three bald babies

There was a farewell party for us and another family the other night. Aashini and Hazel wore fun skirts that Andrea and I bought for $1 at one of the markets. I actually bought one in my size, and it was the same price! I'm not sure if mine was super cheap or if Hazel's was a rip off. :)

Sweet smiley Meredith was there too. Our 3 baby girls are a lot different than Indian babies, obviously, but one of the big differences is ours don't have any hair! Hazel has the most out of the three, I think, but that's not saying much.




In typical girl fashion, Aashini was loving her skirt, so much so that she kept looking at it. Which caused her to lean on Hazel...

being silly

Hazel's getting more and more silly! I love it!


Here she is playing. The picture is horrible quality, but her face is priceless! Oh and yes, those are mosquito bites on her cheeks. :( They got her in her sleep that night. They're gone now, and we figured out a combination of netting , a plug-in repellent, high speed fan, and most of all, prayer, keeps them away.

She enjoys her toes every now and then.


I don't know what made her so excited, but I love this face!

She loves material to play with, especially my dupattas (scarf-like things). She likes peek-a-boo and also to just hold the material, put it on her face and in her mouth.


Like I've said before, she loves to stand. Now we can get her to stand a bit by herself, as long as she has something to lean on. I love the way she's just hanging out.


We saw a cute little picture of a baby in a guitar case (Hi, Isaac!) so we just had to copy.


Yesterday, Andrea and I ventured out into the old part of the city, mainly so I could shop for a new sari. While we were riding around, completely lost on a cycle rickshaw, she spotted several shops that had baby walkers hanging up! So we made sure to go back and check them out. They were only $6! So I rationalized that $6 was worth it, even if Hazel could only use it for 5 more weeks.


Hazel had fun for awhile.


Obviously, the walker is pretty cheapy. The seat part isn't deep enough, but then there is too much room left for the legs! So half the time, her feet weren't even on the ground. We ended up having to prop her up with some padding.


She's got this goofy Elvis smile going on lately.


After about 15 minutes, I think she was a bit tired and frustrated! She did really well though - she "walked" a tiny bit, and even learned to push the little squeaky toy on it. She's learning!

pool party!

The Shefs have a little baby pool on their balcony, and very sweetly asked us to come over this week for the girls to have a pool party. Aashini enjoys the pool - mostly - and so we were hoping Hazel would have fun too. So Hazel had her first swimming experience! You be the judge on how she felt about it...

It's almost like she's wondering if she's gonna like the pool...


This was within seconds of putting her in there.


Then she went right on into the Ugly Cry.


Trying to get Aashini to help her find a way out.


We (incorrectly) thought she'd enjoy being in the raft.


This was not posed! Aashini grabbed Hazel's hand in what I like to think was reassurance. What a sweet sympathetic little girl she is. :)


Aashini is clearly trying to comfort Hazel, don't you think?


"Hey Mommy, 1991 called. They want their scrunchie back."


Apparently Hazel needs a little more time to get used to swimming. We'll have to try again soon so she'll enjoy the lake this summer!

holi

Holi is a holiday here that celebrates the arrival of spring time, and people "play holi" by putting colors on each other. Either they'll be nice and get a little powder and smear it on your face and say, "Happy Holi," or they'll be more rowdy and throw dye on each other and shoot you with water guns. Either way, it's a pretty colorful day. Holi was in late March this year, and Jaya and some of her family came over to play holi with us. We almost didn't open the door because we didn't even recognize her! I tried to greet them at the gate using Hazel as a shield so I wouldn't get treated too badly. :)


Jaya said that wasn't fair, and smeared us both. I was pretty happy with that, actually, because Hazel got to play holi too. Afterwards, we went to the bathroom to wash off the color, and Hazel saw me in the mirror. She started laughing. So I think she enjoyed the fun.

I had to stand inside where I wasn't glowing.

this is a bit late...

I'm a week late blogging this, but Hazel is now 4 months old! Here are some recent pics of our 4 month old baby girl.

She is happiest when she's standing. I really need to get a video of it, because usually her demeanor is hilarious. It's like her body language is saying, "Yes of course I can stand. I'm super baby."


In another dress from Aunt Sarah, with a matching bow from Aunt Christi, and a little cover up from Thailand. (Hazel's Easter dress was from Sarah too, and I mistakenly said it was from Ashley, who sent a different dress!)


I usually don't like to take b&w photos of her because I hate to miss capturing the blue of her eyes. But she's pretty darn cute in any color (or lack thereof) don't you agree? :)
And finally, I shouldn't blog without putting up a shot of a Hazelnut face:

I am SO excited - I found our photos from Holi that I thought were lost. So I'm gonna put those up really soon...

sweet feet

I can't get enough of Hazel's feet. I love love love to hold her feet in my palms, let her toes curl around my fingers, and yes, even kiss them. I love watching her kick her legs when she's really excited, and how she curls her toes in funny positions. Since this is not the most exciting blog post ever, I guess I'm putting up these pictures for my own viewing pleasure. :)

family walks

My favorite time of the day is the evening when the three of us usually head out for an hour walk. We keep having to push it further back in the day because it's getting warmer. (the high today is 96!) There is a wonderful park just across the nallah from our house. (the nallah is like a stream but is really stinky because a lot of people use it for sewage)

This is something I'm really hoping we can continue in the States. It's a great time for James and I to talk, it's healthy, it helps us meet people, and I think it also teaches Hazel to be active. I want my children to actually use their bodies, not their thumbs, to play sports.

So James likes to get a snack on the walk. In the winter, he usually got momo's. But now that it's warming up, he likes to get ice cream. I can't honestly say that I don't usually imbibe as well.


Hazel loves our family walks. Sometimes I carry her...


...sometimes James carries her...


...and sometimes we switch halfway!


Once, Hazel picked me a flower. :)


The fun usually wipes the baby out. Hazel, too.

buddies

We went over to hang out with the Shefs for American Idol the other night. We tried keeping Hazel up a little past her bedtime so she could 'play' with Aashini, but she wasn't too thrilled about it.
It's funny, both Andrea and I had the idea to title our blogs "Buddies". I think it's because of this picture. How can you look at it and not think they look like buddies? Andrea pointed out that Hazel looks like she's saying, "Oh my!" in this picture.
Then we had the "bright" idea to put the babies on their tummies. Immediately upon being put in this position, she rolls over now. So here she is, frustrated that the pillows are blocking her movement. This was end of the photo shoot for Hazel, who went to sleep promptly after her wail-fest. Aashini's face in this picture cracks me up!

I'm really sad we only have a couple more months to hang out with the Shefs and our other great friends here in India. But one thing that cheers me up is that Hazel will have lots of other buddies to meet when we get back - Sophia, Boston and Olivia, and Micah, just to name a few.