January 27, 2008

Maddeningly frustrating

This was supposed to be the BIG weekend. We finally were all together to go out and get Priya's mattress, and change her crib to a full size bed. We headed out to Costco with our friend Sherry and her three girls. The store had a pretty good deal on a mattress set that was hard to beat.

Here is Priya trying out her mattress.

And then the fun really started. The crib called for "hook-on" rails. This is where the end of the rails slide into and get hooked on two bolts on the headboard and footboard, instead of being bolted to them. We had neglected to get the conversion kit when we bought the crib (totally our fault). Now the model has been discontinued, and getting it special order is $99-130. I thought, Ok how complicated is this thing. Shouldn't all rails be the same, following the same standard. Was I wrong. Following these many sets...

And ruining the beautiful cherry finish on an otherwise pristine crib...


We ended up with this...

On closer examination, I found out that the bolts in the crib are more recessed than what standard rails can hook on to. So what the crib manufacturer is doing is forcing you to buy the conversion set through them. So now we will have to end up paying the extra money instead of using a $20 generic set.

We also went through a number of ceramic space heaters for Armaan's room. His room gets kind of cold at night. But Tish didn't like any of them, and there's always the paranoia of having a space heater in the house, ceramic or not. So I put up insulating plastic on Armaan's window (the kind which sticks on, and you have to use a hair dryer to stretch). That noticeably warmed up his room, and I think will do the trick.

Armaan is almost able to sit up by himself

Priya and Skylar on another one of their play dates

January 20, 2008

Cold Snap

I can't remember the last time we had such cold weather for so long. It was 0 deg F (-18 deg C) last night with the wind chills in the -20s. Brrr... It was Tish's weekend to work, and the kids and I stayed in. I think Priya is getting a little bit of cabin fever, but best that than exposure. This coming week is also going to be as cold. There's not any significant snowfall in the forecast which is unfortunate because that brings up the temperatures.

As I mentioned before - it's all in the training!

Hangin' out

The not so little fella is six months old now!



Armaan and Ben



Armaan loves to hang out with Jin

My work after-holidays Holiday Party

January 05, 2008

Happy 2008... With a little from Christmas '07

So here we go off and running with 2008. The big event for us this year will be our vacation to the Grand Cayman. Yep - that's right - not only am I going to open an offshore account to hide my wealth, I am also going to make a vacation out of it. Ok. So maybe the last part is true. Check out the place we're going to stay at - The Anchorage. The trip is planned for the middle of May.

Here are some pictures from Christmas '07 in Michigan.

Armaan worn out before we even started out

Can I open presents now?

Priya LOVED sleeping in the "Pink Room"

Lemme at this stocking

Ok - I finally got something out

It's all about training



I didn't think this was too safe, so it's going back. But at least Armaan and Priya had fun while it was there.



Santa visits grandma's house