Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Yoga, Dancing, and Dosas

For some reason, Maya was constantly doing the downward dog yoga pose while we were in LA. Maybe she was inspired by the laid-back SoCal lifestyle? I don't know. Anyway, I thought she looked adorable, especially when Chethu Auntie joined her, so I took a photo of it:















She also spent some time dancing to Madonna with her Chethu Auntie and Uncle Eric: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ha2KBg_JQX8

Maybe this was all in preparation for the tasty dosa lunch that followed. We were joined by family and friends, including the adorable Baby Colette, who is Eric's niece. She hung out with us at lunch:

















After lunch we took a couple group photos. Here's the first one (L-R back row): Bhuvana, Chethana, Chithra with Colette, Rama, Jessica. (L-R front row): Krishna, Eric, and Matt:















And here's the second one (L-R back row): Chethana, Chithra with Colette, Rama, Jessica. (L-R front row): Keith, Krishna, Eric, and Matt:















Nothing like delicious food and great company - two of life's pleasures!

Brunching and Playing, LA-Style

I wanted to have the quintessential LA brunch while we were there last week, and fortunately my sister and friends humored me with this request. We all met up at The Alcove in Los Feliz, which I'm told is a hipster neighborhood. The menu and the setting were very Californian - lots of fresh flavors in a beautiful tree-lined courtyard. Plus we had a great conversation, full of laughs and smiles:















Of course, by the end of the meal, Maya was a bit tired:















And then a meltdown started:




















Fortunately, after a nap she was happy again, and we went to the park to play with some family and friends. One new friend was furry:















And Maya got to hang out with Uncle Naeem and Auntie Srimoyee:















She convinced Uncle Eric to take her over to the swings:



















And then hung out there happily for a while:















And finally, playing peekaboo with Ajja was fun:



















Life's a Beach

Despite the weather not being extremely warm in LA, we took a trip to the beach in Santa Monica. We started with a bit of lunch on a blanket, during which Maya showed her doubts about the beach:















I took her in the sand and the water, which she hated. This is totally different than last year, when she loved sitting at the water's edge. She did cheer up after sitting in her grandpa's lap and playing with her ball for a few minutes:



















After that we went walking on the pier, which included a carousel. She loved riding it, though you can't tell from this photo:

She was very sad when that ride was over, but seemed to cheer up afterward while walking on the pier:































































Santa Monica is definitely one of the nicest parts of LA!

Monday, April 25, 2011

Beautiful Flowers in the Garden

During our trip to LA, we took the opportunity to visit The Huntington Gardens. The flowers were absolutely beautiful and we all enjoyed ourselves. We spent a bunch of time in the rose garden:





































Maya seemed to be excited by all the plants:















After this, we saw beautiful orchids in the conservatory:















Then we saw the beautiful lilacs:















Then we saw some beautiful flowers in the desert garden:















All of this was quite tiring:















A fun outing in the midst of beauty!

Playing at the Park

We just got back from a trip to LA, where we met up with lots of family and friends. We stayed with my sister in Pasadena and discovered a lovely park right around the corner from her apartment. We literally went there everyday, and Maya was all smiles every time:














































It'll be fun when the weather is warmer here and we can go to the park more often!

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Walking and Playing Ball

As I catch up on blogging, I'm finding more photos that I haven't posted. Anyway, Maya has become more confident with walking and standing, which is great since I was really worried about this. Here's a photo of her standing up and enjoying the springtime weather:















On the topic of springtime weather, we took advantage of the beautiful day and took a walk in The Fells:















Obviously, Maya loves looking stylish in her Hello Kitty sunglasses: 















I'm just glad we haven't lost them yet!

And finally, here are a couple video clips of Maya playing ball with Dada:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DXXg0eRjaU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0Se_polHDA

Brunching and Gift Opening

We had a lovely brunch today courtesy of our neighbors Marilyn and Ken - eggs, homefries, french toast, beignets, soup, salad, and delicious desserts!

And if that wasn't generous enough, they also got Maya a lovely Easter basket and birthday balloons for Hyder. Of course, Maya thoroughly enjoyed all of these treats, including the balloons:



















As well as a fun squishy ball:















And a new monkey to hug:















And a new stacking toy:



















Maya is one lucky little girl! We are so fortunate to have such wonderful neighbors in our lives.

And Even More Dancing

I know I've posted quite a few dancing videos, but as usual, I thought this was adorable so I had to post another one. Here's Maya dancing to a new Rihanna song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHm86iaZZRo

Unhappy with Sharing Her Toys

I've been delinquent with blogging lately since I've been verrrry slowly getting over a nasty illness. Maya got it first in the form of a cold and ear infection, and of course she shared her germs with me and Hyder. We've all had a touch of fever, congestion, headaches - the whole nine yards. Fortunately, we seem to mostly be better now, which is great since we're headed on a trip soon. So excited to see family and enjoy some warm weather!

In the meantime, a bit of catch up. Last weekend we had some of my friends from work over for brunch - they brought their kids, both of whom are younger than Maya. We found out that Maya is not very good at sharing her toys. She started out by suspiciously regarding her new play buddies:















Then she cried whenever they tried to play with her toys:















And then she stood and guarded her toys:




















Hopefully next time she'll do a bit better with sharing her toys!

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Spring Might Finally Be Here

We've been out and about this past weekend enjoying the great spring weather and meeting up with lots of great friends. In fact, we had so much fun that I forgot my camera at a friend's house, so there will be more pictures coming later!

On Saturday, we spent a bit of time at an alumni event at Phi Beta Epsilon, which was the fraternity Hyder belonged to at MIT. They have a great location on Memorial Drive in Cambridge, right on the Charles River. We spent some time on the roofdeck:















And we spent some time inside, playing a game of pool:



















In the afternoon we took Maya on her first trip to Chuck E Cheese's for her daycare buddy's birthday party. There she hung out with Bob the Builder:















 And she tried to play skee-ball:



















Saturday evening we hung out with our friend Helene and a few of her hilarious friends. Maya was thrilled to hang out with her buddy Jack, and I think he was excited to be around someone his own size who always has food on her hands:















Sunday we headed out for a hike in The Fells and then brunch in Davis Square. Now that Maya is walking more, we're trying to give her more opportunities to practice. Plus she was all dressed up in her stylish gear for walking around town:



















 We're looking forward to more good weather!