Monday, September 27, 2010

Phil and Ted's Strollers, We love you

Okay, here is my ode of thanks to P & T stollers:
We definitely get alot of attention with our "Blue Jet" Phil and Ted's stroller here in Gurgaon, India. People just stop what they're doing and stare at us go by like we're in a parade, and then do a total double take when they realize there is another kid in the back. The best is when I have Isaac and Levi in the stroller and I put Ty on the top--that's when I get some serious oohs and ahhs. This stroller has undoubtedly been a total life saver for us in India. I don't think that any other double stroller could navigate the streets here as well as this one. It can go over crazy bumps, puddles, and potholes without a problem and most importantly, it actually fits snugly into the elevators. It also miraculously fits into the back of our little mini-van. For some reason trunk space is teeny tiny here, but thanks to the Phil and Ted's removable wheels, we can make the magical transport happen.



It even works for 3 boys!
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Isaac's Corner Part 2

Sept. 26, 2010

This week I learned some words in Hindi from our driver Ashu. Most people from the U.S. get drivers because driving in India is tricky. The steering wheel is on the other side of the car and on the roads there are cows and pigs and rickshaws and lots of motorcycles. Ashu taught me how to say come here—it sounds like “et der ow” and “bohot acha he” means “I really like it.” I go to school at Sun City World School. I am learning about the clock and days of the week. I want to make my own lemonade stand. This week my brothers and I had Friday night pizza from Pizza Hut and we watched the Bee Movie. I like to find Jasmine flowers for my mom to put in her hair. I wish I could always give her lilies because those are her favorite flowers. I can push my brothers in the stroller. Now I’m bored with writing stuff.
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September food drama

We had our first “Indian food night” for the boys on Monday night and is would have made a good comedy sketch. All of the boys were whining about eating it. We tried to bribe them with icecream from the milk shop and that finally motivated Isaac to try a bite. He started wailing that it was too spicy; it wasn’t. It was just rice, black beans, and a mildly spice green lentil dahl mixed together. Isaac made it through his second bite by chugging two cups of water and then on the third bite he shoved the spoon in his mouth so fast that he ended up gagging himself and yakking what he’d already eaten. We cleaned it up and he finished his third bite, ay caramba. Then Ty saw Isaac eating icecream and wanted nothing to do with the rice and beans. We basically force fed him a couple of bites and then let him have icecream. Levi decided to be extra rebellious and it took about a half hour of sitting in time out in the room for him to soften up enough to try a bite. When he finally did try a bite, he was pretending to be Martha the talking dog from PBSkids and he said that the rice and beans were his alphabet soup. Whatever works. I was just glad all three kids finally ingested a little of the local food. This is going to be an ongoing battle for a while.

Getting ready for church


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Cheerios, Playgroup, and Pizza

We discovered where to buy cheerios this week. Levi and Ty are drunk with happiness.
Levi catching some air jumping on the bed like a monkey at the expat playgroup get together.
Say "cheese" for Friday night pizza.
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Levi starts preschool at Medhaam

Levi and Sachi and their preschool teacher Ms. Gitu
Levi's cute little hand prints that he made the first day of preschool.
Levi wearing the "elephant school" shirt
Our happy little camper. He feels like big stuff with a backpack.
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Shopping

Here we are at the "Reliance" store. This is the first place where James took me shopping in India. It has a little bit of everything. We had the biggest laugh the first time we went because there was a camel asleep in the parking lot. We found out later that the camel is a mascot for some restaurant close by.
This is a construction site near our place. Construction is the pulse of this city. It's everywhere.
This is Levi getting ready for his first day of preschool--we're waiting for his combi-bus outside our apartment.
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One month anniversary

Wow. It’s hard to believe that we’ve now officially been in India for a month. This week I signed Levi up for a morning program at a little preschool named Medhaam in our South City 1 neighborhood here in Gurgaon. I like the school because It’s new and there’s just a few students right now so he definitely gets lots of attention. The symbol for the school is an elephant and Levi talks about going to “elephant school” and playing with his friends Sachi and Arush. It’s interesting because the other children are at the school to learn English since their first language is Hindi. The teacher speaks to the kids in English, but I’m sure Levi will pick up some Hindi just hearing the other kids talk. Isaac is learning to write the Hindi alphabet at school which I have to admit he’s not particualary excited about, but we just focused on one letter this week. Ty is going crazy with the signing time movies sent courtesy of his uncle Timo and Aunt Julia. He loves making all of the food and animal signs and he has invented his own sign for “I want”—basically tapping his jaw with his fist. The big good news of the week was that I found (thankyou internet!!!) an expat playgroup that gets together at different people’s houses every Wednesday afternoon. It was so nice to meet some other foreigner moms from the U.S, England, Sweden, Germany, Malaysia, etc. There was a good group of kids at the playgroup and my boys had a ball playing with their favorite thing—O.P.T. (other people’s toys!!!).

Sunday, September 19, 2010

More cow pics, I can't resist.



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Roadside scenes

Construction sites like these are everywhere in Gurgaon. Here are some people doing a little morning wash up at a water tank.
Orange juice anyone?
Kind of blurry, but the mud puddle gives you an idea of what monsoon season does to the roads here.
The flowers here are gorgeous.
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Isaac in uniform getting ready for the big day.



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Isaac starting school

Isaac waiting for the bus with the fam. Levi is basically asleep on James' head.
Isaac and his friend Shrey and Shrey's cousin Shania.
Isaac's first grad class. Some of the kids have on costumes for a big cultural presentation/assembly going on that morning.
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Bathtime Paint!!!



Levi, Isaac, and Ty went nuts with the new bath crayons that James found at Reliance last week. First they decorated the tub then they proceeded to color themselves and it looked like a mix of clown make up and war paint. The bath tub needs a serious scrub down now.


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This is Ty bear with Meroon (not sure how to spell her name). Meroon helps me stay ahead of the dust and dishes and makes amazing food.
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Levi caught by surprise
Levi with his lovable smile. He's full of besos these days. He really misses his Philly buddies and Arizona cousins.

A view of part of the courtyard area in our apt. complex.
James brought me flores bonitas.
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