Ho, Ho, Ho!

What do these 4 beings have in common?












ANSWER: According to Rohan, they all say, "Ho, Ho, Ho."
At an early age, he has completely grasped the Christmas spirit.

Rohan first encountered a Santa Claus in the CVS drugstore nearby, sometime around Thanksgiving. Soon afterwards, we got our Christmas tree (long-needled pine as always) and decorated it ("Ball! Alo! Ho, Ho, Ho!") One day, we had gone with some friends to our local garden center to see the train display, llamas and goats, and ex nihilo appeared a Live NBS (Naturally Bearded Santa for those without family members investing in Santa-rental companies.)

Rohan was wide-eyed with awe at seeing a breathing incarnation of the man he knew only to be a tree ornament. When Santa walked away to go take a break, Rohan chased him, saying, "Ho! Ho!"

Never having really believed in Santa, and being a poor liar, I am avoiding the Santa myth. But from the library, I brought a nativity book that Rohan read multiple times, often saying "Baby," as he pointed to Jesus in the manger.

Last year, I was mostly terrified every time I put myself in the shoes of Mary, probably crushed by the weight of the knowledge that her baby, probably drooling and saying, "ooo, ooo, ooo" a week past epiphany, was to be a Savior. This year, I felt stronger in the face of snow-covered nativity scenes on porches and lawns all around.

Jesus's Christmas vs. Rohan's Christmas

• Jesus's visitors: shepherds, magi, animals
  
• Rohan's visitors: 5 cousins, 4 grandparents, 6 aunts/uncles, countless family friends

• Jesus's gifts: gold, frankincense, myrrh
• Rohan's gifts: toy vacuum cleaner, tricycle, books, blocks, + more

• Jesus's dad built: probably something out of wood. Cradle would have been nice.
• Rohan's dad built: a four-entrance cardboard box fort (see our photo gallery for a pic!)
  

Probably because of this last effort, Daddy (or "Dada") is now Rohan's favorite person, possibly superseding Santa. "Dada. Dada. Dada," he intones constantly. When he sees Mike, he escalates to a squeal of "DADA!!!!!"

Recently, however, two other people have been named "Dada" by Rohan, and here are the honorees of this title:



Yes, CK, this may be the only time in your life you'll be lumped with our commander-in-chief, so make the most of it.

Woof.

Now that Rohan has mastered walking, he has moved onto talking. His first word, sadly, was "Na," a word he hears every time he is forbidden to do something, which is unfortunately often. So, Rohan says "Na," not to indicate refusal, but to indicate that he knows what he's done/about to do is wrong.

Example: Rohan sees the off-limits remote control ( "Na!") or stops just before touching the bridge of my violin ("Na-nnna-nnna!"), or after he throws a toy (see video below).

Rohan learned his second word from our friend Franklin, whose amazing hospitality we enjoyed in San Francisco. Franklin frequently woofed at the old dog, Jasper, who was terrified of Rohan. Nevertheless, Rohan was fascinated by Jasper, and quickly learned to "woof."

Although we have no live dogs at home, Rohan has several soft toy dogs, including Franzapuppy, all of which say woof. So does the stuffed cat. Go figure.


The words Rohan has chosen to say truly express the level of interest in the named items:

"Ao" = alo (light/lamp), preferably streetlamp style, the bigger the better. Arlington has too many of these.
"Baa Baa" = Baa Baa Bedtime
"Buhbuh" = "Bubbles, Bubbles," a new favorite book, a gift from his friends the Verzis.
"Voom" = vacuum cleaner
"Vum (?)" = violin
"Baw" = ball
"Babbab" = bye-bye

More Firsts

Rohan had his first big Halloween party in what I hope will become a tradition. We invited about 20 people over and almost everyone could make it. Next year we will have to be more strict about the dress code. Everyone needs a costume to enter. Just kidding. Thanks again to everyone who could come and especially to all the adults who showed up in costume. Rohan, Chandreyee, and I had a great time. Dressing up for Halloween makes me feel like we brought a bit of our adopted home, San Francisco, back with us. I hope that Rohan doesn't mind too much that his parents still haven't totally grown up. Below are just a couple of pictures from the party.


































This weekend (11/14/09) marks a big step in Rohan's education. He went bowling. This is more than just a simple game or pastime. To truly excel in bowling, you need to combine athletic ability, supreme fashion sense, and the ability to down a beer between frames. Well, Rohan will have to wait for the last part, but he's well on his way to a lifelong love of the game. Well done, Little Lebowski.




Thanks for listening,

Mike, Chandreyee, and Rohan (aka the Little Lebowski)

Running with strainers

Don't try this at home! Strainer is Rohan's favorite toy -- well, next to the vacuum cleaner. He's off, in his new sneakers, ready to catch butterflies, it seems.

