I Want Water Park

Last December, we discovered N's love (obsession) of water parks. We visited a Beaches resort in the Caribbean and N was in heaven in the pirate themed toddler area.  We'd never seen him dance and smile so much.  He took hours long naps each afternoon from exhaustion and then woke up ready to head back out to the water park.  It was a nice surprise since he had hated his swim lessons from the previous summer.  I guess the deep water of a pool was intimidating, but slides and water fountains are pure fun.

Soon after the trip, we began hearing the request, "I want water park."  This led to me devising a summer schedule full of water park and pool activity.  The summer kicked off with a Memorial Day Weekend trip to the Catskills.  I chose Fishkill, NY specifically because of the water park in the town.  See above map for a look at the fabulous Splashdown Beach in Fishkill.  The toddler area had a Bob the Builder theme so for the week leading to our vacation, we inundated N with the cartoon to get him excited.  The toddler area was a bit tame for a two year old, but down the path was the coconut pool, which had more advanced slides and waterfalls.  A couple of weeks later, we were in Myrtle Beach for father's day weekend and fortunately our hotel had a toddler pool with great waterfalls and water fountain structures, as well as easy beach access.  It was so great that we didn't need to visit the local water parks.  We convinced N that the pool was in fact the water park.  ;)  Next, a July 4th trip to Six Flags Hurricane Adventure was derailed by rain. Luckily, a trip to Atlantis was scheduled for mid-July and we hope to visit a local water park in August.  Phew!

This passion for water parks must stem from N's overall love of water.  He drinks an inordinate amount of water every day and this is not just restricted to his spring water filled sippy cups.  He stops at every water fountain, he drinks out of sinks and bathtubs, he tries to bend down and drink from puddles (sometimes we are to slow to stop him!), he drinks from other people's water glasses, etc.  I prefer this love of water to sugary drinks, but even I cannot believe how much water he drinks.  Here's to H₂O!

Published! About Her

Available here:  About Her

Today, I am announcing the second book publication that has included my work.  It seems like I have been busy but I submitted my story for this over a year ago.  I am very excited about this because I submitted my story about my mom.  My mom happened to be visiting when I received my copies and so, I was able to share it with her immediately.  What a great early Mother's Day present.

This book features about 65 authors, again many of whom are novice writers, who have written memories or anecdotes of a special, influential woman in their lives.  There are a lot of very touching, meaningful stories in the book and I am very proud to have been included.

Thanks to the editors, Josephine Carubia and Michele Glorie Palmer, for their wonderful work in creating and publishing this book.

This is fun!  I am on the search for book #3.

Published! Indian Voices, Volume One

Available here:  Indian Voices, Volume One on the website tradearchitects.com

It has been a looong time since I have written anything.  Nothing like getting a story published in a book to get a person motivated again.  I am not thrilled about the fiction story that I wrote for the compilation, but I am thrilled to have my first book publication on the shelf.

The collection features short stories, poems, and travelogues from 66 Indian writers from around the globe.  There is no general theme to the pieces rather the connection is that we are all of Indian ethnicity and many of us are novice writers who have been published for the first time.  Many thanks to Jasmine D'Costa who worked tirelessly selecting and editing all of the works and who is now promoting the book around the clock.

I am very thankful for this opportunity.  I submitted my story months ago and it is not until the book has been published that I truly feel the excitement.  Congratulations to all of the included authors!!

Published! in Sept '10

I had my essay "Guilt Free Diet" published in the September 2010 issue of CityMasala.  Here is the link.
I have been writing monthly for the magazine but I am happy to have a non-recipe published there.  I feel more like a writer/contributor now.

Wordsmith

For the past three months, my husband has continued to say that our son knows "about 10-15 words," which was the count at 15 months.  I realized that I needed to provide an update; otherwise, my son will be stuck at "about 10-15 words" for years.

Here is what I wrote at 15 months.  Top words : Mama, Uh-oh, Dada, hot-hot-hot, banana-na, off, up, clock (for clock and watches), woof (for not just dog, but any animal), bubble, ball, box and possibly the words "I don't know."  He understands a lot more, such as "No!," which he hears a lot and simple directions such as "pick up that toy" or "turn on the tv." 

Update (at 18 months)

In addition to  1. Mama, 2. Dada, 3. hot, 4. Uh-oh, 5. banana, 6. off, 7. up, 8. clock, 9. woof, 10. bubble, 11. ball, 12. box

13.  clap (claps hands while saying)
14.  ice

15.  baba (for baby and in reference to his younger cousin)

16.  vroom vroom (for car)

17.  beep-beep

18.  night night

19.  No

20.  hat

21.  apple

22.  diaper

23.  wallet

24.  heavy

25.  whoops

26.  Ba (for his maternal grandmother)

27.  his playmate Alex's name

28.  his cousin B's name

29.  his nanny Monica's name

30.  the sentence "I love you"
31.  car
32.  door
33.  brella (for umbrella)
34.  Papa (for his father)
35.  eyes
36.  one-two-three
37.  A-E-I-O-U
38.  book
39.  wawa (for water)
40.  wow
41.  cloud
42.  "lights on"
43.  tree
44.  dance
45.  ear
46.  yes