Catching Up

Dear Blog - it's been ages - probably the longest time between posts. The last post was soon after Vivian turned 3 months old. That was almost 3 weeks ago. Here's what's been happening.

Tomorrow we go on our first road trip. Before our first plane trip, the Big Question was - will Vivian like flying - or will she cry all the way. It turns out that she is a good flier (even if Jo showed some symptoms of PTSD for a coupe of days after the trip). The Big Question now is whether Vivian will like being strapped to a car seat for 12-14 hours tomorrow. Common sense overwhelms my normally optimistic outlook. But road trips are a part of life - so onward we go. Tomorrow, Vivian, Dadu, Grandma, Jo, and me will pile into an Avis minivan and drive off into the sunrise (actually - we'll start at 330am - long before the sun rises - but the direction is about right). By tomorrow evening, we hope to be in the bustling metropolis of Crestview, Florida.

But - that's in the future. Here's what has happened. In the last three weeks, Vivian is all grown up. I can prop her hands on an arm of the couch, and for a fleeting few seconds, she stands there and supports herself. She blows raspberries all the time. She still sleeps a solid 8-10 hours each night. She chugs 8 ounces of milk from her bottle in less then 10 minutes. She splashes like a blue whale while I try to give her a bath. She screams like a banshee when she is hungry or tired - and god help us and those around when she is both. She has been to the pool twice and loves it. She has (and so have we) survived a plane trip to Michigan and back. She laughed once (the day she turned three months old), but has only giggled since (must have a more selective sense of humor then her Dad). She blew out of her diaper once and leaked out few times (as a result of which, she has graduated to size 3 - which come up to her chest and have to be neatly tucked under her armpits - but has so far proven to be as tight as a dry suit). Her Grandma and Dadu (Grandpa Chatterjee) fight over who gets to hold her. She spent a day at Killeen with Brandon and his Mom. She hung out on the carpet next to Katurah - and they seemed to like each other. She went to Mona and David's party and hung out with everyone there. She's getting a personality - though it looks like it's still split between Bad Baby and Good Baby. She has the most radiant smile when she wakes up in the morning. And she has the foulest howl when she naps and wakes up before her time. She is very alert and constantly looks around. And she tries to verbalize all the time. She is beginning to grab her toys - especially her Ganesh that Jagruti and Morris gave her. And she stares at and sometimes talks to the toucan perched amongst the rotating menagerie above her tropical forest swing. Her head is usually hot (literally) - to which my Dad lays genetic claim - the Chatterjee's have a tendency of "matha garom" - or hot-headedness - a trait I don't think I got.