I'm ONE !!!

Midnight's my fav time to play, and at 12:50 when I was playing with my Dad, my Dad suddenly got up and started dancing and singing "Happy Birth day to you". Then we danced our way to Mom & Grand-Ma. Grand-Ma was like 'kya? ek mahina ho gaya!'. Mom was too sleepy (I've kept her awake for 2 straight days now) to celebrate - so she repeated "happy b'day" and promptly crashed on the bed.
I feel today will need another post later :-)

Pretty in Pink !

Ria's Day Out !

Today was my first day out in the mall. Shopping, here I come !

Saying bye to Grand-Pa

'Dada... tussi na jao' is what I've been wanting to say for the last few days. But despite all my whining and crying, today he flew back to India.
As he was locking his last suitcase, we realized that we've been so busy since I was born, that we haven't even clicked a single pic of all five of us together. Immediately Dad set to work :

'Seeing' the World !

Two weeks since I was born. I've slowly started opening my eyes. Everyone is always eager to capture the moment when I'd open my eyes without start crying the moment later.

Well, today Dad's cousin Mamta and her husband Rajesh (my Mamta Bua and Rajesh Fufaji) visited us.



Of all the people who I've met so far, Mamta bua took the most care in carrying me... i liked it :-)

Suraj-pujan

Some pics from the 'suraj-pujan' ceremony, which was again planned suddenly and it left only the 5 of us at home for the ceremony.



The dress I wore today made me look like a strawberry, and these pics started a debate on who chose this dress for me :)

Ria... what's that?

For the n'th time, I heard someone complimenting my mom on my name... and
then asking, what does it mean?
Well, so here's the low-down on my name:

Ria/Rhea/Riya

Indian - Singer
Indonesian - Cheerful, Delightful
Latin - River Stream
Greek Mythology - Mother of Zues, the supreme ruler of Gods
Spanish - Mouth of a River

Of course, the real reason why I ended up with this name... is still a
mystery to me. But it's definitely a co-incidence that I was born in a
hospital by a river (East River), and my first home is also by a river
(Hudson).

:-)

First three days at Home

A number of Firsts during the last 3 days…

Sunday
First time I came home
First time I rode in a car
First time I felt the cold natural breeze that my mom was trying to protect me from
First time I played with my mom for more than 30 min continuously without dozing off

Monday
First time I went to visit my pediatrician… & got my first vaccination.
First time I saw tears in my mom’s eyes when the lab technician at the hospital was not taking care while drawing my blood for a test
First time I sprayed poop all over my mom.. and later my grand-pa… both while they were changing my diaper ☺
First time I got wet (only a couple of drops though) in the rai

Tuesday
First time guests came to specifically see me (Seema & Srini)
First time I slept for about 3 hours continuously… of which my mom didn’t waste even a second in staying awake.
First time I slept in my own crib (yoo hoo!)
First time my dad changed my diaper, after playing assistant to my mom at a number of other occasions

Family Time !

More pics with family. I just love to see the sparkle in everyone's eyes when they hold me. Like I said before, I like to keep my eyes closed... but every now and then I'll get a quick glimpse of what's going on.





Apart from my Mom and Dad, you'll see Grand-Ma and Grand-Pa (my Dad's parents). There is also a pic of my Dad's cousin - Mamta and her husband Rajesh, who came to see me in the hospital. I was so happy to see them here ! Extended family is so rare in US - had we been in India I'd have hoards of cousins/uncles/aunts around me... and I'd be the Center of Attention (which, like all girls, I LOVE!)

First Two Days - In Pictures (2)

Some more photos of mine
My dad just can't help but keep clicking :)





Most memorable amongst these is the one in my car seat. I was so excited to finally get out of the dull hospital environment and ride with my family. But it took 15 min for my parents to go to the nurse and verify that I'm being 'placed correctly' and will be 'safe' while driving. I was getting so impatient ! But finally the wait was worth the ride. Instead of cutting across Manhattan, my dad drove around Manhattan's border on FDR Drive along the East River, and then drove up the West Highway by the Hudson River, before getting into the Holland Tunnel. My first glimpses of NYC were totally breath-taking. I have a feeling life is going to be fun around here!

First Two Days - In Pictures

Here are a bunch of photos my mom and dad took during my first two days. I had my eyes closed all the time, so didn't even know that cameras were clicking. If only I knew, I could have used all my mom's cosmetics and acted cute :)

Dad tells me he took a lot of these snaps by while I was sleeping in his arms - to capture my different expressions.