Learning Swimming 1.

Learning Swimming 2.

Learning Swimming 3.

Learning Swimming 4.

Learning Swimming 5.

Srinidhi And Srinidhi playing outside.

Srinidhi and Srinidhi playing inside.

Three strides in three days

Suddenly Srinidhi is making great strides! Just in the last three days, he accompalishsed three milestones!

- We started his potty training in earnest last week. He already learned it! He knows when and has the control to run to the potty.

- As I said earlier, I started to take him to the pool to teach swimming. I was hoping he would learn in a month or two. But only after three 30 minute sessions at the pool, he has learned to float in the water independently for up to 15 minutes and is able to move several feet during that time using his nascent swimming actions.

- Chini (Srinidhi) visited us after the library class past Tuesday and stayed here for the day. Appu (Srinidhi) played with her nicely by sharing and without ever pushing her! Thats a first! We had been telling him his favorite character Calliou does not push his friends, I guess he finally learned that. The kids had so much fun, they forgot their day nap and played for 6 hours straight!

Still not much progress on the ABCs and 123s though.

Roopasree's First India Trip - ரூபஸ்ரீயின் இந்திய பயணம்.

This is Roopasree. Our friend Vel Raja and Vinodhini's daughter. She just turned one. They went to India during May for the families to see Roopa and to have the mottai and kathukuthu and the first birthday. In addition to making grandparents and mama and chithappas happy, Roopa went to several places in this trip. She went to Guruvayoor, Thiruvannamalai, Marudamalai and Thiruchendur.

இது எங்கள் நண்பர் வேல்ராஜா, வினோதினியின் மகள் ரூபஸ்ரீ. மே மாதம் அவர்கள் இந்தியா சென்றிருந்தார்கள்.

Roopasree before her first mottai.
மொட்டை போடுவதற்க்கு முன்.

At Guruvayoor with both grandparents.
தாத்தாக்கள், பாட்டிகளுடன் குருவாயூரில்.

At Marudamalai.
மருதமலையில்.

Roopasree with Appa mottai Vel Raja.
திருச்செந்தூரில் மொட்டை.

Roopasree with grandmother and great grandmother. I was expressing my happiness to see this to Vinodhini since all my grandparents passed away before I was born except my paternal grandmother who died when I was 5. I was thrilled to hear that Rupasrees Great Great Grandmother is still alive! Five generation of women! That will make a great picture. I asked Vinodhini to get one on next visit.

ரூபஸ்ரீ அம்மாவின் அம்மச்சியின் (பாட்டியின்) கையில். ரூபஸ்ரீயின் பாட்டியின் பாட்டியும் இன்னும் இருப்பதாக வினோதினி சொல்லிய போது மிகவும் ஆச்சரியப் பட்டேன். ஐந்து தலைமுறை பெண்டிர்! அடுத்த முறை அனைவரையும் சேர்த்து படம் எடுத்து வர கேட்டுள்ளேன்.

Finally, they celebrated the Roopa's First Birthday a day ahead since Vel was leaving earlier.
முதல் பிறந்த நாள்.

Tuesdays are library days for Srinidhi. He loves to hear stories from the computer and to choose the books to borrow.

Srinidhi insists on Appa riding along and Appa loves to do it.

Happy Father's Day - அப்பாக்கள் தின வாழ்த்துக்கள்

Beautiful day. My son gave me this card today morning as told by his mother, nicely folded inside an envelope. They had apparently worked on it earlier to surprise me. Happy Fathers day everyone.

இன்று அப்பாக்கள் தினம். காலை எழுந்தவுடன் ஸ்ரீநிதி அவன் அம்மா சொன்னது போல எனக்கு இந்த வாழ்த்து கொடுத்தான். என்னை ஆச்சரியப் படுத்த இருவரும் நேற்று இதை ரகசியமாக செய்துள்ளனர். இன்று அதிகாலை, அப்பாக்கள் தினம் என்பதை நான் நினைவு கூர்வதற்க்கு முன்பே, ஸ்ரீநிதி தலைக்கு கை வைத்து தூங்குவதைப் பார்த்து எனது அப்பாவைப்போல தூங்குகிறான் என்று நினைத்ததை நினைத்து நெகிழ்கிறேன். அனைவருக்கும் அப்பாக்கள் தின வாழ்த்துக்கள்.

Outside of the card.

Top Symbol

OK, answer to my question from last week. Currency symbols such as $ is a very good guess, may be it is the right one. But my guess is, it's the ubiquitous Universal Recycling Symbol considering it is on every can and bottle of any beverage sold, every sheet of paper napkin in fast food restaurants, every magazine and every pamphlet and even junk mail printed, every credit card statement, utility statement etc. Even if it is not at top currently, considering the decline in paper money and increase in recycling (and legislations mandating it), it won't be too long before it reaches the top. It even has its own Unicode representation. You can read the story of this symbol here.