Wake me up when September ends PART II

When I wrote a post with this title in 2008, I had no idea that one year later, the cumulative sleep deprivation would have resulted in serious memory loss. Once renowned for my accurate, detailed memory, I found myself holding only a vague recollection of Rohan's 1st birthday, hiking, or daily activities. After 2 weeks of repeating Rohan's sleep training, he started sleeping through the night about a week or two ago.

"Your memory has returned," groans Mike as I launch into another verse of "I'm a hippopotamus and I've got noodles on my back."

My memory returned just in time. Rohan has not only started walking (today, see video),
but he has also started to understand most of what we say. Being a person of words, I've found this the single most thrilling part of parenting since Rohan's birth. Early examples of understanding:

• Kothai tomar juto? (Where are your shoes?)
• Daddy-ke giye bolo, tomar dant majha hoye gachhe. (Go tell Daddy you're done brushing your teeth.)
• Kothai tomar Baa Baa Bedtime? (Where is [your favorite book of all time???])

Back to September. Despite my fuzzy memory, it's still colored in all the warm hues of a New England early autumn, and Durga Puja season. To borrow from my friend SDF's tradition, I'll post here comparisons of last year's Puja and this year's:

Photographs and Memories of the 1st Birthday

OK, it has been three weeks since Rohan's 1st birthday. That's long enough I guess to think about it and write something memorable and philosophical. Unfortunately, I have spent most of the intervening three weeks learning about data structures and algorithm analysis and reductive alkylation chemistry instead of reflecting on Rohan's big day. So I'll just give a recap and some big thank you's for various presents that we and Rohan have enjoyed. In summary, Rohan had a great time celebrating with his Dimoni and Dadan.

Dimoni made not one but two cakes. The first one was for me and was shaped like a football, my favorite sport, and featured realistic green coconut grass. Very Cool, but it was nothing compared to the cake she made for Rohan which was a series of stacked cake blocks and a top cake. And it had yummy sides of chocolate animals. I for one am glad that Dimoni decided to take cake decorating classes. I don't think we'll ever have to make a cake for Rohan's birthday. You can check it out yourself below.














And as if the cakes weren't enough, Dimoni and Bapik got Rohan a set of Duplo blocks and a lego table. I have to admit that I'm enjoying this gift as much as Rohan is. I actually like it when Rohan decides to play demolition derby with my planes, trains and other things that I make for him. I can't wait until he can build his own toys using his imagination, lego blocks were one of my all time favorite toys growing up, if you had enough pieces you could build whatever toy, spaceship, or robot that you wanted.

He enjoyed the wooden puzzle from Chris and Eileen, the pegboard gane from Jaemin and Soomin, his wagon from Nana, and the set of stacking cups from Aunt Susan and Uncle Nathan. Rohan was so excited about the stacking cups that he was going "uh, uh, uh" continuously until I could get the box open. And he plays with them pretty much every day. We used the wagon this weekend to go apple picking. Rohan had a great time riding and met a couple of new friends there as well as developing a taste for peaches. Chandreyee and I were so happy that we found another fruit that he likes. He has started off as a kind of weird kid: prefers broccoli to ice cream, doesn't like fruits or sweets, and has started to read material that is over the heads of most one year olds.


The fun times continued the next day when everyone went to the Boston Commons and Public Garden. It took 3 people to keep Rohan from jumping head long into the frog pond and we were unsuccessful in keeping him from crawling through the sprinklers at the tadpole playground. Luckily we had some extra clothes for him with us. The only bad thing that happened all weekend was when Rohan was bonked by one of the "make way for ducklings" ducks and gave him a bloody lip. OK, I know that they are inanimate objects, but I will always be a bit more careful around them now. It was very sad for Rohan to have to say goodbye to Dimoni, but with Chandreyee's webcam working again, she is just a phone call away.

Thanks everyone for your gifts, cards, and especially for your thoughts of Rohan on his special day. We wish you a wonderful start to the fall season.

Mike

Mirror friends

In our living room, Rohan has a very good friend who looks a lot like him, and appears to live just behind the door to the coat closet. They smile at each other, bounce up and down the same way, finish each others' sentences, and give each other sloppy kisses. They're so much alike, it's sometimes hard to tell which one is Rohan. Here's a video of the two friends having fun.


This past weekend was otherwise a typical summer weekend of parties, playground, beach and pool. Rohan loves swimming in his baby float, in Upper Mystic Lake, ringed by trees and quacked at by ducks. And, tickled by a gaggle of pretty little girls. Unfortunately, we do not have a good photograph of the ladies' man in action, fawned over by the 4- to 7-year-old set.

Rohan begs to be taken to the lake whenever he sees his float now -- we've tried to appease him by setting the float on the lawn and pretending that the grass is water. Now, where to find a bunch of adoring girls?