chuckled.

*I can't remember the words of the song or what it was called, but these three words were frequently enough mentioned in the lyrics to be able to stand in for the title.

Oh Shit Again

I was in the kitchen and Vivian and Devyn were quietly playing in the play room. Vivian was cutting paper with her crinkle-cut scissors. Suddenly I hear her say "Oh Shit!".

Me: "Vivian - what did you say?"

Vivian: "Nothing."

Me: "Sounded like something."

Vivian: "I said Oh Man."

Me: "Really? Didn't sound like that at all."

Vivian: [eye roll] "OK Daddy - I said it."

Me: "Why?"

Vivian: "I don't know."

Me: "Who did you learn it from?"

Vivian: "Mommy and Grandma and Aunt Colle. You say it sometimes Daddy."

[and she blames a certain cousin who will remain un-named]

Me: "We are grown-ups. It's a grown-up word."

Then I think about it a bit. And add "If you must use it, make sure there are no grown-ups around".

"Oh shit" was Vivian's first recognizable words (She Speaks 05/2008). I cursed like a sailor when I was a kid - I just didn't do it in front of my parents or teachers or other grown-ups of consequence. I'd prefer that Vivian and Evan learn what to say when, where and to whom rather than pretend that certain words are censored.

Evan Photos

Evan loves chewing on his foot. And his fingers or any one else's he can find. I haven't been able to capture a good photo of the finger chewing, but here are a couple of blurry ones where he's going at his foot.

And then here's two views of a photo of Evan smiling. He's sitting on Jo's lap. My dad calls him "smiley". If you make eye contact with him, most of the time he gives you this dazzling smile that makes the world light up.

Fam Pics

Alu and Michelle were here over Labor Day. We got some pictures of different combinations of family, but we didn't get our usual traditional summer picture of all of us and my dad. Here's a sampling.

Vivian Photos

While looking over pictures of Vivian from the last month, there are three that stuck out as memorable. In the first two she looks very grown up and reflective - not a mood that I normally find her in. I took the last picture after she ate a bowl of cherries. Till recently, when Vivian and I sat down to eat cherries, I cut each one and pulled out the pit and gave her the halves. I decided she was old enough to spit out the pits - which has made it much easier for us to eat cherries - if you don't count the time it takes to spray her clothes down with OxiClean and do a load of laundry.

First Day at Grace

Just as we were about to rush out the door for Vivian's first day at "school" Jo reminded me to take a picture. Vivian thinks she's all grown up and struts around school like she's a senior. To anyone who'll listen, she proudly announces that she's a Busy Bee (the name of her class). At breakfast this morning she told Jo that she wanted to eat Honey Cheerios because "now I'm a Busy Bee". And she added as she was getting dressed "I look like a big girl now - like I go to Elementary School".